Highlanders were soldiers from the Scottish Highlands who served in the militaries such as the British Army, France's Gardes Écossaises, Australia's "kilted companies", Canada's sixteen Canadian-Scottish regiments (such as the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)), the New Zealand Scottish Regiment, South Africa's Cape Town Highlanders and a few other reserve units, and the US Army's 12th Illinois Infantry Regiment and 79th New York Infantry Regiment.
The Highlanders were clansmen warriors and soldiers from the highlands of Scotland. A group of Highlanders raised in 1745 under the banner of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charles or the Young Pretender, fought against English royalist armies with the goal of restoring the Scottish line of kings (the Stuarts) to the throne of England. They were ultimately unsuccessful and many highlanders scattered to mainland Europe and America to escape the ruthless oppression of the Scottish Highlands. In their new homes, regiments of these Scotsmen fought as part of other armies. Highlanders carried swords, daggers and rifles. They wore kilts, bonnets (a seamless and brimless woolen cap typically with a strip of tartan around the headband) and double-breasted coats.
Political inclinations[]
At the time of the Seven Years' War in the 1750s, a Highland regiment would have primarily comprised soldiers with Tory sympathies, as recruitment efforts largely focused on the traditional clan areas, and most recruits came from the central and western Highlands and islands. Around 70-80% would have been Tory sympathizers. The Tory inclination was strongly tied to traditional hierarchical society, the clan system (where loyalty to the chief was paramount), Episcopalian or Catholic religious affiliations, and a general support for the Stuart line, which aligned with Tory principles of divine right and opposition to the Whig establishment. Many Highlanders were coerced into joining the British Army as their clan chiefs, who were often former Jacobites or sought to prove their newfound loyalty to the Hanoverian crown, were incentivized by the government to raise regiments. The soldiers often felt an obligation to their chief rather than an ideological allegiance to the British government itself. Even those who were not ideologically committed were often tied by the remnants of feudal obligation, a system that had a natural affinity with Tory, rather than Whig, ideals. Another 20-30% would have been Whig sympathizers. Whig support came mainly from areas that were staunchly Presbyterian and had a history of loyalty to the Hanoverian government during the risings, such as parts of Argyllshire and the south-west of Scotland. Most soldiers would have come from the Central and Western Highlands (including Argyllshire, Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Ross-shire, and Sutherland). Recruitment relied heavily on the traditional clan areas where chiefs still held significant influence over their tenants. The socio-economic pressures from the Highland Clearances meant that military service was often one of the few viable options for men in these increasingly impoverished and isolated regions.
This Tory dominance continued into the 1790s. By the late 18th century, the political landscape in the Highlands was complex but largely dominated by Tory-aligned interests among the common soldiery and their immediate social superiors (lairds and clan chiefs). The Scottish Tories were seen as the party of Scottish nationalism (before it became associated with Jacobitism, which had been suppressed by 1746), traditional Scots law, and the preservation of Scottish culture. The Highland social structure, heavily reliant on a landed class of chiefs and lairds, aligned well with the Tory support for the monarchy and landed interests. Many Highlanders had previously formed the backbone of the Jacobite risings, and following their defeat, their loyalty shifted to the Crown, but their underlying conservative/traditionalist sympathies remained, aligning more closely with Tory principles than Whig ones. While 80-90% of Highlander soldiers would have been Tories, between 10-20% would have been Whigs. Whig support was more prevalent in the Lowlands and western Highlands, often associated with industrial and commercial interests. While some Highland Scots adopted Whig interests as the Highland Clearances began to transform the region's social makeup, the common soldiers from the glens and islands in the 1790s were less likely to be staunch Whigs.
By the 1910s, a British Army regiment raised in the Scottish Highlands would have primarily recruited soldiers from the crofting counties and rural areas across the Highlands and Islands, including regions like Sutherland, the Isle of Skye, Ross-shire, and Argyll. The Liberal Party was the overwhelmingly dominant political force in Scotland, and particularly the Highlands, in the early 1910s. The Liberal Party won over 80% of Scottish seats in the 1906 and both 1910 general elections. In the Highlands, the Liberal Party had absorbed the support of the Highland Land League (or Crofters' Party) after the government passed the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act in 1886, which addressed key grievances regarding land tenure and rents. Many Highlanders were crofters or from crofting communities and their political allegiance was strongly tied to the Liberal party which had secured their rights. The Unionist Party (which merged elements of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties in 1912) would have had some support (~15%), likely from landowners, the professional classes, and those with strong ties to the British Empire's maintenance, but their support was generally much weaker in the Highland constituencies than in the Lowlands or urban industrial areas. The Labour Party was still an emerging force in Scotland during this period (with ~5% support in the Highlands) and only held a few seats nationally. Its support was concentrated in the industrial areas of the Lowlands, particularly "Red Clydeside", and it had very limited support in the rural, agrarian Highlands in the 1910s.