At this time Lord McLeod, the eldest son of the Earl of Cromarty, whose title had been attainted and his estates forfeited for his participation in the Rebellion of 1745, returned to England from Sweden, having attained in its service the rank of Lieutenant-General. Being well received by His Majesty King George II, and finding his influence in the Highlands still considerable, although destitute of property, he offered his services to raise a regiment. The offer was accepted, and such was the respect entertained for his family and name, that in a short time 840 Highlanders were recruited and marched to Elgin. Here they were joined by 236 Lowlanders, raised by Captains the Honorable John Lindsay, David Baird, James Fowlis, and other officers, and by 34 English and Irish, who had been recruited in Glasgow. They amounted in all to 1,100 men, and were embodied at Elgin under the name of McLeod’s Highlanders in April 1778, where they were inspected by General Skene, and approved by him as an excellent hardy body of men, fitted for any service. Immediately after the completion of this battalion, letters of service were granted for the creation of a second battalion, which was raised in like manner, with nearly the same expedition and in equal numbers. There is no record extant to show the different nationalities of which this battalion was formed, but it is probable that its composition was very similar to that of the first battalion when raised. Thus in the course of a few months Lord McLeod from being an exile without fortune or British military rank, found himself at the head of upwards of 2,200 of his countrymen, of whom nearly 1,800 were from that district and neighbourhood in which his family had once possessed so much influence.
Each battalion consisted of 50 sergeants, 50 corporals, 20 drummers and fifers, 2 pipers, and 1,000 privates, and was officered as under.
| Colonel, John Lord McLeod. | |
| First Battalion. | |
| Lieut.-Colonel, Duncan McPherson. | |
| Majors. | |
| John Elphinston. | James Mackenzie. |
| Captains. | |
| George Mackenzie. | Hugh Lamont. |
| Alexander Gilchrist. | Hon. James Lindsay. |
| John Shaw. | David Baird. |
| Charles Dalrymple. | |
| Captain Lieutenant and Captain, David Campbell. | |
| Lieutenants. | |
| A. Geddes Mackenzie. | Simon Mackenzie. |
| Hon. John Lindsay. | Philip Melvill. |
| Abraham Mackenzie, Adjt. | John Mackenzie. |
| Alexander Mackenzie. | John Borthwick. |
| James Robertson. | William Gunn. |
| John Hamilton. | William Charles Gorrie. |
| John Hamilton. | Hugh Sibbald. |
| Lewis Urquhart. | David Rainnie. |
| George Ogilvie. | Charles Munro. |
| Innes Munro. | |
| Ensigns. | |
| James Duncan. | George Sutherland. |
| Simon Mackenzie. | James Thrail. |
| Alexander Mackenzie. | Hugh Dalrymple. |
| John Sinclair. | |
| Chaplain, Colin Mackenzie. | |
| Adjutant, Abraham Mackenzie. | |
| Quartermaster, John Lytrott. | |
| Surgeon, Alexander M‘Dougall. | |
| Second Battalion. | |
| Lieut.-Colonel, The Hon. George Mackenzie. | |
| Majors. | |
| Hamilton Maxwell. | Norman McLeod. |
| Captains. | |
| Hon. Colin Lindsay. | Mackay Hugh Baillie. |
| John McIntosh. | Stair Park Dalrymple. |
| James Fowlis. | David Ross. |
| Robert Sinclair. | Adam Colt. |
| Lieutenants. | |
| Norman Maclean. | Alexander Mackenzie. |
| John Irving. | Phipps Wharton. |
| Rod. Mackenzie, senior. | Laughlan M‘Laughlan. |
| Charles Douglas. | Kenneth Mackenzie. |
| Angus McIntosh. | Murdoch Mackenzie. |
| John Fraser. | George Fraser. |
| Robert Arbuthnot. | John Mackenzie, junior. |
| David M‘Cullock. | Martin Eccles Lindsay. |
| Rod. Mackenzie, junior. | John Dallas. |
| Phineas M‘Intosh. | David Ross. |
| John Mackenzie, senior. | William Erskine. |
| Ensigns. | |
| John Fraser. | John Forbes. |
| John M‘Dougal. | Æneas Fraser. |
| Hugh Gray. | William Rose. |
| John Mackenzie. | Simon Fraser, Adjt. |
| Chaplain, Æneas Macleod. | |
| Adjutant, Simon Fraser. | |
| Quartermaster, Charles Clark. | |
| Surgeon, Andrew Cairncross. | |
The uniform of the regiment was red, with the regular Highland equipments.
It is worthy of remark that, when first raised, there were no less than 19 officers in the regiment named Mackenzie. It is probable that the proportion of non-commissioned officers and privates of that name was equally large, owing to the fact of the regiment having, as already stated, been principally raised on the estates of the Earl of Cromarty, the father of Lord McLeod. These estates are now in the possession of the present Duchess of Sutherland, who is Countess of Cromarty in her own right.
1st bat.
After being embodied at Elgin, the first battalion remained there some weeks, and then marched to Fort George, where it was formed into ten companies. It embarked on the 8th of May, 1,100 strong, under Lord McLeod, for Portsmouth, where it was to be transhipped and accompany the East India Fleet. The passage, however, having occupied fifteen days, the fleet sailed before the arrival of the transports, which were then ordered to proceed to Guernsey and Jersey. Here the battalion disembarked, and remained until relieved by the Seventy-eighth Regiment on the 27th November. Embarking on board the transports which brought the latter, it was conveyed to Portsmouth, where it disembarked on the 10th December and marched to Petersfield, where it was quartered until the close of the year. Orders having been received for its embarkation for the East Indies, a mutiny occurred in one of the companies, owing to a rumour gaining ground that the men had been sold to the East India Company by the British Government. This was happily checked, by the prompt and resolute spirit displayed by the officers, and the assurance of their Colonel that this report was entirely groundless. In January the battalion, about 1,100 strong, embarked on board Indiamen, under the command of Colonel Lord McLeod. Three vessels formed part of a fleet, escorted by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, which in its passage touched at Goree, on the Coast of Africa, and captured that settlement from the French. After leaving Goree the fleet proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, at that time in possession of the Dutch, where it landed its sick. It remained there three months, anchored in Table Bay, and then continued its course to India. The voyage, though tedious, was on the whole prosperous, and was brought to a close by anchor being dropped in Madras Roads on the 20th January,1780. 1780, just twelve months subsequent to embarkation. The battalion was landed without delay at Fort St. George, where it remained about a month in barracks, after which it was removed to Poonamallee.
2nd bat.
1778.