A brief history

Sir Henry Bard

Henry Bard

Henry Bard, 1st Viscount Bellomont was an English Royalist.Bard was the son of the Reverend George Bard, Vicar of Staines, Middlesex, a representative of an old Norfolk family. He was educated at Eton, and in 1632 entered King's College, Cambridge, where he took the Master's degree and a fellowship...

's Regiment of Foote was a northern unit, originally called Colonel Thomas Pinchbeck's Regiment of Foote. Raised in Northumberland. It arrived in Oxford in May 1643 under the command of Colonel Thomas Pinchbeck. Half of Pinchbeck's regiment was split from the regiment under Bard's command to form Lord Percy's

Henry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick

Henry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick , son of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, sat in the Short Parliament as the member for Portsmouth, and in the Long Parliament an M.P. for Northumberland; an originator of the "first army plot" in 1641, after which he retired to France...

 Foote. Pinchbeck was killed at the first battle of Newbury

First Battle of Newbury

The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex...

, and Bard took control of Pinchbeck's half of the regiment, hence the name change. The regiment's first major conflict under its new commanding officer was at Cheriton Wood

Battle of Cheriton

The Battle of Cheriton was an important Parliamentarian victory in the English Civil War. It took place on 29 March 1644 and resulted in the defeat of a Royalist army, which threw King Charles I onto the defensive for the remainder of the year.-Campaign:...

. It was a disaster; records suggest that a week later the regiment numbered 176 men.
The regiment later fought at Battle of Cropredy Bridge

Cropredy Bridge

Cropredy Bridge was first built in 1312 and carries a road into a village of the same name beside the upper reaches of the River Cherwell at Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England...

, Battle of Lostwithiel

Lostwithiel

Lostwithiel is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739...

 and the second battle of Newbury

Second Battle of Newbury

The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the English Civil War fought on 27 October, 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in late September the previous year.The combined armies of Parliament...

, before being reinforced by the Queen's lifeguard and forming the garrison of Campden House.

It is possible that they may also at this time have become an all musketeer unit as was normal with garrisons and firelock muskets were certainly issued. Originally they wore grey or white coats but it is possible that red coats may have been issued at this time. The unit was finally destroyed at the Battle of Naseby

Battle of Naseby

The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...

; all of its colours were captured.

As part of the Sealed Knot

The present day regiment has two companies: Captain Errington's Companye, based mainly in Essex but also having members as far a field as Ipswich and Devon and The Major's Companye, based mainly around Basingstoke.
The regiment consists of pike, musket, drums, ensigns, artillery and camp followers. There are also two cannons within the regiment: Donna and Lizzy B.

External links

• http://bards.thesealedknot.org.uk http://bards.thesealedknot.org.uk.