The Seventeenth Highland Light Infantry (Glasglow Chamber of Commerce Battalion) | Page 5

men in every way fit for service in the field.
"I am, Sir, "Your obedient Servant, "(Signed) B.B. CUBITT."
On 7th November, the Battalion paid a return visit to the City of
Glasgow. The Battalion arrived and formed up on the station platform.
A word of command and away they marched into the streets, crowded
to the uttermost by friends and relatives. Hardly a cheer was heard. The
men marched between banks of faces, in a deep silence. What a strange
reception, surely the most impressive men ever had, proving what was

in the hearts of those that watched the men and how they felt for them.
Only when they entered the Square did cheers and the buzzing of an
awaking crowd break out. "We felt," says an officer, "rather
disappointed; but we knew what it meant." The unit was then inspected
in front of the Municipal Buildings by representatives of the Chamber
of Commerce.
[Illustration: EARLY DAYS.]
[Illustration: A REST BY THE WAY. To face page 18.]
[Illustration: H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, Colonel-in-Chief
of the H.L.I.]
[Illustration: Colonel J. STANLEY PATERSON. To face page 19.]

ESPRIT DE CORPS.
It will be of value and interest to give here a brief survey of the history
of The Highland Light Infantry, which enshrines a record of service
and gallantry second to none in the annals of our Empire, and to which
the Chamber of Commerce Battalion was fated to add a page as heroic
and imperishable as any in its great traditions.
The Highland Light Infantry was originally raised as two separate
Regiments of Foot, the 71st and the 74th. What was to become famous
as the 71st was raised in 1777 by Lord John MacLeod and was known
as "MacLeod's Highlanders." It was a kilted regiment and wore the
Mackenzie tartan. It was originally numbered the 73rd, and under this
designation won early distinctions in India in the campaigns against
Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sahib. Nine years after its inauguration it
became the 71st, and after service in Ceylon and at the Cape it received
in 1808 the title of "The Glasgow Regiment." Shortly after this the 71st
entered once more the fields of war in the Peninsula campaign under
Wellington, and shared in many actions including the storming of
Ciudad Rodrigo, the siege of Badajoz and at Vittoria. Then came their
crowning gallantry at Waterloo against the flower of Napoleon's armies.

In later years the Crimea, Canada and the Bermudas were added to their
war honours.
The 74th was raised at Glasgow by Major-General Sir Archibald
Campbell with a view to service in India. The 74th also wore the kilt,
but of Black Watch tartan. Their record runs much on the same lines as
that of the 71st, and quickly they are also found performing deeds of
stubborn gallantry in India in the Mysore Territory. When the hour of
Tippoo Sahib had come, the 74th was the first to enter the tyrant's last
stronghold, but it was later, at the battle of Assaye that they earned a
fame which finds its echo to-day in the old badge of the Elephant,
which that action entitles them to wear. For long afterwards the unit
possessed the proud by-name of "The Assaye Regiment." After sharing
with the 71st in the rigours of the Peninsula, Canada and the West
Indies, the 74th saw service in the Kaffir War, Madras, and in Egypt,
including Tel-el-Kebir, where they were in the fiercest of the fight.
It was in 1809, as a reward for their services, that they were formed
into Light Infantry, and were permitted to retain such parts of the
national dress as were not inconsistent with the duties of Light Infantry.
They then discarded the kilt and adopted the tartan trews which still
appear in the full dress uniform of the Regiment. The kilt is now worn
by two Territorial Battalions, the 6th and the 9th.
Subsequently the two Regiments were formed into one Regiment of
two Battalions.
The "H.L.I.," as all the world calls it, was of course present during the
South African War. They fought at Modder River, and though they
suffered severely at Magersfontein, continued to share in the hardships
of the remainder of the campaign.
At the outbreak of the Great War there were in addition to the 1st and
2nd Battalions, two Special Reserve Battalions (the 3rd and 4th) and
five Territorial Battalions, numbered the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th.
After declaration of war, the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th,
17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Service Battalions were raised, together with

the 21st (Territorial) and 1st (Garrison) Battalions. In addition, the 5th,
6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Battalions each had second and third lines, and at
one time there were as many as thirty Battalions in