The 72nd Highlanders was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line. Raised in 1778, it was originally numbered 78th, before being redesignated the 72nd in 1786. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment to form the 1st Battalion of the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

in 1881.

History

Early history

The regiment was raised in the Western Highlands by Kenneth Mackenzie, Earl of Seaforth as the Seaforth (Highland) Regiment in January 1778 as an act of gratitude for the restoration of the family Earldom which had been forfeited during the Jacobite 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 at Elgin, its first base, in May 1778. In August 1778 the regiment marched to

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

to embark for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

– but a dispute regarding their terms of service led about half the men to march back to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

where they took up a position of protest on

Arthur's Seat Arthur's Seat (, ) is an ancient extinct volcano that is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bol ...

, remaining there for several days. Here they were supplied with food by the people of the capital, who supported them in their grievances. The protest was reported in the London newspapers, including articles contributed by

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

. 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.Because of the large numbers of men from the clan Macrae being part of the force, this mutiny became known as "The affair of the Macraes." At this time, the regiment was designated the 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or Seaforth (Highland) Regiment. The regiment embarked for

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

in September 1778, where in May 1779 they helped to repulse a French invasion. They moved to England in April 1781. Posted to India, the regiment embarked from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, with a strength of 973 rank and file, in June 1781. Because of change of diet, rough seas and scurvy, 274 died on the voyage; including the Earl of Seaforth, whose cousin Lieutenant Colonel Humberston 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 of Sir 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 the 73rd (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 against

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

. Colonel Humberston Mackenzie was killed in April 1783 on board the sloop in action against a Mahratta fleet on his return journey from

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

during the

Second Anglo-Mysore War The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in t ...

. Major-General James Murray then succeeded to the colonelcy in November 1783. 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. At the end of the war with the French, the number of Crown regiments was reduced and the regiment re-ranked as the 72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot on 12 September 1786. In December 1789 the

Third Anglo-Mysore War The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Travancore, Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, Maratha Confederacy, and the Nizam of Hyderabad ...

started and the regiment saw action at the siege of Bangalore in February 1791and the siege of Savendroog in December 1791 as well as the siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 which marked the end of the War. Remaining in India, the regiment next saw action at the siege of Pondicherry in August 1793 during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. It then landed in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in spring 1794, helping to seize the island from the Dutch. The regimemt returned home in February 1798, although many men were transferred to understrength units remaining in India. Back in Scotland, the regiment recruited 900 men from home-defence Fencible Regiments, a quarter of whom were English or Irish.

Napoleonic Wars

The 72nd moved to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1801. A second battalion was raised in 1804 but it remained in the United Kingdom throughout the War, and was disbanded in 1816. In August 1805 the 1st battalion put to sea and landed in

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

before moving on to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

at the end of the year and taking part in the

Battle of Blaauwberg The Battle of Blaauwberg (also known as the Battle of Cape Town) was a successful British amphibious operation during the War of the Third Coalition which lasted from 8–18 January 1806 and resulted in the capture of the Dutch Cape Colony. Af ...

against the Dutch in January 1806. The regiment was renamed the 72nd Regiment of Foot and lost its highland uniform in April 1809, although it preserved many Scottish traditions, including unofficial retention of pipers. From

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the 1st battalion sailed again and took part in the Invasion of Isle de France (Mauritius) in December 1810. It returned to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in June 1814 and, apart from a short posting in India in 1815, remained at the Cape until returning home in March 1822. In December 1823 the regiment was renamed the 72nd (or Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot after

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and King of Hanover, Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A so ...

, again adopting Highland dress but with trews, with only pipers wearing the kilt.

The Victorian era

The regiment embarked for South Africa again in June 1828 and saw action in the Sixth Xhosa War in 1834–1835 before returning home in May 1840. In August 1842 it helped suppress the Preston Strike and was then sent to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in November 1844 before sailing to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in February 1848. The regiment went on to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, in July 1851 and returned home in October 1854. The following year, the regiment moved first to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, then to serve in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, arriving in May 1855, serving at the siege of Sevastopol as part of Colin Campbell's Highland Brigade. They returned home in 1856, and in August 1857 moved on to India to help suppress the

Indian Rebellion 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 form ...

, serving in the

Central Indian campaign of 1858 The Central India Campaign was one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British Army and Bombay Army overcame a disunited collection of states in a single rapid campaign, although determined rebels continued a guerr ...

. It remained in India until 1866, when it returned home. It embarked for India again in 1871. The regiment played a prominent part in the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai ...

of 1878–80, seeing action at the

Battle of Peiwar Kotal The Battle of Peiwar Kotal was fought on 2 December 1878 between British forces under Major General Frederick Roberts and Afghan forces under Karim Khan, during the opening stages of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British were victorious, and s ...

in November 1878, the Battle of Charasiah in October 1879 and the

siege of the Sherpur Cantonment The siege of the Sherpur Cantonment was a battle fought in December 1879, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. British forces were besieged by Afghan troops, then repulsed an assault. Background On 3 September 1879 Sir Pierre Cavagnari, the B ...

near Kabul in December 1879. They were then part of General Robert's column that marched from Kabul to Kandahar before taking part in the Battle of Kandahar in September 1880. 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 attentio ...

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 the

91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot The 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Line Regiment of the British Army, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot to form the Argyll and Sutherland Hi ...

, and assigned to district no. 58 at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment to form the 1st Battalion of the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *Carnatic (1782–96) *Hindoostan (1782–96) *Mysore (1782–96) * Cape of Good Hope (1806) *

(1835) *

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

(1855) *

Central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

(1855) * Afghanistan 1878–80, Peiwar Kotal, Charasiah,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

(1878–80)

Victoria Cross recipients

*Lieutenant

Aylmer Spicer Cameron Colonel Aylmer Spicer Cameron (12 August 1833 – 10 June 1909) was a British Army officer and 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 Com ...

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 form ...

(30 March 1858) *Lance-Corporal

George Sellar George Sellar Victoria Cross, VC (1850 – 1 November 1889) was a Scotland, Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to United Kingdom, Britis ...

(14 December 1879)

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

Lieutenant Colonels Commandant

Seaforth (Highland) Regiment *1777–1781: Col.

Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth FRS (15 January 1744 – 27 August 1781) was a British peer, politician, soldier and Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie. Origins Mackenzie was the son of Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose (died 176 ...

(died at sea, 1781) 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or Seaforth (Highland) Regiment – (1778) *1782–1783: Col.

Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston (1753 – 30 April 1783) was a British Army officer and Chief of the Scottish Highlands, Highland Clan Mackenzie. Origins Mackenzie was the eldest son of Major William Mackenzie (died 12 March 1770), by Mary ...

*1783–1786: Lt-Gen. James Murray

Colonels

72nd (Highland) Regiment of Foot – (1786) *1786–1794: Lt-Gen. James Murray *1794–1798: Lt-Gen. Sir Adam Williamson, KB *1798–1815: Gen. James Stuart 72nd Regiment of Foot – (1809) *1815–1817: Gen. Sir

Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, (11 August 1772 – 10 December 1842) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Hill became Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in 1828. Well- ...

, GCB, GCH, KC *1817–1823: Gen. Sir George Murray, GCB, GCH 72nd (or Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot – (1823) *1823–1836: Lt-Gen. Sir John Hope, GCH *1836–1847: Lt-Gen. Sir Colin Campbell, KCB *1847–1851: Lt-Gen. Sir

Neil Douglas Lieutenant-General Sir Neil Douglas (1779 – 1 September 1853) was a British Army officer who fought at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo and later became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Life He was born in Glasgow the fifth son of John Douglas ...

, KCB, KCH *1851–1870: Gen. Sir

John Aitchison John Aitchison (22 July 1926 – 23 December 2016) was a Scottish statistician. Career John Aitchison studied at the University of Edinburgh after being uncomfortable explaining to his headmaster that he didn’t plan to attend university. H ...

, GCB *1870: Gen.

Charles George James Arbuthnot General Charles George James Arbuthnot, DL (180121 October 1870) was a British general. Early life Arbuthnot was born at sea aboard the frigate ''Juno'' and raised at Woodford, Northamptonshire. His father, Charles Arbuthnot, was a prominent T ...

*1870–1881: Gen. Charles Gascoyne *1881: Gen. Sir

Edward Selby Smyth General Sir Edward Selby Smyth, (31 March 1819 22 September 1896) was a British General. He served as the first General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada from 1874 to 1880. Military career Educated at Putney College in Surrey, Smyth wa ...

, KCMG

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:72nd Regiment of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Highland regiments Scottish regiments Military units and formations established in 1778 Regiments of the British Army in the Crimean War Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Seaforth Highlanders 1778 establishments in Great Britain 1881 disestablishments in the United Kingdom