royal scots.

The Royal Scots have the distinction of being not only the oldest of the Scottish regiments but the oldest regular regiment in the British Army. In 1633 Sir John Hepburn offered to raise a regiment for service with the French in the Thirty Years' War against Austria and Spain. He absorbed what remained of some Scottish companies which had been in the French service since 1590 and some officers and men from other French-Scottish units such as the Scottish Guard and the Scottish Men-at-Arms. In March, 1633, King Charles I granted a warrant authorising men to be raised for the regiment in Scotland and that date is generally taken as the beginning of the regiment as a British regiment. Hepburn's claim of precedence for the regiment over all others in the French service caused some bad feeling and as a hit at mercenaries, one of the senior French regiments nicknamed it "Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard." Sir John Hepburn was only 38 when he was killed at the siege of Saverne in 1636. In 1684 the title of "The Royal Regiment of Foot " was conferred on it. The regiment gained its first battle honour in 1680 at Tangier and later was heavily engaged at the battles of Steenkirk and Landen and the siege of Namur, during King William's War of 1689-1697. From 1701 to 1713 it took part under Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession and in 1745 it was in the first line of attack on the bloody field of Fontenoy. In 1757 the 2nd Battalion sailed for America where during the Seven Years' War, it gained the battle honours Louisburg and Havannah. In the campaign in Holland of 1799 the 2nd Battalion formed part of Sir John Moore's brigade and fought at Egmont-op-Zee, and two years later it participated in Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedition to Egypt. The regiment was engaged in the Peninsular Wars and rendered gallant service at the battles of Corunna, Busaco, Salamanca, Vittoria, San Sebastian and the Nive. The 3rd Battalion won fresh laurels in the Waterloo campaign of 1815 and earned high praise for its stout defence at Quatre Bras, where it successfully withstood repeated charges of French cavalry. In the War with the Mahratta princes in 1817 the regiment was the only European unit present at the siege of Nagpore and the battle honour awarded for that event is therefore unique among British regiments. On 4th November, 1843, the transport Premier, with the H.Q. and right wing of the 2nd Battalion, was wrecked in a snowstorm in the St. Lawrence estuary, but owing to the fine discipline of the detachment every man, woman and child was safely landed. In the Crimean War, though the regiment enjoyed less opportunities than other regiments of distinguishing itself in action, it gained three more honours, Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol and Private Prosser won the first Victoria Cross for the regiment. In 1871 the title was changed to the 1st or " The Royal Scots" Regiment and in 1881 to The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) . On the outbreak of the South African War of 1899-1902 the 1st Battalion had the distinction of being the only battalion in the Army which accounted for every reservist on mobilisation. The regiment fully sustained its reputation in this campaign but owing to the mobility of the enemy it actually lost more men from the hard marches and from enteric fever than from battle casualties. The regiment expanded during the war of 1914-1918 to 35 battalions. It fought on the Western Front, in Gallipoli, Macedonia, Egypt and Palestine and at Archangel and suffered over 11,000 casualties. Only the 1st and 2nd battalions were regulars, the others consisted of the Special Reserve, Territorial and War Service battalions. In 1920 the old title was restored in reverse when it became The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). In the 1939-1945 war the regiment served in France and Belgium till Dunkirk and thereafter in Burma, Italy and North-West Regiment - Year and Title 1633 to 1678 - In French service as Le Regiment D'Hebron and Le Regiment Douglas with exception for two periods when at home between 1661 and 1667. 1678 - Earl of Dumbarton's Regiment of Foot. Two Battalions in existance. 1684 - The Royal Regiment of Foot. 1686 - Regiment divided into 1st and 2nd Battalions. 1751 - 1st, or The Royal Regiment of Foot. 1804 - 3rd and 4th Battalions raised. 1812 - 1st Regiment of Foot, or Royal Scots. 1817 - The 3rd and 4th Battalions disbanded. 1821 - 1st, or The Royal Regiment of Foot. 1871 - 1st, or The Royal Scots Regiment. 1881 - (May) The Lothian Regiment (Royal Scots). 1881 - (July) The Royal Scots (The Lothian Regiment). 1920 - The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). 1949 - The 2nd Battalion amalgamated with the 1st Battalion.

SCOTLAND'S FAMILY TREE (SFT)