Duke of Gloucester’s Regiment of Foot

Regiment raised for Charles II in exile from Irishmen in Flanders

• Raised in Flanders from Lord Taafe’s Irish Royalists

• May: Regiment mostly captured at Mount Cassel by Turenne

• William Taafe takes over from his father

• Prince Henry dies, Taafe remains Colonel

• Garrison of Mardyke

• November: Disbanded at Mardyke

The regiment's history is discussed in Firth, C. H. (1898), Royalist and Cromwellian Armies in Flanders, 1657-1662, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, pp. 67–119

Charles II began to raise an army at Bruges in Flanders in 1656, having signed a treaty to ally with Spain against France and Cromwellian England. Nominally commanded by Charles’ younger brother Henry, the regiment was formed from Lord Taafe’s Irish soldiers. When Turenne opened his campaign in May 1658, the Duke of Gloucester's regiment were mostly captured at Mount Cassel and therefore played no part in the Battle of the Dunes. In 1659 William Taafe replaced his father as field commander. By 1661 the regiment were in garrison at Mardyke and in 1662 were disbanded.

Prince Henry

Theobold, Lord Taafe

Son of Lord Taafe

• April 1657: Estimated at 400 men by English news-sheets
• December 1661: 500 men