SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE NINETY-SECOND REGIMENT

(HIGHLANDERS).

George, Marquis of Huntly.

Appointed 3rd May, 1796.

George, Marquis of Huntly, son of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon, choosing the profession of arms, was appointed to a commission in the thirty-fifth regiment in 1790. In the same year he raised an independent company of Highlanders; and exchanging, in January, 1791, to the forty-second regiment, he brought with him a fine band of young Highlanders. On the 11th of July, 1792, he was promoted to captain-lieutenant and lieutenant-colonel in the third Foot Guards. He accompanied the detachment of Foot Guards to Flanders in the spring of 1793, was at the action of St. Amand on the 8th of May, and was engaged in driving the French from the position at the village of Famars on the 23rd of May. He was subsequently employed at the siege of Valenciennes, which fortress surrendered to the Duke of York in July. On the 18th of August he was engaged at Lincelles; and he afterwards served at the siege of Dunkirk. When the army went into winter quarters, the Marquis of Huntly returned to England, and in the following year was raised a corps of Highlanders, which was numbered the hundredth regiment, now the NINETY-SECOND, of which he was appointed lieutenant-colonel commandant on the 10th of February, 1794. He accompanied his regiment to Gibraltar; and on his return to England, he was captured by a French privateer. He afterwards rejoined his regiment at the island of Corsica, where he served upwards of a year; and on the 3rd of May, 1796, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. On the breaking out of the rebellion in Ireland, in 1798, he joined his regiment in that country, where he served as brigadier-general, and was actively employed against the rebels, particularly in Wexford. He accompanied the expedition to Holland in 1799, was at the landing at the Helder, and continued actively employed until the 2nd of October, when he was wounded at the battle of Egmont-op-Zee. On the 1st of January, 1801, he was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in 1803 he was appointed to the staff of North Britain, where he served three years. In January, 1806, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the forty-second, or the Royal Highlanders; and in April, 1808, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He commanded a division in the expedition to Holland in 1809; and in August, 1819, he was advanced to the rank of general. In 1820 he was removed to the first,—the Royal Regiment of Foot,—and in a few months afterwards he was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath. In 1827 he succeeded, on the decease of his father, to the dignity of Duke of Gordon: he was also appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. In 1834 he was removed to the Scots Fusilier Guards. He was distinguished as a kind-hearted and gallant nobleman and soldier,—contributing largely to many charitable institutions. His social, private, and public virtues, endeared him to his family and friends; and a succession of uninterrupted acts of philanthropy procured him universal esteem. He died on the 28th of May, 1836; and his remains, by especial command of his Majesty King William IV., were escorted by the first battalion of the Scots Fusilier Guards from London to Greenwich, where they were placed on board a steam-vessel, for the purpose of being conveyed to Scotland for interment in a mausoleum erected on the paternal estate. By his Grace’s decease the dukedom became extinct.

John, Earl of Hopetoun, G.C.B.

Appointed 3rd January, 1806.

The Honorable John Hope, son of John, second Earl of Hopetoun, evinced a predilection for the profession of arms from his youth, and served as a volunteer in his fifteenth year. On the 28th of May, 1784, he was appointed cornet in the tenth Light Dragoons; two years afterwards, he was nominated lieutenant in the twenty-seventh foot, and in 1789, captain in the seventeenth Light Dragoons; in 1792, he was promoted major in the first foot, and in the following year, lieutenant-colonel in the twenty-fifth regiment, with which corps he served in the West Indies, where he was appointed adjutant-general, and served the campaigns of 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797, with great distinction, being particularly noticed in the orders and public despatches of Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, and other commanders. In 1796, he was elected a member of parliament for the county of Linlithgow. He was nominated deputy adjutant-general to the expedition to Holland in 1799, and was severely wounded at the landing in North Holland on the 27th of August. In 1800, he was appointed adjutant-general to the army in the Mediterranean, under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, and served in the expedition to Egypt: he was at the actions of the 8th and 13th of March, 1801, and was wounded before Alexandria on the 21st of March, when Sir Ralph Abercromby received a wound, of which he died on the 28th of March. Brigadier-General Hope recovered, and requesting to have a brigade, was succeeded as adjutant-general by Colonel Abercromby. On the 16th of June, he joined the army before Cairo, with the twenty-eighth and forty-second regiments, and he afterwards evinced ability in conducting the negotiations for the surrender of the capital of Egypt by the French troops, under General Belliard. He continued in the command of a brigade until the deliverance of Egypt was accomplished, and received the second class of the Order of the Crescent established by the Grand Seignior. In 1802, his services were rewarded by the colonelcy of the North Lowland Fencible Infantry, and the rank of major-general; to which was added, in June, 1805, the appointment of deputy-governor of Portsmouth; but he resigned this appointment soon afterwards, to accompany the troops sent to Hanover under Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart. In October, 1805, he was appointed colonel commandant of a battalion of the sixtieth regiment; and in 1806, he succeeded the Marquis of Huntly in the colonelcy of the NINETY-SECOND regiment. On the 25th of April, 1808, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He was nominated second in command of the expedition to the Baltic, under Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, and afterwards accompanied the troops to Portugal. He commanded a division of the army which advanced into Spain, under Sir John Moore, and shared in that campaign; and in the battle of Corunna, when he succeeded to the command of the army,—Sir John Moore being killed, and Sir David Baird wounded—he was successful in repulsing the attack of the French under Marshal Soult. On the embarkation of the army, he took particular care to prevent any soldier being left behind, and was the last man who went on board the fleet. His despatch contains an interesting account of the battle.[20] He was thanked for his distinguished services by parliament, was honored with the approbation of his Sovereign, and the admiration and applause of his country; and was nominated a Knight of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath. After his return from Spain, he served with the Walcheren expedition, under General the Earl of Chatham, and was subsequently appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland, from which he was removed, in 1813, to the appointment of second in command in the peninsula. Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, commanded the left wing of the army at the battle of the Nivelle on the 10th of November, and signalized himself at the battle of the Nive, in December; on which occasion the British commander stated in his public despatch—“I cannot sufficiently applaud the ability, coolness, and judgment, of Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope.” He passed the Adour with the left wing of the army in February, 1814, and blockaded the important fortress of Bayonne,—in which service he evinced great ability and perseverance: and he remained in the command of the blockading force until the termination of the war. After Napoleon had abdicated, the French commandant at Bayonne not believing the news, made a sortie on the night of the 14th of April, and gained some advantage. Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope coming up with some troops in the dark, encountered the enemy, when his horse being shot, fell upon him, and he was wounded and taken prisoner. The French were, however, repulsed. At the restoration of peace, he returned to England with a high reputation. He received the thanks of parliament; a medal and a clasp for the battles of Corunna and the Nive; was elevated to the peerage of the United Kingdom by the title of Baron Niddry, of Niddry, in the county of Linlithgow, and was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath. He afterwards succeeded to the dignity of Earl of Hopetoun. In 1819, he was promoted to the rank of General, and was appointed colonel of the forty-second, or the Royal Highlanders, in 1820. He died at Paris on the 27th of August, 1823.

Sir John Hope, G.C.H.

Appointed 29th January, 1820.

John Hope entered the Dutch service, as a cadet, in one of the regiments of the Scots Brigade (Houston’s) in the service of the United Provinces, in 1778, and served at Bergen-op-Zoom and Maestretcht, going through the subordinate ranks of corporal and serjeant. In 1779 he was appointed ensign, and in 1782 he was promoted captain of a company; but, being called upon to renounce his allegiance to the British monarch, he quitted the Dutch service, and in 1787 he was appointed captain in the sixtieth foot, but his company was soon afterwards reduced. On the 30th of June, 1788, he was appointed captain in the thirteenth Light Dragoons, and in 1792 he was nominated aide-de-camp to Lieut.-General Sir William Erskine, in which capacity he served the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, in Holland, and returned to England in 1795, when he was promoted to the majority of the twenty-eighth Light Dragoons, and in 1796 to the lieut.-colonelcy of the same corps, with which he embarked for the Cape of Good Hope in the same year. He served at the Cape until 1799, when his regiment was incorporated in other corps, and he returned to England. In April, 1799, he was appointed to the thirty-seventh foot, which corps he joined, in 1800, in the West Indies, where he remained until 1804, when he returned to England, and exchanged to the sixtieth regiment. In 1805 he was nominated assistant adjutant-general in Scotland, and in 1807 he served as deputy adjutant-general to the expedition to Copenhagen, under Lieut.-General Lord Cathcart. He was appointed brigadier-general on the staff of North Britain in 1808, and subsequently deputy adjutant-general in that part of the United Kingdom. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1810, and appointed to the staff of the Severn district, from whence he was removed to the staff of the Peninsula in 1812, and served with the army under the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Salamanca, for which he received a medal. He subsequently served on the staff of Ireland and North Britain until 1819, when he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general. He was honored with the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. In 1820 he was appointed colonel of the NINETY-SECOND regiment, from which he was removed, in 1823, to the seventy-second Highlanders. He died in August 1836.

Honorable Sir Alexander Duff, G.C.H.

Appointed 6th September, 1823.

Removed to the thirty-seventh regiment on the 20th of July, 1831.

John Earl of Stair, K.T.

Appointed 20th July, 1831.

Removed to the forty-sixth regiment on the 31st May, 1843.

Sir William Macbean, K.C.B.

Appointed 31st May, 1843.

Succession of Lieutenant-Colonels in the Ninety-Second Regiment (Highlanders).

Name. Date of Appointment. Date of Removal. Remarks.

The Marquis of Huntly(Lieut.-Col. Commandant.) 10 Feb. 1794 3 May 1796 Promoted Colonel of the NINETY-SECOND Regiment on the 3rd of May, 1796.

Charles Erskine 1 May 1795 Died of wounds received in action near Alexandria, on the 13th of March, 1801.

James Robertson 11 Oct. 1798 3 Aug. 1804 Retired on half-pay.

Alexander Napier 5 Apr. 1801 Killed at the battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January, 1809.

James Willoughby Gordon, (afterwards Quarter-Master Gen. to the Forces) 4 Aug. 1804 13 June 1808 Promoted Lieut.- Colonel Commandant of the Royal African Corps

John Cameron 23 June 1808 Killed at Quatre Bras, on the 16th of June 1815.

John Lamont 30 Mar. 1809 25 Dec. 1814 Retired on half-pay.

James Mitchell 13 June 1815 1 Sept. 1819 Retired.

Sir Frederick Stovin 2 Sept. 1819 8 Aug. 1821 Removed to the 90th Foot.

Wm. Brydges Neynoe 9 Aug. 1821 3 Oct. 1821 Exchanged to half-pay of the 4th Foot.

David Williamson 4 Oct. 1821 20 Nov. 1828 Retired.

John McDonald 21 Nov. 1828 8 Nov. 1846 Promoted Major- General on the 9th of November, 1846.

John Alex. Forbes 9 Nov. 1846 22 Nov. 1849 Retired.

Mark Kerr Atherley 23 Nov. 1849

Succession of Majors of Ninety-Second Regiment (Highlanders).

Name. Date of Appointment. Date of Removal. Remarks.

Charles Erskine 10 Feb. 1794 30 Apr. 1795 Promoted Lt.-Col of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

Donald McDonald 20 Aug. 1794 11 Mar. 1796 Retired.

Simon McDonald 1 May 1795 16 Jan. 1799 Retired.

Alexander Napier 12 Mar. 1796 4 Apr. 1801 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

John Gordon 17 Jan. 1799 22 Jan. 1806 Retired.

John Cameron 5 Apr. 1801 22 June 1808 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

William Morris 9 July 1803 15 Aug. 1805 Removed to the 8th Veteran Battalion.

Hon. John Ramsay ” 1 June 1804 Exchanged to half pay.

John Lamont 2 June 1804 29 Mar. 1809 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

Archibald McDonnell 29 Aug. 1805 25 Jan. 1813 Promoted Lt.-Col. 13th Veteran Batt.

James Watson 23 Jan. 1806 23 May 1810 Retired.

Peter Grant 23 June 1808 25 Nov. 1812 Retired upon full pay.

James Mitchell 30 Mar. 1809 13 June 1815 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

Archibald Campbell 24 May 1810 6 Jan. 1813 Retired.

Donald Macdonald 26 Nov. 1812 25 Nov. 1818 Exchanged to half pay of the Malta Regiment.

William Phipps 7 Jan. 1813 25 Dec. 1814 Retired on half-pay.

John Macpherson 15 Apr. 1813 Died on 1st January, 1814.

James Seaton 10 Feb. 1814 Died of wounds received in the action at Garris on 22nd of March 1814.

James Lee 28 Apr. 1814 25 Dec. 1814 Retired on half-pay.

George W. Holmes 18 June 1815 21 Oct. 1818 Retired.

Archibald Ferrier 22 Oct. 1818 Died on the 23rd of September 1819.

John Blainey 26 Nov. 1818 Died on the 28th of August 1819.

Peter Wilkie 4 Nov. 1819 24 Sept. 1823 Retired.

George Couper 30 Dec. 1819 19 Mar. 1823 Exchanged to the half-pay of the Canadian Fencibles.

James Forrest Fulton 20 Mar. 1823 12 May 1824 Retired.

Andr. Robt. Charlton 25 Sept. 1823 Died in Aug. 1825.

John Spink 13 May 1824 20 May 1826 Promoted Lt.-Col. Unattached.

Robert Winchester 16 Aug. 1825 31 Oct. 1842 Retired on full pay.

Isaiah Linwood Verity 9 Feb. 1826 21 Mar. 1827 Retired.

Hon. James Sinclair 22 Mar. 1827 18 Feb. 1829 Exchanged to half pay.

Hugh Henry Rose 19 Feb. 1829 16 Sept. 1839 Promoted Lt.-Col. Unattached.

Jno. Alex. Forbes 17 Sept. 1839 8 Nov. 1846 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

Geo. Edward Thorold 1 Nov. 1842

Mark Kerr Atherley 9 Nov. 1846 22 Nov. 1849 Promoted Lt.-Col. of the NINETY-SECOND regiment.

Arch. Inglis Lockhart 23 Nov. 1849

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