On 7 March 1793, Francis Humberstone MacKenzie raised the "78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot".[2] Francis Humberston Mackenzie was chief of the clan Mackenzie and a descendent of the earls of Seaforth. (Its associations were all with the clan Mackenzie and it bore no relationship to the earlier 78th Fraser Highlanders that fought at Louisbourg and Quebec under Wolfe in the French and Indian War.
French Revolutionary Wars
Netherlands
During the French Revolutionary Wars, just a year after they were formed, the 78th found itself at the defence of Nijmegen in the Netherlands (1794). About the end of October the 78th proceeded to Arnheim, the Duke of York’s headquarters, and thence, by a night march, to Nimeguen, against which place the French were erecting batteries, On the 4th of November a sortie was made, when the 78th was for the first time under fire, and did such execution with the bayonet, as to call forth the highest encomiums from experienced and veteran officers. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was Lieutenant Martin Cameron (died of his wounds) and seven men, killed; wounded, Major Malcolm, Captain Hugh Munro, Captain Colin Mackenzie, Lieutenant Bayley, 4 sergeants, and 56 rank and file.
South Africa
In June 1795, the 78th attacked the Cape of Good Hope (the Dutch having become revolutionary allies of the French) and forced the surrender of Cape Town and Wynberg in South Africa. In June 1795 a British fleet under Sir George Elphinstone arrived off the Cape, having Major-General James Henry Craig and the 78th Highlanders (second battalion) on board. The Dutch were strongly posted in their fortified camp at Muysenberg, six miles on this side of Capetown. A force of 800 British seamen having been sent to co-operate with the troops on shore, the whole body moved to its attack; while the ships of the fleet, covering them from the sea, opened such a terrific fire upon the colonists that they fled precipitately.
Muysenberg was taken on the 7th of August, and on the 9th a detachment arrived from St Helena with some field-pieces; but it was not till the 3rd of September, when Sir Alured Clarke, at the head of three regiments, put into the bay, that an advance became practicable. Accordingly, the Dutch position at Wineberg was forced on the 14th, and on the 15th Capetown capitulated, the garrison marching out with the honours of war. Thus, after a two months campaign, during which they suffered severely from the unhealthiness of their situation, the scarcity of provisions, and the frequent night attacks of the enemy, the 78th Highlanders saw the object of the expedition accomplished, and the colony taken possession of in the name of his Britannic Majesty.
Napoleonic Wars
The 78th was to spend a good portion of its career in India, which became the locale of its greatest military accomplishments. Thus it was one of three British (as distinct from Indian) regiments that won fame under Sir Arthur Wellesley at the battle of Assaye.
Battle of Assaye
During the Napoleonic Wars, In September 1803, during the Maharatta campaign, the 78th took part in the famous engagement at Assaye under the overall command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington), occupying the crucial left flank of the leading attackers. The 78th was the first infantry to reach the Maharatta and was instrumental in capturing the enemy guns and routing their infantry. Shortly after the Battle of Assaye, the 78th were sent in pursuit of fleeing Mahrattas at Argam. Later in the year, they besieged the Fortress of Gawilghur to help finish the job they had commenced at Assaye. The 78th were awarded an Assaye Colour.
The 2nd Battalion of the regiment served in the Mediterranean for the Sicilian Campaign of 1806, quartered at Syracuse, and the Alexandria expedition of 1807.[6] Three companies of the 78th were surrounded by Turkish cavalry and captured in the expedition. Among the prisoners was Thomas Keith who converted and entered Ottoman service. One hundred sixty-three men and officers were killed, including the Commanding Officer Lt-Col. MacLeod. The remainder of the 78th's 2nd battalion withdrew to Alexandria.
During the Napoleonic wars probably its most notable achievement was its participation in Invasion of Java (1811), when they laid siege to and captured Fort Cornelis on the island of Java on 26 August 1811. The British lost 154 men in bitter fighting, including the 78th acting C.O., Brevet Lt-Col.
Sukkar, Sindh
In 1842, the 78th were back in India because of the First Anglo-Afghan War. While at Sukkar Sindh, the regiment suffered its greatest losses. Major-General Simpson, Sir Charles Napier’s lieutenant (who afterwards commanded our armies in the Crimea), was at Sukhur at the time, and on his return to Hyderabad, caused to be erected there at his own expense a monument to the memory of all those who died. The remainder of the regiment also erected a monument in St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, to the memory of their comrades who died in Sindh. The regiment lost, between the 1st of September 1844 and 30 April 1845, 3 officers, 532 men, 68 women, 134 children —total, 737 souls. In 1844, cholera wiped out 535 officers and more than 200 members of their families.
