AlsidairMacDonald
Sergeant Knight
The Marquis of Huntly, whilst a captain in the 3rd Foot Guards, having offered to raise a regiment for general service, letters were granted to him for this purpose on the 10th of February 1794. In his zeal for the service the marquis was backed by his father and mother, the Duke and Duchess of Gordon, both of whom, along with the marquis himself, took an active share in the recruiting. It is quite a true story that the beautiful Duchess of Gordon recruited in person on horseback at markets, wearing a regimental jacket and bonnet, and offering for recruits the irresistible bounty of a kiss and a guinea. The result was, that, within the short space of four months, the requisite number of men was raised, and on the 24th of June the corps was inspected at Aberdeen by Major-General Sir Hector Munro, and embodied under the denomination of the "Gordon Highlanders."
It is apt to be supposed that because the Gordon estates now lie only in Aberdeen and Banff, and because the regiment was first collected at Aberdeen, that it belongs particularly to that district; but this is quite a mistake. The 92nd Regiment of Foot was raised principally in the highland districts of the Gordon estates, and from the estates of the officers or their relations; but it should be remembered that these estates then extended, or the Duke had seignorities over the lands, as far west as Ballachulish and Lochiel, taking in Strathspey, and Lochaber, and it was from these highland districts, of which Fort William is the centre, that it was mostly raised and for a long time after recruited. It also drew very many of its men from Argyll and the Western Isles. It has always been particular in its recruiting; even after giving nearly all its men as volunteers to regiments going to the Crimea, and stress being laid upon it to fill up quickly, the commanding officers determined to enlist, as usual, only Scotchmen, and hence the great popularity of the corps in Scotland. Although the men (with the exception of volunteers from other regiments), are still all Scotch, they are not so entirely from the Highlands as formerly; yet the regiment is quite an example in spirit and feeling of the old Highland clan, and M’Donald is still the most common name in its ranks. Several Gaelic poets or "bards" have worn its tartan, the most distinguished being Corporal Alexander M’Kinnon, a native of Arasaig, in Inverness-shire, whose descriptions of the battles of Bergen-op-Zoom and the war in Egypt are among the most spirited modern Gaelic poems. The officers have all along been mostly taken from among good Scottish families; and so highly were its non-commissioned officers thought of in the army, that it was, and is, no uncommon thing for them to be promoted as sergeant-majors and as adjutants into other corps, and to be selected as adjutants of militia and volunteers.
The regiment embarked at Fort-George on the 9th of July 1794, and joined the camp on Netley Common in August, when it was put on the list of numbered corps as the 100th regiment. The first five years of its service were spent at Gibraltar, Corsica, Elba, and Ireland, in which latter place it had most arduous and trying duties to perform; these, however, it performed with the best results to the country.
The Gordon Highlanders left Ireland in June 1799 for England, to join an armament then preparing for the coast of Holland. The number of the regiment was changed about this time to the 92nd, the former regiment of that number, and others, having been reduced.
The first division of the army, of which the 92nd formed part, landed on the Dutch coast, near the Helder, on the morning of the 27th of August, without opposition; but the troops had scarcely formed on a ridge of sand hills, at a little distance from the beach, when they were attacked by the enemy, who were however driven back, after a sharp contest of some hours’ duration. The 92nd, which formed a part of General Moore’s brigade, was not engaged in this affair; but in the battle which took place between Bergen and Egmont on the 2nd of October it took a very distinguished share. General Moore was so well pleased with the heroic conduct of the corps on this occasion, that, when he was made a knight of the Bath, and obtained a grant of supporters for his armorial bearings, he took a soldier of the Gordon Highlanders in full uniform as one of them.
In the action alluded to, the 92nd had Captain William Mackintosh, Lts. Alexander Fraser, Gordon M’Hardy, 3 sergeants, and 54 rank and file, killed; and Colonel, the Marquis of Huntly, Captains John Cameron, Alexander Gordon, Peter Grant, John Maclean, Lieutenants George Fraser, Charles Chadd, Norman Macleod, Donald Macdonald, Ensigns Charles Cameron, John Macpherson, James Bent, G. W. Holmes, 6 sergeants, 1 drummer, and 175 rank and file, wounded.
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Regimental Trainings
Tuesday 7pm Uk Time
Recruit Trainings
Tuesday 6pm Uk Time
Sunday 6pm Uk Time
Regimental Battles
Thursday 7pm Uk time
Sunday 7pm Uk time
Current strength of the 92nd Regiment of Foot:- Field officers, 2; captains, 1; lieutenants, 1; ensigns, 1; staff, 0; serjeants, 5; drummers, 2; rank and file; 63.
Total Strength: 75 [+18 Reserves +13 Recruits].
1st 'Battalion' Company - Colonel Cameron's
2nd 'Grenadier' Company - Captain MacNeil's
Reserve
______________________________ Reserve 1st 'Battalion' Company Private Alexander Black Private George Erskine Private Garrick Forbes Private Andrew Gordon Private James Gordon Private Andrew MacRae Private Colin Patterson Private Robert Smith Reserve 2nd 'Grenadier' Company Private Æthelwulf Private Brataccas Private Terrence Clark Private Robert Elliot Private Peter Irvine Private Kenty Private Ewan MacAlister Private John MacKay Private Duncan Murray Private John Stewart | ______________________________ Recruits Recruit Archibald Buchanan Recruit William Dunlop Recruit David Evans Recruit John MacDuff Recruit Neil MacLeod Recruit Ewan MacNeil Recruit Alexander MacThomas Recruit John Miller Recruit Samuel Ramsay Recruit James MacLean Recruit William Semple Recruit Walter Thomson Recruit Archibald Urquhart |
Last Updated: 16th October 2012