The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 regiment in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, which in 1881 became the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry

Highland Light Infantry

The Highland Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. In 1923 the regimental title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry ...

 .
The 71st Regiment of Foot was first formed in 1758 from the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Regiment of Foot

32nd Regiment of Foot

The 32nd Regiment of Foot of the British Army was first raised in 1702 as a regiment of marines to fight in the War of Spanish Succession.It won its first battle honour in 1705 for the siege and capture of Gibraltar....

. Soon after formation the 71st Foot was part of a raid on the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 coast at Cherbourg during the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

. After taking the fort and destroying the docks the regiment reboarded and returned to England before it took part in a similar raid on Belleisle in 1761.