Mr A Cameron, of Erracht, raised this regiment in 1793, and one peculiarity of its origin is that, from some pledge stated to have bee given by the sovereign at the time, it could not "be drafted or disbanded".  A legend emphasises this; for it is said that when some royal duke proposed drafting them, Colonel Cameron  replied, "You may tell the king, your father, from me that he may send us to -- (a hotter climate than the West Indies) if he likes, and I'll go at the head of them, but he daurna draft us".  A 2nd battalion existed from 1804 to 1815, but saw no foreign service.

The regimental list of battles is extensive, and its services in the early years of its formation considerable, but there is little publicly recorded beyond the mere statement of these services.

It served at Egmont-op-Zee in 1799; in Egypt in 1801 in lord Cavan's Brigade, when it was present at Alexandria, bearing therefore "Egypt", with the Sphinx, on its colours; and at Copenhagen in 1807, Colonel Cameron commanding the force that stormed the citadel.

After this the regiment's foreign service was for many years passed in the Peninsula, where either the whole regiment or detachments were present, from the victory of Corunna to the fall of Toulouse.  It took part, therefore, in the battles of Talavera, Sancti Petri, Busaco, Foz d'Aronce, Fuentes d'Onoro (forming one of the brigades whose gallant charge cleared the village of Onoro, and won the special praise of Wellington, also losing their colonel, Cameron),  Burgos (where they led one of the storming columns), Salamanca, Pyrenees, nive, Nivelle, and Toulouse; and for its continuous good service was granted permission to bear the last six names and "Peninsula" on its appointments.

In the campaign of 1815 the Camerons were in Sir James Kemp's brigade, both at Quatre Bras and Waterloo.  They lost heavily at both battles, in the latter leaving 479 out of a total of 776 officers and men on the field, and they took a leading part in the advance of Picton's weak division, formed in two ranks, against the numerically superior French column, which had driven back and broken the Belgian and Dutch-Belgian brigades in first line.  It was in this very charge that Picton fell, and the regiment was taken out of action by Lieutenant Cameron; all his seniors were down.

The names of Alma and Sebastopol, which follow next on their battle roll, show that they shared in the Crimean campaign 1854 to the 15th June 1856.  At the Alma they were brigaded with the 42nd and 93rd Highlanders, and at the first battle charged as effectively the right of the Russian Sousdal column as the 93rd did the left.  They had their full share of the arduous work in the trenches, and after the Kertch expedition helped to garrison the Redan until peace was concluded.

Their stay in England was brief.  In 1857 the Mutiny broke out, and the 79th was early drafted to India, where it served under Sir Colin Campbell and Sir James Outram.  It only bears "Lucknow" on its colours for these services, but it saw much hard work and severe fighting in addition, for it took part in the affairs of Secundragunge, Bunterah, Rooyah, Shahjehanpore, Mahoomdeem Rampoor Kussia, Muchligan, and Bunwa Kote.

It afterwards accompanied Sir Neville Chamberlain's expedition against the Sitanas in 1863, and sent a body of volunteers for the Ashanti expedition; but the next important service was in the Egyptian campaign of 1882.  In this campaign the regiment accompanied the army in its change of base from Alexandria to Ismailia, and in the storm of the lines of Tel-el-Kebir it suffered a loss of sixty officers and men, killed and wounded.  Private Donald Cameron of the regiment was the first "to mount the parapet, and the second to fall".  The men marched from the field of battle to Zagazig, and so by Benha to Cairo.  During the Nile campaign th 79th assisted to guard the lines of communication at Korosko, etc, and was present with the Soudan Frontier Field Force in 1885, taking part in the defense of Kosheh, where four officers and twenty two men were killed and wounded, and the battle of Ginniss.  Though no Victoria Crosses were won in these campaigns, three of the officers received the D.S.O. for their gallantry in the Soudan.

Of regimental pets the only record is the monumental stone in Edinburgh Castle in memory of "Flora, the band pet, 79th Q.O.C. Highlanders, 1.10.76."  The regiment's pet name is the "Cia mar tha's", pronounced "Kamarha", the Gaelic for "How do you do?" the usual salutation given by that Sir Allan Cameron who raised the regiment, largely from his own personal retainers and friends.

The scarlet uniform has royal blue facings, changed from green to this colour in 1873, when the present title and badge, the crowned thistle - "the badge of Scotland as sanctioned by Queen Anne in 1707 in the confirmation of the Act of Union of the kingdoms" - were granted, with the kilt of Cameron tartan.  But it differs from the true Cameron tartan, because the first colonel thought the colour did not go swell with the red doublet, and so got from his mother a more suitable tint - the "Cameron Erracht" tartan - which is now worn.  On the button, within the regimental name is the thistle crowned; the tunic collar bears the same badge as the head dress and waist belt, a thistle wreath surrounding St Andrew's Cross.

Its only Militia battalion is the "Highland Light Infantry Militia", raised in 1803 in the districts of Inverness, Banff, Moraqy, and Nairn.  The single Volunteer battalion attached is the 1st Inverness, with scarlet uniform and buff facings.  The regimental depot is at Inverness.

Extract from "The British Army and Auxiliary Forces" Colonel C. Cooper King, R.M.A. , 1894

THE HONOURABLE ALEXANDER GORE ARKWRIGHT HORERUTHVEN  (Captain, 3^rd Battalion Highland Light Infantry)  Lieutenant, 79^th Cameron Highlanders               On September 22^nd 1898, at the battle of Gedarif an Egyptian officer had fallen wounded within fifty yards of the Dervishes, who were advancing, firing and charging.  Captain Hore-Ruthven picked him up and carried him towards the 16^th Egyptian Battalion, several times laying down his burden to fire at the enemy, in order to keep them in check, and succeeded in getting him into safety. Born at Windsor July 6^th 1872, Captain the Hon. Hore-Ruthven is the son of the 8^th Baron Ruthven.  Educated at Eton, he joined the 3^rd Battalion H.L.I. in 1891, was attached to the Egyptian Army in the Soudan in 1898, and during the battle of Gedarif and other engagements commanded the camel corps.  Was three times mentioned in despatches.  Gazetted to 79^th Cameron Highlanders in 1899.

How Private John Little, Of The 1^st Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, Won The D.C.M. At The First Battle Of Ypres

         The last three days of October and first two days of November 1914, witnessed some of the most desperate and sanguinary encounters in the First Battle of Ypres, but after this the German infantry desisted for some days from further attacks, though their artillery continued to bombard unceasingly, not only our firing line and reserve trenches, but the ground behind them, where the various corps and divisional headquarters were situated.  The headquarters of the 1^st and 2^nd Divisions at Hooge had had a most unpleasant experience during the fighting on October 31^st, when General Lomax, commanding the 1^st Division, was badly wounded, General Monro, commanding the 2^nd, stunned, and six of their staff officers killed, on November 4^th it was the turn of the corps headquarters. In the forenoon of November 4^th, Private John Little, of the 1^st Cameron Highlanders, was acting as cook for the clerks of the report Central 1^st Corps Headquarters, when suddenly the Germans started shelling from two directions.  Hour after hour they heard the huge shells bursting all about them, but the clerks went quietly on with their work, until late in the afternoon, when the German artillery got the range of the building, and it was struck again and again, several of the occupants being killed or wounded.  They then received orders to leave it, but Private Little, learning that documents of importance had been left behind, most gallantly ran back to the building, which was being rapidly levelled to the ground by the enemy’s shellfire, collected them and carried them away to a place of safety. For his gallantry and devotion to duty this brave Scotsman was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and we understand that the Russian Order of St. George (3^rd Class) had since been conferred upon him.  He is thirty years of age, and his home is at Edinburgh. Extracted from 'Deeds That Thrill The Empire'

How Private Ross Tollerton, Of The 1^st Battalion Cameron Highlanders Won The V.C. At The Battle Of The Aisne

    On Sunday, September 13^th 1914, the British, in the face of the fiercest and most determined opposition from the enemy, forced the passage of the Aisne, and before nightfall the bulk of our three Army Corps had crossed the river and entrenched themselves well up on the farther slopes.  Early on the following morning a general advance was begun along the whole western section of the Allied front, the most important offensive movement being that entrusted to our First Corps, under Sir Douglas Haig, which lay between Chavonne and Moulins.  Its objective was an important highway called the Chemin des Dames, or Ladies Road, four miles to the northward, the possession of which would enable us to command the country between Soissons and Berry-au-Bac.  At 4 a.m. the 1^st Battalion Cameron Highlanders, who with the 1^st Coldstreams, 1^st Scots Guards and 2^nd Black Watch, composed the 1^st Brigade, had their breakfasts served out to them; and at dawn the dawn of a wet, misty morning-the historic red tartans began moving up the Vendresse valley.  Among the Cameron’s was a young Ayrshire man, Private Ross Tollerton, to whom the impending action was to bring the crown of a soldier’s ambition.  Passing through the valley, the Cameron’s mounted the steep ascent to the north, and immediately deployed for action, the company to which Tollerton belonged in reserve.  Presently, however, it advanced and joined up with another company under Major Maitland, close to the famous three haystacks, south of the helmet of Troyon.  Here the mist lifted somewhat, and they began marching in a northwesterly direction to the support of the 2^nd Brigade, which was already heavily engaged, the 1^st Scots Guards reinforcing their right.  As they advanced, they came under a very heavy shell and machine gun fire, and Captain Matheson fell severely wounded.  Tollerton raised the wounded officer, and lifting him on to his back carried him into an adjoining cornfield, where he laid him down under cover of a small corn stack, and then returned to the firing line.  Scarcely had he rejoined his comrades when he was hit in both the right hand and the right temple.  Nevertheless, when presently the Cameron’s received orders to retire, the brave fellow, without a thought for himself, made his way back to the wounded officer, and lay down beside him, to await a favourable opportunity to carry him back to our lines.  He dared not raise his head, for the enemy surrounded them, and their snipers would be very quickly picked him off; but he did all he could for his helpless comrade.  Night came on, and he soon recognized that, even under cover of the darkness, it would be impossible to make his way with the wounded man through the German lines undetected, and they were therefore obliged to remain where they were.  T was a miserable night, cold and wet, and they had nothing to eat; but, by good fortune, Tollerton’s water bottle was nearly full, so they did not suffer from thirst.  Towards dawn Tollerton saw a strong force of Germans forming up directly in front of where they lay, with the evident intention of making a counter attack upon the British, and he was in dread lest they should deploy through the cornfield, in which event he and Captain Matheson would most certainly be discovered.  But, to his great relief, they took the road down the valley.