Military fashion is a source of pride

The passage of years has reduced the dispute to little more than a trivial spat over military fashions. But at the time, it was a vital question of pride, so important to the morale of soldiers.

Early in October 1863, one of Montreal’s senior militia units, the Highland Rifle Company, was uprooted from the 1st Prince of Wales’s Rifles (today’s Canadian Grenadier Guards) and transferred to a newer corps, the Royal Light Infantry of Montreal. At the same time, the commander of the Highland Rifle Company, Lt. George Brown, and two junior officers retired.

Unhappiness had been brewing in the company. The previous May, its then-commander, Capt. Peter Moir, had also quit. What was going on?

(I am indebted for much of what follows to Montreal military historian Earl Chapman.)

The Highland Rifle Company had been born in 1856 and from the outset was known for its smart appear- ance. Not only were its uniforms striking, but in addition, the men themselves were notably brawny.

As early as August 1858, the company was invited to Portland, Maine, where a local newspaper was impressed by their uniform, “a green coatee faced with red and gold, plaid pants, tartan scarfs [sic], Highland bonnet with ostrich plumes and red feather.” The piper, the newspaper continued, “with his kilt and bare knees attracted some attention. He was a fine looking fellow … and gave us some stirring ‘old country touches’ … on his monotonous, screeching instrument.”

The Highlanders’ emerging pride might have got the better of them when, the following New Year’s Eve, they brazenly paraded through Montreal “with their sidearms.” They were accompanied by two other units, one of which was commanded by Bernard Devlin, and their display of weaponry was criticized as a breach of decorum.

However, in a letter to the Montreal Herald, the show was stoutly defended by Peter Moir: since the units’ founding, not one man “has been found guilty of an unmilitary or unsoldierly or disreputable act.”

The following year, the Highland company was folded into the Prince of Wales’s Rifles. Though it was losing some of its independence, it was allowed to retain “its green rifle tunic or coatee, with its tartan trews and plaid, along with the distinctive red feather in their Highland plume bonnet.”

So far, so good. But by 1863, the Prince of Wales’s Rifles had a new commanding officer, none other than Bernard Devlin. He was no Scot but an Irishman, born in Roscommon. Almost certainly, Capt. Moir had quit that May and the Highland company had transferred to the Royals in the fall over Devlin’s plan to deprive them of their bonnets and trews.

The Gazette reported that the regiment “had received Government clothing of the Rifle Pattern some time ago, but the Highland Company refused to wear it,” contrary to Devlin’s orders. Its transfer to a different, more junior corps, “with the unanimous consent of the officers and men of the Highland Company,” was a surprising and unusual way out of the confrontation.

Certainly, the company found a more congenial home with the Royal Light In fantry. The Royals were short on antiquity—they had been embodied only in January 1862 — but long on Scottish character. The regiment had been raised by a wealthy timber and grain merchant, Haviland Lemesurier Routh, who became its first colonel. Its officers and most of its men were drawn from Montreal’s Scottish community.

As Chapman explains: “The transfer of the Highland Company to the Royals was a good fit for both units. Routh’s regiment would get a welcome infusion of well-trained, experienced Highlanders, while the Highland Company would now join their fellow Scotsmen, who would be more compassionate with regard to the type of uniform they could wear.”

To be sure, they still had to swallow a bit of sartorial pride, for there would be some changes in their uniform. However, they did get to keep their tartan trews as well as some “Highland flavour” on their shakos and forage caps.

In time, the Royals evolved into the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. It is one of this country’s most distinguished military units, and this year is celebrating its 150th anniversary.