| Active | 1642 |
| Country | England |
| Allegiance | Parliamentarian |
| Conflicts | First Civil War |
| Type | Foot |
| Colonel | Denzil Holles |
| Area Raised | London |
| Coat Colour | Red lined in white |
| Flag Colour | |
| Flag Design | |
| Field Armies | Essex 1642 |
Parliamentarian regiment of foot that served with the Earl of Essex’s army in 1642 until destroyed at Brentford
Initially consisted of six companies of some 1,200 men exclusive of officers recruited predominantly from London apprentices. By 1 October 1642 the regiment consisted of 1,130 men exclusive of officers in ten companies. The regiment maintained a reputation for being both godly and ill-disciplined. 400 Musketeers from Holles' regiment were interlaced with Ramsey’s squadrons at Edgehill.
The regiment suffered heavy losses at Brentford alongside Lord Brooke’s Regiment of Foot, following which the Royalists cynically called them butcher and dyers, probably referring to Holles' red coats and Brookes' purple coats. The contemporary source for this quote is Nehemiah Wharton 1); Nehemiah's letters were addressed to his former master and friend George Willingham, a merchant at the Golden Anchor, St Swithin's Lane, which were 'discovered' in the State Papers Office by Sir Henry Ellis and reported to the Society of Antiquaries. It would appear that Nehemiah was referring to the numbers of apprentices that were present in the Regiments rather than their coat colours. Disbanded soon after, some of the survivors were used to recruit Sergeant Major General Philip Skippon’s Regiment of Foot, while the remainder were sent into Sussex and formed the basis of Colonel Herbert Morley’s Regiment of Foot.
Issued red coats in September 1642 2).