71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot
71st Regiment of Foot | |
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Ambela Campaign |
The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881.
History
Formation
The regiment was raised at Elgin by Major-General John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot (McLeod's Highlanders) from Highland clans in December 1777.[4] A second battalion was formed in September 1778.[5] The 1st battalion embarked for India in January 1779[6] and, having landed some troops at Gorée in Senegal on the way, reached Madras in January 1780.[7] The flank companies were captured at Conjeveram in September 1780 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.[8] The battalion went on to take part in the Battle of Porto Novo in July 1781,[9] the Battle of Pollilur in August 1781[10] and the Battle of Sholinghur in September 1781.[11] After that the battalion took part in the siege of Cuddalore in June 1783.[12]
Meanwhile, the 2nd battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
The regiment was redesignated as the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (MacLeod's Highlanders) in 1786[2] and saw action at the siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War.[14]
Napoleonic Wars
Remaining in India, the regiment fought at the siege of Pondicherry in August 1793[15] during the French Revolutionary Wars before transferring to Ceylon in August 1795[15] and returning to Scotland in August 1798.[16]
A second battalion was again raised in October 1804 but remained in Scotland throughout the War.
The 1st battalion was reformed and embarked for Portugal in June 1808 for service in the Peninsular War.[20] Renamed the 71st (Glasgow Highland) Regiment of Foot later that month,[2] it saw action at the Battle of Roliça in August 1808,[21] the Battle of Vimeiro later that month[22] and Battle of Corunna in January 1809[23] before being evacuated from the Peninsula.[24] In March 1809 it became a light infantry regiment,[25] and the regiment next took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809[26] before returning home and being renamed the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) in spring 1810.[2]
The regiment returned to the Peninsular in September 1810[27] and saw action at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811,[28] the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos in October 1811[29] and the Battle of Almaraz in May 1812[30] as well as the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813.[31] It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,[32] the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813[33] and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813[33] as well as the Battle of Orthez in February 1814[34] and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.[34] The battalion returned home in July 1814 and then embarked for Ostend in April 1815: it saw action as part of the 3rd Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.[35]
The Victorian era
The regiment embarked for
As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 71st was linked with the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 55 at Cameron Barracks in Inverness.[41] On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Highland Light Infantry.[2]
Battle honours
Battle honours awarded to the regiment were:[2]
- Hindoostan
- Cape of Good Hope 1806
- Peninsular War: Orthes, Peninsula
- Napoleonic Wars: Waterloo
- Crimean War: Sevastopol
- Central India
Colonels
Colonels of the regiment were:[2]
73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot (MacLeod's Highlanders)
- 1777–1789: Maj-Gen. John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod
71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (MacLeod's Highlanders) – 1786
- 1789–1803: Gen. Hon. William Gordon of Fyvie
- 1803–1809: Gen. Rt. Hon. Sir John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden
71st (Glasgow Highland Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot – 1809
- 1809–1824: Gen. Francis Dundas
71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) – 1810
- 1824–1829: Gen. Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB
- 1829–1838: Gen. Sir Colin Halkett, KCB, KCH
- 1838–1841: Lt-Gen. Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham, KCB, KCH
- 1841–1848: Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Reynell, 6th Baronet, KCB
- 1848–1849: Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, KCB
- 1849–1857: Gen. Sir James Macdonell, GCB, KCH
- 1857–1863: Gen. Sir Thomas Erskine Napier, KCB
- 1863–1870: Gen. Hon. Charles Grey
- 1870–1874: Lt-Gen. Robert Law, KCB
- 1874–1880: Gen. Hon. Sir George Cadogan, KCB
- 1880–1881: Gen. John Hamilton Elphinstone Dalrymple, CB (to Highland Light Infantry)
- 1881: Regiment amalgamated the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to form the Highland Light Infantry
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-84832-562-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "71st (Glasgow Highland Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Tartan Details - 78th Highlanders Regiment". TartanRegister.gov.uk. Scottish Register of Tartans. 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ Cannon, p. 2
- ^ Cannon, p. 3
- ^ Cannon, p. 5
- ^ Cannon, p. 7
- ^ Cannon, p. 9
- ^ Cannon, p. 14
- ^ Cannon, p. 15
- ^ Cannon, p. 17
- ^ Cannon, p. 30
- ^ Reid, Stuart (2004). "Mackenzie, John, Lord Macleod, and Count Cromarty in the Swedish nobility (1727–1789)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ Cannon, p. 49
- ^ a b Cannon, p. 52
- ^ Cannon, p. 54
- ^ Cannon, p. 58
- ^ Cannon, p. 63
- ^ "Lord MacLeod's Highlanders 1800 – 1810". Military History. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ Cannon, p. 67
- ^ Cannon, p. 68
- ^ Cannon, p. 69
- ^ Cannon, p. 73
- ^ Cannon, p. 74
- ^ Cannon, p. 76
- ^ Cannon, p. 78
- ^ Cannon, p. 81
- ^ Cannon, p. 84
- ^ Cannon, p. 87
- ^ Cannon, p. 90
- ^ Cannon, p. 94
- ^ Cannon, p. 97
- ^ a b Cannon, p. 102
- ^ a b Cannon, p. 104
- ^ Cannon, p. 108
- ^ Cannon, p. 116
- ^ Cannon, p. 118
- ^ a b Cannon, p. 119
- ^ a b Cannon, p. 121
- ^ a b c "71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot: Locations". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
Sources
- Cannon, Richard (1852). "Historical record of the seventy-first regiment, Highland Light Infantry, containing an account of its history from its formation in 1777 and of its subsequent services to 1852". Parker, Furnivall & Parker.