Of the three original fusilier regiments, the 7th are now The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the 21st have disappeared into The Royal Regiment of Scotland while the 23rd are now the 1st Battalion of The Royal Welsh, so only the old 7th retain the fusilier title. However, since the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welsh (old 24th and 41st Foot) gained the fusilier hackle, plus the Welch Fusilier "flash" and the Goat on amalagamation, The new Royal Welsh is thus royal, Welsh and fusilier. This being the case, it is very strange that the fusilier distinction does not appear in the title of this new entity.
The 1/7th and 2/7th and the 1/23rd formed the Fusilier Brigade in 1810, possibly one of the best infantry formations in Wellington's army (although I might get some argument there). Casualties at Albuera caused the two 7th battalions to be amalgamated and a battalion of the 48th to be added to the brigade, later replaced by the 1/20th which were familiarly known as "The Young Fusiliers" and later gained the title Lancashire Fusiliers in 1881. They are now part of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
The Fusilier Brigade connection between the old 7th and 23rd has been retained to this day and officers of the RRF and 1/RW have reciprocal privileges in each other's messes.
However, back to my original question which started this fusilier mania, does anyone have a good source that will state when the 23rd Foot stopped wearing their bearskins on active service. It had to have been sometime between 1799 and 1808 but I would like to pin it down.
DE Graves