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UNDER the localisation scheme of 1st April
1873, the 74th Regiment was linked, for administrative and enlistment purposes, with the
26th Cameronians, the two battalions, with reserves, forming the 59th Brigade, with the
depot at Hamilton. The change was not, however, at first fully carried out, and the depot
companies remained at Shorncliffe till the 21st September 1874, when they were sent to
Paisley, where they were stationed till 1877, proceeding to Hamilton only in November of
that year.
In 1875 there was no event of importance except the
issue of the Martini-Henry rifle, which became the service weapon on the 17th of April. In
1876, General C. A. Shawe, who had been colonel of the regiment since 1856, died at
Torquay, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir P. E. Herbert,
K.C.B., who, however, held command only from the 5th of April till the 7th of October, his
death taking place on the latter date at Market Drayton. He was succeeded by
Lieutenant-General W. D. P. Patton. The regiment, which had been ordered on foreign
service, embarked, on the 2d of December the same year, on H.M.S. "Orontes"
which was to convey it to the Straits Settlements. Trincomalee was reached on the 29th of
December, and on the 9th of January 1877 headquarters and two companies of the battalion,
under the command of Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Jago, were landed at Penang.
Three companies were conveyed by local steamers to different points along the coast; one
company was disembarked at Malacca on the 15th, and on the 18th the remaining two landed
at Singapore, where Colonel M’Leod, who accompanied them, took up the duties of
"Commandant of Straits Settlements."
In consequence of the departure of
the 80th regiment for the Cape of Good Hope, the headquarters of the 74th
removed in March from Penang to Singapore, and, as the country was by this
time perfectly quiet, the detached companies along the coast were
withdrawn except two which remained at Penang, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Jago, and the one stationed at Malacca. In January 1878
the battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jago — Colonel M’Leod
remaining at Singapore in command of the Straits Settlements—proceeded
in H.M.S. "Tamar" to Hong Kong, disembarking there on the 29th
of the month, and occupying the various barracks in the city. On the 3d of
April Colonel M’Leod retired on half-pay,. and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel
Jago was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the regiment. While at
Hong Kong the health of all ranks became so seriously affected that the
battalion was, in March 1879, ordered back to the Straits Settlements,
Singapore being reached on the 16th of the month. One company was landed
at Malacca on the 18th, and two companies, under Major R. E. Deare, were
sent to Penang. On the 8th of December the 74th embarked on H.M.S. "Orontes"
for home, and on the 21st January 1880 arrived at Greenock, whence the
regiment was conveyed by train to Glasgow, and stationed at Maryhill
Barracks. There it remained till the 26th of May 1881, when it proceeded
by train to Granton, and thereafter by steamer to Portsmouth and by train
to Aldershot, quarters being taken up in the centre infantry permanent
barracks. While stationed here the battalion won a challenge cup,
presented by Major-General Sir H. Havelock Allan, for volley firing at
unknown distances.
On the 1st of July the
connection of the 74th with the 26th Cameronians was again severed, and,
under the new Territorial Scheme, the regiment became the 2nd Battalion
Highland Light Infantry, the 71st Regiment forming the 1st Battalion, and
the 1st Royal Lanark Militia the 3rd. The 71st tartan was to be worn, with
new combined 71st and 74th badges, thistle lace, and yellow facings. As
the 71st arrived at home two months after the 74th, the latter regiment,
now the 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry, became the first of the
linked battalions for foreign service, and the establishment was
accordingly increased to 1046 of all ranks.
On the outbreak of
hostilities in Egypt, the regiment was at once ordered to prepare to
proceed to that country, and on the 8th of August it was conveyed to
Portsmouth, where it embarked on the steam transport "France"
for Alexandria, the effective strength being 30 officers and 776
non-commissioned officers and privates. On disembarking at Alexandria, on
the 20th of August, the battalion proceeded at once to the camp at Ramleh,
where it became part of the 3rd, or Highland, Brigade of the 2nd Division
of the Egyptian Field Force, the division being commanded by
Lieutenant-General Sir E. B. Hamley, G.C.B., and the brigade by
Major-General Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., K.C.B. At Ramleh the battalion
remained under canvas, guarding the extreme left of the British position,
and taking its share in outpost duties and in occasional brushes with
marauding Arabs, until the 30th of November, when it re-embarked, and
sailed on the following morning for Ismailia, which was reached on the 2d
of September. Although large fatigue parties were daily furnished for work
on shore, the brigade remained on board ship till the 9th, when the
different regiments landed in the afternoon and at once commenced to march
westward to Kassassin, where the British forces were being concentrated
for the advance against the Egyptian lines at Tel-el-Kebir.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jago had been unfortunately compelled to go into
hospital on the 7th, so the command of the 2nd Battalion Highland Light
Infantry devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Straghan. The sea-kit bags were
all left on board a storeship in the harbour, and the whole of the camp
equipage, together with valises and greatcoats, was deposited at the
railway station, each man carrying, besides his arms, only 70 rounds of
ammunition and a blanket. Kassassin was reached on the 11th,
after four severe marches and one long day in the sun, the hardship and
suffering being so great that one officer and over 30 men had to be sent
back to Ismailia by train from different stations along the route. The
tents had been already sent on by rail, and by noon on the 11th the men
were again under cover, and during the evening and night the stragglers
had all come in. The night of the 12th was the time fixed for the final
advance, and at sunset the tents were struck and piled at the railway
embankment, where were also left the band instruments and the blankets.
Extra ammunition had been issued, to bring up each man’s allowance to
100 rounds; and as soon as the battalion fell in after dark, the
commanding officer addressed a few words to the men, impressing upon them
the instructions which he had received from Major-General Alison, namely,
that complete silence was to be observed during the night march; that no
match was to be struck or pipe smoked after the first halt; and that the
enemy’s entrenchments, which were expected to be reached just before
daylight, were to be carried by the bayonet alone. The fighting strength
of the regiment was 24 officers, and 628 noncommissioned officers and men
including 20 bandsmen, who acted as stretcher-bearers— the decrease
since leaving Alexandria being due to the loss of those disabled during
the march to Kassassin, and to the baggage guards left at Ismailia. The
position assigned to the battalion was on the left of the Highland
Brigade, and therefore on the extreme left of the whole first line of the
British forces.
A general outline of the
desert night march, and of the assault on Tel-el-Kebir, has been already
given in the account of the Black Watch, and it only remains here to
notice the particular part taken in this wonderful achievement by the
Highland Light Infantry. When the enemy’s musketry fire opened at the
distance of 150 yards, the front line, followed by the second, instantly
charged, headed by its officers, mounted and unmounted, the men fixing
bayonets as they ran. When half the distance had been traversed, a battery
of four guns opened right in front, but though their contents passed
harmlessly overhead, the rifle fire was more deadly, and before the ditch
was reached, Major Colville, Lieutenants Kays, Somervell, and Midwood, and
some 50 non-commissioned officers and men had fallen. On reaching the
enemy’s works, the centre of the battalion found itself stopped by an
impracticable ditch, about 9 feet deep by 10 feet wide, and with almost
perpendicular scarps. Into this, unseen in the darkness, many of the front
line fell, amongst them being Lieutenant Goold Adams, who, along with
Corporals Buchan and Adams, succeeded in mounting the opposite face. These
pulled others up, and thus collected a small party, which lay waiting for
an opportunity to rush over the parapet. The main body of the centre, now
reinforced by the second line, was meanwhile swaying backwards and
forwards, seeking vainly in the darkness for some means of entry; but the
flanks, more fortunate, had found the ditches opposite them shallower, and
the parapets lower, and had forced their way in, under Majors Wallace and
Leigh on the right, and Lieutenant Edwards on the left; and these parties,
reinforced by that of Lieutenant Goold Adams, rapidly cleared the work,
inflicting considerable loss on the defenders. About 150 men of the
centre, still unable to find a way over the big ditch, and, owing to the
darkness, to see what was going on elsewhere, now began to retire, halting
at intervals, and facing about individually to fire at the parapet; but as
the fire from the works slackened and ceased, a halt was made, and on the
arrival of the reserves this portion of the regiment was led back, and
entered without opposition the right (the British left) of the big work
which had previously foiled it. The total loss of the battalion was 3
officers and 18 non-commissioned officers and men killed; and 5 officers
and 54 non-commissioned officers and men wounded, of whom 3 afterwards
died of their wounds. For services during the campaign, Lieutenant-Colonel
Straghan was made a Companion of the Bath, Major Leigh was promoted to a
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and Captain Macdonald to a Brevet Majority.
Colour-Sergeant Robinson
received the distinguished - service medal, and Lieutenant Edwards the
Victoria Cross, "for the conspicuous bravery displayed by him during
the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, on the 13th September 1882, in leading a party
of the Highland Light Infantry to storm a redoubt Lieutenant Edwards (who
was in advance of his party), with great gallantry, rushed alone into the
battery, killed the artillery officer in charge, and was himself knocked
down by a gunner with a rammer, and only rescued by the timely arrival of
three men of his regiment." The following decorations were also
bestowed by H.H. the Khedive :—Lieutenant-Colonel Straghan, the 3d class
of the Medjidieh; Major Wallace and Major Leigh, the 4th class of the
Osmanlie; and Captain and Adjutant Carey, the 4th class of the Medjidieh.
Lieutenant Goold Adams, Sergeant-Major Litster, Sergeant Samuel Davis
(severely wounded), Corporal James Smith, Corporal Buchan (severely
wounded), Lance Corporal Donald Robertson, Privates A. Sutherland and
William Gray, and Drummer Fitch were all mentioned for special gallantry
by the commanding officer, who also commended Captain and Quarter-Master
Swanson for his energy and endurance throughout the campaign, and
Lieutenant Templer for most satisfactory performance of his duties as
Transport Officer to the battalion. Of these only the non-commissioned
officers and men were mentioned in despatches.
On the afternoon of the day
of the battle the battalion fell in, and, along with the 1st Battalion of
the Gordon Highlanders, and the Cameron Highlanders, set out for Zagazig,
which was reached, after three marches, on the night of the 14th. On the
following day the battalion proceeded along with Sir Garnet Wolseley and
his staff, and a detachment of the 1st Brigade Scots Guards, to Benlia. At
that place information was received of the surrender of Arabi Pasha, and
the Headquarters’ Staff immediately pushed on to Cairo by train with an
escort of 80 officers and men of the Highland Light Infantry under command
of Major Leigh. The rest of the battalion reached Cairo on the following
day, and took up quarters in the Citadel. During the remainder of its stay
in Egypt, the Highland Light Infantry was stationed first at Camp Ghezireh,
and afterwards at the Kasr-el-Nil barracks. On the 30th of September it
took part in the great review and march past before H.H. the Khedive, and
there distinguished itself by perfect marching—something where every one
did so well. On the 5th of February 1883 the regiment embarked at
Alexandria on board of H.M.S. "Serapis," reaching Plymouth and
taking up quarters there on the 18th of the month. On the 3d of March the
medals for the Egyptian campaign were presented at a divisional parade at
Devonport by Major-General Pakenham, and the bronze stars given by H.H.
the Khedive were issued during the month of April.
The stay at home was
uneventful, the principal incidents being the retirement of Lieut.Colonel
Jago on completion of his five years’ service in command; the
presentation to the officers by former officers of the regiment of a
handsome piece of plate in memory of Telel-Kebir; and the deposition of
the old colours, carried from 1818 to 1855, along with those of other
Scottish regiments in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on the 14th of
November. Although it is anticipating somewhat, it may here be added that
the colours presented at Jackatalla, Madras, in 1855, and carried by the
regiment until shortly before the embarkation for Egypt, were, on the 20th
of December 1884, placed, together with the original "Assaye"
colour, over a handsome monument erected in Glasgow Cathedral in memory of
those who perished in the Egyptian campaign, and the balance of the fund
subscribed for this purpose has been devoted to the erection, in St Giles’
Cathedral, Edinburgh, of a memorial of the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and men who were killed or mortally wounded in the various
actions in which the regiment has been engaged in India, the Peninsula,
France, South Africa, and Egypt, and of those who perished when the
"Birkenhead" was wrecked in 1852.
Monument in Glasgow Cathedral
The monument in Glasgow
Cathedral, of which we give an illustration, has been placed on the south
wall of the nave. It is Egyptian in design, and is constructed of very
hard and clear Sicilian marble, with a centre panel of statuary marble,
surrounded by appropriate emblems. The names of those it commemorates are
engraved on the sides, while the centre shows, in good relief and with
spirit, a representation of the regiment attacking the rampart at Tel-el-Kebir.
The whole is surmounted by the Sphinx, with banners, a soldier’s helmet,
and claymores. The public ceremony of unveiling it and placing the old
colours above was performed by General Bruce, who was long connected with
the regiment, and who, in handing over the colours to the care and
safe-keeping of the Cathedral authorities, stated that he was probably the
only person there who had also been at the presentation ceremony in India
in 1855. The battle-stained relics were brought from Hamilton by an escort
under the command of Major Wallace, and consisting of two officers, six
non-commissioned officers, and fifty men, all of whom had been present at
Tel-el-Kebir. The monument at Edinburgh, placed on the north wall of the
nave of St Giles, consists of a bronze plate with a finely carved marble
border. Engraved on the plate are the names of the officers and the number
of the men who died during the campaigns already mentioned.
When the present colours were presented to
the battalion in 1882, a new "Assaye" colour, worked in China,
was taken into use, but of the three only the Queen’s colour was taken
to Egypt, the others being sent to the depot. In 1883 the regiment also
acquired a valuable Challenge Shield, to be competed for by the different
shooting clubs, and a silver medal to be competed for annually by the
pipers—a clasp with the winner’s name and the date to be added each
year. The Challenge Shield is three feet high, and two feet across the
widest part, with small movable shields in the centre and round the
border. The foundation is of bronze, and the borders, small shields,
thistles, rifles, colours, and other ornaments, are of pure bright silver.
The names of the winning team for each period are to be engraved on one of
the movable shields, which is, for one year, to occupy the place of honour
in the centre, and thereafter to be removed to one of the compartments
along the border.
On the 1st of October 1884,
the battalion under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Straghan, C.B., who
had succeeded Colonel Jago, again proceeded on foreign service, and,
embarking at Plymouth on H.M.S. "Serapis," reached Bombay on the
29th of October, and arrived at its destination at Umballah by wings on
the 7th and 8th of November. On the 12th of March 1885 the regiment moved
to Rawal Pindi to take part in the ceremonies held in honour of the
conference between Lord Dufferin and the Ameer of Afghanistan, and so well
did the Highland Light Infantry acquit itself in the reviews then held,
that it was highly complimented by the General of the 2nd Infantry
Division, to which it was attached, by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, and
by H.E. the Commander-in-Chief in India, on its appearance and on its
uniformly steady marching and manoeuvring. So much were the latter points
noticed, that on the occasion of the annual inspection at Dagshai on the
18th of May, Major-General Wright, C.B., commanding the district, declined
to see the battalion march past or manoeuvre, as, after the splendid
appearance made at Rawal Pindi, he deemed it altogether superfluous; and
after the manoueuvres and the march past at the camp of exercise at Delhi
in December 1885 and January 1886, Colonel Straghan was again specially
congratulated by the Commander-in-Chief in India, and by the Adjutant in
India on the admirable appearance and marching of the battalion. After the
breaking up of the Delhi camp, quarters were again taken up at Dagshai
till the 3d of November, when the regiment, with the exception of two
companies left in garrison, marched to Umballah. |
