Seaforth Highlanders

The 72nd (Duke of Albany’s Own) Highlanders were raised by Kenneth MacKenzie, Earl of Seaforth in 1778. For the next 103 years they served the Crown in all the major parts of the Empire, and in the Army reforms of 1881 they were amalgamated with the 78th Highlanders (The Ross-shire Buffs) who had been raised in 1793, by Francis Humberston MacKenzie of Seaforth and became the 1st Bn. Seaforth Highlanders, with the 78th becoming the 2nd Bn.Seaforth Highlanders, under which titles they both continued to serve in all they major conflicts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the time of the amalgamation with the 1nt Bn. Queen’s own Cameron Highlanders in 1961 eighteen men of the regiment had been awarded the highest accolade the Victoria Cross.