26th ( Cameronian ) Regiment of Foot The 26th ( Cameronian ) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army , active from 1688 to 1881 . Although the regiment took the name of its first colonel as The Earl of Angus ' s Regiment , it became popularly known as The Cameronians until 1751 , when it was ranked as the 26th Foot . In 1881 , it merged with the 90th Regiment of Foot ( Perthshire Volunteers ) to form the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) . The Cameronians were themselves disbanded in 1968 , meaning that no Army unit today perpetuates the lineage of the 26th Foot . Formation . It was originally raised as the Cameronian Guard by the Lords of the Convention , named after the Cameronian s , followers of the Presbyterian Richard Cameron , who had been a militant leader in the struggles of the Covenanters against attempts by the Stuart monarchs Charles II and James VII to outlaw Presbyterianism and impose bishops on the Church of Scotland . This conflict culminated with the Glorious Revolution leading to a Convention of the Estates of Scotland meeting on 14 March 1689 . On 11 April , the day of the English coronation , the Convention finally declared that James was no longer King of Scotland , and offered the crown jointly to William and Mary . In March 1689 , three Scottish regiments in the service of William arrived in Edinburgh , and the ad - hoc forces raised to protect the Convention were dismissed . However , the following month , a regiment was raised near Douglas by James , Earl of Angus , drawn from among the Cameronians , and placed under the service of William II . 1200 men are said to have been enlisted in a single day , without the need for " the beat of drum " ( active recruiting ) or any bounty money being paid . The regiment had a nominal strength of 1200 men , in twenty companies of sixty , and its unusual religious background was reflected in the regulation that each company was to have an elder , as well as the regimental chaplain being a Cameronian . Service under William III . It entered government service under King William II of Scotland , III of England , in 1689 , and on 21 August defeated Dundee ' s Jacobite forces at the Battle of Dunkeld , a turning point in Dundee ' s Jacobite rising of that year . Dundee ' s Insurrection : Dunkeld ( 1689 ) ; War of the League of Augsburg : Landen ( 1693 ) . After the Treaty of Ryswick was signed in September 1697 , Parliament responded to political unrest over the concept of a large standing army by voting to disband all the forces raised since 1680 , and to support only a minimal force of ten thousand men . William responded to this by taking a number of regiments , including the Cameronians , onto the strength of the Dutch establishment , where they would not need to be supported by Parliament . They were returned to the English establishment in 1700 . War of the Spanish Succession . On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701 , an English expeditionary force of thirteen regiments was sent to the Netherlands . A second force followed in early 1702 , which included the Cameronians , and both groups joined a large allied army under the command of the Duke of Marlborough , when war was declared in May . Through 1702 and 1703 the army took a number of towns by siege , though the Cameronians ' participation is not recorded in any of these events ; they were , however , to be fully engaged the following year . They assembled for the 1704 campaign at Bedburg in the middle of May , and in early July a detachment was part of the main British attack at the Battle of Schellenberg . Of the hundred and thirty men involved , nineteen were killed and sixty - two wounded . The regiment then fought at the Battle of Blenheim in July , where it saw additional duty the following night guarding some of the thirteen thousand men taken prisoner . The British force was withdrawn to the Netherlands in October , where it went into winter quarters . In 1705 , they fought at the Battle of Elixheim , though the rest of the year ' s campaign was mostly uneventful . On General Ferguson ' s death , the colonelcy of the regiment passed to John Borthwick , the lieutenant - colonel , in October . However , Borthwick chose to exchange his colonelcy for that of a Dutch regiment under Lord John Dalrymple , who became the regiment ' s colonel as of 1 January 1706 . The Cameronians left winter quarters at the end of April , 1706 , and during May participated in the extensive maneouvering which led to the Battle of Ramillies on the 23rd . The regiment did not take part in the main attack , but were exposed to heavy cannon fire during the battle , and took a large number of casualties . In August , the colonel – now the Earl of Stair – was appointed to command the Scots Greys , and the lieutenant - colonel , George Preston , succeeded him in the colonelcy . The regiment fought at a number of sieges during the later part of the year , including at Ath , where a party of Cameronians managed to break into the fortress walls four days before it surrendered . The 1707 campaign was uneventful , but the regiment suffered extensively from fatigue and illness , being reduced at one point to a hundred men able to fight . In 1708 the regiment was briefly placed on notice to return to Great Britain , which was threatened with invasion , but was stood down after the French fleet was dispersed without making a landing . In July they fought at the Battle of Oudenarde , taking heavy casualties , and then served at the Siege of Lille . During the siege , they were part of a force detached to guard an ammunition convoy in late September ; it was intercepted by a French force at Wijnendale , who were themselves successfully ambushed by the escorts . The French force lost six thousand killed and wounded , compared to only nine hundred of the allied force . At the very end of the year , the Cameronians were part of the force which captured Ghent , where they then remained in winter quarters . They left Ghent in June 1709 , and were part of the covering force during the siege of Tournai . When the town was captured in early September , the main army moved south ; the French army encountered them just outside Mons , and they skirmished briefly with artillery fire on the 9th . In this engagement , the Cameronians took heavy losses , being in an exposed section of the battle line . The Battle of Malplaquet itself took place on the 11th , with the Cameronians in the central British infantry line . This force repeatedly beat off a French cavalry attack , and was credited by the French commander as a major element in his defeat . The regiment ' s losses included its lieutenant - colonel , who was shot whilst riding at the head of his men . In the first part of 1710 the regiment was part of the force besieging Douai ; they repelled a counter - attack in May with no casualties . However , they regularly took small losses in minor skirmishes , and eventually lost a total of fifty - one men killed and a hundred and ninety - two wounded in the siege . After the surrender of Douai they covered a siege at Béthune before returning to winter quarters in Ghent . They left Ghent unusually early the next year , in late March , and moved quickly into French territory to hold an advanced position before falling back in April to join the main force as it assembled . Throughout the summer they followed Marlborough through northern France , and were a part of the attacking army at the Siege of Bouchain in August , before returning to winter quarters . After some inconclusive fighting in 1712 , they withdrew to garrison Dunkirk ; after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 , the fortifications here were demolished and the garrison moved to Nieuwpoort in May . They returned to Dunkirk in August , and there embarked for Ireland . During the campaign , Blackadder recorded that the Cameronians had been thanked by Marlborough seven times for their conduct in action . The 26th was later authorised to carry the battle honour s " Blenheim " , " Ramillies " , " Oudenarde " , and " Malplaquet " , for its four most prominent engagements in the war ; however , these were not authorised until 1882 , a year after the regiment had been amalgamated into the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) . Mid - eighteenth century service , 1715 – 1767 . The Cameronians were transferred from their posting in Ireland to Scotland in late 1715 , ordered there to fight against the First Jacobite Rising . The regiment were moved to Preston in November 1715 , along with six regiments of cavalry , where they found a strong Jacobite force in possession of the town . A frontal attack into the town on 12 November , led by the Cameronians as the only infantry force present , was beaten back with heavy losses . A further three regiments arrived the next day , and the Jacobite force , now surrounded , surrendered unconditionally . The regiment took ninety - two casualties in the Battle of Preston , including three of its senior officers , who were wounded . Following the suppression of the rebellion , the Cameronians returned to Ireland in 1716 . Philip Anstruther was promoted colonel of the regiment in May 1720 . In 1726 , they left Ireland to serve as marines aboard naval ships , and were then sent as reinforcements to the garrison at Gibraltar during the war with Spain in 1727 . They did not see field combat during the siege of Gibraltar , as the activity on both sides was mostly a matter of long - distance bombardment rather than direct attacks ; nine men were killed or died of wounds , and twenty - nine were injured . The Cameronians remained in the Gibraltar garrison until 1738 , when they moved to Minorca , and left there for Ireland in 1748 . On 1 July 1751 , the regiment was formally ranked as the 26th Regiment of Foot , and issued with new , standardised , regimental colours . The regiment returned to Scotland in 1754 , and then moved back to Ireland in 1757 , where they remained for the following decade . In 1760 , Colonel Edward Sandford was appointed colonel , and replaced in 1763 by Colonel John Scott . North American service , 1767 – 1800 , and the American War of Independence . The regiment embarked for the North American colonies in 1767 , to take up garrison duties . On the outbreak of hostilities in the American War of Independence , in 1775 , the 26th Foot were stationed in Lower Canada along with the 7th Royal Fusiliers ; the two regiments were loosely scattered among frontier posts , and both were at a very low strength , mustering around seven hundred men between them . On 10 May , sixty men of the 26th were captured at Fort Ticonderoga by a force led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold . A second detachment at Fort Crown Point was taken without incident the next day , and the main force of the 7th and 26th regiments withdrew towards Fort Saint - Jean , in Quebec . An expedition by 150 men under Allen to capture Montreal was defeated on 25 September by thirty - six Cameronians – the entire regular garrison of the city – and a local militia force . The Americans , under General Richard Montgomery , had meanwhile led a strong force against Saint - Jean , and began to besiege the fortress in September . The garrison , commanded by Major Charles Preston of the 26th , was made up of 550 men from the 7th and 26th . However , supplies of food and ammunition were limited , and the defenders were forced to surrender in early November . The American force moved towards Montreal , which was evacuated , with the garrison – containing the remnants of the 26th – falling back towards Quebec . They were overtaken " en route " along the St . Lawrence , and taken prisoner ; the regimental colours were abandoned in the river in order that they would not be captured . This effectively ended the 26th ' s participation in the fighting for Canada , though a few stragglers may have served with the defenders at the Battle of Quebec in December . A group of reinforcements being sent out to the regiment was landed in May 1776 , with the force which lifted the siege of the city . After a large force of Americans was captured at the Battle of the Cedars , they were exchanged for prisoners from the 7th and 26th , allowing these regiments to reform in the summer . The 26th was moved to the New York theatre in the autumn , and camped at Amboy , New Jersey throughout the winter . It made a short raid further into New Jersey , towards Newark , in September 1777 , and then moved to Staten Island . The regiment participated in the attack on Fort Clinton on 6 October , along with three other regiments ; the fort was taken with few casualties , but this did not lead to any lasting strategic advantage . The regiment remained at Staten Island through the Philadelphia campaign , and in late 1779 were ordered home . The rank and file of the regiment were transferred into other units , and the regimental staff returned to England to raise a new force . On arriving in England they were sent to Staffordshire , and by the end of 1780 had a strength of two hundred men . It moved to Shrewsbury in 1781 , growing to a strength of 336 men by the end of the year , and then moved to Scotland via Tynemouth . It remained in Scotland until October 1783 , when it moved to Ireland . Lieutenant - General Sir William Erskine was appointed colonel of the regiment in 1782 , and petitioned the King for the right to officially change the regimental name . The traditional title of " Cameronian " had fallen into disuse at some point during the 18th century , and Erskine felt that it should be restored . Accordingly , in February 1786 , the regiment was formally permitted to assume the title " Cameronian " . The regiment embarked from Cork in May 1787 , with a full establishment strength of around 350 men , and arrived in British North America in August . They were garrisoned around Quebec , moving to Montreal in 1789 , and then to the frontier posts along the Niagara River in 1790 . It moved to St . John in 1792 , and then returned to Montreal in 1794 . In March 1795 , Major - General Sir Charles Stuart was appointed the regimental colonel . The regiment moved back and forth between Montreal and Quebec over the following years , absorbing a large draft of men from the 4th Foot in 1797 in order to bring it up to the new strength of ten companies . In May 1800 the regiment moved to Halifax , Nova Scotia , where it served in garrison duties for four months before sailing for England in September . On their return , however , one of the three transport ships was captured by a French privateer , the " Grand Decidée " , with the men paroled and allowed to return to England on the promise that they would not serve until exchanged for French prisoners . In March 1801 , Lieutenant - General Andrew Gordon was appointed Colonel of the regiment . Egypt , 1801 – 1802 . The regiment was ordered to sail for Egypt in May 1801 , to reinforce the British army fighting in the Egyptian campaign . It arrived in mid - July , joining the force under General Hely - Hutchinson , and served during the Siege of Alexandria . The regiment embarked for England in late October , with a large number of its men suffering from ophthalmia contracted in Egypt . The regiment was granted permission to carry the battle honour " Egypt " on its colours , along with an image of the Sphinx , and twenty - five of its officers were awarded gold medals by Sultan Selim III . The regiment returned to England in February 1802 , about a month before the Treaty of Amiens was signed , ending the war with France . On their arrival , a large number of men were discharged due to incapacity or due to their terms of service having expired , and after some ineffective recruiting attempts moved to Scotland in November . However , the recruiting here was equally limited , with the regiment having to send recruiting parties as far afield as Ireland for men . Napoleonic Wars . When hostilities resumed with France in May 1803 , the Cameronians were based at Fort George , in the Highlands of Scotland . They were brought south to Stirling at the end of July , where they were heavily reinforced from men who had been recruited under the Army of Reserve Act . Over thirteen hundred new men were enlisted , and the regiment was able to raise a second battalion , both having about equal proportions of new and old recruits . The first battalion moved to Ulster in December , with the second following later in the month . In August 1804 they both moved to the Curragh , where they took part in large - scale maneouvers for two months before returning to winter quarters . In December the battalions were reorganised , with the first battalion taking all the men on regular enlistments – who were liable for foreign service – and any reserve men who had volunteered to be sent overseas , and transferring all the reserve men who were only liable for home service to the second battalion . This left the first battalion with six hundred men , whilst the second battalion had almost twice that strength . First Battalion . The regiment moved to Germany in 1805 , then returned to home service . It then was shipped to Spain in 1809 for service in the Peninsular War , where it fought at the Battle of Corunna , and then to Holland for the Walcheren Campaign . It returned to Spain in 1811 , and then took up garrison duties in Gibraltar until the end of the war . 1st Peninsula : Corunna ( 1809 ) Flanders 1809 : Walcheren ( 1809 ) Second Battalion . A second battalion was raised in 1804 , and served in the United Kingdom . It was disbanded in Scotland in 1813 , having not seen active service . Irish service , 1822 – 1827 . The Cameronians were originally ordered to return from Gibraltar in May 1821 , but this order was countermanded , and it was not until November 1822 that the regiment was finally transferred to its new posting in Fermoy , County Cork , moving into Cork proper in April 1823 . Here , they garrisoned the city , and patrolled the local roads at night . However , the regiment ' s discipline suffered heavily from the move ; in Gibraltar , they had had little interaction with the Spanish - speaking local population , whilst here they could freely socialise in the town . As a result , the rate of drunkenness , and associated minor infractions , increased sharply . In January 1824 the regiment moved to Kinsale , with detachments in a number of scattered outposts , and then in October to Tralee , again the central point of a number of smaller garrisons . It was expanded from eight to ten companies in March 1825 , moving to scattered stations around Naas , County Kildare , in October . In 1826 the regiment was ordered to embark for England at short notice in response to extensive rioting in Lancashire , though they returned to Ireland shortly afterwards and took up a garrison posting in the Royal Barracks , Dublin . Their time in Kildare , and to a greater degree in Dublin , was marked by a sharp increase in the rate of desertion ; forty - two men deserted in 1826 – 27 , as against thirty - seven in the previous eight years . The regiment moved to Richmond Barracks in January 1827 , and in July left Dublin for various postings around Waterford . They were ordered to England late in the year to prepare for colonial service , arriving in Chatham in November , where older men were discharged . India , 1828 – 1840 . The 26th was not embarked for India until May 1828 , arriving in Fort St . George , Madras , in September ; this was the first time the regiment had seen service in India . It took on a draft of men from the 30th Regiment of Foot in November , and settled into a peaceful and mostly healthy period as part of the city ' s garrison . The regiment was ordered to Calcutta in July 1830 , though plans were made for some months to send them to Bangalore instead . On their arrival they moved north to Chinsurah , and were then ordered to march to Karnal , in north - western India . They departed Chinsurah in December , having lost thirteen men there to cholera , and after a long and complicated march arrived at Meerut at the end of March , 1831 . They had marched nine hundred miles over eighty days , some days making less than three miles . The subsequent years were again passed in quiet garrison duties , losing around twenty men a year to disease . On 21 August 1834 , the regiment was ordered to prepare for active service immediately , as a result of a dispute with a local prince , and after some delays marched for Marwar on 1 October . However , it was halted ten days later by the news that the Rajah of Jodhpur had reached a peaceful agreement with the British and that troops were no longer needed . At the start of 1836 the regiment was relieved at Meerut by the 3rd Buffs , and moved south - east to Ghazipur . It remained here less than a year , ordered to proceed to Calcutta at the beginning of December . This march proved much easier than the opposite journey six years previously , and the regiment arrived at Fort William in good order on 17 January 1838 . It remained there in garrison through 1838 and 1839 , but in 1840 received orders to prepare for overseas service . China , 1840 – 1842 . The regiment embarked at Calcutta on 24 March 1840 with a strength of nine hundred men , bound for Singapore , where it would rendezvous with an expeditionary force being prepared for service in China . The force arrived off Chusan on 4 July , capturing it with little resistance the following day . The 26th was camped on a hill just inside the city , where heavy work , bad terrain and bad provisions soon caused illness to set in . The regiment moved into the city proper in September , by which time four hundred men were sick , and in October and November around eighty men died each month . Two hundred and sixty men were evacuated to Manila in November , and by the end of the year two hundred and forty men had died , with a hundred and sixty - three sick in Chusan and a mere hundred and ten able - bodied men . All available able - bodied men were moved north to support the attack on the Bogue forts , which fell on 7 January 1841 in the Second Battle of Chuenpee . After an abortive attempt at a treaty agreement had fallen through , the regiment participated in the second attack to capture them on 26 February in the Battle of the Bogue . The force slowly moved up - river , taking Canton on 24 May and with the 26th beating off a Chinese counter - attack on 30 May , before withdrawing to Hong Kong after another provisional treaty was signed . Whilst resting at Hong Kong , the 26th made an expedition against Amoy in August , before being moved up the coast to Ningbo at the end of December aboard , equipped with newly modified percussion muskets . They arrived at Ningbo on 7 February 1842 , and took up garrison there . The town was attacked on the night of 9 – 10 March , though the 26th were not involved in the defence , and a few days later participated in an expedition to attack two fortified camps nearby . In early May Ningbo was evacuated , and the 26th moved northwards again to support an attack on Chapu . Here , the 26th saw heavy fighting , with three men killed before the town was taken . The regiment then moved with the main force up the Yangtze towards Shanghai and Nanking , with the 26th part of the force which stormed Zhenjiang on 21 July . They disembarked outside Nanking on 11 August , remaining there whilst the Treaty of Nanking was signed , and then withdrew , reaching Hong Kong on 30 October . The regiment was granted permission to carry the battle honour " China " on its colours , along with an image of a dragon , as a result of its services during this expedition . Home service , 1843 – 1850 . The regiment sailed from Hong Kong on 20 December , and on its arrival at Singapore on New Year ' s Eve was informed that it was being sent to England rather than returning to its station in Bengal . It did , however , continue its voyage to Calcutta , where it waited a few weeks before sailing for England in late February 1843 , with a full strength of over a thousand men , forty - four of whom died of disease en route . Part - way to England , it had the unusual distinction of being the first British Army unit to formally visit Napoleon ' s tomb on St . Helena , when one of the ships carrying the regimental headquarters called there . Through July and August the regiment took on garrison duties in the south - east of England as it reassembled after the voyage , and then moved north in September to Edinburgh Castle , where it was to be posted . The regiment suffered problems with discipline over the winter , partly due to being in Scotland – where the men could easily slip away – and partly from the Chinese expedition , where many of the older and more responsible non - commissioned officers had died or been invalided out of the service , and as a result of which most of the men had large amounts of ready cash in back pay . However , by the spring of 1844 , matters had mostly settled down , and the regiment turned out in good order to receive a new set of colours on 3 May , at Bruntsfield Links . They were presented in a formal ceremony by Lady Douglas , the wife of Sir Neil Douglas , commander of the forces in Scotland and governor of Edinburgh Castle . A detachment was sent to Dundee two weeks later , due to local unrest , but returned home without needing to be deployed ; this was the only active duty the regiment saw on its posting in Scotland . It was ordered to leave the city in August , transferring to northern England . It moved to various positions around Newcastle - upon - Tyne , where it spent the winter , and then proceeded to Manchester in April 1845 . The regiment was still understrength after the Chinese expedition , and as the recruiting in Scotland had been mixed , a large number of " very inferior " men were brought in shortly after the move to Manchester . In June it moved to Belfast , where it stayed through the winter , and in April 1846 it moved to Enniskillen . After Eniskillen the 26th moved south , marching to Dublin in August . Here , it remained through the winter , moving to Buttevant , County Cork , in August . and then to Cork itself in April 1848 . As was by now inevitable for Irish postings , most of the regiment was posted by companies to towns some distance from the headquarters , with these detachments changing location frequently . The regiment was finally brought together again in June 1849 . In August of that year , two companies of the Cameronians provided a guard of honour for Queen Victoria , who had arrived in Cork . This was the regiment ' s last major activity in Ireland , and they were ordered to prepare for foreign service in December . The regiment organised itself as a depot of four companies and a service battalion of six companies , which sailed for Gibraltar in March 1850 , and took up garrison there . The depot remained in Ireland until May , when it moved to Jersey . Colonial service , 1850s – 1880s . The depot left Jersey in May 1851 , and moved to a base in Monmouthshire . In November 1852 , the regiment was alerted that it would be transferred to the West Indies , but this was suspended in early 1853 due to concerns about the health of troops stationed there , and the regiment was ordered to Canada instead . The day that they arrived in Montreal , 9 June , a detachment of the regiment was ordered to assist the local police in keeping the peace when Alessandro Gavazzi , a well - known anti - Catholic preacher , was giving a lecture at a local church . A mob stormed the police line and broke into the church ; the soldiers arrived as the mob retreated , and tried to form a line between the two groups . However , the rioters began to push through , someone shouted to fire , and shots broke out . Most soldiers fired into the air , and the shooting was immediately stopped by an officer ' s signal , but several people were killed . This event further inflamed the situation , and the regiment had to be deployed throughout the night to patrol the streets . In all , the initial shots and the later rioting killed and wounded about forty people . The regiment left Montreal in July , and sailed from Quebec to Bermuda in November , where they relieved the 56th Foot . Major - General Sir Philip Bainbrigge was appointed colonel of the regiment in March 1854 . The regiment took on an extra two companies from the depot in April 1855 , all untrained men ; most of the experienced soldiers at the depot had volunteered for service with other regiments in the Crimean War . In 1856 they received the new Enfield rifled musket , which necessitated an expanded program of training for both experienced and new men . The regiment was relieved at Bermuda in October 1859 , and sailed for Ireland . It remained there for a year , with little of event happening , before moving to Edinburgh in 1861 . It received a new set of colours in April 1862 , presented in the Queen ' s Park , and moved to Aldershot the following month . That year , Major - General Sir George Henry MacKinnon was appointed colonel of the regiment . The regiment shipped to Bombay in July 1865 , and then moved to Belgaum . They did not see active service in India , but in late 1867 it was ordered to prepare for service as part of an expeditionary force sent to Abyssinia . The Cameronians were part of the follow - up echelon of the force , and landed on 31 March 1868 , equipped with the new Snider - Enfield rifle . They marched inland towards Magdala , halting after a few days ' , and after a month of waiting received notice that hostilities had ended . The regiment fell back to the coast , boarded ships for Bombay , and arrived there on 11 June . They received the battle honour " Abyssinia " for this operation , which had been completed without taking any casualties or engaging an enemy force . On arriving in Bombay the regiment was diverted to Calcutta , where it was garrisoned at Dum Dum . They moved back into the city proper at the end of the year , and then in early 1870 were transferred to Faizabad . Here , they suffered an outbreak of cholera , with thirty - four deaths among the men and their families . The 26th did , however , gain the distinction of being ranked as the best regiment in the Indian forces for rifle - shooting , and the second - best in the British Army as a whole . At the end of 1872 they moved to Morar , Gwailor , where they continued their run of musketry successes ; the 26th was ranked third in 1873 and first in the whole army in 1874 . The regiment returned home in 1875 , stationed at the Clarence Barracks on Portsmouth , where it received the new breech - loading Martini - Henry rifle . After adapting to the new style of firearm , the Cameronians regained their Indian standards of target shooting , and were ranked third in the Army in 1876 . In August 1876 the 26th was shipped to Glasgow , where it moved into the Gallowgate Barracks . During a diplomatic crisis in early 1878 the regiment was mobilised for overseas service , and received several hundred reservists and volunteers transferred from other regiments to bring it up to full strength . However , it was stood down in July , after the Congress of Berlin had averted the danger of war . It moved to Aldershot in October of that year , where it took part in large - scale exercises , and them embarked for Malta in August 1880 . In 1881 the Maltese garrison was ordered to South Africa as reinforcements following the British defeat at the Battle of Majuba Hill in the First Boer War , but by the time their ships reached Gibraltar it was announced that the war had ended . The 26th changed direction , and arrived in Portsmouth in April , moving to garrison in Shorncliffe Army Camp . Amalgamation and successors . As part of the Cardwell reforms of the 1870s , where single - battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom , the 26th was linked with the 74th ( Highland ) Regiment , and assigned to district no . 59 at Hamilton . Under the Childers reforms of the early 1880s , however , the depot system was altered and expanded to form " territorial " two battalion regiments . The four regiments brigaded at Hamilton were re - organised , and the 26th was now linked with the 90th Regiment of Foot ( Perthshire Volunteers ) . The two were formally amalgamated in 1882 , to form the Scotch Rifles Cameronians . This somewhat ungainly name was quickly altered to the Cameronians ( Scotch Rifles ) , and then to the more modern form of the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) . The Cameronians , as the more senior regiment , formed the 1st Battalion ; the 90th , as the junior , formed the 2nd . The 26th paraded as a separate regiment for the last time on 26 June 1882 , wearing a new green uniform – green was traditionally worn by rifle regiments , unlike the scarlet of line regiments . Its colours were put in store – rifle regiments , again , traditionally did not carry colours – and formally deposited in Glasgow Cathedral in 1885 . Traditions . Because of its origins in a religious movement , the regiment issued bibles to all of its new soldiers as part of their kit , a tradition that continued after amalgamation . Also , The Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) were the only regiment in the British Army that carried their weapons into church . This was a tradition that started in the Covenanter days when the Covenanters posted armed pickets at the beginning of worship services to keep a lookout for foes . The Cameronians continued this practice even after being taken into British service . They would post double sentries at the four corners of the church . The tradition continued until the regiment disbanded . The regiment was authorised to wear deep yellow facings on its uniforms under the 1751 uniform standardisation , though the regiment is mentioned as originally having white facings in 1691 , shortly after its formation . They also wore a tartan , or Scotch plaid , forage cap rather than a plain uniform one , at least during the 19th century . Whilst the 26th was not formally a Highland regiment , it did maintain a small group of men to serve as pipers , which are recorded at least as far back as the 1820s . The regiment carried on its colours the battle honour s " Corunna " and " Abyssinia " , as well as a Sphinx badge superscribed " Egypt " and a dragon badge superscribed " China " . The battle honours " Blenheim " , " Ramillies " , " Oudenarde " , and " Malplaquet " were also granted to the 26th , but not until 1882 ; as such , they were only ever borne by its successor , the Cameronians ( Scottish Rifles ) .