 Shortly after King George II ordered that the dates of seniority of the 64th Foot and the other regiments created on 21 April 1758 should be backdated to the date of their raising as 2nd battalions, therefore the date seniority of the 64th Foot became 1756.The first colonel of the regiment was the Honourable John Barrington and it was he who decided that the facings of the 64th Foot should be black.Almost immediately after becoming the 64th Foot, the regiment was sent to the West Indies.