The original 78th Foot was raised by the Earl of Seaforth in 1778. This unit served in India in the Mysore Campaigns and on 12 September 1786 its designation was changed to the 72nd Foot (Seaforth Highlanders). Later, on 7 March 1793, Francis Humberstone MacKenzie raised the "78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot". In 1795 it was renamed the 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or "The Ross-shire Buffs". During the Napoleonic Wars the 2nd Battalion of the regiment served in the Mediterranean for the Sicilian Campaign of 1806, quartered at Syracuse, and the Alexandria expedition of 1807.. The 78th fought under Wellington at Assaye in the Maharatta campaign and were awarded an Assaye Colour. They saw garrison duty in Goa before joining the Java Campaign from August 1811 to the end of 1816, after which they returned to India and thence to Britain.