NINETY-SEVENTH FOOT.
The Regiment was raised at Winchester.
It bears the motto “Quo fas et gloria ducunt.”
It is nicknamed “The Celestials” from its facings.
The first Regiment numbered the 97th was raised in 1760, and disbanded in 1763.
The second was raised in 1780, disbanded in 1783; it served at the defence of Gibraltar, 1781–1783.
The third was the 97th Strathspey Highlanders, raised in 1794, and disbanded in 1795.
The fourth was raised in 1798 from foreigners at the capture of Minorca as “The Queen’s Germans,” numbered 97th in 1802; it served in Egypt 1801, and in the Peninsula War, and was disbanded as 96th Queen’s Own in 1818. It had Blue facings.
The fifth was raised in 1804 as the 98th, and disbanded in 1818 as the 97th Foot. It had Buff facings.