The 73rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, raised in 1780. 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 was ...

it amalgamated with the

42nd Regiment of Foot The 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army also known as the Black Watch. Originally titled Crawford's Highlanders or the Highland Regiment and numbered 43rd in the line, in 1748, on the disband ...

to form the

Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

in 1881.

History

Sir George Osborn, Baronet by George Romney

Formation

The regiment was raised as the 2nd Battalion, 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot in March 1780, with eight officers from the 1st Battalion being detached to help raise the new battalion. The battalion was sent to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in January 1781 and took part in the

siege of Mangalore The siege of Mangalore was conducted during the Second Anglo-Mysore War by Tipu Sultan and forces of the Kingdom of Mysore against a British East India Company garrison led by Colonel Campbell. The port city of Mangalore on the west coast of I ...

in autumn 1783 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 ...

. It was still in India when the battalion received regimental status in 1786 as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot. The new regiment remained in India and saw action at the siege of Seringapatam in 1792 during 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 Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, and the Nizam of Hyderabad. It was the third of four Anglo- ...

,Cannon, p. 13 the siege of Pondicherry in August 1793 during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and the capture of the Dutch settlements in

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 1795.Cannon, p. 15 It went on to form part of the storming party at the siege of Seringapatam in April 1799 during the

Fourth Anglo-Mysore War The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99. This was the final conflict of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured ...

before returning to England in July 1806.Cannon, p. 21

Napoleonic Wars

1st Battalion

In April 1809 the regiment raised a second battalion in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

from local militia companies and lost its Highland status due to recruiting difficulties, becoming the 73rd Regiment of Foot. The 1st Battalion embarked at Yarmouth for a seven-month journey to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia in May 1809. The battalion's role was to ensure the newly appointed New South Wales Governor

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...

was able to govern after the previously appointed governor

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

was deposed by leading members of the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...

(102nd Regiment of Foot) in the

Rum Rebellion The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, the name derives fr ...

. There in 1810 they received a draft of men from the New South Wales Corps. The 73rd Regiment was under the command of

Maurice Charles O'Connell Sir Maurice Charles Philip O'Connell KCH (1768 – 25 May 1848) was a commander of forces and lieutenant-governor of colonial New South Wales. Early life Maurice Charles O'Connell was born in Ireland in 1768. He had had a distinguished career ...

who married

Mary Putland Mary Bligh, Lady O'Connell (later Putland and later O'Connell) (1783–1864) was the Lady of Government House, New South Wales, Australia during the period her father William Bligh was the Governor of New South Wales. Early life Mary Bligh was ...

, the widowed daughter of William Bligh in May 1810, which created ongoing tension with the leaders of the Rum Rebellion (such as John Macarthur) who were highly influential members of society within New South Wales. To reduce these tensions, the main body of the battalion left New South Wales in April 1814 on the ''General Hewitt'' for

. During the tour in Ceylon the battalion was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Giels, whose children, along with hundreds of wounded men of the regiment, perished in May 1815 in the wreck of the ''Arniston'' after visiting him there. The battalion took part in the Second Kandyan War in Ceylon in 1815. Following the disbanding of the 2nd Battalion in 1817, some 300 of its remaining soldiers were sent out to

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

to join the 1st battalion. In that year the regiment took part in suppressing the

Uva Rebellion UVA most often refers to: * Ultraviolet A, a type of ultraviolet radiation * University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States Uva or UVA may also refer to: Places * Uva, Missouri, an unincorpora ...

, losing 412 out of approximately 1,000 men.

2nd Battalion

The 2nd Battalion remained in England until May 1813 when it was shipped to

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...

and fought at the Battle of the Göhrde in September 1813 and the Battle of Merxem in January 1814. In 1815 the battalion joined Wellington's Army in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

: the regiment was in Major-General

Colin Halkett General Sir Colin Halkett (7 September 1774 – 24 September 1856) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. Family Halkett came from a military family. His father was Major General Frederick Godar Halkett and his yo ...

's Brigade in Lieutenant General Sir Charles Alten's 3rd Division. The battalion fought in the

Battle of Quatre Bras The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between ele ...

on 16 June 1815 where they lost 53 men killed and wounded. At the subsequent

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

on 18 June, the regiment was charged by French

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

no less than 11 times during the battle and bombarded by French artillery. It remained in

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

without breaking. The battalion lost 6 officers and 225 men killed and wounded, the second heaviest casualties suffered by a line infantry regiment, after the 1st Battalion 27th (Inniskillings), which lost 450 out of 700 men in holding their square and Wellington's line. The battalion formed part of the Army of Occupation in Paris before moving back to England in December 1815.

The Victorian era

In November 1821 the regiment returned home from Ceylon. It was posted to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

in August 1827 and to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in April 1838. After returning to England in June 1841, the regiment succeeded in having its Highland status restored, in so far as it was re-designated The 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1845. In January 1846, the 73rd Highlanders arrived in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to project British interests during the

Uruguayan Civil War The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed c ...

.Cannon, p. 40 The regiment then sailed on to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, 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 i ...

to take part in the Seventh Xhosa War. In 1852 a detachment from the regiment departed

Simon's Town Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern ...

aboard the troopship HMS ''Birkenhead'' bound for

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

. At two o'clock in the morning on 28 February 1852, the ship struck rocks at Danger Point, just off

Gansbaai Gansbaai (Dutch/Afrikaans for "bay of geese," sometimes referred to as Gans Bay or Gangs Bay) is a fishing town and popular tourist destination in the Overberg District Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa. It is known for its dense populatio ...

. The troops assembled on deck, and allowed the women and children to board the lifeboats first, but then stood firm as the ship sank when told by officers that jumping overboard and swimming to the

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

would mostly likely upset those boats and endanger the civilian passengers. 357 men drowned. In 1857 the regiment helped to 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 ...

seeing some action in Central India. In 1862 it received a new title becoming the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment was posted to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1866, back to Ceylon in 1871, and to India in 1874. 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 73rd was linked with the

90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry was a Scottish light infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot to form the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 188 ...

, and assigned to district no. 60 at

Hamilton Barracks Hamilton Barracks was a military installation in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. History The barracks, which were originally designed for use by cavalry, were built between 1794 and 1795. The cavalry moved out to Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow in 1877 ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the

, the regiment they originated from 95 years earlier, to form the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: * Anglo-Mysore Wars:

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

Seringapatam Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated at around 984 CE. Later, under the British rule the city wa ...

* Napoleonic Wars: Waterloo

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were: *1786: Gen.

Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet Sir George Osborn, 4th Baronet (10 May 1742 – 29 June 1818) was born into the British aristocracy. He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a British officer. He served in the House of Commons from 1769 to 1784 - before, during, and after ...

*1786–1796: Gen. Sir

William Medows General Sir William Medows KB (31 December 1738 – 14 November 1813) was an Englishman and a general in the British Army. He entered the army in 1756 and saw action in North America, the Cape, and India. In 1788 he was appointed Governor of Bom ...

, KB

73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot – (1787)

*1796–1800: Gen. Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake *1800–1829: Gen.

George Harris, 1st Baron Harris George Harris, 1st Baron Harris GCB (18 March 1746 – 19 May 1829) was a British soldier. Military career Harris was the son of the Reverend George Harris, curate of Brasted, Kent. He was educated at Westminster School and at the Royal ...

of Seringapatam and Mysore, GCB

73rd Regiment of Foot – (1809)

*1829–1835: Gen. Sir

Frederick Adam General Sir Frederick Adam (17 June 178117 August 1853) was a Scottish major-general at the Battle of Waterloo, in command of the 3rd (Light) Brigade. He was the fourth son of William Adam of Blair Adam and his wife Eleanora, the daughter of ...

, GCB, GCMG *1835–1845: Lt-Gen. William George Harris, 2nd Baron Harris of Seringapatam and Mysore, CB, KCH

73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot – (1845)

*1845–1846: Maj-Gen. Sir

Robert Henry Dick Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick KOV (29 July 1787 – 10 February 1846) was a Scottish soldier, son of a medical doctor in the East India Company's service. Military career He entered the British Army in 1800 serving in the 75th Regim ...

, KCB, KCH (died of wounds at the

Battle of Sobraon The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Sikhs were completely defeated, making this the decisive battle of th ...

) *1846–1849: Gen. Sir John Grey, KCB *1849–1852: Lt-Gen. Sir Richard Goddard Hare Clarges, KCB *1852–1857: Lt-Gen. Robert Barclay Macpherson, CB, KH *1857–1860: Lt-Gen. Chesborough Grant Falconar, KH *1860: Maj-Gen. Sir Michael Creagh, KH *1860–1865: Lt-Gen. Benjamin Orlando Jones, KH

73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot – (1862)

*1865–1881: Gen. Sir Henry Robert Ferguson-Davie, Bt.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* Archiv
catalogues for collections
relating to soldiers of the 73rd Regiment and 42nd Regiment (The Black Watch), The Black Watch Castle & Museum, Perth, Scotland. {{Regiments of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Highland regiments 1756 establishments in Scotland 1777 establishments in Scotland