“The Campbells they are a’ in arms,
Their loyal faith and truth to show,
With banners rattling in the wind;
The Campbells are coming, O-ho, O-ho!”
1794–1862—CAPE OF GOOD HOPE—PENINSULA—CORUNNA—SHIPWRECK—KAFFIR
WARS—INDIAN MUTINY.
To the cursory reader of Scottish history it appears somewhat strange
that a chief such as the Duke of Argyll, who, of first importance
amongst our Scottish nobility, possessed of so vast a territory, and
exercising an almost regal power—notwithstanding the military character
of his family, and the many officers of celebrity who have sprung from
among his vassals—should have comparatively failed to induce his
tenantry, so famed for bravery in our national wars, to assume, as a
body of soldiers distinctively belonging to the clan of Campbell, that
prominence in our army to which their ancient renown entitles them. This
may be explained in the fact that the natives of Argyllshire have always
manifested a strong predilection for the navy rather than the army,
probably arising from the almost insular position of the county, and the
sea-faring life of so many of its people. The Ninety-first, at first
numbered the Ninety-eighth, which now remains the only, and, in our day,
ill-defined representative of the martial renown of the Campbells, was
raised by Lieut.-Colonel Duncan Campbell of Lochnell, and embodied at
Stirling in 1794. It was almost immediately thereafter embarked for
service at the Cape of Good Hope, where it remained until that colony
was restored to the Dutch in 1801. The severe and constant drain which
had drafted from the scanty population of our Highlands and Lowlands
whole regiments of recruits, had so exhausted the military resources of
our country that, in 1809, it was found impossible to maintain all the
numerous Gaelic corps which then existed in their original national
integrity and completeness. Hence the Seventy-third, Seventy-fifth,
Ninety-first, and the old Ninety-fourth (Scots Brigade), were of
necessity doomed to lay aside the Highland costume, and, to a great
extent, abandon their Scottish character. This regiment was present in
the brigade of Brigadier-General Craufurd in reserve at the battles of
Roleia and Vimiera in 1808, which seemed to foreshadow the triumphs of
after years. It was also with the army of Sir John Moore in his
disastrous retreat, terminated so gloriously in the victory of Corunna,
the lustre of which was only dimmed by the death of the hero, who fell
whilst yet achieving it, and whose decease Marshal Soult, with a true
soldier spirit, alike with ourselves lamented. Chivalrously he paid the
last tribute of military respect to the departed brave, by firing the
funeral salute, and raising a monument over the grave of his fallen foe.
The generous behaviour of Marshal Soult, notwithstanding his after
faults, must ever command our admiration, and remain a record of his own
nobleness—the tribute of the friend of the brave; and justified the
ovation he received at the hands of the British public, when he visited
our shores as the ambassador of Louis Philippe.
For a moment the success of the French seemed complete, and the sway
of Napoleon universal; whilst the British army appeared, as had been
often threatened, “driven into the sea.” But the British meantime
returning to England, the chasms which want, fatigue, and the sword
had occasioned in the recent retreat, were speedily filled up, and now
our army only waited the opportunity when, returning to the Peninsula,
it should avenge the past and deliver the oppressed. Soon, under
Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, landed at Lisbon, it began
that victorious career which, by a perpetual series of successes,
advanced the tide of war through Spain, and, at length entering
France, helped materially to overthrow the dominion which the Empire
had usurped. Although the Ninety-first claims an interest in the
actions of the “Peninsula,” it was not until the British army was
about entering France that its connection therewith led to conspicuous
service—the memorials of which are still borne upon the colours and
appointments of the regiment in these words: the “Pyrenees,” the
“Nive,” the “Nivelle,” “Orthes,” and “Toulouse.”
From these scenes of stirring and thrilling interest, we turn to record
a signal instance of heroism which, occurring nearer our own time,
presents an illustrious example of the qualities which brightly
distinguish the British soldier far more truly than even the triumphs of
the battle-field. We give the incident as inscribed by order of the Duke
of Wellington in the Records of the Regiment, who declared “he had never
read anything so satisfactory,” that is, in its compilation, and the
marvellous obedience to orders and fidelity to duty it serves as a
report to show:—
“The reserve battalion of the Ninety-first Regiment arrived in Table Bay
on the 25th of August, 1842, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel
Lindsay.
“On the 27th of August the command of the battalion and of the
detachments embarked on board the ‘Abercrombie Robinson’ transport,
devolved on Captain Bertie Gordon of the Ninety-first Regiment,
Lieut.-Colonel Lindsay and Major Ducat having landed on that day at Cape
Town.
“The situation of the transport was considered a dangerous one from her
size (being 1430 tons), and from the insufficient depth of water in
which she had brought up. The port-captain, who boarded her on the
evening of the 25th, advised the captain to take up another berth on the
following day. This was impossible, for the wind blew strong into the
bay from the quarter which is so much dreaded there, and had continued
to increase in violence during the 26th, 27th, and 28th August.
“At eleven o’clock P.M., on the night of the 27th, it was blowing a
strong gale, and the sea was rolling heavily into the bay. The ship was
pitching much, and she began to feel the ground; but she rode by two
anchors, and much cable had been veered out the night before.
“Captain Gordon made such arrangements as he could, in warning the
officers, the sergeant-major, and orderly noncommissioned officers to be
in readiness.
“From sunset on the 27th the gale had continued to increase, until at
length it blew a tremendous hurricane; and at a little after three A.M.,
on the morning of the 28th, the starboard cable snapped in two; the
other cable parted in two or three minutes afterwards, and away went the
ship before the storm, her hull striking, with heavy crashes, against
the ground as she drove towards the beach, three miles distant, under
her lee.
“About this time the fury of the gale, which had never lessened, was
rendered more terrible by one of the most awful storms of thunder and
lightning that had ever been witnessed in Table Bay. While the force of
the wind and sea was driving the ship into shoaler water, she rolled
incessantly; and heaved over so much with the back-set of the surf, that
to the possibility of her going to pieces before daylight, was added the
probability of settling down to windward, when the decks must have
inevitably filled, and every one of the seven hundred souls on board
must have perished.
“While in this position the heavy seas broke over her side and poured
down the hatchways. The decks were opening in every direction, and the
strong framework of the hull seemed compressed together, starting the
beams from their places. The ship had been driven with her starboard-bow
towards the beach, exposing her stern to the sea, which rushed through
the stern ports and tore up the cabin floors of the orlop-deck.
“The thunder and lightning ceased towards morning, and the ship seemed
to have worked a bed for herself in the sand, for the terrible rolling
had greatly diminished, and there then arose the hope that all on board
would get safe ashore.
“At daybreak (about seven o’clock), it was just possible to distinguish
some people on the beach opposite to the wreck. Owing to the fear of the
masts, spars, and rigging falling, as well as to keep as much top-weight
as possible off the ship’s decks, the troops had been kept below, but
were now allowed to come on deck in small numbers.
“An attempt was made to send a rope ashore; and one of the best
swimmers, a Krooman, volunteered the trial with a rope round his body;
but the back-set of the surf was too much for him. A line tied to a spar
never got beyond the ship’s bows, and one fired from a cannon also
failed. One of the cutters was then carefully lowered on the lee-side of
the ship, and her crew succeeded in reaching the shore with a hauling
line. Two large surf-boats were shortly afterwards conveyed in waggons
to the place where the ship was stranded, and the following orders were
given by Captain Gordon for the disembarkation of the troops, viz.:—
“1st. The women and children to disembark (of these there were about
seventy). 2d. The sick to disembark after the women and children. 3d.
The disembarkation of the troops to take place by the companies of the
Ninety-first drawing lots; the detachments of the Twenty-seventh
Regiment and of the Cape Mounted Riflemen taking the precedence. 4th.
The men to fall in on the upper deck, fully armed and accoutred,
carrying their knapsacks and great-coats. 5th. Each officer to be
allowed to take a carpet-bag or small portmanteau.
“The disembarkation of the women and children and of the sick occupied
from half-past eight until ten o’clock A.M. The detachments of the
Twenty-seventh Regiment and of the Cape Mounted Riflemen followed. That
of the Ninety-first was arranged by the wings drawing lots, and then the
companies of each wing.
“At half-past ten A.M., one of the surf-boats which had been employed up
to this time in taking the people off the wreck, was required to assist
in saving the lives of those on board the ‘Waterloo’ convict ship, which
was in still more imminent peril, about a quarter of a mile from the
‘Abercrombie Robinson.’
“Having now but one boat to disembark four hundred and fifty men, and
the wind and sea, which had subsided a little since daylight, beginning
again to rise, together with the captain’s apprehension that she might
go to pieces before sunset—which (however unfounded, as was afterwards
proved,) powerfully influenced Captain Gordon’s arrangements—it became
necessary to abandon the men’s knapsacks, as they not only filled a
greater space in the surf-boats than could be spared, but took a long
time to hand down the ship’s side. The knapsacks had been brought on
deck, but were now, for these reasons, sent below again, and stowed away
in the women’s standing-berths.
“The officers were likewise informed that they would not be allowed to
take more than each could carry on his arm. The disembarkation of the
six companies went on regularly, but slowly, from eleven A.M. until
half-past three P.M.; there being but one boat, which could only hold
thirty men at a time. At half-past three P.M., the last boat-load left
the ship’s side. It contained those of the ship’s officers and crew who
had remained to the last; the sergeant-major of the reserve battalion
Ninety-first; one or two non-commissioned officers, who had requested
permission to remain; Captain Gordon, Ninety-first Regiment; and
Lieutenant Black, R.N., agent of transports. This officer had dined at
Government House the night before, but came on board the wreck with one
of the first surf-boats that reached it on the following morning.
“Nearly seven hundred souls completed their disembarkation after a night
of great peril, and through a raging surf, without the occurrence of a
single casualty. Among them were many women and children, and several
sick men, of whom two were supposed to be dying.
“Although it had been deemed prudent to abandon the men’s knapsacks and
the officers’ baggage, the reserve battalion of the Ninety-first
Regiment went down the side of that shattered wreck, fully armed and
accoutred, and, with the exception of their knapsacks, ready for instant
service. It would be difficult to praise sufficiently the steady
discipline of that young and newly-formed battalion, thus severely
tested during nearly seventeen hours of danger; above eight of which
were hours of darkness and imminent peril. That discipline failed not,
when the apparent hopelessness of our situation might have led to scenes
of confusion and crime. The double guards and sentries which had at
first been posted over the wine and spirit stores, were found
unnecessary, and they were ultimately left to the ordinary protection of
single sentries.
“Although the ship was straining in every timber, and the heavy seas
were making a fair breach over us, the companies of that young battalion
fell in on the weather-side of the wreck, as their lots were drawn, and
waited for their turn to muster at the lee-gangway; and so perfect was
their confidence, their patience, and their gallantry, that although
another vessel was going to pieces within a quarter of a mile of us, and
a crowd of soldiers, sailors, and convicts were perishing before their
eyes, not a murmur arose from their ranks when Captain Gordon directed
that the lot should not be applied to the detachments of the
Twenty-seventh Regiment and Cape Mounted Riflemen, but that the
Ninety-first should yield to them the precedence in disembarking from
the wreck.
“The officers of the Ninety-first Regiment who disembarked with the
battalion were Captains Gordon and Ward, Lieutenant Cahill, Ensigns
MʻInroy and Lavers, and Assistant-Surgeon Stubbs. If from among the
ranks of men who all behaved so well, it were allowable to particularise
any, the names of Acting Sergeant-Major Murphy, Colour-Sergeant Philips,
Sergeant Murray, and Corporal Thomas Nugent, deserve this distinction.
It was through the first that Captain Gordon communicated his orders,
and carried them into execution. Every order he (Sergeant-Major Murphy)
received was obeyed, during the confusion of a wreck, with the exactness
of a parade-ground. He never left the particular part of the ship where
he had been stationed, during the darkness and terror of the night,
although a wife and child seemed to claim a portion of his solicitude;
and when he received permission to accompany them into the surf-boat, he
petitioned to be allowed to remain with Captain Gordon to the last.
“The two sergeants were young lads, barely twenty-two years of age. They
had married shortly before the battalion embarked at Kingstown, and
their wives (quite girls) were clinging to them for support and comfort
when the ship parted from her anchors. The guards were ordered to be
doubled, and additional sergeants were posted to each. This brought
Sergeants Philips and Murray on duty. Without a murmur they left their
wives and joined the guards of the lower deck. Their example of perfect
obedience and discipline was eminently useful.
“And, if an officer’s name may be mentioned, the conduct of
Assistant-Surgeon Stubbs well deserves notice. He was in wretched
health; but on the first announcement of danger he repaired to the
sick-bay, and never left his charge until they were all safely landed.
“And, though last in this narrative, the beautiful calmness and
resignation of the soldiers’ wives ought to be ranked among the first of
those ingredients of order which contributed to our safety. Confusion,
terror, and despair, joined to the wildest shrieks, were fast spreading
their dangerous influence from the women’s quarter when Captain Gordon
first descended among the people on the lower decks. A few words
sufficed to quiet them, and from that moment their patience and
submission never faltered.
“By half-past three P.M. the bilged and broken wreck was abandoned with
all the stores and baggage—public and regimental—to the fast-increasing
gale, and to the chances of the approaching night.”
The excellent conduct of the Ninety-first throughout the Kaffir Wars of
1846–47, and again in 1850–53, received, with the army, the grateful
thanks of the country, conveyed through the Government, in these
expressive terms, to Lieutenant-General the Hon. Sir George
Cathcart:—“The field of glory opened to them in a Kaffir war and
Hottentot rebellion, is possibly not so favourable and exciting as that
which regular warfare with an open enemy in the field affords, yet the
unremitting exertions called for in hunting well-armed yet skulking
savages through the bush, and driving them from their innumerable
strongholds, are perhaps more arduous than those required in regular
warfare, and call more constantly for individual exertion and
intelligence. The British soldier, always cheerfully obedient to the
call, well knows that, when he has done his duty, he is sure to obtain
the thanks and good opinion of his gracious Queen.”
The subsequent foreign service of the Ninety-first has been in the
Mediterranean, and in September, 1858, it proceeded overland to India.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SCOTS BRIGADE;
OR,
THE OLD NINETY-FOURTH FOOT.
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