Seaforth Highlanders

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The regiment was created through the amalgamation of the 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and the 78th (Highlanders) (Ross-shire Buffs) Regiment of Foot, as part of the Childers Reforms of the British Army in 1881.

During the Victorian era, the regiment embarked for South Africa again in June 1828 and saw action again the Sixth Xhosa War in 1834 before returning home in May 1840.
In August 1842 it helped suppress the Preston Strike and was then sent to Gibraltar in November 1844 before setting sail for Barbados in February 1848. The regiment went on to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in July 1851 and returned home in October 1854.
The regiment embarked for Malta for service in the Crimean War in May 1855 and saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol later that year.
It went on to India to help suppress the Indian Rebellion and, after taking part in the Ambela Campaign in 1863, returned home in 1866.
It embarked for India again in 1871 and on to Afghanistan where it saw action at the Battle of Peiwar Kotal in November 1878, the Battle of Charasiab in October 1879 and the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879 as well as the Battle of Kandahar in September 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. During the Victorian era, the regiment embarked for a tour in Ceylon in April 1826 and did not return to England until February 1838. It embarked for India again in April 1842 for service in the First Anglo-Afghan War. While at Sindh, largely due to cholera, the regiment lost two officers, 496 soldiers and 171 women and children between September 1844 and March 1845. It then moved to Persia in January 1857 and took part in the Battle of Khushab in February 1857 during the Anglo-Persian War.
The regiment returned to India in May 1857 to help suppress the Indian Rebellion. It took part in the recapture of Cawnpore in July 1857 and then took part in the reinforcement of Lucknow strongly defending the residency until it was relieved in November 1857. The regiment won eight Victoria Crosses during the campaign and its role at Lucknow was commemorated by poets such as John Greenleaf Whittier and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The regiment returned home in September 1859.
The regiment embarked for Gibraltar in 1865 and then sailed on, in the troopship HMS Crocodile on 8 May 1869, to Halifax in Nova Scotia arriving on 14 May 1869. Each summer, men from the regiment camped at Bedford to practice musketry at the military range. On their departure in 1871, a farewell ball was hosted by the Grandmaster of the Masonic Lodge of Nova Scotia, Alexander Keith. The regiment, together with 17 young local women who had married soldiers, embarked for Ireland in the troopship HMS Orontes in November 1871. The Seaforth Highlanders was named after Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, who had originally raised the 72nd Regiment.Originally named "Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs)", Queen Victoria approved on 22 November 1881 to style the regiment forthwith as "Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's)".
The 1st battalion saw action at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War. After returning home, the 1st battalion again went abroad in 1896, taking part in the International Occupation of Crete in 1897 and the reconquest of the Sudan, being present at the Battle of Atbara in April and the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898. They then moved to Cairo, and from late 1902 was posted in India, where they were stationed at Nasirabad, Ajmer.
Meanwhile the 2nd battalion were stationed in India. They saw service on the North West Frontier, taking part in the Hazara Expeditions in the summer 1888 and the spring of 1891, and the Chitral Expedition in spring 1895. Returning home in 1897, the outbreak of the Second Boer War saw the 2nd Battalion travel to South Africa in November 1899, they suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Magersfontein in December 1899 and at the Battle of Paardeberg in February 1900.
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Sporran porté par les officiers


Assistant surgeon Valentine Munbee McMaster

 

Chirurgien assistant au 78e regiment. A servi en Perse, et durant la mutinerie en Inde.
Citation de la Victoria Cross :

Mutiny Campaign (25/09/1857) : For the intrepidity which he exposed himself to fire of the enemy, in bringing in and attending to the wounded on 25th sept at Lucknow .


Officer
Photo Bernier (Brest)



Lance sergeant Mitchell
72nd Highlander


Capitaine
Photo Mansfield (Dublin)


Color bearers


Photo Ewing (Aberdeen)- post 1902


Photo Thomson (Fermoy)- post 1902


Piper - post 1902

 


Band sergeant - Photo Lucknow (India)


Bandsman - lance corporal - Photo Church (Kildare)

 

 

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