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[Illustration]
HISTORY
OF THE
SCOTTISH REGIMENTS
IN THE
BRITISH ARMY.
BY
ARCH. K. MURRAY, ESQ.,
MAJOR OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH LANARKSHIRE VOLUNTEER GUARDS.
~Published by Request of his Brother Officers.~
GLASGOW:
THOMAS MURRAY AND SON.
1862.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE, 3
INTRODUCTION, 5
SECOND ROYAL NORTH BRITISH DRAGOONS, OR “SCOTS GREYS,” 13
“THE GUARDS.” GRENADIERS—COLDSTREAMS—SCOTS FUSILIERS, 41
THE FIRST “ROYAL SCOTS,” 78
THE TWENTY-FIRST FOOT, OR “ROYAL NORTH BRITISH FUSILIERS,” 121
THE TWENTY-FIFTH FOOT. “KING’S OWN BORDERERS,” OR EDINBURGH 145
REGIMENT,
THE TWENTY-SIXTH FOOT, OR “CAMERONIANS,” 169
LIFE GUARDS. SEVENTH HUSSARS—SEVENTEENTH LIGHT 187
DRAGOONS—SEVENTIETH FOOT,
THE SEVENTY-THIRD FOOT—“PERTHSHIRE,” 191
THE SEVENTY-FIFTH FOOT—“STIRLINGSHIRE,” 199
THE NINETIETH FOOT, OR “PERTHSHIRE VOLUNTEERS,” 205
THE NINETY-FIRST FOOT—“ARGYLESHIRE,” 212
THE SCOTS BRIGADE, OR THE OLD NINETY-FOURTH FOOT, 224
THE NINETY-NINTH FOOT, OR “LANARKSHIRE,” 236
THE OLD HIGHLAND BRIGADE, 241
THE FORTY-SECOND, OR “ROYAL HIGHLANDERS”—“BLACK WATCH,” 250
THE SEVENTY-FIRST, OR “GLASGOW HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY,” 288
THE SEVENTY-SECOND, OR “DUKE OF ALBANY’S HIGHLANDERS,” 313
THE SEVENTY-FOURTH HIGHLANDERS, 330
THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH HIGHLANDERS, OR “ROSS-SHIRE BUFFS,” 352
THE SEVENTY-NINTH, OR “CAMERON HIGHLANDERS,” 380
THE NINETY-SECOND, OR “GORDON HIGHLANDERS,” 394
THE NINETY-THIRD, OR “SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS,” 409
INDEX TO PLATES.
Royal Arms, Frontispiece
Scots Dragoon, Fronting page 13
Colours of the “Scots Greys,” 33
Balaklava, 39
“Scots Greys,” 1862, 40
Prince Albert, 41
Lord Clyde, 45
Napoleon, 66
Duke of Cambridge, 74
The “Guards’” Monument, 77
Gustavus Adolphus, 82
Prince de Conde, 88
Marshal Turrenne, 90
Duke de Schomberg, 95
St Sebastian, 113
The Twenty-first Royal North-British Fusiliers, 121
Blenheim, 127
Killiecrankie, 147
Ancient Badge of the Twenty-fifth, 156
Colours of the Twenty-fifth, 2 plates, 168
Marquis of Dalhousie, 184
Seringapatam, 197
Delhi, 203
Lord Lynedoch, 205
Lucknow, 211
Ancient Soldiers, Fronting page 224
Officer of Pikemen, 232
Old Highland Brigade, &c., 241
The Forty-second Royal Highlanders, 250
Sir Ralph Abercromby, 273
Sir John Moore, 280
Sebastopol, 287
The Seventy-first Glasgow Highland Light Infantry, 300
Waterloo, 310
The Seventy-second and Seventy-fourth Highlanders, 329
Duke of Wellington, 336
Wreck of the “Birkenhead,” 346
India, 373
Sir Henry Havelock, 377
Monument to the Seventy-eighth, 379
Presentation Plate to the Seventy-eighth, 379
Lochiel, 381
Duke of Richmond, 394
French Revolutionary War, 407
The Ninety-third Sutherland Highlanders, 409
Crimea, 415
Presentation of Crimean Medals, 416
PREFACE.
In the present Work, the Author, without pretending to submit anything
very startling or original, has endeavoured to gather from the records
of the past such facts as may enable him, avoiding the tedium of detail,
to present to the reader a brief and, it is hoped, at the same time, a
comprehensive narrative of the origin and principal events in which our
Scottish Regiments have so largely and honourably been distinguished.
It is wholly foreign to the purpose of the Author in any way to overlook
the valorous achievements of the English and Irish Regiments in Her
Majesty’s Service, which have alike contributed to build up the military
renown of the British Army; he only trusts he shall receive that same
charitable indulgence, in his present undertaking, which in like
circumstances he, with every right-hearted Scot, should cordially extend
to brethren of either a sister land or sister isle. It is in these
pages, as a Scotsman, he ventures to give expression to the nation’s
gratitude and honest pride—awards, in the name of friend and foe, the
meed of praise justly due to the brave soldier who has fought his
country’s battles in almost every land—ofttimes victoriously—at all
times honourably.
The Author gratefully acknowledges the assistance freely rendered him in
this compilation by many Officers of the Regiments described. He feels
also considerably indebted to many very valuable works, on the same and
kindred subjects, for much of his information. Unfortunately, many of
these volumes are now very ancient, others nearly extinct, and nearly
all so expensive as to fail in answering the purpose of the present
Work, by bringing before the public, in a cheaper and more popular form,
the records of those heroic deeds, the narrative of which _ought_ to be
as “household words,” infusing a thrill of living patriotism and loyalty
into the soul.
It is hoped, as the grand result of the Work, that Scotsmen, considering
the rich legacy of military glory bequeathed them by their heroic
forefathers, specially registered in these Scottish Regiments, will be
more impressed with the duty devolving on them to maintain and emulate
the same. Whilst these records may afford knowledge, it is also hoped
that they may awaken a larger sympathy and deeper interest on the part
of the people in those, their brave countrymen, who so well represent
the nation; and if circumstances preclude us from accepting the “Royal
Shilling,” and so recruiting the army, let us be ready to accept, for
the expression of our thoughts and feelings, that grand channel which,
in our time, has been revived as the exponent of the people’s patriotism
and loyalty—_the Volunteer Movement_—whether as active or honorary
members, giving effect to our sentiments, and demonstrating, “by _deeds_
as well as _words_” that we are in earnest.
INTRODUCTION.
----------
Nature has been aptly represented as a fickle goddess, scattering her
bounties here and there with a partial hand. Some spots, like very
Edens, are blessed with the lavish profusion of her favours—rich
fertility, luxuriant vegetation, warm and delightful climates. Some, on
the other hand, which have not so shared the distribution of her gifts,
represent the barren wilderness, the sterile desert, the desolate places
of our earth—entombed in a perpetual winter—a ceaseless winding-sheet of
snow and ice seems for ever to rest upon these cold, chilly, Polar
regions: or parched, fainting, dying, dead, where no friendly cloud
intervenes, like the kindly hand of love and sympathy, to screen the
thirsty earth from the consuming rays of a tropical sun. But, as if by
“the wayside,” we gather from the analogy, that as in the world of man
there is a Scripture proclaiming comfort and blessing to the poor and
needy—whilst it tells the rich how hardly they shall enter into
“life”—so in the world of nature there is an over-ruling, all-wise,
all-just Providence, “Who moves in a mysterious way,” making ample
amends in the result upon the peoples of these climes, so as yet shall
cause “the wilderness to rejoice.” Thus we find that lands enriched by
nature ofttimes produce a people who, rich in this world’s good things,
acquired without much effort, allow their minds to become so intoxicated
with present delights and indolence, as to fail in cultivating the
virtues of the man. Too frequently the fruits are these—ignorance, lust,
passion, infidelity, and general debility. Whilst the barren, dreary
wilderness, the bleak and desolate mountain-land—like the poor and needy
upon whom Nature has frowned—enjoy the smile of Providence “in a better
portion;” for there, amid a comparatively poor people, are nurtured all
the sterner, the nobler, the truer, the God-like qualities of the man,
the soldier, and the hero. There, too, hath been the birth-place and the
abiding shrine of freedom—the bulwark and the bastion of patriotism and
loyalty. Ascending higher, these—the peoples of the rejected and
despised places of the earth—have ofttimes begotten and been honoured to
wear the crowning attribute of piety. Turning to the history of Scotland
or of Switzerland, for illustration, and taking merely a military
retrospect, there it will be found. All centuries, all ages, all
circumstances, are witness to the bravery and the fidelity of their
mountain-soldiers.
Scotland, the unendowed by Nature, has been thus largely blessed by
Nature’s God, in yielding a long line of valiant and illustrious men.
Perhaps no nation engrosses so large and prominent a place in the temple
of military fame—none can boast so bright a page in the history of the
brave. Her stern and rugged mountains, like a vast citadel, where scarce
a foeman ever dared to penetrate, have been defended through centuries
of war against the advancing and all but overwhelming tide of
aggression; besieged, too, by the countless hosts of Tyranny, they have
still remained impregnable. Her wild and desolate glens, like great
arteries down which hath flowed the life-blood of the nation, in the
living stream—the native and resistless valour of her clans. Her bleak
and dreary heaths have written on them one dark history of blood—“the
martyred children of the Covenant.” Faithful unto death; “of whom the
world was not worthy.” Her crown oft crushed beneath a tyrant’s heel—her
freedom trampled on—her people betrayed—all lost but honour. Unscathed,
unsullied, she has triumphed, and still lives to write upon her banner,
the mighty, envied, and thrice-glorious word, “Unconquered.”
Armies have a very ancient history. Their origin might be traced to the
very gates of Paradise. When the unbridled lust and wrathful passions of
man were let loose like Furies, to wander forth upon the earth, then it
was that lawless adventurers, gathering themselves together into armed
bands for hostile purposes, to live and prey upon their weaker brethren,
constituted themselves armies. Passing down the stream of time, through
the Feudal Age, we find one among the many greater, mightier,
wealthier—a giant towering above his fellows—exercised lordship, levied
tribute, military and civil, over others as over slaves. These were the
days of chivalry,—the Crusades—when cavalry constituted the grand
strength of an army. Here we might begin the history of cavalry as an
important constituent in armies, were such our purpose. The comparative
poverty of our ancient Scottish nobility prevented them contributing
largely to the chivalry of the age. Almost the sole representative we
have of our Scottish Cavalry, is the Second Regiment of Royal North
British Dragoons, or Scots Greys—a most worthy representative. The wars
of the Interregnum in Scotland—the times of Wallace and Bruce—when the
feudal lords had nearly all either deserted or betrayed her, introduce
us to a new force, more suited to the independent character and
patriotism of the Scottish people—the formation of corps of infantry, or
armed bands of free burghers. These were the fruit, to a large extent,
of the Magna Charter in England, and of the struggle for liberty in
Scotland. Hence the wars of Edward the Black Prince with France,
distinguished by the victories of Poitiers, Agincourt, and Cressy, may
be viewed not merely as the epitome of the triumphs of England over
France, but more especially as illustrating the success of this new
force—represented in the English yeomen, burghers, citizens, and
freemen—over the old force, sustained in the chivalry, the cavalry of
France. The result of these successive defeats, we find, was most
disastrous to France. The jealousy and fear of the nobles and feudal
lords had denied the people the use and the knowledge of arms; so that
when themselves were defeated, France was ruined—since they could expect
no support, as in Scotland, from an unarmed and unskilled people. They
had done what they could to quench rather than foster the spirit of free
patriotism, which in the nation’s extremity should have been the
nation’s refuge—the soul burning to deliver their land from the yoke of
the stranger. In not a few cases, the French rather sympathised with, as
they sighed for the same blessings of our free-born English yeomen. Here
we would mark, respectively in the English and Scottish armies, the
first formation of that branch of the service for which the British army
has ever been specially distinguished—_the Infantry_.
Our reader is no doubt aware of the calamitous results which flowed from
the short-sighted policy of these privileged orders—the old feudal
lords; whose love of a petty despotism laboured to postpone the day of
reckoning “till a more convenient season”—and so refused the timely
surrender of those privileges and that liberty which the growing wealth
and intelligence of the people claimed. Long, bloody, and unavailing
civil wars have desolated and vexed many countries as the consequence;
and in France the contest attained a fearful crisis, and the people
wreaked a cruel retribution in the awful horrors of the Revolution.
The increasing importance of commerce, and the growing desire for wealth
in preference to the uncertain and doubtful lustre of the battle-field,
induced men to gather themselves together, not as formerly for war, but
rather for the prosecution of trade; thus constituting themselves into
trade-unions, communities, burgherates, free townships. Disowning the
bondage of feudalism, as a system peculiarly adapted for war, and
hostile in its spirit to a more peaceful vocation, they sought and
obtained, in their earlier history at least, royal protection.
Independently of their engagements and allegiance to the throne, these
trading communities, aware of the restlessness, rapacity, and
necessities of the old feudal lords around them, formed themselves into
trained bands of free yeomen, or sort of militia, for the purpose—first,
of defending their own industry, property, and lives; and, secondly, for
the service of their sovereign and country in times of need. These are
amongst the earliest ideas we have of a regiment. At an earlier age, we
find many of the monarchs of Europe retaining in their service a body of
foreign guards, specially entrusted with the defence of the royal
person, so often threatened through the ambition of the nobles and the
turbulence of the people. In nearly every instance these were composed
of Scottish emigrants, driven from their country by the cruel and
desolating wars which then disturbed her peace, and had proscribed many
of the honourable and brave. We know no exception in which these corps
of guards have not maintained the Scottish character, nay, been
specially distinguished for the valour and fidelity with which they
fulfilled their duty. Thus originated the First Royals, or Royal Scots
Regiment of the present British army. The free citizens, continuing to
prosper and proportionably growing in power and influence, gradually
insinuated themselves into State affairs. As they grew in wealth, so
unfortunately they increased in pride and arrogance, forgetting
altogether their early humility. They essayed to be a political as well
as a trading community. Having overthrown the power of feudalism, they
threatened to shake the foundations of the throne. These murmurings
speedily awakened the royal jealousy, and broke in upon the peaceful
harmony of their hitherto successful alliance. The prosperity and
support of these freemen had elevated the might and majesty of the
throne, with which they had been early leagued, and these together had
compelled the old feudal nobility to exercise their rule in something
more of a constitutional way. Gladly, therefore, did these last avail
themselves of these dissensions to restore their long-lost power.
Uniting with the crown, whose interests were more peculiarly their own,
they called upon their still adherent tenantry to muster around them;
and thus commenced the sanguinary civil wars, already in a previous
paragraph referred to, between king and people, which have devastated so
many lands. These tenantry, thus raised, ultimately taken into the royal
pay, as regiments, have gone far to constitute the armies of their
several states.
In conclusion, we would remark, that the wars of the past have been as
it were _material_ contests—wars of matter rather than of mind—by which
we mean that _might_ has been understood as _right_; not as now, when
_right_ is acknowledged as _might_. Formerly it was he who excelled in
physical strength and prowess that was crowned victor; now-a-days the
appliances of mind, the inventive genius of man, have so improved the
art of war, that upon these the result of the contest must largely
depend. Skill and science, developed in a thousand ways, are the weapons
with which our battles are to be fought and won; and this, too, at a
time when man has been dwarfed in his bodily might by the bloody and
protracted wars of the past, and enervated by the ease and indolence
found in cities, so as to be no longer able for a contest as of old; and
so the providence of God steps in to supply the vacuum occasioned by
decay, and from the rapid march of civilisation, and the wonderful
development of the mind, represents to us a better state of things—the
triumph of the _mind_ of the present over the _matter_ of the past. The
victories of the battle-field are being superseded by the triumphs of
the Cabinet. The first Napoleon conquered by the sword—the present
Napoleon conquers by superior craft and intrigue, whilst we, as a
nation, are sitting by to register with an occasional growl his
successes. It has been the knowledge of these facts—this new system of
warfare—that has aroused the nation to see its danger in time; to feel
that “our glory” is but an ideal security; to know that steam and
electricity have comparatively bridged the sea, and so done away with
our best defence; to learn that the inventions of men comparatively
equalise combatants. It has been the knowledge of these things, along
with indications of a coming struggle casting its shadow before, that
has called the nation, with one enthusiastic voice, to arms—in our
present _Volunteer force_.
[Illustration: SCOTCH DRAGOON 1680.]
HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH REGIMENTS.
---------------------
SECOND ROYAL NORTH BRITISH DRAGOONS,
OR
SCOTS GREYS.
----------
CHAPTER I.
“Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can,
Come saddle my horses, and call out my men;
Unhook the west port and let us gae free;
For it’s up wi’ the bonnets o’ bonnie Dundee.”
EARLY HISTORY—COVENANTERS—BATTLES OF DRUMCLOG AND BOTHWELL
BRIDGE—ARGYLE’S REBELLION—THE RAID OF THE MACDONALDS—FLIGHT OF JAMES
II.—DUNDEE’S REBELLION—BATTLES OF KILLIECRANKIE AND CROMDALE—MASSACRE
OF GLENCOE—1660–1693.
The page of history presents to us many dark scenes of oppression, where
one man, trampling upon the rights of another, and disregarding the
heaven-born principle of charity, has sold his brother into bondage.
Nay, more, (as especially illustrated in the case of Spain groaning
beneath the thraldom of the Papacy), some men have even succeeded in
enslaving the mind; stopping up with vile trash the avenues of
knowledge, and so defacing and ruining that mirror of the intellect
which reflects so much of its Creator, which originally bore the impress
of divinity, and was moulded in the likeness of God. But the pride of
the human heart, and the unhallowed passion of man, stay not here, but
have attempted more—to subdue the soul—but in vain. It is possible to
fetter or destroy the _body_, nay, it is even possible to enslave, or
annihilate in madness, the _mind_, but it is _impossible_ for man to
bind the undying _soul_. Nevertheless, it has been the infatuation of
tyrants, deluded by false creeds, in many countries and in many ages, to
seek, but in vain, to usurp the dominion of the _soul_. The _soul_, like
“the bush burned but not consumed,” lives still, lives for ever, defying
the fires of persecution, the wasting famine, and the devouring sword.
It comes forth scatheless, purified, living; having shaken off the
corruption of earth, it appears clothed in the garments of immortality.
There can be no better testimony to the suitableness of the true
religion to meet the wants of man than this—that whilst all others have
proved themselves to be so many systems of tyranny, bereaving man of his
beloved liberty, the religion of Jesus is free, and is always to be
welcomed as the herald of civil and religious liberty; wherever its
blessing rests, its benign influence is felt, and its glorious light
shines.
It was in such a time as this in Scotland, when the iron will of Charles
II., already oppressing the persons and the minds of his people, aspired
to the dominion of their soul and conscience, by calling upon them to
introduce into their simple forms of worship a host of objectionable
mummeries, savouring of Popery, and threatening thereby to corrupt the
purity of the Presbyterian faith. In vain they petitioned for liberty of
conscience and protested against these intrusions. Persisting in the
introduction of these idle rites, and denying redress, the monarch
preferred plunging the nation into all the horrors of civil war, rather
than depart from his purpose. To enforce these requirements the king
raised in Scotland two troops of Life Guards, afterwards disbanded; a
regiment of horse, known as Claverhouse’s Troopers—
“The bonnets o’ bonnie Dundee;”
a regiment of Foot Guards; a regiment of foot, now the Twenty-first,
North British Fusiliers; and, in 1678, two troops of dragoons, which,
increased by the addition of other troops in 1681, constituted the
_Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons_, now known familiarly as the _Scots
Greys_. The corps was originally commanded by Sir Thomas Dalziel, who in
1681 was appointed the first colonel of the regiment. He was always a
staunch adherent of the House of Stuart, had been taken prisoner at the
battle of Worcester, but escaping from the Tower, served with
distinction in the Russian army during the Tartar wars. Returning to
Scotland at the Restoration, he was employed by the king in enforcing
his will upon the Presbyterians, and he discharged his duty with all the
scrupulous exactness of a soldier. To the Covenanters he has left a most
unenviable memory—as a monster of cruelty, devoid of mercy. His
eccentricities, especially in regard to dress, often excited the
merriment of the Court, and created quite a sensation amongst the
juveniles of the metropolis. He died in 1685.
The early history of the Royal Scots Dragoons is painfully and
intimately associated with the sufferings and trials of the
Covenanters—a page in our history which, would the truth admit, we would
gladly omit. The ignominious duty imposed upon this gallant regiment, of
hunting down the Presbyterians, and the cruelties which they were called
to witness, sometimes to inflict upon their unhappy brethren, must have
been extremely harrowing and repulsive to the feelings of brave men.
Along with a troop of horse, a troop of the corps was present in 1679,
under Graham of Claverhouse, at the battle of Drumclog, where they were
defeated, with the loss of twenty men, by the superior numbers and
desperate valour of the Covenanters, as also from the unsuitableness of
the ground for cavalry to act upon. The result of this overthrow was a
general rising of the disaffected and oppressed—a motley and
undisciplined army was speedily assembled, better in the use of the
tongue than the sword; and as always happens where that “unruly member”
is in the ascendant, proved the precursor of party division, and in the
end brought ruin to the good cause in which they had embarked. Foiled in
an attack upon Glasgow by the retiring royal troops, especially the
Royal Scots Dragoons and Scots Foot Guards, the Covenanters took up a
strong position behind the Clyde at Bothwell Bridge, and there awaited
the attack of the royal army, now advancing from Edinburgh under the
Duke of Monmouth. Failing in effecting an accommodation, the battle was
commenced by the Royal Scots Dragoons, supported by the Scots Foot
Guards attacking the bridge, which, defended with great bravery, was
only relinquished when the ammunition of the defenders was exhausted.
The loss of this most important post, as well as the divisions already
prevailing amongst the Covenanters, soon produced a panic which lost the
battle, ruined for the present the cause of liberty of conscience, and
served to add nearly ten years more to their sufferings. In the pursuit,
the troopers of Claverhouse took a cruel revenge for the defeat of
Drumclog, upon the broken and flying remnant.
The Royal Scots Dragoons continuing to be employed in the humiliating
work of persecution, were often roughly handled by the Presbyterians,
especially at Ayr Moss on the 20th July, 1680, where a desperate
_rencontre_ took place.
The Earl of Argyle, a nobleman of great merit, and for some time
enjoying the esteem of his sovereign, being suspected of a leaning to
the Nonconformists, or Covenanters, at the instigation of the Duke of
York was arraigned for treason, and, accordingly, condemned to death.
Escaping to France, Argyle returned in 1685, and landing with a force of
300 men in Argyleshire, summoned his clansmen, and endeavoured, with
little success, to raise the Presbyterians, and so, setting up the
standard of rebellion, threatened to dethrone James II., who but lately
had succeeded his brother in the throne. After much fruitless
man[oe]uvring, he advanced into the Lowlands, but was met by the royal
troops, including the Royal Scots Dragoons, near Dumbarton, under the
Earl of Dumbarton. Attempting to retreat in the darkness of the night,
his guides betrayed him, his army fell into disorder and disbanded,
whilst he himself was taken prisoner and afterwards executed at
Edinburgh. On the morrow, the Royal Scots Dragoons, assisted by other
troops, attacked a considerable body of the rebels under Sir John
Cochrane, which still remained together in the neighbourhood in a
strongly fortified position. After hard fighting, in course of which the
dragoons dismounted and fought hand to hand on foot, and after the loss
of many officers, among whom were Sir Adam Blair, Sir William Wallace,
and Capt. Clelland, also Lord Ross wounded, the rebels were driven back
and ultimately dispersed.
On the death of Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Dalziel, in 1685, Lord Charles
Murray, afterwards the Earl of Dunmore, and son of the Marquis of
Athole, one of the original officers of the corps, was promoted to the
colonelcy.
In 1688 a part of the regiment was called upon to interfere on behalf of
the Government—unfortunately on the wrong side—in one of those unhappy
broils which, as the dregs of feudalism, still so sorely distressed the
Highlands. The Macintoshes having despoiled the Macdonald of Keppoch of
his estate, during his temporary absence in the Highlands, the
Macdonald, on his return, taking the law—as was usual in those days,
specially amongst the clans—into his own hand, and taking an ample
vengeance, redeemed his own. The Royal Scots Dragoons were sent to the
assistance and for the release of the Mackintosh, who had been taken
prisoner. In retaliation they were inhumanly ordered to destroy all that
pertained to the Macdonald—man, woman, and child. Although such
instructions were quite in keeping with the character of the Court,
happily it was about the last exercise of a power ever rioting in such
acts of merciless cruelty.
The close of the same year brought the Prince of Orange to our shores,
to deliver the land from the bondage of the Stuarts who had so
grievously oppressed it. To meet this emergency, King James had drawn
together to London and its neighbourhood the whole reliable forces of
his kingdom. Amongst these were the troops of Scottish Life Guards;
Claverhouse’s regiment of horse; Dunmore’s regiment of _Royal Scots
Dragoons_; the regiment of Scottish Foot Guards; and two regiments of
Scottish Foot—in all, 3,765 men from Scotland. After a seeming show of
resistance, and much man[oe]uvring in the vicinity of Salisbury, the
monarch, dreading the wrath of an outraged people, fled to France.
“Conscience makes cowards of us all.”
When the Prince of Orange, as William III., ascended the vacant throne,
he found many of the troops inclined to dispute his authority,
especially the regiments of Royal Scots Horse and Royal Scots Dragoons;
which still remained together under the command of Viscount Dundee, and
with the characteristic loyalty of Scotsmen, would still have maintained
the cause of an unworthy and exiled prince, the degenerate
representative of the Bruce of Bannockburn. The tact of the new monarch
succeeded in winning the submission of the Royal Scots Dragoons; but the
Royal Scots Horse, deserting, followed Dundee into Scotland, took part
with him in his subsequent rebellion, and so, sharing his fate, have
been lost to the British army. The Earl of Dunmore, declining to serve
under the new king, was superseded in the colonelcy of the Royal Scots
Dragoons by Sir Thomas Livingstone, afterwards Viscount Teviot—a
Scottish soldier of distinction, who came over from the continent with
the prince.
To stem the torrent of rebellion which the return of Dundee to Scotland
had excited—especially among the Highland clans, nearly all of whom were
devotedly attached to the Stuarts—the Royal Scots Dragoons were ordered
to return to Scotland. Throughout the succeeding campaigns the regiment
behaved with signal fidelity and gallantry, with the exception of some
few of its officers who were found guilty of treasonable intercourse
with the rebels—having a sympathy with their old comrade in arms,
Viscount Dundee. Amongst the arrested were Lieut.-Colonel Livingstone,
Captains Murray, Crichton, and Livingstone. The royal forces under the
command of Major-General Mackay, included, besides the Royal Scots
Dragoons, many regiments since known to fame—Lord Colchester’s Horse, or
the Third (Prince of Wales’) Dragoon Guards; Berkeley’s, or the Fourth
(Queen’s Own Hussars) Dragoons; Sir James Leslie’s, or the Fifteenth
(York, East Riding) Foot; besides a considerable body of Dutch troops
under Colonel Ramsay. Dundee was joined at Inverness by Macdonald of
Keppoch and his clan, thirsting for revenge because of the atrocities
committed upon them and theirs by the soldiers in the previous year.
After much time spent in marching and counter-marching in search of, and
pursuit of, each other, the two armies met at the Pass of Killiecrankie,
when the death of Dundee, in the moment of victory, virtually ruined the
Jacobite cause. The Royal Scots Dragoons, although not present at that
disastrous battle, had previously distinguished themselves in a skirmish
with a body of about 500 Highlanders, chiefly Macleans, who, defeating
with great loss, they dispersed, and, dismounting, pursued among the
rocks and crags of the mountains. In the following year, the rebels
still continuing in arms, under General Canon—who on the death of Dundee
assumed the command—and being recruited by a body of men from Ireland
under General Buchan, took up a strong post and awaited the attack of
the royal forces at Cromdale. Here, on the morning of the 31st April,
they were suddenly attacked by Sir Thomas Livingstone, at the head of
the Royal Scots Dragoons and other troops, and, amid the darkness and
confusion, totally defeated and dispersed with great slaughter. The
scene was one of consternation and horror, and had it not been for the
merciful intervention of a mountain mist, as if to befriend her own
children in their day of calamity, would have proved even more fatal to
the flying enemy. In this action the Royal Scots Dragoons took a gallant
part. This victory was quickly followed by the relief of the castle of
Abergeldie, then besieged by the Highlanders, where two troops of the
Royal Scots Dragoons utterly routed the rebels with great carnage.
Unable longer to sustain such a hopeless struggle, the clans tendered
their submission to King William, which was accepted.
But the triumph of the Government was stained by a deed of barbarous
cruelty and sin, which remains a blot on the page of British history,
known as “the Massacre of Glencoe.” The Macdonalds of Glencoe having
failed to tender their allegiance within the prescribed time, although
they had done so a few days afterwards, the whole were treacherously
murdered in cold blood, whilst peaceably sleeping, by a party of
soldiers from Argyle’s regiment, who had been received and hospitably
quartered among them as friends. This inhuman action has been vainly
attempted to be excused, and all authorities have alike endeavoured to
escape the responsibility. We gladly record that the Royal Scots
Dragoons were not called to take any part in the matter; and their
colonel, Sir Thomas Livingstone, although then Commander-in-Chief in
Scotland, has been fully exonerated from blame by Parliament.
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