Later linked to the regular Cheshire Regiment as its 4th (Militia) Battalion, the unit served in the Second Anglo-Boer War before disbandment in 1908.

The regiment was originally raised in Macclesfield on 25 July 1853 to provide additional Army strength during the Crimean War.

[6] In June 1884 Loch, by now knighted and governor of Victoria, Australia, retired and was made honorary colonel of the battalion.

[10][11] In February 1900 he was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Harrop Beck of Upton Priory, who commanded the unit during the Boer War and was made a Companion of the Bath in September 1901.

[14] The final commanding officer was Lieutenant-Colonel Henry M Nicholls, who was transferred to the unattached list when the battalion was disbanded in 1908.