“42d remained inactive in or near Albany during 1756 and that
throughout the winter and spring of the following year the men
were drilled and disciplined for bush fighting and markmanship, a
species of warfare for which they were well fitted, being for the
most part good shots and experts in the management of arms.”
From the following letters found in the Public Record Office in
London the quarters for the winter of 1756-7 were probably at
Schenectady. Extract from letter from Loudon to Pitt, New York,
25th April, 1757,
“The Highlanders were set in motion from Schenectady * * * they
marched without tents and lay in the woods upon the snow making
great fires and I do not find the troops have suffered * * * We
have on that River (Mohawk) at Schenectady and up to the German
Flats, the Highland Regiment upwards of a thousand men,” etc.
The second letter reads as follows, and while it is chiefly of
interest in this connection because it is dated from Schenectady,
it also illustrates the custom of selling commissions:
Schenectady, April 24, 1757.
Francis Grant, Lt. Col. 42d Regiment.