In 1759, Colonel John Hale of the 47th Foot was ordered back to Britain with General James Wolfe's final dispatches and news of his victory in the Battle of Quebec in September 1759.

[12] A troop from the 17th was attached to the British Legion, under the command of Colonel Banastre Tarleton, and was engaged in a number of battles of the southern campaign.

An officer of the regiment, Captain Stapleton, had the distinction of delivering to George Washington the despatch confirming the declaration of the cessation of hostilities.

[18] The regiment returned to Ireland, where it remained until 1795, when it sailed for the West Indies to reinforce depleted forces battling the French.

[23] In 1806, the regiment took part in the British invasions of the River Plate in Spanish-controlled South America, then an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars.

[24] Sir Home Riggs Popham had orchestrated an expedition against South America without the British government's sanction.

[2][3] The regiment did not learn of its new status until 1823, when, during a stopover at Saint Helena on its journey back to Britain, a copy of the Army List was obtained.

[32] Its reintroduction by the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, owed much to the performance of Napoleon Bonaparte's Polish Uhlans.

[37] The regiment, commanded by Captain William Morris, was in the first line of cavalry on the left flank during the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854.

[42] In December 1857 the regiment arrived in India to reinforce the effort to suppress the Indian rebellion against British rule.

By the time the regiment was prepared for service, the rebellion was effectively over, although it did take part in the pursuit of Tatya Tope, the rebel leader.

[3] The regiment was sent to Natal Colony for service in the Anglo-Zulu War and fought at the Battle of Ulundi under Sir Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe in July 1879.

[43] When the attack appeared to be wavering, the regiment was ordered to advance: their charge routed the warriors with heavy loss and proved to be decisive.

[43] In February 1900 a contingent from the regiment, comprising Lieutenant-Colonel E. F. Herbert and 500 troops, was deployed to South Africa for service in the Second Boer War,[45] and arrived to Cape Town on the SS Victorian early the next month.

[43] After the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, the regiment remained in continental Europe, joining the British Army of the Rhine in Cologne, Germany.

[43] The regiment then served in County Cork, Ireland, where it operated against the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.

[43] On 28 September 1920 IRA Volunteers led by Liam Lynch and Ernie O'Malley, raided the British Army barracks in Mallow, County Cork.