The regiment paraded for the first time on 24 June, 1794, in Aberdeen. The "92nd" (originally the "100th", but renumbered in 1798) was originally raised with the rivalry with France in mind; the rivalry between France and Britain which burst into full bloom in the early years of the 19th century. The 92nd earned their first battle honour in Holland, during the ill-fated invasion in 1799.

During the Great War, the regiment lost 29,000 men - either wounded, killed or missing. That is half of the entire American losses during the ten years of the Vietnam War suffered during four years by a single Regiment.

In 1968, defense reductions were being discussed, and the decision was made to amalgamate two of the existing Highland regiments. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders were selected as one of the two regiments to amalgamate. In discussing the second, the senior officials involved thought of the Black Watch or the Seaforth Highlanders. When someone mentioned the possibility of The Gordon Highlanders, a portrait on the wall of a former Gordon Officer Commanding promptly fell off the wall. How this happened has never been explained, but the Gordons were promptly removed from the list of candidates.

Yet in on 17 September, 1994, an amalgamation was effected between the Gordon Highlanders & The Queen's Own (Cameron & Seaforth), which had amalgamated just over 20 years previously. This was affected in a simple ceremony at Dreghorn Barracks just outside of Edinburgh, and the Gordon Highlanders ceased to exist as a fighting force in the British Army - now the 1st Battalion The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons), on amalgamation with the Queen's Own Highlanders.