35th Regiment of Foot - Historical Reenactment

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35th Regiment of Foot - Historical Reenactment

Welcome to the official page for the 35th Regiment of Foot - Royal Sussex Society! Like us The Society is accepting new members in the NJ/NY area!

The Royal Sussex Society reenacts the British soldiers and civilians of the 35th Regiment in the 18th and 19th Centuries to better understand and educate about the past.

04/18/2026

Our logo has been stolen and being used by scammers to sell shirts. Please report them if you see them.

11/09/2025

This Remembrance Sunday we salute and honor all those who gave the last full measure of devotion in the service of their country and for the freedoms we enjoy as a result. We remember them.

11/04/2025

The 35th and 42nd Royal Highland Regiment preparing to raise the Union Flag at the Purdy House in White Plains. 🇬🇧 The forces saluted as the flag was hoisted above. 🇬🇧

Photo by Jeff Bross

11/01/2025

A little throwback! Some 35th (Sussex) Regiment soldiers visit the ladies after the Battle of North Point, Maryland.

North Point was part of the Chesapeake campaign and while the battle was a British victory, the Americans withdrew in good order and the British commander, Major General Robert Ross, fell in action.

The 35th Regiment was not actually at this 1814 battle, they were in Europe, but, we were very happy to join with the Royal Marines and 3rd (Buffs) in standing up against Brother Jonathan in the War of 1812. 🇬🇧💥🇺🇸

10/31/2025

Happy from your favorite with the pumpkin orange facings! 🎃🇬🇧👑🫡

📸 Jeff Bross

10/30/2025

Some, although unfortunately not all, of the reenactors at the Battle of White Plains commemoration this past Sunday. You can see Mr Washington in the background. True to history, he will escape from the British, and we'll have to do it again! The Society was established in 2002 and so far we've been carrying out this supposedly-8-year-war for almost 3 times that length of time. We are stubborn. Maybe one day we will win...

Picture by Jeff Bross

The Royal Sussex Society is based in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.

10/28/2025

Fix bayonets! Hot lead gives way to cold steel when armies get close and a decisive action is needed. For troops who keep their nerve, a line of bayonets can deter an incoming attack or shatter a defender. In general, during the the British tended to try to get in fairly close with the enemy and deliver a powerful volley of musketry. Then, exploiting the shock and disorientation, follow with a bayonet charge to break their lines and spirits. This was not every engagement, but long, drawn-out firefights were something commanders would want to avoid, if possible. Unless very confident, defenders often yielded to an incoming bayonet attack to save themselves and reposition. Such charges would be vicious and gruesome affairs if the armies clashed, so they would not be ordered without careful judgment--or desperation.

There are some "reenactorisms" or myths about bayonets floating around. Triangular bayonets are NOT banned by the Geneva Convention, as some reenactors are known to say. The bayonets were that shape for rigidity and strength, just like a lance point or a nail vs. a flat knife. It does, however, make a particularly nasty and difficult-to-treat wound.

The bayonet is as much a psychological weapon as a tactical one. If a shaken enemy sees a rush of incoming with bayonets coming at them and flees rather than standing to fight, then that is a success for the British. The ground is taken, the enemy positions are disrupted. Also, panicking troops can spread their fear like a contagion among their ranks and potentially destabilize a whole situation. Only very disciplined troops will stand against a bayonet charge, and clever commanders will not issue a bayonet attack unless it seems like it would be successful or they have no choice.

Photo credit to Jeff Bross

10/27/2025

35th Regiment offer a salute to the fallen at the commemoration, marking 249 years since Sir William Howe's victory in Westchester, New York. The position is achieved by ordering "Present Your Firelocks" and is a near-universal position of rendering respects across armies. The movement is made in three crisp motions when the is carried at the shoulder.

The Royal Sussex Society is a multi-era unit based in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.

10/25/2025

A little look at our cartridge pouch. As we are a company, we have some extra bits and bobs, based off the De Loutherbourg sketches (see earlier post). One of the most asked questions we get, hands down, unquestionably, is, "What's that brass thing on your strap?" That tube is the match case which, if grenadiers were using gr***des in an assault on a fortified position, for example, would hold a piece of burning slow-match, or cord impregnated with saltpetre which would glow with an ember. The gr***de would be lit using that. During the gr***des were rarely if ever used by British infantry, however, and it was largely a mark of prestige. By 1784, the match case and grenadier sword would be officially abolished. The pouch itself holds 29 cartridges in a wooden block and has a small compartment below for extra flints, screwdriver ("turnscrew"), etc.

The 35th Regiment is in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. Check us out at RoyalSussex.Org

10/22/2025

Here is our officer with Mr Bedford, the latter hopefully about to bag a grouse or hare for our lunch with his shotgun. The officer has a number of different he was expected to have. This "undress" kit is what he would have worn on campaign or maneuvers in the . There are no gold braids or particularly fancy details aside from the sash. It was also common to stain the white helmet to khaki on campaign. The pistol would be the trusty service revolver, used in varying models into WW2, but an officer's true primary weapon is the body of men under his command. He has seen a few years of service and came in when commissions were still purchased, a practice ended by the reforms of 1871. The later British army was one which was gradually becoming more "professional" than it ever had been. This did not sit well with some particularly conservative and aristocratic elements in the hierarchy, but other rivals were growing, and adaptations had to be made. Russians, Germans, French, Italians, Ottomans--all had large conscript armies and aspirational foreign policies. While the United Kingdom was exceptionally powerful during this time, with a massive--growing--empire to look after, the army was all-volunteer. Armies are expensive, and the UK generally tried to remain aloof from European entanglements, preferring to support a delicate balance of power on the continent and protect its colonies. Among the Great Powers, the UK had the smallest standing army. The Royal Navy ensured Britannia ruled the waves and protected the critical merchant shipping that was the lifeblood of the Empire. The army was, one could say, an imperial constabulary that would semi-chaotically assemble an expeditionary force when needed, trusting that the officers and men would somehow get the job done--and they usually did!

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Hawthorne, NJ
07506

Website

http://royalsussex.org/

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