THIRD FOOT.
The Regiment had been in the service of Holland from the time of Queen Elizabeth, and so retained its title on being taken on the establishment of the British Army.
It bore in 1686 the Red Cross of St. George bordered with white on a green ground.
It received its badge of “the Dragon” for its gallant conduct on all occasions, and as indicating the origin of the Regiment in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
It also bears the Rose and Crown.
It captured eleven guns and a Standard at the Battle of Punniar.
It was nicknamed “the Buff Howards,” from its facings and Colonel from 1737 to 1749; also “the Nut-crackers”; and “the Resurrectionists,” from its reappearing at the Battle of Albuera after being dispersed by the Polish Lancers; also “the Old Buffs” from its facings, and to distinguish it from the 31st, “the Young Buffs;” but the most ancient “Old Buffs” was the “Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment,” raised in 1664, that was incorporated into the 2nd or Coldstream Guards in 1689.