The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders),
COMPRISING
1st Batt. (formerly) The 42nd (Royal Highland—The Black Watch).
2nd Batt. ( " ) The 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot; with Militia Battalion.
3rd Batt. The Royal Perth Militia.
The Collar-Badge.
The Waist belt.
The Royal Cypher within the Garter. (upper)
The Sphinx.
TITLES.
1st Batt.
1725-39. The Black Watch (see Notes).
c. 1739-51. The Highland Regiment.
c. 1751-58. The 42nd Highland Regiment.
1758-1861. The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot.
1861-1881. The 42nd Royal Highland (The Black Watch) Regiment of Foot.
2nd Batt.
1758-86. The 2nd Batt. 42nd Royal Highlanders.
1786-1862. The 73rd Regiment of Foot.
1862-81. The 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment.
1881 (from). The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).
PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES, &c.
* "Honours" on the Colours, the figures showing the Battalion concerned.
1743-47. Flanders.
1745. Fontenoy.
1745. Jacobite rising.
1757-60. Canada.
1758. Ticonderoga.
1759. Guadaloupe.
1762. Martinique.
1762. Havannah.
1762-67. Indian Frontier Service.
1763. Bushy Run.
1775-81. America.
1776. Long Island.
1776. White Plains.
1776. Brooklyn.
1776. Fort Washington.
1777. Pisquata.
1777. Brandywine.
1777. Germantown.
1778. Freehold.
1780. Charlestown.
*1783. Mysore (2).
*1783. Mangalore (2).
1793. Pondicherry.
1793-95. Flanders.
1793. Nieuport.
1794. Nimeguen.
1795. Ceylon.
1795. Guildermalsen.
1796. St. Lucia.
1797. St. Vincent.
1798. Minorca.
*1799. Seringapatam (2).
1799. Genoa.
1799. Cadiz.
1800. Malta.
*1801. Egypt (1).
1801. Alexandria.
1801. Aboukir.
1801. Mandora.
*1808-14. Peninsula (1).
1808. Roleia.
1808. Vimiera.
*1809. Corunna (1).
1810. Busaco.
*1811. Fuentes d'Onor (1).
1812. Ciudad Rodrigo.
1812. Salamanca.
1812. Burgos.
*1813. Pyrenees (1).
1813. Gohrde.
*1813. Nivelle (1).
*1813. Nive (1).
1814. Antwerp.
*1814. Orthes (1).
*1814. Toulouse (1).
1815. Quatre Bras.
*1815. Waterloo (1 & 2).
1815. Netherlands.
*1846-53. South Africa (2).
*1854. Alma (1).
1854. Balaclava.
1854. Kertch.
1855. Yenikale.
*1855. Sevastopol (1).
1857-58. Indian Mutiny.
1857. Cawnpore.
*1858. Lucknow (1).
*1874. Ashantee (1).
*1882-84. Egypt (1).
*1882. Tel-el-Kebir (1).
1884-85. Nile (1).
1884. El-Teb.
1884. Tamai.
*1885. Kirbekan (1).
1900. South Africa.
Uniform.—1st Batt., 1725 to 1739, the Highland dress with the tartans of the respective captains; 1739 to 1758, Red with Buff facings and "the 42nd tartan"; 1758 to present time, Red with Dark Blue facings. 2nd Batt., as the 42nd, and also as the 73rd, the Highland garb and "42nd tartan" were long in wear. Subsequently (circa 1786) Scarlet, with Dark Green facings, was adopted.
Regimental Badges.—"The Royal Cypher within the Garter." The badge and motto of the Order of the Thistle. Also (in each of the four corners) the Royal Cypher ensigned with the Imperial Crown. Also "The Sphinx" (for Egypt, 1801).
Notes.—The 1st Battalion of this famous corps, the oldest Highland regiment in the British army, was raised (circa 1725-29) from six Independent companies of Highlanders. Its sombre dress of black, blue, and green tartan gave rise to its popular name. To enumerate its services is simply to narrate the military history of Great Britain since the early part of the last century. Hardly a campaign has been conducted, or a battle fought, in which the Black Watch—one battalion or the other, or both in company—has not participated; always with bravery, and frequently with conspicuous gallantry. Thereto its record of services abundantly testifies. At Fontenoy, Ticonderoga, and at Bushy Run "extraordinary" and "unexampled" gallantry was shown. It received Royal distinction in its change of title in 1758, and was privileged to wear the red heckle in the bonnet, in recognition of its conduct at the battle of Guildermalsen in 1795. In Egypt (in 1801, for which it bears "The Sphinx"), before Alexandria, it captured the Standard of the French Invincible Legion. Since then it has heaped fame on fame, and added "honour" to "honour" to its Colours. Nor has the 2nd Battalion (raised in Perthshire in 1758 as the 2nd Battalion of the 42nd, but, renumbered, long known as the 73rd prior to the territorial restoration of the ancient status) failed to win fresh laurels as occasion arose. At Mangalore (1783) against Tippoo Sahib, and side by side with the senior battalion at Waterloo, in the Netherlands, in the Indian Mutiny, and in the Kaffir wars of 1846-53, it has worthily sustained the undying fame of the regiment. Recent events in South Africa show that neither the officers nor the men of to-day have lost one iota of that traditional dash, determination, and bravery which have won for the Black Watch so glorious a place in British military annals.
Bibliography.—Historical Record of the 42nd, or Royal Highland Regiment of Foot. 1729-1844. Illustrated. [London: Parker. 1845.]
Chronology and Book of Days of the 42nd Royal Highlanders, The Black Watch. 1729-1874. [Edinburgh: Elgin and Son. 1874.]
Historical Record of the 73rd Regiment. 1780-1851. Illustrated. [London: Parker. 1851.]