Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous powder horn dating to the late 18th century, depicting a regimental marking for the 5th Regiment of Foot, which saw heavy fighting in the Seven Years’ War & the American Revolutionary War, and were present at the Battle of Lexington & Concord. The horn is also gorgeously carved with the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. 

The horn is missing its plug, and measures 12” overall. The unit marking reads V REG FOOT indicating the 5th Regiment of Foot. The bottom of the horn is plugged well and is a bit dirty. This is a great example worthy of further research! Comes ready for further research and display.

The regiment remained in Ireland for the first part of the War of the Spanish Succession, before being sent to Portugal in 1707 as part of the army under the Earl of Galway. Its first serious action was the May 1709 Battle of La Gudina; a disastrous defeat, where the Allies lost over 4,000 prisoners, the regiment took part in a rearguard action that enabled the rest of the army to withdraw.

This ended offensive operations and when the war ended in 1713, the regiment was posted to Gibraltar, where it spent the next 15 years. It was part of the garrison during the 1727 Anglo-Spanish War, when the Spanish besieged Gibraltar for over four months.

On 1 July 1751, a royal warrant provided that in future regiments would not be known by their colonels' names, but by their "number or rank" and it became the 5th Regiment of Foot.

During the Seven Years' War, it was engaged in the 1758 Raid on Cherbourg, the 1760 Battle of Warburg and Kirch Denkern in 1761, where they captured an entire French regiment. It also took part in the 1762 Battle of Wilhelmsthal, before returning to Ireland after the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Due to the increasing tensions that later resulted in the American Revolutionary War, the regiment was shipped to Boston, Massachusetts in May 1774. Elements of the unit were involved in the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and the Battle of Bunker Hill in June.

After being evacuated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1776 the 5th took part in the expedition to New York, including the battles of Long Island and White Plains, and capture of Fort Washington and Fort Lee, New Jersey. They subsequently joined Howe's 1777 campaign against Philadelphia; at Brandywine Creek, they broke the Continental Army's centre and captured five cannons. Despite this success, in 1778 the British army withdrew and the regiment was involved in fighting at Monmouth Court House.