The right wing arrived at Plymouth on the 29th of May, and shortly afterwards proceeded to Edinburgh Castle, where it was joined by the left wing, which disembarked at Gravesend on the 19th of June.
The following divisional and general orders were published before the regiment left India:—
Extract of divisional order by Major-General Sir John Garvock, K.C.B., Commanding Peshawur Division.
“Rawul Pindee,
“1st November, 1864.
“The Seventy-first Highland Light Infantry being about to leave the Peshawur Division en route for England, the Major-General desires to offer them his best wishes on the occasion. He has known the regiment for a number of years. He was very intimately associated with it in the Mediterranean, and his interest in it is now materially increased in no small degree by its having served under him in the field, and done its part, and done it well, in obtaining for him those honours which Her Majesty has been pleased to confer. The Major-General had not assumed command of the Yusufzai Field Force when the Seventy-first recaptured the ‘Crag Picket,’ but he well knows it was a most gallant exploit. Sir John Garvock, K.C.B., begs Colonel Hope, C.B., and the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the Seventy-first Light Infantry to believe that although they will be soon no longer under his command, he will continue to take the liveliest interest in their career, and he now wishes them a speedy and prosperous voyage.
(Signed) “J. Wright, Lieut.-Colonel,
“Assistant Adjutant-General.”
General order by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief.
“Head-quarters, Calcutta,
“27th January, 1865.
“The services of the Seventy-first Highland Light Infantry in India entitle them, on their departure to England, to honourable mention in general orders. A wing of the regiment, on their arrival in India in 1858, joined the Central India Field Force, and His Excellency is enabled to bear testimony to the good services which they performed, and the excellent spirit which they displayed during that campaign. The regiment more recently distinguished itself under their Commanding Officer, Colonel W. Hope, C.B., in the late operations on the frontier. Sir Hugh Rose cannot, in justice to military merit, speak of the Seventy-first in a general order without reverting to an earlier period, when in two great campaigns in Europe they won a reputation which has earned them an honourable page in history.
“Sir Hugh Rose’s best wishes attend this distinguished regiment on their leaving his command for home.