The regiment was re-united at Toronto on the 28th of November, and the women, children, and baggage arrived on the 13th of December, just before the closing of the navigation. On the 4th of the latter month Lt.-Col. Spark arrived at Toronto, and assumed the command of the regiment, in succession to Lt.-Col. M’Gregor.
The 93d remained at Toronto till the 17th of June 1843, with the exception of one year—from May 1840 till May 1841—when it was stationed at Drummondsville, Falls of Niagara. It is scarcely necessary to say that, during this time, as always indeed, the Sutherland Highlanders received the unqualified approbation of the officers whose duty it was to inspect it.
“This fine regiment still continues,” to use the words of an order issuing from the Horse Guards, in December 1842, “to maintain its character for comparative sobriety and good order amidst the dissipation with which it appears to be surrounded; and that it is as remarkable for its splendid appearance in the field, and the correctness of its evolutions, as for the quiet and orderly habits of its men in their quarters.”
On leaving Toronto, in May 1845, the 93rd went to Montreal, a wing which was sent to Kingston in the previous June joining headquarters there. On this wing leaving Canada West, Major-General Sir Richard Armstrong issued an order, in which he spoke of the appearance (“superb,” he called it) and conduct of the regiment in the highest possible terms.
The 93rd continued for other four years in Canada, leaving Montreal in July 1846—the same month that the regiment received its first supply of percussion muskets—for Quebec, where it remained till August 1, 1848, when it embarked for home, after an absence of more than ten years. On the arrival of the “Resistance” at Portsmouth, it was ordered to proceed to Leith, where it arrived on the 30th of August. The regiment disembarked next day, and proceeded to Stirling Castle, where, in a few weeks, it was joined by the dépôt companies. During its stay at Stirling detachments were sent to Perth and Dundee, and the regiment was twice selected to furnish a guard of honour for her Majesty the Queen,—in the summer of 1849, during her stay at Balmoral, and in August of the same year, when Her Majesty paid a visit to Glasgow.
The 93rd remained at Stirling till April 5, 1850, when it was removed to Edinburgh, where it was stationed for only one year, during which it again furnished a guard of honour to Ballater, as well as to Holyrood, during her Majesty’s stay at that historical palace. From Edinburgh the regiment went to Glasgow, on the 15th of April 1851, and on the 23rd of the following February removed to Weedon. The 93rd remained at Weedon for only six months, proceeding, on the 11th of August and two following days, to Portsmouth, where it occupied the Anglesea Barracks. After a stay at Portsmouth of about ten months, the 93rd, on June 14, 1853, proceeded to Chobham Common, to form part of a force which was encamped there under the command of General Lord Seaton, C.B., for the purpose of manœuvring. On leaving Cobham, on July 15, the regiment proceeded to Devonport, part of it being stationed at Dartmoor Prison, and another part at Millbay, Plymouth.
We should mention here that, on Nov. 30, 1852, died Lt.-General William Wemyss, who for two years had been colonel of the regiment, and who from infancy had been associated with it, his father having been Major-General Wemyss, who raised the Sutherland Highlanders. Lt.-General Wemyss had all along taken an intense interest in the regiment, in which he had been almost born. He was succeeded in the colonelcy by Major-General Edward Parkinson, C.B.
Once more had the war-trumpet sounded, calling the nations of Europe to take sides and do battle with each other, after a long, long rest. The Sutherland Highlanders were destined to have their own share in the struggle, being one of the first Highland regiments selected to meet the Russians in the East. In connection with the 42nd and 79th, the other two regiments of the famous Highland Brigade, we have given some general details of the movements of the army in the East, and especially in the Crimea, that we shall confine ourselves here strictly to the work of the 93rd, more especially so as, before it could again lay down its arms and take breath, it had harder, if not bloodier, work to perform than has fallen to its lot since it was first embodied. In the Indian mutiny the Sutherland Highlanders had a magnificent opportunity (perhaps their first real one) of showing what sort of stuff they were made of. How gloriously they came out of their trial will be seen in the sequel.