38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot
The 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1705 and amalgamated into the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1881.
History
The regiment was raised at Lichfield by General Luke Lillingston in February 1705, titled Luke Lillingstone's Regiment of Foot; it was the successor to two previous regiments raised by Lillingstone. In 1751, the regiment was numbered the 38th Regiment of Foot, and in 1782 took a county title as the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot. Later, the regiment became part of the South Staffordshire Regiment and then, in 1959, the Staffordshire Regiment. In 2007, The Staffordshire Regiment became 3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.
The regiment saw service in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, and a number of smaller colonial campaigns.