Private, The Royal Highland Regiment, The 42nd (The Black Watch)

VINTAGE VIEWS OF NEW YORK

Private, The Royal Highland Regiment
The 42nd (The Black Watch)
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In 1739 the Highland Regiment was raised from ten independent companies which had formed a border guard from 1725-1729. Thus the Black Watch Regiment is the oldest Highland Regiment in the British Army. Originally the companies had worn the tartans of the respective clans. The Black Watch was so called from its somber tartan of black, blue and green and to distinguish it from the "red" (coated) soldiers performing the same duties. The Regiment became the 42nd Highland Regiment in 1751. It was a matter of great pride to the 42nd Regiment that it was designated a "Royal" regiment in 1758 for its distinguished battle record, prior to the battle of Carillon (Ticonderoga) and at the time of the battle the Regiment had not received notice of the honor.

The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment has been in almost every British campaign and has served always with courage and distinction and many times with most conspicuous bravery.

The first battalion of the 42nd arrived in New York in 1756 and between that time and 1758 it trained in bush fighting and sharpshooting. The Regiment had perfected a technique of drawing the fire of the enemy. The 42nd line would load its guns, keep a sharp lookout at the guns of the enemy, and when the enemy prepared to fire, the whole line of the 42nd would fall flat. The shots ~f the enemy would go over an empty place. The 42nd line would immediately rise and all fire with the already loaded guns at the still standing enemy. It required the most accurate timing.

The Black Watch added three companies to the Battalion and by the time the army was gathering to serve under General James Abercromby in the attack on Fort Ticonderoga 1300 men were in the regiment of which they were to lose 25 officers and 622 men in killed and wounded. Three companies were left at Fort Edward and were not in the Battle of Carillon. The 42nd Regiment was on the left in reserve on July 8, 1758 but when it saw the disastrous results of the first wave of attack on the French Lines on the heights of Carillon, the Regiment rushed into battle. Each man fought with extraordinary courage. Officers and men slashed through the abatis with their broadswords and used the swords and bayonets to cut holes in the entrenchments in which they placed their feet to scale the barricade. The men climbed on each other's shoulders in their determined effort to reach the top. A few reached the top, but were immediately overpowered. The Black Watch, however, was the only regiment which was almost successful in penetrating the strong French Lines and abatis. Frustrated in their attempts to reach the enemy, the men stormed the lines again and again, and the regiment had to be ordered from the field three times before it withdrew. Their tenaciousness and courage had soared their losses and the Regiment was very nearly decimated.

The first battalion was at Fort Ticonderoga again 1759 and took part in the successful capture of the Fort by General Sir Jeffrey Amherst. A second battalion had been raised in 1758 and that battalion served at Oswego in 1759. During the Revolution the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment served in America in several campaigns from 1776 to 1783, but was not again at Fort Ticonderoga.

The private of the 42nd Regiment is shown wearing a uniform on which the facings are buff as they were when the Regiment served at Ticonderoga in 1758. After the Regiment became a "Royal" Regiment, as was customary the facings became blue, the Royal color of the House of Hanover. Because of the kilts, the uniform coats were short. The plaid was fastened at the waist, drawn back and fastened at the left shoulder. The famous "red hackle" was not worn at this time but was adopted after Guildermalson, Holland, 1794 and was worn as its badge of courage, bravado and distinction.

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