The regiment was raised in Scotland by Thomas Graham as the 90th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 10 February 1794.[2] Graham was given permission to uniform and drill his regiment as a light infantry battalion.[3] It embarked as part of the Quiberon Expedition and took part in the capture of the Île d'Yeu in September 1795.[4] The following year the regiment was dispatched to support the French Royalist Lieutenant-general François de Charette in his struggle with the Republicans.[5] It took part in the Capture of Minorca in November 1798[6][7] and then sailed for Malta in November 1800[8] before transferring to Egypt in March 1801 for service in the Egyptian Campaign.[9] It saw action at the Battle of Abukir on 8 March 1801[10] and the Battle of Mandora on 13 March 1801[11] before returning to Malta in September 1801[12] and sailing for England in February 1802.[13]
Napoleonic Wars
The regiment became the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) on absorbing the Perthshire Volunteers in 1802.[2] A second battalion was raised in September 1804 but never left the United Kingdom.[2] The 1st Battalion embarked for the West Indies in January 1805 and was garrisoned on Saint Vincent.[14] It saw action at the invasion of Martinique in January 1809[15] and at the invasion of Guadeloupe in January 1810.[16] The battalion then sailed for Canada in May 1814 and was garrisoned in Quebec during the War of 1812.[17] The regiment became the 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry) in May 1815.[2] The 1st Battalion arrived for Ostend in August 1815 for service as part of the Army of Occupation of France.[18] It absorbed the 2nd Battalion in 1817.[2]
The Victorian era
The 90th Regiment of Foot on parade in India, 1866
The regiment sailed for Malta in October 1820[19] and then on to the Ionian Islands in October 1821[20] before returning home in 1830.[21] It then embarked for Ceylon in October 1835[22] and, after ten years on the island, sailed on to the Cape of Good Hope where it landed in April 1846 for service in the Seventh Xhosa War.[23] It embarked for England in January 1847.[24] It sailed to Balaklava in December 1854 and saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854.[25] The regiment returned to England in June 1856 but then embarked for India in February 1857 to help suppress the Indian Rebellion.[26] It took part in the relief of Lucknow in November 1857,[27] an action which saw members of the regiment awarded six Victoria Crosses.[28][29][30] The regiment embarked for home in September 1869.[31]
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