invasion, a coalition was forming in Germany to oppose the
domination of Bonaparte, whom the French had elevated to the
title of Emperor, and the first battalion of the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment was appointed to form part of a secret expedition under
Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B.; this enterprise was, however,
laid aside, and in August, 1805, the regiment, commanded by
Lieut.-Colonel Colquhoun Grant, embarked with a secret expedition
under Major-General Sir David Baird, which sailed at the end of the
month. At day-break on the 28th of September the fleet approached
the island of Madeira, and the soldiers were gratified by the sight
of its high mountains, covered on the lower slopes with vines, and
on the loftier summits with forests of pine and chesnut, gilded
with the rays of the rising sun; and about eight o’clock the
whole anchored in the spacious bay, in the centre of which stands
Funchal, the capital; the lofty black rocks adorned with brilliant
verdure rising behind the town, form a striking contrast with the
white houses, and present to the view a splendid landscape. At
this place the fleet remained six days, and afterwards sailed to
the Brazils, entering the harbour of St. Salvador on the 12th of
November. Captain Campbell of the SEVENTY-SECOND stated in his
Journal:--“The town was opening as we approached the inner part
of the bay, and displayed the most gay and romantic scenery. It
is built on the ridge of a hill, and some of the houses are showy
and extensive; they are generally white with red tiles; but those
in the lower part of the town consist of from five to seven flats,
or stories, each; and, the streets being narrow, the houses almost
meet above. The hills are enclosed as gardens, and whichever way
one turns, the eye is equally gratified with the variety and
luxuriance of the scenery.”
The regiments were landed in succession for a few hours; horses
were procured for the cavalry, and some supplies obtained for the
voyage. It was a remarkable circumstance that the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment had not one sick man.
On the 28th of November the fleet again put to sea, and directed
its course towards the Dutch colony of the _Cape of Good Hope_,
then in possession of the Batavian government, which was united
with France in hostility to Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1806]
On the 3rd of January, 1806, the lofty promontory which marks the
southern extremity of Africa was seen, with its summit in the
clouds, and at five o’clock on the afternoon of the following day,
the fleet anchored off the Cape of Good Hope. At four o’clock on
the morning of the 6th of January the signal was made for the
seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and ninety-third regiments, forming
the second or Highland brigade under Brigadier-General Ferguson, to
enter the boats; and, moving to the shore, it effected a landing
in Lospard’s Bay; the light companies of the seventy-first and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments driving the Dutch sharp-shooters from the
contiguous heights, killing and wounding thirteen of the enemy.[17]
After pursuing the enemy some distance, the troops halted near the
Blue Mountains.
Before daylight on the following morning the SEVENTY-SECOND
advanced, with one six-pounder, to surprise a body of the enemy,
encamped at a small village; but the Dutch made a precipitate
retreat, and the regiment returned to its camp, where it arrived
about eight o’clock.
At three o’clock on the morning of the 8th of January the Blue
Mountains echoed the sound of the British bugles summoning the
soldiers to arms, and when the troops had advanced to the summit
of the hills, the Batavian army was seen formed, with twenty-three
pieces of cannon, in order of battle, in the valley in front. The
grenadiers of the twenty-fourth regiment drove the Dutch mounted
riflemen and jaggars from the high grounds on the front and on
the flank, and the Highland brigade moved forward to engage
the opposing army. Nineteen Dutch guns sent forward showers of
bullets as the three British regiments advanced rapidly upon their
opponents; when within five hundred yards, the enemy commenced
with grape, and when at two hundred and fifty yards distance, the
fire of musketry was opened along his whole front; but the advance
of the brigade was too rapid for the enemy to take correct aim.
Arriving within one hundred and fifty yards of the opposing line,
the Highlanders levelled their muskets with steady aim, advancing
and firing, until within sixty yards of their adversaries, when
Brigadier-General Ferguson gave the word “CHARGE.” A loud British
shout instantly rent the air, and the heroic Highlanders closed
with bayonets upon their numerous adversaries, who instantly fled
in dismay, pursued across the deep sands by the victorious Highland
brigade. The Dutch marksmen on the right flank, with two guns,
keeping up a constant fire, Captain Campbell of the SEVENTY-SECOND
was detached against them with his grenadier company; he soon drove
the Dutch sharp-shooters from the bushes, and was about to charge
the guns, but they were removed with too much speed to be overtaken.
After gaining a complete victory, and pursuing the enemy three
miles under a burning sun, and along deep sands, the Highlanders
were ordered to halt, and the first brigade urged the pursuit.[18]
Major-General Sir David Baird stated in his public despatch:--
“The Highland brigade advanced steadily under a heavy fire
of round shot, grape, and musketry. Nothing could resist the
determined bravery of the troops, headed by their gallant leader,
Brigadier-General Ferguson; and the number of the enemy, who
swarmed the plain, served only to augment their ardour, and confirm
their discipline. The enemy received our fire and maintained his
position obstinately; but in the moment of charging, the valour
of British troops bore down all opposition, and forced him to a
precipitate retreat.”
“Your lordship will perceive the name of Lieut.-Colonel Grant among
the wounded; but the heroic spirit of this officer was not subdued
by his misfortune, and he continued to lead his men to glory,
as long as an enemy was opposed to His Majesty’s SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment.”
The loss of the regiment was limited to two rank and file killed;
Lieut.-Colonel Grant,[19] Lieutenant Chrisholme, two serjeants, one
drummer, and thirty-three rank and file wounded.
The word “CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,” borne by royal authority on the
colours of the regiment, commemorates its distinguished gallantry
on this occasion.
After the action, the army took up a position in the Reit Valley;
on the 9th of January, the troops advanced towards Cape Town,
taking post on the south of Salt River, and the town surrendered.
Lieut.-General Janssens had taken up a position in a pass leading
to the interior of the country. On the 10th of January, the
regiment marched to Wineberg barracks; and on the 11th, Lieutenant
M’Arthur of the SEVENTY-SECOND was detached, with thirty men
of the regiment, to take possession of _Hout’s Bay_. “After
Lieutenant M’Arthur’s departure, it was ascertained that the enemy
had a strong garrison at Hout’s Bay, and Major Tucker, of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, was sent after him on horseback, to detain him
until a reinforcement should arrive; but the lieutenant had reached
the vicinity of the place with much expedition, and finding how
matters stood, showed his men rank entire, and only partially,
but to the most advantage. Having procured pen, ink, and paper,
he summoned the garrison to unconditional surrender, otherwise
he would blow the place about their ears, assault the works, and
give no quarter. The Dutch immediately surrendered at discretion,
and when the major arrived, he found Lieutenant M’Arthur in full
possession of the works, consisting of a strong block-house and two
batteries.”-_See Captain Campbell’s Journal._
Wineberg-Camp, _12th January, 1806_.
BRIGADE ORDER.--“In consequence of Brigadier-General Ferguson
being ordered into Cape Town, he is under the necessity of taking
a short leave of the Highland brigade. Short as his absence
will be, he cannot go without returning his sincere thanks to
every individual of the brigade he has the honor to command,
for the zealous support he has received from the officers, and
the uniform good behaviour of the men. Their conduct on the
day of landing, the cheerfulness with which they have endured
every fatigue and privation, and their distinguished bravery
in the action of Blaw Berg, while it has gained them universal
admiration, lays him under an obligation, which no time can
obliterate from his memory.”
On the same day that this order was issued the regiment advanced up
the country to co-operate with the troops under Brigadier-General
Beresford, and in a few days the Batavian governor surrendered the
colony to the British arms. From this period the important colony
of the Cape of Good Hope has formed part of the possessions of the
British Crown.
After the surrender of the Cape, the head-quarters of the
SEVENTY-SECOND regiment were established at Simon’s Town, where the
Hottentots in the Dutch pay tendered their services to the British
government, and were afterwards formed into a corps, now the “Cape
Mounted Riflemen:” the regiment had also detachments at Muisenberg,
Hout’s Bay, and Oliphant’s Bay, and in September it took the
garrison duty at Cape Town.
[Sidenote: 1807]
[Sidenote: 1808]
[Sidenote: 1809]
The regiment was stationed at Cape Town during the years 1807,
1808, and 1809: in April of the latter year King George III.
approved of its _discontinuing the Highland Costume_.
In February of this year the second battalion proceeded from
Scotland to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1810]
In February, 1810, the first battalion marched from Cape Town to
Stellinbosch, and while stationed at this place it was selected to
form part of an expedition, designed to co-operate with troops from
India in the capture of the _Mauritius_. It embarked eight hundred
men, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, from Simon’s
Town, on the 22nd of September, 1810, but various circumstances
occasioned a delay of nearly five weeks before it commenced the
voyage, and a landing of the troops from India had taken place a
few days before the division from the Cape arrived. Its appearance
off the island was, however, particularly opportune, as the French
governor had previously resolved to defend his lines before
Port Louis, but when he saw the division from the Cape approach
the island, he lost all hope of being able to make effectual
resistance, and surrendered this valuable colony to the British
arms.
The regiment landed at Port Louis on the 7th of December, and was
selected to form part of the garrison of the island.
[Sidenote: 1811]
On the 25th of September, 1811, the establishment of the first
battalion was augmented to a thousand rank and file, and it was
completed by drafts from the second battalion, then in Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1812]
[Sidenote: 1814]
After performing duty at the Mauritius upwards of three years, the
regiment received orders to proceed to North America, war having
commenced between Great Britain and the United States; and it
embarked from Port Louis on the 27th of June, 1814, with orders
to proceed, in the first instance, to the Cape of Good Hope.
The following General Orders were issued on this occasion, by
Lieut.-General Sir Alexander Campbell:--
“In obeying the orders of His Royal Highness the
commander-in-chief, for the removal of the first battalion of
the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment from these islands to the Cape of
Good Hope, the Commander of the Forces is impelled, not less by
the calls of justice and public duty, than by his personal and
private feelings, to express to Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, and
all the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of
that excellent, respectable, and valuable corps, how sensible
he is of the loss this command sustains by their departure. The
Lieut.-General, however, derives some consolation from the ardent
hope he entertains that the regiment is proceeding to fields of
glory, where opportunities will be afforded for sustaining the high
character it has already established, and adding to its well-earned
fame, by fresh deeds of valour, emulating those of our most
distinguished battalions, whose prowess and discipline have rescued
Europe from the tyrant’s grasp. He requests their acceptance of
his best thanks for their most exemplary good conduct, during the
period he has had the honor to have them under his orders, and
which he shall not fail to communicate to His Royal Highness the
Commander-in-Chief, for our Sovereign’s information, and likewise
to His Excellency the Commander of the Forces at the Cape of Good
Hope, a station where their gallantry and orderly behaviour are so
well known and appreciated.”
The design of sending the regiment to America was afterwards
abandoned, in consequence of the termination of the war in Europe
having rendered several other corps disposable: the SEVENTY-SECOND
landed at the Cape of Good Hope, and was stationed At Cape
Town.[20]
[Sidenote: 1815]
[Sidenote: 1816]
On the 26th of April, 1815, Lieut.-General Rowland Lord Hill,
G.C.B., was appointed Colonel of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment, from
the ninety-fourth foot, in succession to General Stuart, deceased.
After remaining at the Cape of Good Hope ten months, the regiment
received orders to transfer its services to India, to take part
in the war with the Rajah of Napaul. Some delay occurred in
procuring transports; but on the 29th of June the head-quarters
embarked for Bengal, under Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, and landed at
Calcutta on the 5th of September; the remainder of the regiment
arrived soon afterwards. The war had in the meantime terminated,
and the regiment was ordered to return to the Cape of Good Hope,
proceeding, in the first instance, to the Mauritius; the annexation
of that island to Great Britain, by the treaty of peace which
was concluded after the removal of Bonaparte from the throne of
France, having been followed by circumstances which rendered the
augmentation of the garrison necessary. The regiment embarked
from Fort William in November, and arrived at Port Louis in the
early part of January 1816; but the garrison had previously been
reinforced by the fifty-sixth regiment from Madras, and the
detention of the SEVENTY-SECOND was not necessary.
From the Mauritius the regiment continued its voyage to the Cape
of Good Hope, and arrived in Table Bay on the 14th of February;
but having touched at the Mauritius, where an epidemic disease
prevailed, it was detained in quarantine until the 3rd of March,
when it landed at Cape Town.
The termination of the war in Europe and North America had been
followed by the reduction of the strength of the army, and the
second battalion of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment was disbanded at
Londonderry on the 3rd of January, 1816; the men were sent to the
Isle of Wight for the purpose of joining the first battalion. The
regiment had, however, returned from India, and its numbers being
above the establishment of a corps on the Cape station, they were
permitted either to volunteer to regiments not complete, or receive
their discharge. The establishment, at this period, was fifty-four
officers, one thousand and seventy-seven non-commissioned officers
and soldiers; but a reduction of thirteen officers and two hundred
and ten soldiers was soon afterwards made.
In October one company of the regiment was detached to the
frontiers of the colony, to relieve a company of the eighty-third
regiment, which had been detached a considerable period.
[Sidenote: 1817]
Lieut.-General Lord Hill was removed to the fifty-third regiment,
in February, 1817, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, by Major-General Sir George Murray, G.C.B., G.C.H.
On the 10th of June four companies of the regiment embarked at
Simon’s Town, for Algoa Bay, where they arrived in fifty-four
hours, and marched from thence to Graham’s Town, the frontier
head-quarters, to relieve the twenty-first light dragoons, who
were ordered to proceed to India. These companies were distributed
in detachments along the bank of the Great Fish River, to occupy
posts established a short time previously, and to construct others,
in continuation of a chain, to protect the frontiers against the
depredations of the warlike tribes of Kafirs, who maintained a
constant state of preparation for aggression and acts of hostility,
and whose propensities appear more suited to plunder and warfare,
than the cultivation of their country. This proved an arduous
and toilsome duty, in a country nearly devoid of resources,
infested by savage animals and marauding Kafirs; the soldiers
lived under canvas, were frequently exposed to the inclemency of
the weather, especially while constructing new posts, and patrols
were constantly moving from station to station; yet the men were
preserved, by the care and attention of their officers, remarkably
healthy, and the eldest soldiers, who had been long accustomed to
the comparative ease and luxury of the service at the Mauritius and
Cape Town, performed this difficult duty with facility.
[Sidenote: 1819]
Notwithstanding every effort made to cover the country,
depredations were frequently committed, and a party of Kafirs
having succeeded in stealing a quantity of cattle from a Dutch
farmer, in the beginning of February, 1819, the circumstance was
reported to Captain Gethin, who was stationed at De Bruins Drift.
The captain instantly pursued the robbers, with a few soldiers,
accompanied by a number of Dutch farmers, mounted and armed; he
came up with the cattle in a country covered with thick underwood,
and trusting to the support of the armed farmers, in the event of
an attack, he entered the bush with a few men, and was proceeding
to drive out the cattle, when the party in advance was surrounded
and attacked by a number of Kafirs armed with spears and clubs. The
captain and his small party made a determined resistance; but the
farmers stood aloof, leaving the soldiers to perish. Captain Gethin
was overpowered, and fell pierced with thirty-two wounds; one
serjeant and one private soldier were also killed on this occasion.
Captain Gethin was a highly respected, brave, and intelligent
officer; he had distinguished himself in the Peninsular war,
particularly at the siege of St. Sebastian, and had been rewarded
with promotion; his death was much regretted.
[Sidenote: 1821]
A detachment of the regiment continued on the frontiers, and
took an active part in the border warfare with the Kafirs,
whose predatory habits it was found difficult to restrain; the
head-quarters remained at Cape Town, with detachments at Simon’s
Town and Robben Island, until December, 1821, when it was relieved
by the sixth regiment, and embarked for England. Two companies
remained behind three months for the want of transport, and
fifty soldiers of good character who had claims to pension, were
permitted to settle in the country.
On the departure of the regiment from the Cape, the Governor,
General Lord Charles Somerset, was pleased to express, in orders,
his approbation of the conduct of the corps during its stay at
that colony, and to add, that he should not fail to make known its
excellent behaviour to the Commander-in-Chief, and to recommend it
to His Royal Highness’s particular favour and protection.
[Sidenote: 1822]
In March, 1822, the regiment landed at Portsmouth, from whence
it proceeded to Fort Cumberland, and in May to Plymouth, where
the two companies left at the Cape, joined in June. In July the
regiment embarked for Woolwich, where it occupied part of the Horse
Artillery barracks.
[Sidenote: 1823]
The regiment was removed to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in
May, 1823.
Major-General Sir George Murray was removed to the forty-second,
the Royal Highland regiment, in September, 1823, and was succeeded
by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope from the ninety-second regiment.
The excellent conduct of the regiment on all occasions, which
had procured for it the commendations of the general officers
under whom it had served, had been repeatedly brought before the
Commander-in-Chief, His Royal Highness the Duke of York and Albany,
by the commanders of the colonies in which it had served, and
had been communicated to His Majesty, King George IV., who was
graciously pleased to authorise, on the 11th of December, 1823,
its resuming the HIGHLAND COSTUME, with this difference, that the
officers and men should wear _trews_ instead of _kilts_: at the
same time the King was pleased to approve of its assuming, as a
special mark of royal favour and approbation, the title of the
“SEVENTY-SECOND, OR THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.”
[Sidenote: 1824]
On quitting the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in April, 1824,
the regiment received a vote of thanks and approbation from the
principal inhabitants and public functionaries of the former, and
a similar document from the Royal Court of the latter, expressing
their high sense and admiration of its discipline, and of the
peaceful and orderly behaviour of the non-commissioned officers and
soldiers. The regiment embarked from Jersey and Guernsey in April,
and proceeded to Plymouth, to relieve the sixty-first foot.
In June His Majesty approved of the regiment assuming, as a
regimental badge, the DUKE OF ALBANY’S CIPHER AND CORONET, to be
borne on the regimental colour.
From Plymouth, the regiment embarked for Scotland on the 31st of
August: it landed at Newhaven on the 13th of September, and was
met on the beach by its Colonel, Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, who
marched into Edinburgh Castle at its head: the regiment afterwards
sent detachments to Stirling, Fort William, and Dumbarton.
[Sidenote: 1825]
New colours having been prepared for the DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN
HIGHLANDERS, the regiment was assembled at Bruntsfield Links, on
the 1st of August, 1825, under Lieut.-Colonel Calvert. The new
colours were presented to the Colonel, Lieut.-General Sir John
Hope, by Lady Hope, with a suitable address; they were afterwards
consecrated by the Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Moon, in an eloquent
prayer, in which he implored the God of Battles ever to crown them
with honour and victory; Sir John Hope then presented them to the
regiment, which was formed in square to receive them, and said:--