Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VIINorman, Charles Boswell
History
Battle Honours of the British Army: From Tangier, 1662, to the Commencement of the Reign of King Edward VII
Norman, Charles Boswell
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
This battle honour is borne by the Scottish Rifles and the Gordon
Highlanders, and was conferred upon these two young regiments in
recognition of the gallantry with which they met and repelled the
attack of a vastly superior body of French, as related above. The
total loss of the army on March 13 amounted to 6 officers and
153 men killed, 66 officers and 1,936 men wounded, the heaviest
casualties being those of the two regiments who bear "Mandora" on
their colours. The 13th (Somerset Light Infantry), which was in the
immediate rear of the 90th, at once moved up to its support, and
also suffered very heavily. The 90th (Scottish Rifles) were under
the command of their junior Lieutenant-Colonel, afterwards better
known as General Viscount Hill, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
He was badly wounded at Mandora, when the command of the regiment
devolved on the next senior officer, Major Moncrieff, who a few
days subsequently was given the command of the 44th (Essex), on
its Colonel being killed. Thence he was moved, at Sir John Moore's
request, to the 52nd, in order to train that distinguished corps
as a light infantry regiment. Although the 90th at that time had
not the designation of light infantry, its founder, Colonel Graham,
afterwards Lord Lynedoch had from its earliest days trained it as
a light infantry corps, impelled thereto because its predecessor,
which had fought so well at the capture of Belleisle, Martinique,
and Havana, was at that time (1759-1764) the only light infantry
regiment in the British army, and the stout old Scotsman never
rested until he had secured the same title for the new 90th.
CASUALTIES OF THE 90TH AND 92ND AT MANDORA.
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| |_Officers._| _Men._ |
| _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | K. | W. | K. | W. |
+------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|90th Scottish Rifles | 1 | 7 | 29 | 242 |
|92nd Gordon Highlanders | - | 11 | 19 | 110 |
+------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
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