About Us

The regiment was raised by Francis Humberstone MacKenzie, Chief of the Clan Mackenzie, as the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot (or The Ross-shire Buffs) on 8 March 1793. First assembled at Fort George in July 1793, the regiment embarked for Holland in September 1794 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. The regiment saw action at the defence of Nijmegen in November 1794. In a bayonet attack there the regiment lost one officer and seven men; a further four officers and 60 men were wounded. The regiment returned to England in April 1795 and then took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in June 1795 and the landing at Île d'Yeu in September 1795.

The regiment also took part in the successful attack by a British fleet under Sir George Elphinstone on the Dutch Cape Colony, then held by the forces of the Batavian Republic: the attack led to the capitulation by the Dutch Navy at Saldanha Bay and the capture of the colony by British forces in summer 1796. After returning home, the regiment embarked for India in February 1797 and saw action at the Battle of Assaye in September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. During the battle the regiment were tasked with retaking the Maratha gun line.

A second battalion was raised in May 1804. The 1st battalion remained in India and, from there, took part in the Invasion of Java and the capture of Fort Cornelis in August 1811. A ship carrying the regiment from Java to Calcutta was wrecked in the Bay of Bengal in November 1816 and the troops were stranded on the Island of Preparis for five weeks before being rescued. The regiment arrived home in July 1817.


The 2nd battalion embarked for the Italy and took part in the Battle of Maida in July 1806 It also took part in the Alexandia Expedition in spring 1807. Three companies of the regiment were captured at Al Hamed near Rosetta: among the prisoners was Thomas Keith who converted to Islam and entered Ottoman service. The battalion then took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809. The battalion embarked for Holland in 1813 and took part in a skirmish at Merksem in January 1814. The battalion returned home in 1815 and the two battalions amalgamated again in 1816.

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