LXXVIIth Regiment of Foot
Originally raised as the 62 nd Reg t of Foot in 1757.
Regiment was renumbered in 1758.
In the center of each colour is to be painted, or embroidered, in gold
Roman characters, the number of the rank of the regiment, within the
wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk. The second Colour to be
the colour of the facing of the regiment, with the Union in the upper
canton; except those regiments which are faced with red, white, or black.
The 1st Highland Battalion was raised in Sterling in January
of 1757, under the Honorable Archibald Montgomery, and was
numbered the 62nd Regiment of Foot. The regiment marched to
Greenock, where it embarked, in company with Fraser's Highlanders,
and landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia in June of 1757.
In 1758, the regiment was renumbered the 77th Regiment of Foot.
That same year, the 77th took part in the second expedition against
Fort DuQuesne on the Ohio. The regiment was most often employed in
small detached expeditions, and was engaged in numerous skirmishes
with the Indians, and with the irregular troops of the French,
from Canada to Fort Loudon on the Virginia frontier.
After the surrender of the French at Montreal in September of 1760,
Montgomery's Highlanders were sent to the West Indies, seeing
action in the expedition against Dominica in 1761 and the capture
of Martinique and the Spanish citadel of Havana in 1762.
After Havana, the regiment returned to New York.
In 1763, as a result of the Treaty Of Paris, all French lands in
North America were turned over to the British. Native Americans
in the Ohio Country feared that British settlers would take over their
native land. To prevent the spread of the white man, Chief Pontiac
encouraged natives into open rebellion, which consisted of besieging
British garrisons all along the frontier. In company with the Black
Watch, Royal Americans, and a detachment of Rangers, the
77th Foot was ordered to the 'relief' of Fort Pitt. Along the
way they met the warriors of the Ohio Valley at Bushy Run Creek.
This two day battle was a decisive victory for the British, and
marked the beginning of the end of, Pontiac's Rebellion.
At the conclusion of hostilities in 1763, the 77th Regiment of Foot
was disbanded. The surviving officers and men of the regiment
were offered land grants in America. Many accepted the grants;
those who did not were transported back to Scotland.
"The 77th Regiment of Foot (1st Highland Battalion) was raised in 1757
by Archibald Montgomery and saw service in the French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) in North America. By the end of the war in 1763, the
regiment had marched four times across the length of Pennsylvania,
building the roads and many of the forts that grew into the cities and towns
of today. After the defeat of Ottawa Chief Pontiac's forces in western PA,
the 77th was disbanded (in 1764). Soldiers not absorbed into the 42nd
Regiment of Foot, settled in the areas of Acadia and colony of New York."
Courtesy of Susan Gable of the re-created 77th Reg t of Foot.
The front [of the drums] to be painted with the colour of the facing
of the regiment, with the King's cypher and crown, and the
number of the regiment under it.
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