The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-18
THE GORDON HIGHLANDERS.

Something About ihs Famous Battalion
which Led The fharge Al DArEal Ridge.
First Taste or GLORY In IndlA Ia I7SB.
cable dispatches from slmla. India.
nave recently had a good deal to say
about the Gordon H%lghlanders. whose
Flrs, Battalion, with the regiment of
Gburkas, bore the brunt OF the fght
when the British forces stormed Dargal
Ridge aud captured the almost Impreg-
uable positions OF the trlbesmen. a few
weeks ago.
The Gordon Hlghlanders, or Cor
Aon's own" as II Is called In army par
LANCE, Is better known to Scotchmen BY
Its old title, the Seventy-ifth OF the
line" or the St%irlingshire Regiment of
toot, The members OF the N%inety-sec-
nrd were the original Gordon Highlan-
Jers. and they, in 1881, were amalgama-
te6 with the Seyenty-afth, under the
,atter's title, into one territorial regI-
ment. The old name OF the Ninety-sec-
ond was at first forgotten. but was
later TO reappear as more significant OF
me deeds Of the newly formed regiment.
The UNION VI tHt ltbHlSAtS WIN lloSe
nj the Strada Reale Barracks. Malta,
and the force at FIRST bore the title Of
me Strada Reale H|ighlanders, while a
nopular conundrum among military
folks at the time was, What Is the diff
ference between the Ninety-second and
Inc Seyenty-hfth?" the answer being,
"The first are real HIghlsnders, but the
others Reule % Highlanders."
OF the two regiments, however, the
seventy-Rfth Is the older, having been
raised In dhe aOtumn Of 1887, OF seven
years before the original Gordon High
ianders were formed. The regiment
mad its first taste OF glory IN India,
where 1t was Immediately ordered, TAX
ing mart IN the siege and CAPTURE OF
SerIngapatam In 1890, ana remaining
there until 1906. In 1909 the designation
md with It the Uniform OF the regiment
was changed from the SeVenty-ffth
]HIuhlanders to the S|syenty-ffth Foot,
which wax retained until 1862, when Il
became the Seventeenth Stirlingshire.
IN remembrance OF Its origin,
SHE regiment. unfortunately, did not
have any opportunity to take part In
either the Spanish or the Waterloo
campaigns AGAINST Napoleon, but 1t
served with great distinction in the
Kafr war OF. 1885, and during the In
alan Mnialy. where Il took part In the
siege aud capture az Delhi, and in the
famous march 10 the relief Of Lucknow
In 1857. lmmortallZed by Tennyson's
noem written In memory OF Princess AL
fee.
In 1909 a monument was erected on a
commanding emluence In the cemetery
~ inc City OF Stirling, Scotland, to the
memory Of the ter, officers, thirteen
e~arreants, nine corporals, three drum
msrs, and two hundred and sixteen en-
listed men OF the regiment, who fell IN
the mutiny.
The Egyptian campaign OF 1882 found
he Seventy afth, as the newly united
'lrst Battn'inn- ~ the Gordon High
,,nders, mnrch,ng side by side, with the
Seventy. ninth, the Forty-second, and
the Seventy. Fourth thus forming a gen
nine Highland brigade, under the COM
mand az I%ieutcnant General Sir q. B.
Hamley. Al the storming Of the Tel-el-
Keblr, Gorerol Allison wrote that It
"wasa Nohl' s'ght IN see the Gordon and
Cameron FlGhlauders mingled togeth-
or in thr confusion OF the fight. their
Vn,inC officers leading Win WhVlnE
swords. their pipes screaming, and that
brlght rlram In the eyes of the men
which row see only In the hour OF sue
cesstul battle"
The two soudan campaigns gave the
First Battalion of the Gordon High
landcrs further opportunities for dis
%tInctlon At the battle OF El Teb the
brtnt OF the Arab onset fell on the
RACK Watch. "Gordon's own" and the
Naval Rriuade. while at the battle Of
Tamai. one ,of the most trying engage
ments In which d British force had ever
entered, the Gordons formed half Of the
front and the whole of the right face of
the first brigade square, commanded by
Sir Redvers Butler. Again in 1SS4-5
"Gordon's own" served in the Second
Nile expedition, hut did not arrive at
Kirbekan In time to take part In the
final bloody contest.
"Gordon's Own" was sent to Ceylon
IN 1888. and I'VE years later was order
ed to India, where in the spring OF 1895
It occupied a position In the Chitral ex-
Evolutionary corps under Sir Robert
Low. At Chitra and In the stormlng Of
the Mainland Pass II won for itselt
great glory. And. according to the Sim.
la dispatches, "Gordon's Own" has just
l. H. NE WwaW