| 72nd Highland Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Regimental cap badge | |
| Active | 1778–1881 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Great Britain (1778–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1881) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | InfantryRegiment |
| Size | Onebattalion (two battalions 1804–1816) |
| Garrison/HQ | Stirling Castle (1873–81)[1] |
| Nickname | The Wild Macraes[2] |
| Engagements | Second Mysore War (1782–84) Third Mysore War (1789–92) Siege of Pondicherry (1793) Cape of Good Hope (1806) Isle de France (1810) South Africa (1835) Crimean War (1855–56) Indian Rebellion (1858) Second Afghan War (1878–80) |
| Insignia | |
| Tartan | |
The72nd Highlanders was aBritish ArmyHighland Infantry Regiment of the Line. Raised in 1778, it was originally numbered 78th, before being redesignated the 72nd in 1786. Under theChilders Reforms it amalgamated with the78th (Highlanders) Regiment to form the 1st Battalion of theSeaforth Highlanders in 1881.
The regiment was raised in the Western Highlands byKenneth Mackenzie, Earl of Seaforth as theSeaforth (Highland) Regiment in January 1778[6] as an act of gratitude for the restoration of the familyEarldom which had been forfeited during theJacobite rising of 1715. A corps of 1,130 men was raised of whom 900 were Highlanders and the remainder came from the Lowlands: it was established atElgin, its first base, in May 1778.[7]
In August 1778 the regiment marched toLeith to embark forIndia – but a dispute regarding their terms of service led about half the men to march back toEdinburgh where they took up a position of protest onArthur's Seat, remaining there for several days. Here they were supplied with food by the people of the capital, who supported them in their grievances.[8] The protest was reported in the London newspapers, including articles contributed byJames Boswell.[9] After three days of negotiations, a compromise was reached and the soldiers were pardoned. They were again marched to their quarters at Leith, led by the Earl of Seaforth, with the plan to send them to India now abandoned.[Note 1][10] At this time, the regiment was designated the78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or Seaforth (Highland) Regiment.[10] The regiment embarked forJersey in September 1778, where in May 1779 they helped to repulse aFrench invasion. They moved to England in April 1781.[11]
Posted to India, the regiment embarked fromPortsmouth, with a strength of 973 rank and file, in June 1781.[12] Because of change of diet, rough seas and scurvy, 274 died on the voyage; including the Earl of Seaforth, whose cousin Lieutenant ColonelHumberston Mackenzie took command of the regiment. On arrival at Madras on 2 April 1782, only 369 were fit to carry arms. They joined the army ofSir Eyre Coote at Chingleput at the beginning of May 1782 but because of their general health, they were considered unfit for service. Those able to wield arms were drafted into the73rd (Macleod's Highlanders) Regiment. By October 1782 they had recovered their strength and "the colours were once again unfurled" to allow the regiment to take part in the wars againstTipu Sultan.[10] Colonel Humberston Mackenzie was killed in April 1783 on board the sloopHMS Ranger in action against aMahratta fleet on his return journey fromBombay toMadras during theSecond Anglo-Mysore War. Major-GeneralJames Murray then succeeded to the colonelcy in November 1783.[10]
The men had enlisted for a three-year period of service and 425 took their discharge in 1784 and returned to Scotland, the remainder electing to remain in India. They were joined by men from other regiments who had also opted to remain on the sub-continent, bolstering the regiment's numbers to 700 men.[13] At the end of the war with the French, the number of Crown regiments was reduced and the regiment re-ranked as the72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot on 12 September 1786.[14]
In December 1789 theThird Anglo-Mysore War started and the regiment saw action at thesiege of Bangalore in February 1791[15]and thesiege of Savendroog in December 1791[16] as well as thesiege of Seringapatam in February 1792 which marked the end of the War.[17] Remaining in India, the regiment next saw action at thesiege of Pondicherry in August 1793 during theFrench Revolutionary Wars.[18] It then landed inCeylon in spring 1794, helping to seize the island from theDutch. The regimemt returned home in February 1798,[19] although many men were transferred to understrength units remaining in India. Back in Scotland, the regiment recruited 900 men from home-defenceFencible Regiments, a quarter of whom were English or Irish.[20]
The 72nd moved toIreland in 1801.[21] A second battalion was raised in 1804 but it remained in the United Kingdom throughout the War,[22] and was disbanded in 1816.[23] In August 1805 the 1st battalion put to sea and landed inMadeira before moving on to theCape of Good Hope at the end of the year and taking part in theBattle of Blaauwberg against the Dutch in January 1806.[24] The regiment was renamed the72nd Regiment of Foot and lost its highland uniform in April 1809,[6] although it preserved many Scottish traditions, including unofficial retention of pipers.[5] FromSouth Africa, the 1st battalion sailed again and took part in theInvasion of Isle de France (Mauritius) in December 1810.[25] It returned toCape Town in June 1814[26] and, apart from a short posting in India in 1815,[23] remained at the Cape until returning home in March 1822.[27] In December 1823 the regiment was renamed the72nd (or Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot afterPrince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany,[6] again adopting Highland dress but withtrews,[28] with only pipers wearing the kilt.[3]
The regiment embarked for South Africa again in June 1828[29] and saw action in theSixth Xhosa War in 1834–1835[30] before returning home in May 1840.[31] In August 1842 it helped suppress thePreston Strike[32] and was then sent toGibraltar in November 1844 before sailing toBarbados in February 1848.[33] The regiment went on toHalifax, Nova Scotia, in July 1851 and returned home in October 1854.[32] The following year, the regiment moved first toMalta,[32] then to serve in theCrimean War, arriving in May 1855, serving at thesiege of Sevastopol as part ofColin Campbell's Highland Brigade.[34] They returned home in 1856, and in August 1857 moved on to India to help suppress theIndian Rebellion, serving in theCentral Indian campaign of 1858. It remained in India until 1866, when it returned home.[35] It embarked for India again in 1871. The regiment played a prominent part in theSecond Afghan War of 1878–80, seeing action at theBattle of Peiwar Kotal in November 1878, theBattle of Charasiah in October 1879 and thesiege of the Sherpur Cantonment near Kabul in December 1879. They were then part ofGeneral Robert's column that marched from Kabul to Kandahar before taking part in theBattle of Kandahar in September 1880.[36]
As part of theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 72nd was linked with the91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 58 atStirling Castle.[37] On 1 July 1881 theChilders Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the78th (Highlanders) Regiment to form the 1st Battalion of theSeaforth Highlanders.[6]
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[38]
Colonels of the Regiment were:[6]
Seaforth (Highland) Regiment
78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or Seaforth (Highland) Regiment – (1778)
72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot – (1786)
72nd Regiment of Foot – (1809)
72nd (or Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot – (1823)
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