The various detachments having joined headquarters at Jhansi, the regiment, numbering about 960 officers and men, under command of Col. Lockhart, C.B., left Jhansi on the 15th of March for Dugshai, there to be quartered.
The 92nd remained in India for nearly three years longer, during which little occurred in connection with the regiment calling for special notice. Besides the places already mentioned, it was stationed at Umballa, Benares, Rajghaut, and Calcutta, and, on its half-yearly inspection, invariably elicited the unqualified commendation of the inspecting officers and the War Office authorities; the regimental school gained the special praise of the latter.
While stationed at Dugshai, in September 1861, the regiment received the gratifying intelligence that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to authorise the 92nd being designated “The Gordon Highlanders,” by which name it was popularly known at the period of its being raised and for some time afterwards; indeed we suspect it had never ceased to be popularly known by this title.
The Gordon Highlanders embarked at Calcutta for England in two detachments on the 24th and 28th of January 1863, respectively, and rejoined at Gosport on the 20th of May. This was the first time the regiment had been quartered in England since the 22nd of August 1816. Before the 92nd left India, 396 men volunteered into regiments remaining in the country; the deficiency was, however, soon filled up, as, on its being made known, Scotchmen serving in English regiments gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of serving in so distinguished a corps.
The 92nd did not remain long at Gosport. It embarked at Portsmouth on the 10th of July for Edinburgh, arriving off Granton Pier on the 13th, and marching to the Castle through an enthusiastic crowd. It was 17 years since the Gordon Highlanders had last been in Edinburgh. Shortly after its arrival the regiment was inspected by its Colonel, General Sir John M’Donald, K.C.B., who had formerly commanded the 92nd for the long period of 18 years.
The regiment remained scarcely a year in Edinburgh, during which time only one event occurred to mark the “even tenor of its way;” this was the presentation of new colours on the 13th of April 1864. The Highlanders, on that day, were formed in review-order on the Castle Esplanade, shortly after which Major-General Walker, C.B., commanding in Scotland, arrived on the ground accompanied by his staff. General Sir John M’Donald, K.C.B., the veteran colonel of the regiment, was also present, along with Lady M’Donald and other members of his family. After the usual ceremony had been gone through with the old colours, and after the Rev. James Millar, Chaplain of Edinburgh Castle, had offered up an appropriate prayer, the Major-General placed the new colours in the hands of Lady M’Donald, who addressed the regiment in a few most appropriate words:—
“It would be, I believe,” she said, “according to established custom, that, in placing these colours in your hands, I should remind you of the duty you owe to them, your Queen, and your country; but, to the Gordon Highlanders, any such counsel would, I feel, be superfluous; their glorious deeds of the past are sufficient guarantee for the future, that wherever and whenever these colours are borne into action, it will be but to add new badges to them and fresh honour to the regiment. I cannot let this opportunity pass without touching on the many happy years I spent among you, without assuring you of the pleasure it gives me to see you again, and of my warmest wishes for your welfare and prosperity.”
On the 25th of May 1864, the 92nd left Edinburgh for Glasgow under the command of Col. A. I. Lockhart, C.B. Detachments were also sent to Paisley and Ayr. The 92nd remained in Glasgow till March 1865, during which time it took part in a large sham fight in Renfrewshire, and was present at the inauguration by the Queen of a statue of Prince Albert at Perth, the first erected in the kingdom. On the 25th of January 1865, the depôt joined headquarters from Stirling. It is unnecessary to say that in all its public appearances, and at all inspections while in Scotland, as elsewhere, the Gordon Highlanders received, and that deservedly, the highest encomiums on their appearance, discipline, and conduct.
On the 6th of March 1865, the 92nd, consisting of 1033 officers, men, women, and children, embarked on the Clyde for Portsmouth, en route for Aldershot, arriving at the Camp on the 10th of the same month. While at Aldershot, Major C. M. Hamilton was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and succeeded to the command of the regiment in place of Col. Lockhart, C.B.