The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry was a Scottish

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often foug ...

regiment of the British Army, raised in 1794. Under the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation wa ...

it amalgamated with the

26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot The 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the Scots Army and subsequently a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army, active from 1689 to 1881. Although the regiment took the name of its first colonel as The Earl of ...

to form the

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Re ...

in 1881.

History

Thomas Graham, Baron Lynedoch by Sir George Hayter

Formation

The landing of British troops at Aboukir, 8 March 1801

The regiment was raised in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

by Thomas Graham as the 90th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, on 10 February 1794. Graham was given permission to uniform and drill his regiment as a

battalion. It embarked as part of the

Quiberon Expedition The invasion of France in 1795 or the Battle of Quiberon was a major landing on the Quiberon peninsula by émigré, counter-revolutionary troops in support of the Chouannerie and Vendée Revolt, beginning on 23 June and finally definitively ...

and took part in the capture of the

Île d'Yeu Île d'Yeu () or L'Île-d'Yeu, is an island and commune just off the Vendée coast of western France. The island's two harbors, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule to the south, in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are fam ...

in September 1795. The following year the regiment was dispatched to support the French Royalist Lieutenant-general

François de Charette François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie (2 May 1763 – 29 March 1796) was a Franco-Breton Royalist soldier and politician. He served in the French Navy during the American Revolutionary War and was one of the leaders of the Revolt in the ...

in his struggle with the Republicans. It took part in the Capture of Minorca in November 1798 and then sailed for

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in November 1800 before transferring to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

in March 1801 for service in the

Egyptian Campaign The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

. It saw action at the Battle of Abukir on 8 March 1801 and the

Battle of Mandora The Battle of Mandora was a minor battle fought on 13 March 1801 between French forces under François Lanusse and the British expeditionary corps under Ralph Abercromby, during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. Background The British ar ...

on 13 March 1801 before returning to Malta in September 1801 and sailing for England in February 1802.

Napoleonic Wars

The regiment became the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) on absorbing the Perthshire Volunteers in 1802. A second battalion was raised in September 1804 but never left the United Kingdom. The 1st Battalion embarked for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in January 1805 and was garrisoned on Saint Vincent. It saw action at the invasion of Martinique in January 1809 and at the invasion of Guadeloupe in January 1810. The battalion then sailed for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in May 1814 and was garrisoned in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. The regiment became the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) in May 1815. The 1st Battalion arrived for

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

in August 1815 for service as part of the Army of Occupation of France. It absorbed the 2nd Battalion in 1817.

The Victorian era

The regiment sailed for Malta in October 1820 and then on to the Ionian Islands in October 1821 before returning home in 1830. It then embarked for

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in October 1835 and, after ten years on the island, sailed on to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

where it landed in April 1846 for service in the Seventh Xhosa War. It embarked for England in January 1847. It sailed to

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...

in December 1854 and saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854. The regiment returned to England in June 1856 but then embarked for India in February 1857 to help suppress the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. It took part in the relief of Lucknow in November 1857, an action which saw members of the regiment awarded six

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

es. The regiment embarked for home in September 1869. The regiment embarked for the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

in January 1878 and fought in the Ninth Xhosa War later that year. It also saw action at the

Battle of Kambula The Battle of Kambula took place on 29 March 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, when a Zulu military force attacked the British camp at Kambula, having routed the mounted element of the British force at the Battle of Hlobane the day before. The ...

in March 1879 and the

Battle of Ulundi The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu Kingdom, Zulu capital of Ulundi (Zulu:''oNdini'') on 4 July 1879 and was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British army broke the military power of the Zulu Kingdom, Zulu nation by def ...

in July 1879 during the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

. The regiment embarked for India again in October 1879.Delavoye, p. 260 As part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 90th was linked with the

73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot The 73rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1780. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 42nd Regiment of Foot to form the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in 1881. History Formation The re ...

, and assigned to district no. 60 at Hamilton Barracks. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the

to form the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: * ''Napoleonic Wars'':

Mandora File:Mandora MET DP168838.jpg, 6~9 courses lute (Calchedon, Calichon) (1726)Georg Kinsky: Musikhistorisches Museum von Wilhelm Heyer in Cöln, Bd. 2, Köln 1912, S. 98. File:Gallichon, Muzeum Instrumentów Muzycznych w Pradze.jpg, Gallichon The ...

, Egypt, Martinique 1809, Guadeloupe 1810 * ''Crimean War'':

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

* ''Indian Mutiny'': Lucknow * South Africa 1846-72, South Africa 1877-79 (awarded to Cameronian regiment in 1882)

Victoria Crosses

Victoria Crosses awarded to members of the regiment were: * Private John Alexander,

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

(18 June 1855) * Sergeant Andrew Moynihan, Crimean War (8 September 1855) * Lieutenant William Rennie, Indian Mutiny (21 September 1857) and (25 September 1857) * Surgeon Anthony Dickson Home, Indian Mutiny (26 September 1857) * Assistant surgeon William Bradshaw,

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

(26 September 1857) * Major

John Christopher Guise Lieutenant General John Christopher Guise (27 July 1826 – 5 February 1895) was a British Army officer and English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be aw ...

, Indian Mutiny (16 November 1857) * Sergeant

Samuel Hill Samuel Hill (13 May 1857 – 26 February 1931), usually known as Sam Hill, was an American businessman, lawyer, railroad executive, and advocate of good roads. He substantially influenced the Pacific Northwest region's economic dev ...

, Indian Mutiny (16 November 1857) * Private Patrick Graham, Indian Mutiny (17 November 1857) * Private Edmund Fowler,

(28 March 1879) * Lieutenant

Henry Lysons Colonel Henry Lysons VC CB (30 July 1858 – 24 July 1907) was a British recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces ...

, Anglo-Zulu War (28 March 1879)

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

90th Regiment of Foot

*1794–1823: Gen.

Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch (19 October 174818 December 1843) was a Scottish aristocrat, politician and British Army officer. After his education at Oxford, he inherited a substantial estate in Scotland, married and settled down to a quie ...

, GCB, GCMG

90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) - (1815)

*1823: Gen. Hon Robert Meade *1823–1837: Gen. Sir

Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertain ...

, GCH *1837–1841: Lt-Gen. Sir Henry Sheehy Keating, KCB *1841–1853: Gen. Sir Alexander Leith, KCB *1853–1857: Lt-Gen. Felix Calvert *1857–1862: Gen.

Alexander Fisher Macintosh Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, KH *1862: Gen.

George Upton, 3rd Viscount Templetown General George Frederick Upton, 3rd Viscount Templetown (5 August 1802 – 4 January 1890), styled The Honourable George Upton until 1863, was an Irish soldier and politician. Military career Upton was the second son of John Upton, 1st Visco ...

, GCB *1862–1881: Gen. William Hassell Eden *''1881: Regiment amalgamated with the

to form the

Commemorations

90th Light Infantry Memorial, North Inch (geograph 3727339)

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

monument, located at the southern end of Perth's

North Inch North Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 54 hectares in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the smaller, 31-hectare South Inch, located half a mile across the city. The inches were granted to the city, wh ...

, commemorates the regiment. Unveiled by

Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 183325 March 1913), was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, We ...

, on 8 December 1896, one of its plaques reads:''Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes'' – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 8 Another plaque states:

References

Sources

* *

External links

Perthshire Volunteers
{{Regiments of Foot Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Infantry regiments of the British Army 1794 establishments in Great Britain