Loudon's Highlanders

{{for|other units with the same regimental number|64th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name= Loudon's Highlanders<br>64th Regiment of Foot |image=John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, 1747, cropped.jpg |caption=Portrait of the [[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun|Earl of Loudoun]] as the colonel of his regiment, 1747 |dates= 1745–1748 |country={{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}} |branch={{army|United Kingdom}} |type= [[Line infantry]] |role= |size=One [[battalion]] |command_structure= |garrison= |equipment=  |current_commander= |ceremonial_chief= |colonel_of_the_regiment=[[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun]] |notable_commanders=  |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_2=  |nickname= |patron= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles=[[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising]]<br>[[War of the Austrian Succession]] |anniversaries= |decorations= |battle_honours= }} '''Loudon's Highlanders''', or the '''64th Highlanders''', or '''Earl of Loudon's Regiment of Foot''', was an infantry [[regiment]] of the [[British Army]].

==History==

===Formation=== The great bravery of the [[42nd Regiment of Foot|43rd Highlanders]] (later renumbered the 42nd) and the admirable service which they rendered at the [[Battle of Fontenoy]] in May 1745, made the Government anxious to avail themselves still further of the military qualities of the Highlanders. Authority, therefore, was given to [[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun]] to raise another Highland regiment under the patronage of the noblemen, chiefs, and gentlemen of that part of the kingdom, whose sons and connections would be appointed officers. The regiment was raised at [[Inverness]] and [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] in August 1745 and the Earl of Loudoun served as its colonel throughout its short life. By 8 June 1745, the regiment numbered 1,250 men who were formed into twelve companies.<ref name="Browne">{{cite book |last=Browne |first=James |author-link=James Browne (writer) |year=1840 |title=A History of the Highlands and of the Highland Clans |url=https://archive.org/details/vol4historyofhig00brow/page/n3/mode/2up |volume=4 |location=[[Glasgow]] |publisher=[[Archibald Fullarton]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vol4historyofhig00brow/page/238/mode/2up 239]-242 |access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref> By August 1745, the regiment consisted of twenty companies of men.<ref name="Blaikie">{{cite book |last=Blaikie |first=Walter Biggar |author-link=Walter Biggar Blaikie |year=1897 |chapter=Raising the Standard |title=Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart from his landing in Scotland July 1745 to his departure in September 1746 |url=https://archive.org/details/itineraryofprinc00blai/page/n3/mode/2up/search/Loudon's+Highlanders?q=Loudon%27s+Highlanders |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[Thomas Constable (printer and publisher)|T. A. Constable]], [[Scottish History Society]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/itineraryofprinc00blai/page/n27/mode/2up 7] |access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref> Loudon's regiment was an entirely different unit to the eighteen [[Independent Highland Companies]] with whom they are often confused,<ref name="MacLeod1">{{cite book |last=MacLeod |first=Ruairidh |year=1984 |title=Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness |url=https://archive.org/details/tgsi-vol-liii-1982-1984/page/n1/mode/2up |volume=LIII |page=[https://archive.org/details/tgsi-vol-liii-1982-1984/page/309/mode/2up 310] |access-date=August 4, 2023}}</ref> and which were raised by [[Duncan Forbes of Culloden (died 1747)|Duncan Forbes of Culloden]] starting in October 1745.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Peter |year=1996 |title=The Independent Highland Companies, 1603 - 1760 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[John Donald Publishers]] |isbn=0-85976-432-X |pages=127–128 and 130}}</ref>

[[File:64th Regiment Loudoun's Highlanders tartan, centred, zoomed out.png|thumb|right|alt=A bold tartan of gree and blue with black bars and thin yellow (on green) and red (on blue) over-checks|[[Tartan]] of the regiment]] The regiment wore a uniform [[tartan]] {{crossref|(right)}} which had checks of blue and green with thick black borders around the blue, like [[42nd Regiment of Foot|Black Watch]], featuring over-checks of red (on blue) and yellow (on green), and lacking the two black "tram lines" of Black Watch.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=2227 |title= Tartan Details - Loudoun's Highlanders |date=2009 |work=TartanRegister.gov.uk |publisher=Scottish Register of Tartans |access-date=20 June 2023}}</ref><ref name=scarlett>Described and illustrated in: {{cite book |last=Scarlett |first=James D. |title=Tartan: The Highland Textile |date=1990 |location=London |publisher=Shepheard-Walwyn |isbn=978-0856831201 |ref=SJD |at=pp. 27, plate 2(a)}}</ref> This general colour scheme of blue, green, and black appears to have been imposed across the regiments from on high; "Lord Loudoun tried hard to get a red tartan for his men almost until the time when the regiment was disbanded but he never succeeded."<ref>[[#SJD|Scarlett (1990)]], p. 29.</ref> That was probably the red-and-black tartan illustrated in [[:File:John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, 1747.jpg|Loudoun's full-length 1747 portrait]] by [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]], which is of a similar style to other red tartans in portraits of the era.{{efn|J.&T. Dunbar (1979), working from a 1755 black-and-white engraving by J. Faber based on the painting, supposed that it illustrated the Loudoun's Highlanders regimental tartan,<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunbar |first=John Telfer |title=History of Highland Dress |edition=2nd |date=1979 |orig-year=1962 |location=London |publisher=B. T. Batsford |isbn=0-7134-1894-X |at=177–178, plate 45}}</ref> but this idea does not agree with Scarlett (1990)'s information that the unit never got a red tartan.<ref name=scarlett/>}}

===Jacobite rising of 1745===

The regiment fought at the [[Battle of Prestonpans]] in September 1745,<ref>Blaikie (1897). p. 90</ref> where they were defeated and many were taken prisoner,<ref name="Browne"/> but later released. Three companies of Loudon's Highlanders fought for the British Government against the Jacobites at the [[Battle of Culloden]] in April 1746, where they were victorious, alongside one company of Highlanders from the 43rd Highlanders, otherwise known as the Black Watch.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pollard |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Pollard (archaeologist) |year=2009 |title=Culloden: The History and Archaeology of the last Clan Battle |location=[[South Yorkshire]] |publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]] |pages=71–72 |isbn=978-1-84884-020-1}}</ref> During the battle, Captain Campbell and six soldiers of the regiment were killed, with two more wounded.<ref name="Browne"/> In the aftermath of Culloden, the regiment was involved in [[Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore|the search]] for the Jacobite leader, [[Charles Edward Stuart]], and under Grant of Knockando, they nearly caught him at a hut at Torvault on 23 August 1746, but he managed to escape.<ref>Blaikie (1897). pp. 64-65</ref>

===War of Austrian Succession===

The regiment was ranked as the 64th Foot in 1747. It served at the [[Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)|siege of Bergen op Zoom]] where it distinguished itself and suffered over one thousand casualties out of a complement of 1,450. It was disbanded in 1748.<ref name="Browne"/>

==Officers== Notable officers of the regiment included:<ref name="Browne"/> *Captain [[John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl|John Murray]], son of [[Lord George Murray (general)|Lord George Murray]], in turn son of [[John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl]], chief of [[Clan Murray]] (never actually served). *Captain [[Sir Harry Munro, 7th Baronet]], son of Colonel [[Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet]] of [[Foulis Castle|Foulis]], chief of [[Clan Munro]]. *Captain [[Alexander Mackay (British Army officer)|Alexander Mackay]], son of [[George Mackay, 3rd Lord Reay]], chief of [[Clan Mackay]]. *Captain [[Ewen MacPherson of Cluny|Ewen Macpherson of Cluny]], chief of [[Clan Macpherson]] (later joined the Jacobites). *Captain [[Sutherland of Forse|John Sutherland of Forse]], of [[Clan Sutherland]]. *Lieutenant [[John Campbell, of Strachur]], who died in 1806, a general in the army, and colonel of the 87th regiment. *Lieutenant [[John Reid (British Army officer)|John Robertson]] or Reid, of Straloch, who died in 1806, at the age of eighty-five, a general in the army and colonel of the [[88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers)|Connaught Rangers]].

==See also== *[[Campbell of Argyll Militia]]

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Highland regiments]] [[Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army]] [[Category:Military units and formations established in 1745]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1748]]