=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.]
The Oxfordshire Light Infantry,