British troops of the Seven Years War/French and Indian War: 78th Fraser's Highlanders.

Probably one of the more colourful regiments of the British army of this period was the 78th, 

Private, 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or Fraser's Highlanders, 1757-1763

The 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot was at the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, at the siege of Quebec in 1759 and at the battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760. It remained in garrison at Quebec until disbanded in 1763, some of its men remaining in Canada as settlers. 
This regiment was raised by former Jacobite, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat. Most of the officers were former Jacobites who found redemption in the British Army. Raised in January 1757, the regiment was able to gain so many recruits, that further companies brought the strength of the regiment to over 1500 officers and men. The regiment had some significant issues, most of the men spoke only Gaelic, thus the NCO's and officers needed to be bilingual. The uniform of the regiment incorporated various elements of highland dress. Bonnets, kilts, broadswords and pistols.
The shorter highland coat was red faced white. Various sources cause confusion about the tartan of the issue plaid, however, it would no doubt have been the government set, as issued to the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment and the 77th Regiment.

 photos courtesy of Kerry Delorey,

 

 

As noted in previous blog postings, I have modelled these troops in RAFM metals and plastics either Airfix or Italeri conversions. 

The 78th served in the Louisbourg and Quebec campaigns. At the end of the war, the regiment was disbanded and took land grants in Quebec and Nova Scotia.