Editing Green Howards (section)

===Formation to end 18th century===
[[File:Soldier of 19th regiment 1742.jpg|thumb|right|170px|Soldier of the 19th Regiment, 1742]]
The regiment was formed during the 1688 [[Glorious Revolution]] from independent companies raised in [[Somerset]] by [[Colonel (United Kingdom)#Colonel of the Regiment|Colonel]] [[Francis Luttrell (1659–1690)|Francis Luttrell]], to support [[William III of England|William III]].<ref>Cannon, p. 2</ref><ref>Scott, p. 360.</ref> In 1690, it supplied detachments for [[Williamite War in Ireland|Ireland]] and [[Jamaica]], incurring heavy losses from disease, including Luttrell who was replaced by [[Thomas Erle]]. Transferred to [[Flanders]] in early 1692 during the [[Nine Years' War]], it was present at the battles of [[Battle of Steenkerque|Steenkerque]] and [[Battle of Landen|Landen]], as well as the [[Siege of Namur (1695)|Siege of Namur]].<ref>Cannon, pp. 3-5</ref> after the 1697 [[Peace of Ryswick]], it escaped disbandment by being made part of the Irish garrison, where it remained until the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] began in 1702.<ref name="19th Foot; the Yorkshire Regiment">{{cite web |title=19th Foot; the Yorkshire Regiment |url=https://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/yorkshireregiment.htm |website=British Empire |access-date=20 April 2019}}</ref>

In 1703, it was part of an expeditionary force in the [[West Indies]] and [[Newfoundland]], losing many men to disease before returning to Ireland in 1704. Back in Flanders in 1710, it took part in the sieges of [[Douai]] and [[Siege of Bouchain (1711)|Bouchain]] and [[Peace of Utrecht|when the war ended in 1713]], it resumed garrison duties in Ireland. With the exception of the [[Capture of Vigo|1719 Vigo expedition]], it did not see action again until 1744.<ref name="19th Foot; the Yorkshire Regiment"/>

When the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] began in 1740, the regiment was based in [[Edinburgh]]; by 1744, many of its men were Scots and recruiting officers warned to exclude 'Jacobites and Irish Papists.'<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Geoffrey |title=The History of the Green Howards |date=2016 |publisher=Pen & Sword |isbn=978-1473857971 |page=45}}</ref> The unit was then commanded by [[Charles Howard (British Army officer)|Charles Howard]] and thus known as 'Howard's Regiment'; when it joined the army in Flanders, this clashed with another regiment also commanded by a Howard. To avoid confusion, they were referred to by the colour of their [[facings]], one becoming 'Green Howards' and the other, '[[Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|Buff Howards]]'.<ref>Powell, p.46</ref>

The Green Howards fought at the [[Battle of Fontenoy]] in May 1745, with a short period in England during the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|1745 Jacobite Rising]]. It took part in the [[Battle of Rocoux]] and the [[Battle of Lauffeld]] before the 1748 [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] ended the war, after which it became part of the garrison of [[Gibraltar]].<ref>Powell, pp.47-48</ref> While there, the 1751 army reforms retitled it the '''19th Regiment of Foot'''.<ref name=regiments>{{cite web|title=The Green Howards|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/019Green.htm|work=Regiments.Org|access-date=28 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024090000/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/019Green.htm|archive-date=24 October 2007}}</ref> It returned to Britain in 1752 and spent most of the next decade on garrison duty in Scotland and Northern England.<ref>Powell, p.49</ref>

During the 1756 to 1763 [[Seven Years' War]], it took part in the [[capture of Belle Île]] in April 1761, where it suffered over 200 casualties. Officer recruitment was challenging as the cost of purchasing a commission in the 19th Foot was very high. This led to severe shortages in middling and senior ranks, with a total of 15 officer positions vacant during the assault on Belle Île including five captains and the regimental major.<ref>Rodger, p.253</ref> When peace was declared the regiment was reassigned to garrison duty in Gibraltar and Scotland. Its next active service was not until 1781 when it took part in a disastrous southern campaign in the closing stages of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>Powell, pp.55-56</ref> In 1782,  all foot regiments without a special designation were given a county title "to cultivate a connection with the County which might at all times be useful towards recruiting"<ref>Royal Warrant dated 31 August 1782</ref> and so the regiment was redesignated the '''19th (1st North Riding of Yorkshire) Regiment'''.<ref name=regiments/>

With the end of the American War, the regiment was stationed in Jamaica, a notoriously unhealthy posting where it was common for units to lose 100% of their strength every two years.<ref>Powell, p.56</ref> It remained there until 1791, when it returned to Britain; in 1796, it was posted to India, the also saw action at the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Siege of Seringapatam]] in April 1799 during the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]].<ref name="Cannon, p. 19">Cannon, p. 19</ref>