In 1872 Secretary of War Edward Cardwell's Localisation Committee created "Sub-district Brigade Depots". This scheme, taking effect 1 April 1873, paired 141 regular army battalions at 68 numbered permanent depots. In theory at least, one partner in a pair of battalions served overseas service while the other battalion remained at the depot to recruit and train and send drafts to the overseas battalion, and at regular intervals they would change places. In 1874 these were renamed "Infantry Brigade Depots". While most of the old regimental county names were respected by creating depots for them in those counties, it was impossible to pair all battalions accordingly, and 37 of the old regiments found themselves in a "foreign" home.

     Secretary of War Hugh Childers implemented a second phase of this territorialisation scheme on 1 July 1881, permanently linking the paired battalions into new two-battalion regiments. The 1st through 25th Regiments and the 60th and Rifle Brigade already had multiple battalions, thus exempting them from the trauma of change. Albeit with much resistance, the regiments gave up the numbers by which they had been known for 130 years, and the "brigade" depots were renamed Regimental Districts which took their numbers from the senior of the two old paired regiments. In the 1881 reorganisation seven of the 1873 pairings of battalions were rearranged -- a minor tweaking of the system. Regiments which since 1873 had developed territorial ties incongruous with their 1782 county titles were retitled more appropriately.

     The odd number of battalions was addressed in 1873 by placing the 17th Regiment (2 battalions) and 45th Regiment (1 battalion) in the same depot. One Scottish regiment (94th) was put in Ireland, producing an even number of battalions in both Scotland and Ireland. In 1881 the 75th Regiment was moved from England to Scotland. All the 1873 Scottish pairings were reshuffled, and the 79th Regiment became the odd one with a single battalion. It raised its own 2nd Battalion in 1897.