The 1st Battalion (62nd Foot) was raised in 1756 as the 2nd Battalion
of the King's Own, and was soon afterwards formed as a separate corps.
It quickly gained a name for itself when four companies made a gallant
stand among the ruins of Carrick Fergus Castle against a thousand
French troops with artillery, the 62nd maintaining their defence
with bricks and stones after their ammunition was exhausted, and had
even fired away their buttons as bullets. Their gallant conduct was
commemorated by wearing a "splash" on their buttons for many years
afterwards. In 1831 while on service in India, cholera carried off
nearly the whole regiment, there being at one time only two men not on
the sick list or in hospital. The 2nd Battalion (99th Foot) was raised
in 1824. Both battalions have splendid records of war service.
Nicknamed: "The Springers," from the rapidity of its pursuit of the
American rebels after the action at Trois Rivieres, in Canada, 1776;
also "The Splashers" and "The Moonrakers."
[Illustration]
(_Depot_, Ashton-under-Lyne.)
(_Record Office_, Preston.)