“On their march through the northern counties of England, they were

every where received with such hospitality, that they appeared in the

highest spirits; and it was imagined that their attachment to home

was so much abated, that they would feel no reluctance to the change.

As they approached the metropolis, however, and were exposed to the

taunts of the _true-bred English clowns_, they became more gloomy

and sullen. Animated, even to the lowest private, with the feelings

of gentlemen, they could ill brook the rudeness of boors--nor could

they patiently submit to affronts in a country to which they had

been called by invitation of their sovereign. A still deeper cause

of discontent preyed upon their minds. A rumour had reached them on

their march that they were to be embarked for the plantations. The

fate of the marines, the invalids, and other regiments which had been

sent to these colonies, seemed to mark out this service as at once

the most perilous and the most degrading to which British soldiers

could be exposed. With no enemy to encounter worthy of their courage,

there was another consideration, which made it peculiarly odious to

the Highlanders. By the act of parliament of the eleventh of George

I., transportation to the colonies was denounced against the Highland

rebels, &c. as the greatest punishment that could be inflicted on

them except death, and, when they heard that they were to be sent

there, the galling suspicion naturally arose in their minds, that

‘_after being used as rods to scourge their own countrymen, they were

to be thrown into the fire_!’ These apprehensions they kept secret

even from their own officers; and the care with which they dissembled

them is the best evidence of the deep impression which they had made.

Amidst all their jealousies and fears, however, they looked forward

with considerable expectation to the review, when they were to come

under the immediate observation of his majesty, or some of the royal

family. On the 14th of May they were reviewed by Marshal Wade, and

many persons of distinction, who were highly delighted with the

promptitude and alacrity with which they went through their military

exercises, and gave a very favourable report of them, where it was

likely to operate most to their advantage. From that moment, however,

all their thoughts were bent on the means of returning to their own

country; and on this wild and romantic march they accordingly set

out a few days after. Under pretence of preparing for the review,

they had been enabled to provide themselves, unsuspectedly, with some

necessary articles, and, confiding in their capability of enduring

privations and fatigue, they imagined that they should have great

advantages over any troops that might be sent in pursuit of them. It

was on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday (17th and 18th May)

after the review that they assembled on a common near Highgate, and

commenced their march to the north. They kept as nearly as possible

between the two great roads, passing from wood to wood in such a

manner that it was not well known which way they moved. Orders were

issued by the lords justices to the commanding officers of the

forces stationed in the counties between them and Scotland, and an

advertisement was published by the secretary at war, exhorting the

civil officers to be vigilant in their endeavours to discover their

route. It was not, however, till about eight o’clock on the evening

of Thursday, 19th May, that any certain intelligence of them was

obtained, and they had then proceeded as far as Northampton, and were

supposed to be shaping their course towards Nottinghamshire. General

Blakeney, who commanded at Northampton, immediately despatched

Captain Ball, of General Wade’s regiment of horse, an officer well

acquainted with that part of the country, to search after them. They

had now entered Lady Wood between Brig Stock and Dean Thorp, about

four miles from Oundle, when they were discovered. Captain Ball was

joined in the evening by the general himself, and about nine all the

troops were drawn up in order, near the wood where the Highlanders

lay. Seeing themselves in this situation, and unwilling to aggravate

their offence by the crime of shedding the blood of his majesty’s

troops, they sent one of their guides to inform the general that he

might, without fear, send an officer to treat of the terms on which

they should be expected to surrender. Captain Ball was accordingly

delegated, and, on coming to a conference, the captain demanded that

they should instantly lay down their arms and surrender as prisoners

at discretion. This they positively refused, declaring that they

would rather be cut to pieces than submit, unless the general should

send them a written promise, signed by his own hand, that their arms

should not be taken from them, and that they should have a free

pardon. Upon this the captain delivered the conditions proposed

by General Blakeney, viz., that if they would peaceably lay down

their arms, and surrender themselves prisoners, the most favourable

report should be made of them to the lords-justices; when they again

protested that they would be cut in pieces rather than surrender,

except on the conditions of retaining their arms, and receiving a

free pardon. ‘Hitherto,’ exclaimed the captain, ‘I have been your

friend, and am still anxious to do all I can to save you; but, if

you continue obstinate an hour longer, surrounded as you are by the

king’s forces, not a man of you shall be left alive; and, for my

own part, I assure you that I shall give quarter to none.’ He then

demanded that two of their number should be ordered to conduct him

out of the wood. Two brothers were accordingly ordered to accompany

him. Finding that they were inclined to submit, he promised them both

a free pardon, and, taking one of them along with him, he sent back

the other to endeavour, by every means, to overcome the obstinacy of

the rest. He soon returned with thirteen more. Having marched them

to a short distance from the wood, the captain again sent one of

them back to his comrades to inform them how many had submitted; and

in a short time seventeen more followed the example. These were all

marched away with their arms (the powder being blown out of their

pans,) and when they came before the general they laid down their

arms. On returning to the wood they found the whole body disposed to

submit to the general’s troops.

“While this was doing in the country,” continues our author, “there

was nothing but the flight of the Highlanders talked of in town. The

wiser sort blamed it, but some of their hot-headed countrymen were

for comparing it to the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks through Persia;

by which, for the honour of the ancient kingdom of Scotland, Corporal

M’Pherson was erected into a Xenophon. But amongst these idle dreams,

the most injurious were those that reflected on their officers, and

by a strange kind of innuendo, would have fixed the crime of these

people’s desertion upon those who did their duty, and staid here.

“As to the rest of the regiment, they were ordered immediately to

Kent, whither they marched very cheerfully, and were from thence

transported to Flanders, and are by this time with the army, where

I dare say it will quickly appear they were not afraid of fighting

the French. In King William’s war there was a Highland regiment

that, to avoid going to Flanders, had formed a design of flying

into the mountains. This was discovered before they could put it

into execution; and General M’Kay, who then commanded in Scotland,

caused them to be immediately surrounded and disarmed, and afterwards

shipped them for Holland. When they came to the confederate army,

they behaved very briskly upon all occasions; but as pick-thanks are

never wanting in courts, some wise people were pleased to tell King

William that the Highlanders drank King James’s health,--a report

which was probably very true. The king, whose good sense taught him

to despise such dirty informations, asked General Talmash, who was

near him, how they behaved in the field? ‘As well as any troops in

the army,’ answered the general, like a soldier and a man of honour.

‘Why then,’ replied the king, ‘if they fight for me, let them drink

my father’s health as often as they please.’ On the road, and even

after they entered to London, they kept up their spirits, and marched

very cheerfully; nor did they show any marks of terror when they were

brought into the Tower.”

[Illustration: Farquhar Shaw, of the Black Watch, in the uniform of

the Regiment, 1743. From the picture in the possession of Lord John

Murray, Colonel of the Regiment 1745, Major-General 1755.]

Though it was evident that the Highlanders were led to commit

this rash act under a false impression, and that they were the

unconscious dupes of designing men, yet the government thought it

could not overlook such a gross breach of military discipline, and

the deserters were accordingly tried before a general court-martial

on the 8th of June. They were all found guilty, and condemned to be

shot. Three only, however, suffered capitally. These were Corporals

Malcolm and Samuel M’Pherson,[267] and Farquhar Shaw, a private. They

were shot upon the parade within the Tower, in presence of the other

prisoners, who joined in their prayers with great earnestness. The

unfortunate men met their death with composure, and acted with great

propriety. Their bodies were put into three coffins by three of the

prisoners, their clansmen and connexions, and were buried together

in one grave at the place of execution.[268] From an ill-judged

severity, one hundred of the deserters were equally divided between

the garrisons of Gibraltar and Minorca, and a similar number were

distributed among the different corps in the Leeward islands, Jamaica

and Georgia,--a circumstance which, it is believed, impressed the

Highlanders with an idea that the government had intended to deceive

them.

Near the end of May the remainder of the regiment was sent to

Flanders, where it joined the army under the command of Field-Marshal

the Earl of Stair. During the years 1743-44, they were quartered in

different parts of that country, and by their quiet, orderly, and

kind deportment, acquired the entire confidence of the people among

whom they mixed. The regiment “was judged the most trustworthy guard

of property, insomuch that the people in Flanders choose to have

them always for their protection. Seldom were any of them drunk, and

they as rarely swore. And the elector-palatine wrote to his envoy

in London, desiring him to thank the king of Great Britain for the

excellent behaviour of the regiment while in his territories in 1743

and 1744, and for whose sake he adds, ‘I will always pay a respect

and regard to a Scotchman in future.’”[269]

Lord Sempill, who had succeeded the Earl of Crawford in the colonelcy

of the regiment in 1740, being appointed in April 1745 to the 25th

regiment, Lord John Murray, son of the Duke of Athole, succeeded

him as colonel of the Highlanders. During the command of these

officers, the regiment was designated by the titles of its successive

commanders, as Lord Crawford’s, Lord Sempill’s, and Lord John

Murray’s Highlanders.

Baffled in his efforts to prevent the elevation of the Grand Duke of

Tuscany to the imperial throne, the King of France resolved to humble

the house of Austria by making a conquest of the Netherlands. With

this view he assembled an immense army in Flanders under the command

of the celebrated Marshal Saxe, and having with the dauphin joined

the army in April 1745, he, on the 30th of that month, invested

Tournay, then garrisoned by 8000 men, commanded by General Baron

Dorth, who defended the place with vigour. The Duke of Cumberland,

who arrived from England early in May, assumed the command of the

allied army assembled at Soignies. It consisted of twenty battalions

and twenty-six squadrons of British, five battalions and sixteen

squadrons of Hanoverians, all under the immediate command of his

royal highness; twenty-six battalions and forty squadrons of Dutch,

commanded by the Prince of Waldeck; and eight squadrons of Austrians,

under the command of Count Konigseg.

Though the allied army was greatly inferior in number to the enemy,

yet as the French army was detached, the duke resolved to march

to the relief of Tournay. Marshal Saxe, who soon became aware of

the design of the allies, drew up his army in line of battle, on

the right bank of the Scheldt, extending from the wood of Barri to

Fontenoy, and thence to the village of St Antoine in sight of the

British army.

The allied army advanced to Leuse, and on the 9th of May took up a

position between the villages of Bougries and Maulbre, in sight of

the French army. In the evening the duke, attended by Field-Marshal

Konigseg and the Prince of Waldeck, reconnoitred the position of

Marshal Saxe. They were covered by the Highlanders, who kept up a

sharp fire with French sharp-shooters who were concealed in the

woods. After a general survey, the Earl of Crawford, who was left in

command of the advance of the army, proceeded with the Highlanders

and a party of hussars to examine the enemy’s outposts more narrowly.

In the course of the day a Highlander in advance observing that

one of the sharp-shooters repeatedly fired at his post, placed his

bonnet upon the top of a stick near the verge of a hollow road.

This stratagem decoyed the Frenchman, and whilst he was intent on

his object, the Highlander approaching cautiously to a point which

afforded a sure aim, succeeded in bringing him to the ground.[270]

Having ascertained that a plain which lay between the positions of

two armies was covered with some flying squadrons of the enemy, and

that their outposts commanded some narrow defiles through which the

allied forces had necessarily to march to the attack, the Duke of

Cumberland resolved to scour the plain, and to dislodge the outposts,

preparatory to advancing upon the besieging army. Accordingly at an

early hour next morning, six battalions and twelve squadrons were

ordered to disperse the forces on the plain and clear the defiles,

a service which they soon performed. Some Austrian hussars being

hotly pressed on this occasion by the French light troops, a party of

Highlanders was sent to support them, and the Frenchmen were quickly

repulsed with loss. This was the first time the Highlanders stood

the fire of the enemy in a regular body, and so well did they acquit

themselves, that they were particularly noticed for their spirited

conduct.

Resolving to attack the enemy next morning, the commander-in-chief

of the allied army made the necessary dispositions. Opposite the

space between Fontenoy and the wood of Barri, he formed the British

and Hanoverian infantry in two lines, and posted their cavalry in

the rear. Near the left of the Hanoverians he drew up the Dutch,

whose left was towards St Antoine. The French in their turn completed

their batteries, and made the most formidable preparations to receive

the allies. At two o’clock in the morning of the 11th of May, the

Duke of Cumberland began his march, and drew up his army in front

of the enemy. The engagement began about four by the guards and the

Highlanders attacking a redoubt, advanced on the right of the wood

near Vezon, occupied by 600 men, in the vicinity of which place the

dauphin was posted. Though the enemy were entrenched breast-high they

were forced out by the guards with bayonets, and by the Highlanders

with sword, pistol, and dirk, the latter killing a considerable

number of them.

The allies continuing steadfastly to advance, Marshal Saxe, who had,

during three attacks, lost some of his bravest men, began to think

of a retreat; but being extremely unwilling to abandon his position,

he resolved to make a last effort to retrieve the fortune of the day

by attacking his assailants with all his forces. Being far advanced

in a dropsy, the marshal had been carried about the whole day in a

litter. This he now quitted, and mounting his horse, he rode over

the field giving the necessary orders, whilst two men supported him

on each side. He brought forward the household troops of the King

of France: he posted his best cavalry on the flanks, and the king’s

body guards, with the flower of the infantry in the centre. Having

brought up all his field-pieces, he, under cover of their fire and

that of the batteries, made a combined charge of cavalry and infantry

on the allied army, the greater part of which had, by this time,

formed into line by advancing beyond the confined ground. The allies,

unable to withstand the impetuosity of this attack, gave way, and

were driven back across the ravine, carrying along with them the

Highlanders, who had been ordered up from the attack of the village,

and two other regiments ordered from the reserve to support the

line. After rallying for a short time beyond the ravine, the whole

army retreated by order of the duke, the Highlanders and Howard’s

regiment (the 19th) under the command of Lord Crawford, covering the

rear. The retreat, which was commenced about three o’clock in the

afternoon, was effected in excellent order. When it was over his

lordship pulled off his hat, and returning thanks to the covering

party, said “that they had acquired as much honour in covering so

great a retreat, as if they had gained a battle.”[271] The carnage on

both sides was great. The allies lost, in killed and wounded, about

7000 men, including a number of officers. The loss of the French is

supposed to have equalled that of the allies. The Highlanders lost

Captain John Campbell of Carrick,[272] whose head was carried off by

a cannon-ball early in the action;[273] Ensign Lachlan Campbell, son

of Craignish, and 30 men; Captain Robert Campbell of Finab; Ensigns

Ronald Campbell, nephew of Craignish, and James Campbell, son of

Glenfalloch; 2 sergeants, and 86 rank and file wounded.

Before the engagement, the part which the Highlanders would act

formed a subject of general speculation. Those who knew them had no

misgivings; but there were other persons, high in rank, who looked

upon the support of such men with an unfavourable eye. So strong was

this impression “in some high quarters, that, on the rapid charge

made by the Highlanders, when pushing forward sword in hand nearly at

full speed, and advancing so far, it was suggested that they inclined

to change sides and join the enemy, who had already three brigades of

Scotch and Irish engaged, which performed very important services on

that day.”[274] All anxiety, however, was soon put an end to by the

decided way in which they sustained the national honour.

Captain John Munro of the 43d regiment, in a letter to Lord-president

Forbes, thus describes the battle:--“A little after four in the

morning, the 30th of April, our cannon began to play, and the French

batteries, with triple our weight of metal and numbers too, answered

us; about five the infantry was in march; we (the Highlanders) were

in the centre of the right brigade; but by six we were ordered to

cross the field, (I mean our regiment, for the rest of our brigades

did not march to attack,) a little village on the left of the whole,

called Fontenoy. As we passed the field the French batteries played

upon our front, and right and left flanks, but to no purpose, for

their batteries being upon rising ground their balls flew over us and

hurt the second line. We were to support the Dutch, who, in their

usual way, were very dilatory. We got within musket-shot of their

batteries, when we received three full fires of their batteries and

small arms, which killed us forty men and one ensign. Here we were

obliged to skulk behind houses and hedges for about an hour and a

half, waiting for the Dutch, who, when they came up, behaved but so

and so. Our regiment being in some disorder, I wanted to draw them

up in rear of the Dutch, which their general would scarce allow

of; but at last I did it, and marched them again to the front. In

half an hour after the Dutch gave way, and Sir Robert Munro thought

proper we should retire; for we had then the whole batteries from

the enemy’s ground playing upon us, and three thousand foot ready to

fall upon us. We retired; but before we had marched thirty yards, we

had orders to return to the attack, which we did; and in about ten

minutes after had orders to march directly with all expedition, to

assist the Hanoverians, who had got by this time well advanced upon

the batteries upon the left. They behaved most gallantly and bravely;

and had the Dutch taken example from them, we had supped at Tournay.

The British behaved well; we (the Highlanders) were told by his royal

highness that we did our duty well.... By two of the clock we all

retreated; and we were ordered to cover the retreat, as the only

regiment that could be kept to their duty, and in this affair we lost

sixty more; but the duke made so friendly and favourable a speech to

us, that if we had been ordered to attack their lines afresh, I dare

say our poor fellows would have done it.”[275]

The Highlanders on this occasion were commanded by Sir Robert Munro

of Fowlis, their lieutenant-colonel, in whom, besides great military

experience, were united all the best qualities of the soldier. Aware

of the importance of allowing his men to follow their accustomed

tactics, he obtained leave of the Duke of Cumberland to allow

them to fight in their own way. He accordingly “ordered the whole

regiment to clap to the ground on receiving the French fire; and

instantly after its discharge they sprang up, and coming close to the

enemy, poured in their shot upon them to the certain destruction of

multitudes, and drove them precipitately through their lines; then

retreating, drew up again, and attacked them a second time after the

same manner. These attacks they repeated several times the same day,

to the surprise of the whole army. Sir Robert was everywhere with

his regiment, notwithstanding his great corpulency, and when in the

trenches he was hauled out by the legs and arms by his own men; and

it is observed that when he commanded the whole regiment to clap to

the ground, he himself alone, with the colours behind him, stood

upright, receiving the whole fire of the enemy; and this because,

(as he said,) though he could easily lie down, his great bulk would

not suffer him to rise so quickly. His preservation that day was the

surprise and astonishment not only of the whole army, but of all that

heard the particulars of the action.”[276]

The gallantry thus displayed by Sir Robert and his regiment was the

theme of universal admiration in Britain, and the French themselves

could not withhold their meed of praise. “The British behaved well,”

says a French writer, “and could be exceeded in ardour by none but

our officers, who animated the troops by their example, _when the

Highland furies rushed in upon us with more violence than ever did a

sea driven by a tempest_. I cannot say much of the other auxiliaries,

some of whom looked as if they had no great concern in the matter

which way it went. In short, we gained the victory; but may I

never see such another!”[277] Some idea may be formed of the havoc

made by the Highlanders from the fact of one of them having killed

nine Frenchmen with his broadsword, and he was only prevented from

increasing the number by his arm being shot off.[278]

In consequence of the rebellion in Scotland, eleven of the British

regiments were ordered home in October 1745, among which was the

43d. The Highlanders arrived in the Thames on the 4th of November,

and whilst the other regiments were sent to Scotland under General

Hawley to assist in quelling the insurrection, the 43d was marched

to the coast of Kent, and joined the division of the army assembled

there to repel an expected invasion. When it is considered that

more than three hundred of the soldiers in the 43d had fathers and

brothers engaged in the rebellion, the prudence and humanity of

keeping them aloof from a contest between duty and affection, are

evident. Three new companies, which had been added to the regiment in

the early part of the year 1745, were, however, employed in Scotland

against the rebels before joining the regiment. These companies were

raised chiefly in the districts of Athole, Breadalbane, and Braemar,

and the command of them was given to the laird of Mackintosh, Sir

Patrick Murray of Ochtertyre, and Campbell of Inveraw, who had

recruited them. The subalterns were James Farquharson, the younger

of Invercauld; John Campbell, the younger of Glenlyon, and Pugald

Campbell; and Ensign Allan Grant, son of Glenmoriston; John Campbell,

son of Glenfalloch; and Allan Campbell, son of Barcaldine. General

Stewart observes that the privates of these companies, though of the

best character, did not occupy that rank in society for which so many

individuals of the independent companies had been distinguished. One

of these companies, as has been elsewhere observed, was at the battle

of Prestonpans. The services of the other two companies were confined

to the Highlands during the rebellion, and after its suppression

they were employed along with detachments of the English army in the

barbarous task of burning the houses, and laying waste the lands of

the rebels,--a service which must have been very revolting to their

feelings.

Having projected the conquest of Quebec, the government fitted out

an expedition at Portsmouth, the land forces of which consisted of

about 8000 men, including Lord John Murray’s Highlanders, as the

43d regiment was now called. The armament having been delayed from

various causes until the season was too far advanced for crossing

the Atlantic, it was resolved to employ it in surprising the Port

l’Orient, then the repository of all the stores and ships belonging

to the French East India Company. While this new expedition was in

preparation, the Highland regiment was increased to 1100 men, by

draughts from the three companies in Scotland.

The expedition sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th of September, 1746,

under the command of Rear-Admiral Lestock, and on the 20th the troops

were landed, without much opposition, in Quimperly bay, ten miles

from Port l’Orient. As General St Clair soon perceived that he could

not carry the place, he abandoned the siege, and retiring to the

sea-coast, re-embarked his troops.

Some of these forces returned to England; the rest landed in Ireland.

The Highlanders arrived at Cork on the 4th of November, whence they

marched to Limerick, where they remained till February 1747, when

they returned to Cork, where they embarked to join a new expedition

for Flanders. This force, which consisted chiefly of the troops that

had been recalled in 1745, sailed from Leith roads in the beginning

of April 1747. Lord Loudon’s Highlanders and a detachment from the

three additional companies of Lord John Murray’s Highlanders also

joined this force; and such was the eagerness of the latter for this

service, that when informed that only a part of them was to join the

army, they all claimed permission to embark, in consequence of which

demand it was found necessary to settle the question of preference by

drawing lots.[279]

To relieve Hulst, which was closely besieged by Count Lowendahl,

a detachment, consisting of Lord John Murray’s Highlanders, the

first battalion of the Royals and Bragg’s regiment, was ordered to

Flushing, under the command of Major-general Fuller. They landed at

Stapledyke on the 1st of May. The Dutch governor of Hulst, General St

Roque, ordered the Royals to join the Dutch camp at St Bergue, and

directed the Highlanders and Bragg’s regiment to halt within four

miles of Hulst. On the 5th of May the besiegers began an assault, and

drove the outguards and picquets back into the garrison, and would

have carried the place, had not the Royals maintained their post

with the greatest bravery till relieved by the Highland regiment,

when the French were compelled to retire. The Highlanders had only

five privates killed and a few wounded on this occasion. The French

continuing the siege, St Roque surrendered the place, although he

was aware that an additional reinforcement of nine battalions was on

the march to his relief. The British troops then embarked for South

Beveland. Three hundred of the Highland regiment, who were the last

to embark, were attacked by a body of French troops. “They behaved

with so much bravery that they beat off three or four times their

number, killing many, and making some prisoners, with only the loss

of four or five of their own number.”[280]

A few days after the battle of Lafeldt, July 2d, in which the

Highlanders are not particularly mentioned, Count Lowendahl laid

siege to Bergen-op-Zoom with a force of 25,000 men. This place,

from the strength of its fortifications, the favourite work of

the celebrated Coehorn, having never been stormed, was deemed

impregnable. The garrison consisted of 3000 men, including Lord

Loudon’s Highlanders. Though Lord John Murray’s Highlanders remained

in South Beveland, his lordship, with Captain Fraser of Culduthel,

Captain Campbell of Craignish, and several other officers of his

regiment, joined the besieged. After about two months’ siege,

this important fortress was taken by storm, on account of the too

great confidence of Constrom the governor, who never anticipated

an assault. On obtaining possession of the ramparts, the French

attempted to enter the town, but were attacked with such impetuosity

by two battalions of the Scottish troops in the pay of the

States-General, that they were driven from street to street, until

fresh reinforcements arriving, the Scotch were compelled to retreat

in their turn; yet they disputed every inch of ground, and fought

till two-thirds of them were killed on the spot. The remainder then

abandoned the town, carrying the old governor along with them.

The different bodies of the allied army assembled in the

neighbourhood of Raremond in March 1748, but, with the exception

of the capture of Maestricht, no military event of any importance

took place in the Netherlands; and preliminaries of peace having

been signed, the Highlanders returned to England in December, and

were afterwards sent to Ireland. The three additional companies had

assembled at Prestonpans in March 1748, for the purpose of embarking

for Flanders; but the orders to ship were countermanded, and in the

course of that year these companies were reduced.

In 1749, in consequence of the reduction of the 42d regiment

(Oglethorpe’s), the number of the Black Watch was changed from the

43d to the 42d, the number it has ever since retained.

During eight years--from 1749 to 1756--that the Highlanders were

stationed in Ireland, the utmost cordiality subsisted between them

and the inhabitants of the different districts where they were

quartered; a circumstance the more remarkable, when it is considered

that the military were generally embroiled in quarrels with the

natives. So lasting and favourable an impression did they make, that

upon the return of the regiment from America, after an absence of

eleven years, applications were made from the towns and districts

where they had been formerly quartered, to get them again stationed

among them. Although, as General Stewart observes, the similarity of

language, and the general belief in a common origin, might have had

some influence with both parties, yet nothing but the most exemplary

good conduct on the part of the Highlanders could have overcome the

natural repugnance of a people who, at that time, justly regarded the

British soldiery as ready instruments of oppression.

In consequence of the mutual encroachments made by the French and

English on their respective territories in North America, both

parties prepared for war; and as the British ministry determined to

make their chief efforts against the enemy in that quarter, they

resolved to send two bodies of troops thither. The first division,

of which the Highlanders formed a part, under the command of

Lieutenant-general Sir James Abercromby, set sail in March 1756, and

landed at New York in June following. In the month last mentioned,

700 recruits, who had been raised by recruiting parties sent from the

regiment previous to its departure from Ireland, embarked at Greenock

for America. When the Highlanders landed, they attracted much notice,

particularly on the part of the Indians, who, on the march of the

regiment to Albany, flocked from all quarters to see strangers, whom,

from the similarity of their dress, they considered to be of the

same extraction as themselves, and whom they therefore regarded as

brothers.

Before the departure of the 42d, several changes and promotions

had taken place. Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, afterwards Duke of

Argyll, who had commanded the regiment during the six years they

were quartered in Ireland, having been promoted to the command of

the 54th, was succeeded by Major Grant, who was so popular with

the men, that, on the vacancy occurring, they subscribed a sum of

money among themselves to purchase the lieutenant-colonelcy for him;

but the money was not required, the promotion at that time being

without purchase. Captain Duncan Campbell of Inveraw was appointed

major; Thomas Graham of Duchray, James Abercromby, son of General

Abercromby of Glassa, the commander of the expedition, and John

Campbell of Strachur, were made captains; Lieutenant John Campbell,

captain-lieutenant; Ensigns Kenneth Tolme, James Grant, John Graham,

brother of Duchray, Hugh M’Pherson, Alexander Turnbull of Stracathro,

and Alexander Campbell, son of Barcaldine, were raised to the rank of

lieutenants. From the half-pay list were taken Lieutenants Alexander

Mackintosh, James Gray, William Baillie, Hugh Arnot, William

Sutherland, John Small, and Archibald Campbell; the ensigns were

James Campbell, Archibald Lamont, Duncan Campbell, George MacLagan,

Patrick Balneaves, son of Edradour, Patrick Stewart, son of Bonskeid,

Norman MacLeod, George Campbell, and Donald Campbell.[281]

The regiment had been now sixteen years embodied, and although its

original members had by this time almost disappeared, “their habits

and character were well sustained by their successors, to whom

they were left, as it were, in charge. This expectation has been

fulfilled through a long course of years and events. The first supply

of recruits after the original formation was, in many instances,

inferior to their predecessors in personal appearance, as well as

in private station and family connexions; but they lost nothing of

that firm step, erect air, and freedom from awkward restraint, the

consequence of a spirit of independence and self-respect, which

distinguished their predecessors.”[282]

The second division of the expedition, under the Earl of Loudon, who

was appointed commander-in-chief of the army in North America, soon

joined the forces under General Abercromby; but, owing to various

causes, they did not take the field till the summer of the following

year.[283] Pursuant to an attack on Louisburg, Lord Loudon embarked

in the month of June 1757 for Halifax with the forces under his

command, amounting to 5300 men. At Halifax his forces were increased

to 10,500 men, by the addition of five regiments lately arrived from

England, including Fraser’s and Montgomery’s Highlanders.

When on the eve of his departure from Halifax, Lord Loudon received

information that the Brest fleet had arrived in the harbour of

Louisburg. The resolution to abandon the enterprise, however, was

not taken till it clearly appeared from letters which were taken

in a packet bound from Louisburg to France, that the force was too

great to be encountered. Leaving the remainder of the troops at

Halifax, Lord Loudon returned to New York, taking along with him the

Highlanders and four other regiments.

By the addition of three new companies and the junction of 700

recruits, the regiment was now augmented to upwards of 1300 men, all

Highlanders, for at that period none else were admitted into the

regiment. To the three additional companies the following officers

were appointed; James Murray, son of Lord George Murray, James

Stewart of Urrard, and Thomas Stirling, son of Sir Henry Stirling

of Ardoch, to be captains; Simon Blair, David Barklay, Archibald

Campbell, Alexander Mackay, Alexander Menzies, and David Mills,

to be lieutenants; Duncan Stewart, George Rattray, and Alexander

Farquharson, to be ensigns; and the Reverend James Stewart to be

assistant chaplain.

The Earl of Loudon having been recalled, the command of the army

devolved on General Abercromby. Determined to wipe off the disgrace

of former campaigns, the ministry, who had just come into power,

fitted out a great naval armament and a military force of 32,000 men,

which were placed under commanders who enjoyed the confidence of the

country. The command of the fleet was given to Admiral Boscawen, and

Brigadier-generals Wolfe, Townsend, and Murray, were added to the

military staff. Three expeditions were planned in 1758; one against

Louisburg; another against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and a third

against Fort du Quèsne.

General Abercromby, the commander-in-chief, took charge of the

expedition against Ticonderoga, with a force of 15,390 men, of whom

6337 were regulars (including Lord John Murray’s Highlanders), and

9024 provincials, besides a train of artillery.

Fort Ticonderoga stands on a tongue of land between Lake Champlain

and Lake George, and is surrounded on three sides by water; part of

the fourth side is protected by a morass; the remaining part was

strongly fortified with high entrenchments, supported and flanked

by three batteries, and the whole front of that part which was

accessible was intersected by deep traverses, and blocked up with

felled trees, with their branches turned outwards and their points

first sharpened and then hardened by fire, forming altogether

a most formidable defence.[284] On the 4th of July 1758 the

commander-in-chief embarked his troops on Lake George, on board

900 batteaux and 135 whale-boats, with provisions, artillery, and

ammunition; several pieces of cannon being mounted on rafts to

cover the landing, which was effected next day without opposition.

The troops were then formed into two parallel columns, and in this

order marched towards the enemy’s advanced post, consisting of one

battalion, encamped behind a breast-work of logs. The enemy abandoned

this defence without a shot, after setting the breast-work on fire

and burning their tents and implements. The troops continued their

march in the same order, but the route lying through a wood, and the

guides being imperfectly acquainted with the country, the columns

were broken by coming in contact with each other. The right column,

at the head of which was Lord Howe, fell in with a detachment of the

enemy who had also lost their way in the retreat from the advanced

post, and a smart skirmish ensuing, the enemy were routed with

considerable loss. Lord Howe unfortunately fell in the beginning of

this action. He was much regretted, being “a young nobleman of the

most promising talents, who had distinguished himself in a peculiar

manner by his courage, activity, and rigid observance of military

discipline, and had acquired the esteem and affection of the soldiery

by his generosity, sweetness of manners, and engaging address.”[285]

[Illustration: Plan of the Sieges of Ticonderoga. Facsimile from _The

Scots Magazine_, August 1758.]

Perceiving that his men were greatly fatigued, General Abercromby

ordered them to march back to their landing-place, which they

reached about eight o’clock in the morning. Having taken possession

of a saw-mill in the neighbourhood of Ticonderoga, which the enemy

had abandoned, General Abercromby advanced towards the place next

morning. It was garrisoned by 5000 men, of whom 2800 were French

troops of the line, who were stationed behind the traverses and

felled trees in front of the fort. Receiving information from some

prisoners that General Levi, with a force of 3000 men, was marching

to the defence of Ticonderoga, the English commander resolved to

anticipate him by striking, if possible, a decisive blow before a

junction could be effected. He therefore sent an engineer across the

river on the opposite side of the fort to reconnoitre the enemy’s

entrenchments, who reported that the works being still unfinished,

might be attempted with a prospect of success. Preparations for the

attack were therefore instantly made. The whole army being put in

motion, the picquets, followed by the grenadiers, the battalions

and reserve, which last consisted of the Highlanders and the 55th

regiment, advanced with great alacrity towards the entrenchments,

which they found to be much more formidable than they expected.

The breast-work, which was regularly fortified, was eight feet

high, and the ground before it was covered with an _abbatis_ or

_chevaux-de-frize_, projecting in such a manner as to render the

entrenchment almost inaccessible. Undismayed by these discouraging

obstacles, the British troops marched up to the assault in the face

of a destructive fire, and maintained their ground without flinching.

Impatient in the rear, the Highlanders broke from the reserve, and,

pushing forward to the front, endeavoured to cut their way through

the trees with their broadswords. After a long and deadly struggle,

the assailants penetrated the exterior defences and advanced to

the breast-work; but being unprovided with scaling ladders, they

attempted to gain the breast-work, partly by mounting on each other’s

shoulders, and partly by fixing their feet in the holes which they

made with their swords and bayonets in the face of the work. No

sooner, however, did a man reach the top, than he was thrown down

by the troops behind the entrenchments. Captain John Campbell,[286]

with a few men, at length forced their way over the breast-work, but

they were immediately despatched with the bayonet. After a desperate

struggle, which lasted about four hours under such discouraging

circumstances, General Abercromby seeing no possible chance of

success, gave orders for a retreat. It was with difficulty, however,

that the troops could be prevailed upon to retire, and it was not

till the third order that the Highlanders were induced to retreat,

after more than one-half of the men and twenty-five officers had

been either killed or desperately wounded. No attempt was made

to molest them in their retreat, and the whole retired in good

order, carrying along with them the whole of the wounded, amounting

to 65 officers and 1178 non-commissioned officers and soldiers.

Twenty-three officers and 567 rank and file were killed.

The loss sustained by the 42d was as follows, viz.:--8 officers, 9

sergeants, and 297 men killed; and 17 officers, 10 sergeants, and 306

soldiers wounded. The officers killed were Major Duncan Campbell of

Inveraw, Captain John Campbell, Lieutenants George Farquarson, Hugh

MacPherson, William Baillie, and John Sutherland; Ensigns Patrick

Stewart, brother of Bonskeid, and George Rattray. The wounded were

Captains Gordon Graham, Thomas Graham of Duchray, John Campbell of

Strachur, James Stewart of Urrard, James Murray (afterwards General);

Lieutenants James Grant, Robert Gray, John Campbell, William Grant,

John Graham, brother of Duchray, Alexander Campbell, Alexander

Mackintosh, Archibald Campbell, David Miller, Patrick Balneaves; and

Ensigns John Smith and Peter Grant.[287]

The intrepid conduct of the Highlanders on this occasion was made the

topic of universal panegyric in Great Britain, and the public prints

teemed with honourable testimonies to their bravery. If anything

could add to the gratification they received from the approbation

of their country, nothing was better calculated to enhance it than

the handsome way in which their services were appreciated by their

companions in arms. “With a mixture of esteem, grief, and envy (says

an officer of the 55th), I consider the great loss and immortal

glory acquired by the Scots Highlanders in the late bloody affair.

Impatient for orders, they rushed forward to the entrenchments, which

many of them actually mounted. They appeared like lions breaking from

their chains. Their intrepidity was rather animated than damped by

seeing their comrades fall on every side. I have only to say of them,

that they seemed more anxious to revenge the cause of their deceased

friends, than careful to avoid the same fate. By their assistance,

we expect soon to give a good account of the enemy and of ourselves.

There is much harmony and friendship between us.”[288] The following

extract of a letter from Lieutenant William Grant, an officer of the

regiment, seems to contain no exaggerated detail:--“The attack began

a little past one in the afternoon, and about two the fire became

general on both sides, which was exceedingly heavy, and without any

intermission, insomuch that the oldest soldier present never saw so

furious and incessant a fire. The affair at Fontenoy was nothing to

it: I saw both. We laboured under insurmountable difficulties. The

enemy’s breast-work was about nine or ten feet high, upon the top of

which they had plenty of wall-pieces fixed, and which was well lined

in the inside with small arms. But the difficult access to their

lines was what gave them a fatal advantage over us. They took care to

cut down monstrous large oak trees which covered all the ground from

the foot of their breast-work about the distance of a cannon-shot

every way in their front. This not only broke our ranks, and made

it impossible for us to keep our order, but put it entirely out of

our power to advance till we cut our way through. I have seen men

behave with courage and resolution before now, but so much determined

bravery can hardly be equalled in any part of the history of ancient

Rome. Even those that were mortally wounded cried aloud to their

companions, not to mind or lose a thought upon them, but to follow

their officers, and to mind the honour of their country. Nay, their

ardour was such, that it was difficult to bring them off. They paid

dearly for their intrepidity. The remains of the regiment had the

honour to cover the retreat of the army, and brought off the wounded

as we did at Fontenoy. When shall we have so fine a regiment again? I

hope we shall be allowed to recruit.”[289] Lieutenant Grant’s wish

had been anticipated, as letters of service had been issued, before

the affair of Ticonderoga was known in England, for raising a second

battalion. Moreover, previous to the arrival of the news of the

affair at Ticonderoga, his majesty George II. had issued a warrant

conferring upon the regiment the title of Royal, so that after this

it was known as the 42d Royal Highland Regiment.

So successful were the officers in recruiting, that within three

months seven companies, each 120 men strong, which, with the three

additional companies raised the preceding year, were to form the

second battalion, were raised in three months, and embodied at

Perth in October 1758.[290] The officers appointed to these seven

additional companies were Francis MacLean, Alexander Sinclair, John

Stewart of Stenton, William Murray, son of Lintrose, Archibald

Campbell, Alexander Reid, and Robert Arbuthnot, to be captains;

Alexander MacLean, George Grant, George Sinclair, Gordon Clunes,

Adam Stewart, John Robertson, son of Lude, John Grant, James Fraser,

George Leslie, John Campbell, Alexander Stewart, Duncan Richardson,

and Robert Robertson, to be lieutenants; and Patrick Sinclair, John

Mackintosh, James MacDuff, Thomas Fletcher, Alexander Donaldson,

William MacLean, and William Brown, to be ensigns.

Government having resolved to employ the seven new companies in an

expedition against Martinique and Guadaloupe, 200 of the 840 men,

embodied at Perth, were immediately embarked at Greenock for the

West Indies, under the convoy of the Ludlow Castle, for the purpose

of joining the armament lying in Carlisle bay, destined for that

service. The whole land force employed in this expedition amounted to

5560 men, under the command of Major-generals Hopson and Barrington,

and of Brigadier-generals Armiger, Haldane, Trapaud, and Clavering.

They sailed from Barbadoes on the 13th of January 1759, for

Martinique, which they descried next morning; and on the following

day the British squadron entered the great bay of Port Royal. About

this time the other division of the seven newly raised companies

joined the expedition. On the 16th, three ships of the line attacked

Fort Negro, the guns of which they soon silenced. A detachment of

marines and sailors landing in flat-bottomed boats, clambered up the

rock, and, entering through the embrasures with fixed bayonets, took

possession of the fort, which had been abandoned by the enemy. The

whole French troops retired to Port Royal, leaving the beach open,

so that the British forces landed next morning at Cas de Navire

without opposition. No enemy being in sight, the grenadiers, the 4th

or king’s regiment, and the Highlanders, moved forward about ten

o’clock to reconnoitre; but they had not proceeded far when they

fell in with parties of the enemy, who retired on their approach.

When within a short distance of Morne Tortueson, an eminence that

overlooked the town and citadel of Port Royal, and the most important

post in the island, the advanced party halted till the rest of the

army came up. The advancing and retiring parties had kept up an

irregular fire when in motion, and they still continued to skirmish.

It was observed on this occasion, “that although debarred the use

of arms in their own country, the Highlanders showed themselves

good marksmen, and had not forgot how to handle their arms.” The

inhabitants of Martinique were in the greatest alarm, and some of

the principal among them were about sending deputies to the British

commander to treat for a surrender, but General Hopson relieved

them from their anxiety by re-embarking his troops in the evening.

The chief reason for abandoning the enterprise was the alleged

impracticability of getting up the heavy cannon. The British had one

officer killed and two wounded, one of whom was Lieutenant Leslie of

the Royal Highlanders. Sixty privates were killed and wounded.

In a political point of view, the possession of Martinique was an

object of greater importance than Guadaloupe, as it afforded, from

its spacious harbour, a secure retreat to the enemy’s fleets. By

taking possession of St Pierre, the whole island might have been

speedily reduced; and the British commanders proceeded to that part

of the island with that view; but alarmed lest they might sustain

considerable loss by its capture, which might thus cripple their

future operations, they absurdly relinquished their design, and

proceeded to Guadaloupe. On the expedition reaching the western

division of the island, it was resolved to make a general attack by

sea upon the citadel, the town, and the batteries by which it was

defended. Accordingly, on the 20th of January, such a fire was opened

upon the place that about ten o’clock at night it was in a general

conflagration.

The troops landed at five o’clock in the evening of the following

day without opposition, and took possession of the town and citadel,

which they found entirely abandoned. The Chevalier D’Etreil, the

governor of the island, taking shelter among the mountains, yielded

the honour of continuing the contest to a lady of masculine courage

named Ducharmey. Arming her slaves, whom she headed in person, she

made several bold attempts upon an advanced post on a hill near the

town, occupied by Major (afterwards General) Melville, opposite to

which she threw up some entrenchments. Annoyed by the incessant

attacks of this amazon, Major Melville attacked her entrenchments,

which he carried, after an obstinate resistance. Madame Ducharmey

escaped with difficulty, but some of her female companions in arms

were taken prisoners. Ten of her people were killed and many wounded.

Of the British detachment, 12 were slain and 30 wounded, including

two subaltern officers, one of whom, Lieutenant MacLean of the

Highlanders, lost an arm.

Finding it impracticable to carry on a campaign among the mountains

of Basseterre, the general resolved to transfer the seat of war to

the eastern division of the island, called Grandeterre, which was

more accessible. Accordingly, on the 10th of February, a detachment

of Highlanders and marines was landed in that part of the island in

the neighbourhood of Fort Louis, after a severe cannonading which

lasted six hours. The assailants, sword in hand, drove the enemy from

their entrenchments, and, taking possession of the fort, hoisted the

English colours.

General Hopson died on the 27th. He was succeeded by General

Barrington, who resolved to complete the reduction of the island

with vigour. Leaving, therefore, one regiment and a detachment

of artillery under Colonel Debrisay in Basseterre, the general

re-embarked the rest of the army and proceeded to Grandeterre,

where he carried on a series of successful operations by means of

detachments. One of these consisting of 600 men, under Colonel

Crump, carried the towns of St Anne and St Francis with little loss,

notwithstanding the fire from the entrenchments. The only officer

who fell was Ensign MacLean of the Highlanders, Another detachment

of 300 men took the town of Gosier by storm, and drove the garrison

into the woods. The next operation of the general was an attempt to

surprise the three towns of Petit Bourg, St Mary’s, and Gouyave, on

the Capesterre side, the execution of which was committed to Colonels

Crump and Clavering; but owing to the extreme darkness of the night,

and the incapacity of the negro guides, the attempt was rendered

abortive. Resolved to carry these towns, the general directed the

same commanders to land their forces in a bay near the town of

Arnonville. No opposition was made to their landing by the enemy,

who retreated behind a strong entrenchment they had thrown up behind

the river Licorn. With the exception of two narrow passes which they

had fortified with a redoubt and entrenchments mounted with cannon,

which were defended by a large body of militia, the access to the

river was rendered inaccessible by a morass covered with mangroves;

yet, in spite of these difficulties, the British commanders resolved

to hazard an assault. Accordingly, under cover of a fire from the

entrenchments from their field-pieces and howitzers, the regiment of

Duroure and the Highlanders moved forward, firing by platoons with

the utmost regularity as they advanced. Observing the enemy beginning

to abandon the first entrenchment on the left, “the Highlanders drew

their swords, and, supported by a part of the other regiment, rushed

forward with their characteristic impetuosity, and followed the enemy

into the redoubt, of which they took possession.”[291]

Several other actions of minor importance afterwards took place,

in which the enemy were uniformly worsted; and seeing resistance

hopeless, they capitulated on the 1st of May, after an arduous

struggle of nearly three months. The only Highland officer killed

in this expedition was Ensign MacLean. Lieutenants MacLean, Leslie,

Sinclair, and Robertson, were wounded; and Major Anstruther and

Captain Arbuthnot died of the fever. Of the Royal Highlanders, 106

privates were killed, wounded, or died of disease.[292]

After the reduction of Guadaloupe, the services of the second

battalion of Royal Highlanders were transferred to North America,

where they arrived early in July, and after reaching the head

quarters of the British army, were combined with the first battalion.

About this time a series of combined operations had been projected

against the French settlements in Canada. Whilst Major-general

Wolfe, who had given proofs of great military talents at the

siege of Louisburg, was to proceed up the St Lawrence and besiege

Quebec, General Amherst, who had succeeded General Abercromby as

commander-in-chief, was to attempt the reduction of Ticonderoga and

Crown Point, after which he was to cross Lake Champlain and effect a

junction with General Wolfe before Quebec. Brigadier-general Prideaux

was to proceed against the French fort near the falls of the Niagara,

the most important post of all French America. The army under General

Amherst, which was the first put in motion, assembled at Fort

Edward on the 19th of June. It included the 42d and Montgomery’s

Highlanders, and when afterwards joined by the second battalion of

the Royal Highlanders, it amounted to 14,500 men. Preceded by the

first battalion of the last named regiment and the light infantry,

the main body of the army moved forward on the 21st, and encamped in

the neighbourhood of Ticonderoga. The enemy seemed at first resolved

to defend that important fortress; but perceiving the formidable

preparations made by the English general for a siege, they abandoned

the fort, after having in part dismantled the fortifications, and

retired to Crown Point.

On taking possession of this important post, which effectually

covered the frontiers of New York, General Amherst proceeded to

repair the fortifications; and, while these were going on, he

directed batteaux and other vessels to be prepared, to enable him

to obtain the command of the lakes. Meanwhile the enemy, who seems

to have had no intention of hazarding an action, evacuated Crown

Point, and retired to Isle aux Noix, on the northern extremity of

Lake Champlain. Detaching a body of rangers to take possession of

the place the general embarked the rest of the army and landed at

the fort on the 4th of August, where he encamped. The general then

ordered up the second battalion of the Royal Highlanders from Oswego,

with the exception of 150 men under Captain James Stewart, who

were left to guard that post. Having by great exertions acquired a

naval superiority on Lake Champlain, the general embarked his army

in furtherance of his original plan of descending the St Lawrence,

and co-operating with General Wolfe in the reduction of Quebec;

but in consequence of contrary winds, the tempestuous state of the

weather, and the early setting in of winter, he was compelled to

abandon further prosecution of active operations in the mean time.

He then returned to Crown Point to winter. A detailed account of the

important enterprise against Quebec will be found in the history of

Fraser’s Highlanders.

After the fall of the fort of Niagara, which was taken by Prideaux’s

division, and the conquest of Quebec, Montreal was the only place

of strength which remained in possession of the French in Canada.

General Murray was ordered to proceed up the St Lawrence to attack

Montreal, and General Amherst, as soon as the season permitted, made

arrangements to join him. After his preparations were completed,

he ordered Colonel Haviland, with a detachment of troops, to take

possession of the Isle aux Noix, and thence to proceed to the banks

of the St Lawrence by the nearest route. To facilitate the passage

of the armed vessels to La Galette, Colonel Haldimand with the

grenadiers, light infantry, and a battalion of the Royal Highlanders,

took post at the bottom of the lake. Embarking the whole of his army

on the 10th of August, he proceeded towards the mouth of the St

Lawrence, and, after a dangerous navigation, in the course of which

several boats were upset and about eighty men drowned, landed six

miles above Montreal on the 6th of September. General Murray appeared

before Montreal on the evening of the same day, and the detachments

under Colonel Haviland came down the following day on the south

side of the river. Thus beset by three armies, who, by a singular

combination, had united almost at the same instant of time, after

traversing a great extent of unknown country, Monsieur Vandreuil, the

governor, seeing resistance hopeless, surrendered upon favourable

terms. Thus ended a series of successful operations, which secured

Canada to the Crown of Great Britain.[293]

The Royal Highlanders remained in North America until the close

of the year 1761, when they were embarked along with ten other

regiments, among whom was Montgomery’s Highlanders, for Barbadoes,

there to join an armament against Martinique and the Havannah. The

land forces consisted altogether of eighteen regiments, under the

command of Major-general Monckton. The naval part of the expedition,

which was commanded by Rear-admiral Rodney, consisted of eighteen

sail of the line, besides frigates, bomb-vessels, and fire-ships.

The fleet anchored in St Ann’s Bay, Martinique, on the 8th of January

1762, when the bulk of the army immediately landed. A detachment,

under Brigadiers Grant (Ballindalloch) and Haviland, made a descent

without opposition in the bay of Ance Darlet. Re-embarking his

troops, General Monckton landed his whole army on the 16th near Cas

de Navire, under Morne Tortueson and Morne Garnier. As these two

eminences commanded the town and citadel of Fort Royal, and were

their chief defence, great care had been taken to improve by art

their natural strength, which, from the very deep ravines which

protected them, was great. The general having resolved to attack

Morne Tortueson first, he ordered a body of troops and 800 marines

to advance on the right along the sea-side towards the town, for the

purpose of attacking two redoubts near the beach; and to support

this movement, he at the same time directed some flat-bottomed

boats, each carrying a gun, and manned with sailors, to follow

close along the shore. A corps of light infantry was to get round

the enemy’s left, whilst, under cover of the fire of some batteries

which had been raised on the opposite ridges by the perseverance

of some sailors from the fleet, the attack on the centre was to be

made by the grenadiers and Highlanders, supported by the main body

of the army. After an arduous contest, the enemy were driven from

the Morne Tortueson; but a more difficult operation still remained

to be performed. This was to gain possession of the other eminence,

from which, owing to its greater height, the enemy annoyed the

British troops. Preparations were made for carrying this post; but

before they were completed, the enemy descended from the hill, and

attacked the advanced posts of the British. This attempt was fatal

to the assailants, who were instantly repulsed. “When they began to

retire, the Highlanders, drawing their swords, rushed forward like

furies, and being supported by the grenadiers under Colonel Grant

(Ballindalloch), and a party of Lord Rollo’s brigade, the hills

were mounted, and the batteries seized, and numbers of the enemy,

unable to escape from the rapidity of the attack, were taken.”[294]

The militia dispersed themselves over the country, but the regulars

retired into the town, which surrendered on the 7th of February. The

whole island immediately submitted, and in terms of the capitulation

all the Windward Islands were delivered up to the British.

In this enterprise the Royal Highlanders had 2 officers, viz.,

Captain William Cockburn and Lieutenant David Barclay, 1 sergeant,

and 12 rank and file killed: Major John Reid, Captains James Murray

and Thomas Stirling; Lieutenants Alexander Mackintosh, David Milne,

Patrick Balneaves, Alexander Turnbull, John Robertson, William Brown,

and George Leslie; 3 sergeants, 1 drummer, and 72 rank and file, were

wounded.

The Royal and Montgomery’s Highlanders were employed the

following year in the important conquest of the Havannah, under

Lieutenant-general the Earl of Albemarle, in which they sustained

very little loss. That of the two battalions of the 42d consisted

only of 2 drummers and 6 privates killed, and 4 privates wounded; but

they lost by disease Major Macneil, Captain Robert Menzies (brother

of Sir John Menzies), and A. Macdonald; Lieutenants Farquharson,

Grant, Lapsley, Cunnison, Hill, and Blair, and 2 drummers and 71 rank

and file.

Shortly after the surrender of the Havannah, all the available forces

in Cuba were removed from the island. The first battalion of the 42d

and Montgomery’s regiment embarked for New York, which they reached

in the end of October. Before leaving Cuba all the men of the second

battalion of the Royal Highlanders fit for service were drafted into

the first. The remainder with the officers returned to Scotland,

where they were reduced the following year. The junior officers were

placed on half pay.

The Royal Highlanders were stationed in Albany till the summer of

1763, when they were sent to the relief of Fort Pitt, then besieged

by the Indians. The management of this enterprise was intrusted to

Colonel Bouquet of the 60th regiment, who, in addition to the 42d,

had under his command a detachment of his own regiment and another

of Montgomery’s Highlanders, amounting in all to 956 men. This body

reached Bushy Run about the end of July. When about to enter a narrow

pass beyond the Run, the advanced guards were suddenly attacked

by the Indians, who had planned an ambuscade. The light infantry

of the 42d regiment moved forward to the support of the advanced

guard, and driving the Indians from the ambuscade, pursued them a

considerable distance. The Indians returned and took possession of

some neighbouring heights. They were again compelled to retire; but

they soon re-appeared on another position, and continuing to increase

in numbers, they succeeded in surrounding the detachment, which they

attacked on every side. Night put an end to the combat; but it was

renewed next morning with increased vigour by the Indians, who kept

up an incessant fire. They, however, avoided coming to close action,

and the troops could not venture to pursue them far, as they were

encumbered with a convoy of provisions, and were afraid to leave

their wounded, lest they might fall into the hands of the enemy.

Recourse was, therefore, had to stratagem to bring the Indians to

closer action. Feigning a retreat, Colonel Bouquet ordered two

companies which were in advance to retire, and fall within a square

which had been formed, which, as if preparing to cover a retreat,

opened its files. The stratagem succeeded. Assuring themselves of

victory, the Indians rushed forward with great impetuosity, and

whilst they were vigorously charged in front, two companies, moving

suddenly round a hill which concealed their approach, attacked them

in flank. The assailants, in great consternation, turned their backs

and fled, and Colonel Bouquet was allowed to proceed to Fort Pitt

without further molestation. In this affair, the loss sustained

by the Royal Highlanders was as follows:--Lieutenants John Graham

and James Mackintosh, 1 sergeant, and 26 rank and file, killed;

and Captain John Graham of Duchray, Lieutenant Duncan Campbell, 2

sergeants, 2 drummers, and 30 rank and file, wounded.

After passing the winter in Fort Pitt, eight companies of the Royal

Highlanders were sent on a new enterprise, in the summer of 1764,

under Colonel Bouquet, now promoted to the rank of brigadier-general.

The object of this expedition was to repress the attacks of the

Indians on the back-settlers. After a harassing warfare among

the woods, the Indians sued for peace, which was granted, and

the detachment under Brigadier-general Bouquet returned to Fort

Pitt in the month of January, after an absence of six months.

Notwithstanding the labours of a march of many hundred miles among

dense forests, during which they experienced the extremes of heat

and cold, the Highlanders did not lose a single man from fatigue or

exhaustion.[295]

The regiment passed the following year in Pennsylvania. Being ordered

home, permission was given to such of the men as were desirous of

remaining in America to volunteer into other regiments, and the

result was, that a considerable number availed themselves of the

offer. The regiment, reduced almost to a skeleton, embarked at

Philadelphia for Ireland in the month of July 1767. The following

extract from the _Virginia Gazette_ of the 30th of that month

shows the estimation in which the Highlanders were held by the

Americans:--“Last Sunday evening the Royal Highland regiment embarked

for Ireland, which regiment, since its arrival in America, has been

distinguished for having undergone most amazing fatigues, made

long and frequent marches through an inhospitable country, bearing

excessive heat and severe cold with alacrity and cheerfulness,

frequently encamping in deep snow, such as those that inhabit the

interior parts of this province do not see, and which only those

who inhabit the northern parts of Europe can have any idea of,

continually exposed in camp, and on their marches, to the alarms of a

savage enemy, who, in all their attempts, were forced to fly.... In a

particular manner, the freemen of this and the neighbouring provinces

have most sincerely to thank them for that resolution and bravery

with which they, under Colonel Bouquet, and a small number of Royal

Americans, defeated the enemy, and insured to us peace and security

from a savage foe; and, along with our blessings for these benefits,

they have our thanks for that decorum in behaviour which they

maintained during their stay in this city, giving an example that the

most amiable behaviour in civil life is no way inconsistent with the

character of the good soldier; and for their loyalty, fidelity, and

orderly behaviour, they have every wish of the people for health,

honour, and a pleasant voyage.”

The loss sustained by the regiment during the seven years it was

employed in North America and the West Indies was as follows:--

KILLED.

In Officers, 13

Sergeants, 12

Rank and File, 382

----

Total, 407

WOUNDED.

In Officers, 33

Sergeants, 22

Rank and File, 508

----

Total, 563

----

Grand Total, 970

With the exception of the unfortunate affair at Ticonderoga, the loss

sustained by the 42d in the field during this war was comparatively

smaller than that of any other corps. The moderate loss the

Highlanders suffered was accounted for by several officers who served

in the corps, from the celerity of their attack and the use of the

broadsword, which the enemy could never withstand. “This likewise,”

says General Stewart, “was the opinion of an old gentleman, one of

the original soldiers of the Black Watch, in the ranks of which,

although a gentleman by birth and education, he served till the peace

of 1748. He informed me that although it was believed at home that

the regiment had been nearly destroyed at Fontenoy, the thing was

quite the reverse; and that it was the subject of general observation

in the army that their loss should have been so small, considering

how actively they were engaged in different parts of the field. ‘On

one occasion,’ said the respectable veteran, who was animated with

the subject, ‘a brigade of Dutch were ordered to attack a rising

ground, on which were posted the troops called the King of France’s

Own Guards. The Highlanders were to support them. The Dutch conducted

their march and attack as if they did not know the road, halting and

firing, and halting every twenty paces. The Highlanders, losing all

patience with this kind of fighting, which gave the enemy such time

and opportunity to fire at their leisure, dashed forward, passed the

Dutch, and the first ranks giving their firelocks to the rear rank,

they drew their swords, and soon drove the French from their ground.

When the attack was concluded, it was found that of the Highlanders

not above a dozen men were killed and wounded, while the Dutch, who

had not come up at all, lost more than five times that number.’”

On the arrival of the regiment at Cork, recruiting parties were sent

to the Highlands, and so eager were the youths there to enter the

corps, that in May following the regiment was fully completed.[296]

When the battle of Fontenoy was fought, there was not a soldier in

the regiment born south of the Grampians, and at this period they

were all, except two, born north of the Tay.[297]

At the period of their arrival in Ireland the uniform of the

regiment had a very sombre appearance. “The jackets were of a dull

rusty-coloured red, and no part of the accoutrements was of a light

colour. Economy was strictly observed in the article of clothing.

The old jacket, after being worn a year, was converted into a

waistcoat, and the plaid, at the end of two years, was reduced to

the philibeg. The hose supplied were of so bad a quality that the

men advanced an additional sum to the government price, in order

to supply themselves with a better sort. Instead of feathers for

their bonnets, they were allowed only a piece of black bear-skin;

but the men supplied themselves with ostrich feathers in the modern

fashion,[298] and spared no expense in fitting up their bonnets

handsomely. The sword-belts were of black leather, two inches and a

half in breadth; and a small cartouch-box, fitted only for thirty-two

rounds of cartridges, was worn in front above the purse, and fixed

round the loins with a thick belt, in which hung the bayonet. In

these heavy colours and dark-blue facings the regiment had a far

less splendid appearance at a short distance than English regiments

with white breeches and belts; but on a closer view the line was

imposing and warlike. The men possessed what an ingenious author

calls ‘the attractive beauties of a soldier; sun burnt complexions,

a hardy weather-beaten visage, with a penetrating eye, and firm

expressive countenance, sinewy and elastic limbs, traces of muscles

strongly impressed, indicating capacity of action, and marking

experience of service.’[299] The personal appearance of the men

has, no doubt, varied according as attention was paid to a proper

selection of recruits. The appointments have also been different. The

first alteration in this respect was made in the year 1769, when the

regiment removed to Dublin. At this period the men received white

cloth waistcoats, and the colonel supplied them with white goat-skin

and buff leather purses, which were deemed an improvement on the

vests of red cloth, and the purses made of badgers’ skin.

“The officers also improved their dress, by having their jackets

embroidered. During the war, however, they wore only a narrow edging

of gold-lace round the borders of the facings, and very often no

lace at all, epaulettes and all glittering ornaments being laid

aside, to render them less conspicuous to the Indians, who always

aimed particularly at the officers. During their stay in Ireland the

dress of the men underwent very little alteration. The officers had

only one suit of embroidery; this fashion being found too expensive

was given up, and gold-lace substituted in its stead. Upon ordinary

occasions they wore light hangers, using the basket-hilted broadsword

only in full dress. They also carried fusils. The sergeants were

furnished with carbines instead of the Lochaber axe or halbert, which

they formerly carried. The soldiers were provided with new arms when

on Dublin duty in 1774. The sergeants had silver-lace on their coats,

which they furnished, however, at their own expense.”[300]

The regiment remained in Ireland after its return from North America

about eight years, in the course of which it was occasionally

occupied in different parts of that country in aid of the civil

power,--a service in which, from their conciliatory disposition, they

were found very useful. While in Ireland, a new company was added, as

was the case with all the other regiments on the Irish establishment.

Captain James Macpherson, Lieutenant Campbell, and Ensign John Grant,

were in consequence appointed to the 42d.

In 1775 the regiment embarked at Donaghadee, and landed at Port

Patrick, after an absence from Scotland of thirty-two years. Impelled

by characteristic attachment to the country of their birth, many of

the old soldiers leaped on shore with enthusiasm, and kissed the

earth, which they held up in handfuls. From Port Patrick the regiment

marched to Glasgow.

The conduct of the regiment and its mode of discipline while in

Ireland is depicted by an intelligent officer who served in it at

that time, and for many years both before and after that period,

in a communication to General Stewart. He describes the regiment

as still possessing the character which it had acquired in Germany

and America, although there were not more than eighty of the men

remaining who had served in America, and only a few individuals

of those who had served in Germany previously to the year 1748.

Their attachment to their native dress, and their peculiarity of

language, habits, and manners contributed to preserve them a race

of men separate from others of the same profession, and to give to

their system of regimental discipline a distinctive and peculiar

character. Their messes were managed by the non-commissioned

officers, or old soldiers, who had charge of the barrack-room; and

these messes were always so arranged that in each room the men were

in friendship or intimacy with each other, or belonged to the same

glen or district, or were connected by some similar tie. By these

means every barrack-room was like a family establishment. After

the weekly allowances for breakfast, dinner, and small necessaries

had been provided, the surplus pay was deposited in a stock purse,

each member of the mess drawing for it in his turn. The stock thus

acquired was soon found worth preserving, and instead of hoarding,

they lent it out to the inhabitants, who seemed greatly surprised

at seeing a soldier save money. Their accounts with their officers

were settled once in three months, and, with the exception of a few

careless spendthrifts, all the men purchased their own necessaries,

with which they were always abundantly provided. At every settlement

of accounts they enjoyed themselves very heartily, but with a strict

observance of propriety and good humour; and as the members of each

mess considered themselves in a manner answerable for one another’s

conduct, they animadverted on any impropriety with such severity as

to render the interference of further authority unnecessary.

Shortly after the arrival of the regiment in Glasgow two companies

were added, and the establishment of the whole regiment augmented

to 100 rank and file each company. The battalion, when complete,

amounted to 1075 men, including sergeants and drummers. Little

inducement was required to fill the ranks, as men were always to be

found ready to join a corps in such high estimation. At this time the

bounty was a guinea and a crown. It was afterwards increased to three

guineas; but this advance had little effect in the north where the

_esprit du corps_ had greater influence than gold.

Hitherto the officers had been entirely Highland and Scotch; but

the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, contrary to the remonstrances of

Lord John Murray, who saw the advantage of officering the regiment

with natives of Scotland, prevailed with the government to admit

two English officers into the regiment. His excellency even went so

far as to get two lieutenants’ commissions in favour of Scotchmen

cancelled, although they had been gazetted.

In consequence of hostilities with America, the regiment was ordered

to embark for that country. Before its departure the recruits

were taught the use of the firelock, and, from the shortness of

the time allowed, were drilled even by candle-light. Few arms and

accoutrements were supplied to the men by the government, and the

colonel furnished them with broadswords and pistols, iron-stocked, at

his own expense. The regiment was reviewed on the 10th of April 1776

by General Sir Adolphus Oughton, and being reported quite complete

and unexceptionable, embarked on the 14th at Greenock, along with

Fraser’s Highlanders.[301]

II.

1776-1795.

The 42d goes to America--Battle of Brooklyn, 1776--Broadswords and

pistols laid aside--Skirmish near New York--White Plains--Capture

of Fort Washington and Fort Lee--Skirmish at Trenton--Defeat of

Mawhood’s detachment--Pisquatua--Chesapeak--Battle of Brandy

Wine--Skirmish at Monmouth--New Plymouth--Portsmouth--Verplanks

and Stony Point, 1779--Mutiny of a detachment at Leith--Charlestown

--Paulus Hook--Desertion, 1783--Halifax--Cape Breton--Return of

the regiment to England--Proceeds to Flanders--The “red heckle”

--England--Coast of France--Ostend--Nimeguen--Gilderwalsen--Return

of the regiment to England.

In conjunction with Fraser’s Highlanders, the 42d embarked at

Greenock on the 14th of April 1776, to join an expedition under

General Howe against the American revolutionists. The transports

separated in a gale of wind, but they all reached their destination

in Staten Island, where the main body of the army had assembled.[302]

A grenadier battalion was immediately formed under the command of

the Hon. Major (afterwards General) Sir Charles Stewart, the staff

appointments to which, out of respect to the 42d, were taken by the

commander-in-chief from that regiment. A light infantry corps was

also formed, to the command of which Lieutenant-colonel Musgrave was

appointed. The flank companies of the 42d were attached to these

battalions. “The Highland grenadiers were remarkable for strength and

height, and considered equal to any company in the army: the light

infantry were quite the reverse in point of personal appearance, as

the commanding officer would not allow a choice of men for them.

The battalion companies were formed into two temporary battalions,

the command of one being given to Major William Murray (Lintrose),

and that of the other to Major William Grant (Rothiemurchus), with

an adjutant quarter-master in each battalion; the whole being under

the command of Lieutenant-colonel Thomas Stirling. These grenadiers

were placed in the reserve with the grenadiers of the army, under

the command of Earl Cornwallis. To these were added the 33d, his

lordship’s own regiment.”[303]

The whole of the British force under the command of Sir William Howe,

including 13,000 Hessians and Waldeckers, amounted to 30,000 men.

The campaign opened by a landing on Long Island on the 22d of August

1776. The whole army encamped in front of the villages of Gravesend

and Utrecht. The American army, under General Putnam, was encamped

at Brooklyn, a few miles distant. A range of woody hills, which

intersected the country from east to west, divided the two armies.

The British general having resolved to attack the enemy in three

divisions, the right wing, under General Clinton, seized, on the

26th of August, at night-fall, a pass on the heights, about three

miles from Bedford. The main body then passed through, and descended

to the level country which lay between the hills and General

Putnam’s lines. Whilst this movement was going on, Major-general

Grant (Ballindalloch) with his brigade (the 4th), supported by the

Royal Highlanders from the reserve, was directed to march from the

left along the coast to the Narrows, and attack the enemy in that

quarter. The right wing having reached Bedford at nine o’clock next

morning, attacked the left of the American army, which, after a short

resistance, retired to their lines in great confusion, pursued by

the British troops, Colonel Stuart leading with his battalion of

Highland grenadiers. The Hessians, who had remained at Flat Bush,

on hearing the fire at Bedford, advanced, and, attacking the centre

of the American army, drove them, after a short engagement, through

the woods, and captured three pieces of cannon. General Grant had

previously attacked the right of the enemy, and a cannonade had been

kept up near the Narrows on both sides, till the Americans heard the

firing at Bedford, when they retreated in disorder. Notwithstanding

these advantages, neither General Howe nor General Grant ventured to

follow them up by pursuing the enemy, and attacking them in their

lines, although they could have made no effectual resistance. The

enemy lost 2000 men, killed, drowned, and taken prisoners. The

British had 5 officers, and 56 non-commissioned officers and privates

killed; and 12 officers and 245 non-commissioned officers and

privates wounded. Among the latter was Lieutenant Crammond and 9 rank

and file of the 42d.

About this time the broadswords and pistols which the men received in

Glasgow were ordered to be laid aside. The pistols being considered

unnecessary, except in the field, were not intended, like the swords,

to be worn by the men in quarters. The reason for discontinuing the

broadswords was that they retarded the men by getting entangled in

the brushwood. “Admitting that the objection was well-founded, so far

as regarded the swords, it certainly could not apply to the pistols.

In a close woody country, where troops are liable to sudden attacks

and surprises by a hidden enemy, such a weapon is peculiarly useful.

It is, therefore, difficult to discover a good reason for laying them

aside. I have been told by several old officers and soldiers, who

bore a part in these attacks, that an enemy who stood for many hours

the fire of musketry, invariably gave way when an advance was made

sword in hand. They were never restored, and the regiment has had

neither swords nor pistols since.”[304]

The army encamped in front of the enemy’s lines in the evening of

the 27th of August, and next day broke ground opposite their left

redoubt. General Washington had crossed over from New York during

the action at Brooklyn, and seeing resistance hopeless, resolved to

retreat. With surprising skill he transported 9000 men, with guns,

ammunition, and stores, in the course of one night, over to New York;

and such was the secrecy with which this movement was effected, that

the British army knew nothing of it till next morning, when the last

of the rear-guard were seen in their boats crossing the broad ferry

and out of danger.

Active operations were not resumed till the 15th of September, when

the reserve, including the Royal Highlanders, crossed over to New

York, and, after some opposition, took possession of the heights

above the town. The Highlanders and Hessians fell in with and

captured a body of New England men and Virginians. Next day the light

infantry were sent out to dislodge a party of the enemy from a wood

opposite the British left. A smart action ensued, and, the enemy

pushing forward reinforcements, the Highlanders were sent to support

the light infantry. The Americans were then driven back to their

entrenchments; but they renewed the attack with an increased force,

and were again repulsed with considerable loss. The British had 14

men killed, and 5 officers and 70 men wounded. The 42d had 1 sergeant

and 5 privates killed; and Captains Duncan Macpherson and John

Mackintosh, and Ensign Alexander Mackenzie (who died of his wounds),

and 1 piper, 2 drummers, and 47 privates wounded.

General Howe, in expectation of an attack, threw up entrenchments;

but General Washington having no such intention, made a general

movement, and took up a strong position on the heights in the rear of

the White Plains. To induce the enemy to quit their ground, General

Howe resolved to make a movement, and accordingly embarked his army

on the 12th of October in flat-bottomed boats, and passing through

the intricate narrow called Hell Gate, disembarked the same evening

at Frogsneck, near West Chester. In consequence of the bridge which

connected the latter place with the mainland having been broken

down by the enemy, the general re-embarked his troops next day, and

landed at Pell’s Point, at the mouth of Hudson’s river. On the 14th

he reached the White Plains in front of the enemy’s position. As a

preliminary to a general engagement, General Howe attacked a post on

a rising ground occupied by 4000 of the enemy, which he carried; but

General Washington declining battle, the British general gave up the

attempt, and proceeded against Fort Washington, the possession of

which was necessary in order to open the communication between New

York and the continent, to the eastward and northward of Hudson’s

river. The fort, the garrison of which consisted of 3000 men, was

protected by strong grounds covered with lines and works. The

Hessians, under General Knyphausen, supported by the whole of the

reserve, under Major-General Earl Percy, with the exception of the

42d, who were to make a feint on the east side of the fort, were to

make the principal attack. The Royal Highlanders embarked in boats on

the 16th of November, before day-break, and landed in a small creek

at the foot of the rock, in the face of a smart fire. The Highlanders

had now discharged the duty assigned them, but determined to have a

full share in the honour of the day, they resolved upon an assault,

and assisted by each other, and by the brushwood and shrubs which

grew out of the crevices of the rocks, scrambled up the precipice.

On gaining the summit, they rushed forward, and attacked the enemy

with such rapidity, that upwards of 200, unable to escape, threw down

their arms; whilst the Highlanders, following up their advantage,

penetrated across the table of the hill, and met Lord Percy’s brigade

as they were coming up on the opposite side. On seeing the Hessians

approach in another direction, the enemy surrendered at discretion.

In this affair the Royal Highlanders had 1 sergeant and 10 privates

killed; and Lieutenants Patrick Graham (Inchbrakie), Norman

Macleod,[305] and Alexander Grant, and 4 sergeants and 66 rank and

file wounded.

To secure the entire command of the North river, and to open an

easy entrance into the Jerseys, Fort Lee was next reduced, in which

service the Royal Highlanders were employed. The enemy, pursued by

the detachment which captured that post, retired successively to

Newbridge, Elizabeth Town, Newark, and Brunswick. On the 17th of

November General Howe entered Prince Town with the main body of the

army, an hour after it was evacuated by General Washington. Winter

having now set in, General Howe put his army into winter quarters.

The advanced posts, which extended from Trenton to Mount-holly, were

occupied by the Hessians and the Royal Highlanders, who were the only

British regiments in front.

If, instead of suspending active operations, General Howe had

continued occasionally to beat up the quarters of the Americans

whilst dispirited by their late reverses, it is thought that he

would have reduced them to the last extremity. General Washington

availed himself of the inactivity of the British commander, and by

making partial attacks on the advanced posts, he not only improved

the discipline of his army, but, in consequence of the success which

sometimes attended these attacks, revived the drooping spirits of his

men. On the 22d of January 1777, he surprised and completely defeated

the detachment of Hessians stationed at Trenton; in consequence of

which reverse, the Royal Highlanders, who formed the left of the line

of defence at Mount-holly, fell back on the light infantry at Prince

Town.

During the remainder of the season the Royal Highlanders were

stationed in the village of Pisquatua, on the line of communication

between New York and Brunswick by Amboy. The duty was severe, from

the rigour of the season and the want of accommodation. The houses

in the village not being sufficient to contain one-half of the men,

the officers and soldiers were intermixed in barns and sheds, and

they always slept in their body-clothes, as the enemy were constantly

sending down nocturnal parties to fire at the sentinels and picquets.

The Americans, however, always kept at a respectful distance, and

did not make any regular attack on the post till the 10th of May

1777, on which day, at four o’clock in the afternoon, a body of 2000

men, under the command of Maxwell and Stephens, American generals,

attempted to surprise the Highlanders. Advancing with great secrecy,

and being completely covered by the rugged nature of the country,

their approach was not perceived till they had gained a small level

piece of ground in front of the picquets, when they rushed forward,

and attacked them with such promptitude, that the picquets had hardly

time to seize their arms. At this time the soldiers were either

all differently employed, or taking the rest they could not obtain

at night; but the picquets, by disputing every inch of ground, gave

time to the soldiers to assemble, who drove the enemy back with great

precipitation, leaving behind them upwards of 200 men in killed and

wounded. On this occasion the 42d had 3 sergeants and 9 privates

killed; and Captain Duncan Macpherson, Lieutenant William Stewart, 3

sergeants, and 35 privates wounded.[306]

The British troops again took the field about the middle of June,

when General Howe attempted to draw Washington from his station at

Middle Brook; but the American commander knew too well the value

of such a strong position to abandon it. Not judging it prudent to

attack it, the British general resolved to change the seat of war.

Pursuant to this resolution, he embarked 36 battalions of British and

Hessians, including the flank battalions of the grenadiers and light

infantry, and sailed for the Chesapeak. Before the embarkation the

Royal Highlanders received an accession of 170 recruits from Scotland.

The army landed at Elk Ferry on the 24th of August, after a tedious

voyage. It was not till the 3d of September that they began their

march for Philadelphia. The delay enabled Washington to cross the

country, and to take an advantageous position at Red Clay Creek,

whence he pushed forward detachments to harass the British troops on

their march. General Howe did not reach the Brandy Wine River till

the middle of September, in consequence of the difficulties he met

with in traversing a country covered with wood and full of defiles.

On reaching that river, he found that the enemy had taken up a strong

position beyond it, with the view of opposing the further advance of

the royal army. The Americans had secured all the fording places,

and in expectation that the British would attempt to cross at Chad’s

Ford, they had erected batteries and thrown up entrenchments at that

place to command the passage. Making a circuit of some miles, Lord

Cornwallis crossed Jeffrey’s Ford with one division of the army

without opposition, and turning down the river fell in with the

American general, Sullivan, who had been detached by Washington to

oppose him. An action took place, and the Americans were driven from

all their posts through the woods towards the main army. Meanwhile

General Knyphausen, with his division, made demonstrations for

crossing the river at Chad’s Ford, and as soon as he knew from the

firing of cannon that Lord Cornwallis’s movement had succeeded, he

passed the river, and carried the batteries and entrenchments of

the enemy. A general rout ensued, and Washington, with the corps

he was able to keep together, fled with his baggage and cannon to

Chester. The British had 50 officers killed and wounded in the battle

of Brandy Wine, and 438 rank and file, including non-commissioned

officers. The flank companies of the 42d, being the only ones

engaged, had 6 privates killed, and 1 sergeant and 15 privates

wounded.

On the 25th, the army marched to German Town, and the following

morning the grenadiers took peaceable possession of Philadelphia.

The 42d took part in the operations, by which the British commander

endeavoured to bring the enemy to a general engagement at White

Marsh, and was afterwards quartered at Philadelphia.[307]

The next enterprise in which the Royal Highlanders were engaged, was

under Major-General Charles Grey, who embarked with the grenadiers,

the light infantry brigade, and the 42d regiment, for the purpose

of destroying a number of privateers, with their prizes, at New

Plymouth. The troops landed on the banks of the Acushnet river on the

5th of September, and having destroyed seventy vessels, with all the

stores, cargoes, wharfs, and buildings, along the whole extent of the

river, the whole were re-embarked the following day, and returned to

New York.

[Illustration: British Barracks, Philadelphia. From Watson’s _Annals

of Philadelphia_.]

Matters remained quiescent till the 25th of February 1779, when

Colonel Stirling, with a detachment consisting of the light infantry

of the Guards and the 42d regiment, was ordered to attack a post

at Elizabeth Town, which was taken without opposition. In April

following, the Highland regiment was employed in an expedition to

the Chesapeak, to destroy the stores and merchandise at Portsmouth

in Virginia. They were again employed with the Guards and a corps of

Hessians in another expedition under General Mathews, which sailed on

the 30th, under the convoy of Sir George Collier, in the _Reasonable_

and several ships of war. This expedition reached its destination on

the 10th of May, when the troops landed on the glebe on the western

bank of Elizabeth. They returned to New York after fulfilling the

object of the expedition.

The campaign of 1779 was begun by the capture, on the part of the

British, of Verplanks and Stony Point. A garrison of 600 men, among

whom were two companies of Fraser’s Highlanders, took possession

of this last post; but owing to the too great confidence of the

commander, it was surprised and re-captured. Flushed with this

success, the American general, Wayne, made an immediate attack upon

Verplanks, which was garrisoned by the 33d regiment; but receiving

accounts of the advance of Colonel Stirling with the light infantry

of the 42d, he retreated from Verplanks and abandoned Stony Point,

of which Colonel Stirling took possession. This officer being

shortly thereafter appointed aide-de-camp to the king, and a

brigadier-general, the command of the 42d regiment devolved on Major

Charles Graham.

About this time a circumstance occurred which tended greatly to

deteriorate, for several years, the hitherto irreproachable character

of the Royal Highland regiment. By order of the inspector-general

at Chatham, a body of 150 recruits, raised principally from the

refuse of the population of London and Dublin, was embarked for

the regiment in the autumn of this year. Of such dissipated habits

had these men been, that 16 died on the voyage, and 75 were sent

to the hospital as soon as they disembarked.[308] The infusion of

such immoral ingredients could not have failed to taint the whole

mass, and General Stirling made a strong representation to the

commander-in-chief to avert such a calamity from the regiment, by

removing the recruits to another corps. They were, in consequence,

drafted into the 26th, in exchange for the same number of Scotchmen;

but the introduction of these men into the regiment dissolved

the charm which, for nearly forty years, had preserved the

Highlanders from contamination. During that long period there were

few courts-martial, and, for many years, no instance of corporal

punishment occurred. So nice were their notions of honour, that,

“if a soldier was brought to the halberts, he became degraded, and

little more good was to be expected of him. After being publicly

disgraced, he could no longer associate with his comrades; and, in

several instances, the privates of a company have, from their pay,

subscribed to procure the discharge of an obnoxious individual.” But

“punishments being found indispensable for the men newly introduced,

and others becoming more habituated to the sight, much of the sense

of honour was necessarily lost.”[309]

An illustration of the strong national feeling with which the corps

was regarded by the Highlanders, and of the expediency of keeping

it unmixed, occurred in April of the same year, when two strong

detachments of recruits belonging to the 42d and 71st regiments

arrived at Leith from Stirling Castle, for the purpose of embarking

to join their respective regiments in North America. Being told

that they were to be turned over to the 80th and 82d, the Edinburgh

and Hamilton regiments, the men remonstrated, and declared openly

and firmly that they were determined to serve only in the corps for

which they were enlisted. After some negotiation, troops were sent to

Leith with orders to convey the refractory Highlanders as prisoners

to Edinburgh Castle, if they persisted in their determination. As

they still refused to forego their resolution, attempts were made to

enforce the orders; but the Highlanders refused to submit, and flying

to arms, a desperate conflict ensued, in which Captain Mansfield of

the South Fencible regiment and 9 men were killed, and 31 soldiers

wounded. Being at last overpowered, the mutineers were carried to the

castle.

In the month of May following, three of these prisoners, Charles

Williamson and Archibald Macivor, soldiers of the 42d regiment,

and Robert Budge, soldier of the 71st, were brought before a

court-martial, “charged with having been guilty of a mutiny at Leith,

upon Tuesday the 20th of April last past, and of having instigated

others to be guilty of the same, in which mutiny several of his

majesty’s subjects were killed, and many wounded.”

Their reasons for resisting the orders to embark are thus stated

in their defence:--“The prisoners, Archibald Macivor and Charles

Williamson, enlisted as soldiers in the 42d, being an old Highland

regiment, wearing the Highland dress. Their native language was

Gaelic,--the one being a native of the northern parts of Argyleshire,

and the other of the western parts of Inverness-shire, where the

language of the country is Gaelic only. They have never used any

other language, and are so ignorant of the English tongue that they

cannot avail themselves of it for any purpose of life. They have

always been accustomed to the Highland habit, so far as never to have

worn breeches, a thing so inconvenient, and even so impossible for a

native Highlander to do, that, when the Highland dress was prohibited

by act of parliament, though the philibeg was one of the forbidden

parts of the dress, yet it was necessary to connive at the use of

it, provided only that it was made of a stuff of one colour and not

of tartan, as is well known to all acquainted with the Highlands,

particularly with the more mountainous parts of the country. These

circumstance made it more necessary for them to serve in a Highland

regiment only, as they neither could have understood the language,

nor have used their arms, or marched in the dress of any other

regiment.”

The other prisoner, Budge, stated that he was a native of the upper

parts of Caithness, and being ignorant of the English language,

and accustomed to wear the Highland garb, he enlisted to serve in

Fraser’s Highlanders, and in no other regiment. In continuation,

the three prisoners stated, that, “when they arrived at Leith, they

were informed by their officer, Captain Innes, who had conducted

them, that they were now to consider the officers of the 82d, or

Duke of Hamilton’s regiment, a regiment wearing the Lowland dress

and speaking the tongue, as their officers; but how this happened

they were not informed. No order from the commander-in-chief for

their being drafted was read or explained to them, but they were

told that they must immediately join the Hamilton and Edinburgh

regiments. A great number of the detachment represented, without any

disorder or mutinous behaviour, that they were altogether unfit for

service in any other corps than Highland ones, particularly that

they were incapable of wearing breeches as a part of their dress.

At the same time, they declared their willingness to be regularly

transferred to any other Highland regiment, or to continue to serve

in those regiments into which they had been regularly enlisted. But

no regard was paid to these remonstrances, which, if they had had

an opportunity, they would have laid before the commander-in-chief.

But an order for an immediate embarkation prevented this. The idea

that naturally suggested itself to them was, that they should insist

on serving in the same regiment in which they had been enlisted,

and not to go abroad as part of the Duke of Hamilton’s regiment

till such time as these difficulties were removed. They accordingly

drew up under arms on the shore of Leith, each respective corps by

itself. The prisoners were informed that the orders issued were to

take them prisoners to the castle: had these orders been explained

to them, they would have submitted, and, with proper humility, have

laid their case before those that could have given them redress.

But, unfortunately, the sergeant who undertook to explain to them

in Gaelic, represented that they were immediately to go on board as

part of the Hamilton regiment, but which they do with great deference

say, that they did not at the time conceive they could lawfully

have done.” After the defence was read, “Captain Innes of the 71st

regiment showed an attestation to the court, which he said was in the

uniform style of the attestations for that regiment; and it expressly

bore, that the persons thereby attested were to serve in the 71st

regiment, commanded by General Simon Fraser of Lovat, and that they

were to serve for three years only, or during the continuance of the

present war.”

Having been found guilty, the prisoners were sentenced to be shot.

The king gave them a free pardon, “in full confidence that they would

endeavour, by a prompt obedience and orderly behaviour, to atone

for this atrocious offence.” These men, along with the rest of the

detachment, joined the second battalion of the 42d. The prisoners

justified the confidence of his majesty by steadiness and good

conduct in the regiment.

With the intention of pushing the war with vigour, the new

commander-in-chief resolved to attack Charlestown, the capital of

South Carolina. Leaving General Knyphausen in command, he embarked

part of his army, and after a boisterous and protracted voyage of

nearly seven weeks, during which some of his transports were lost

or taken, he landed at John’s Island, 30 miles from Charlestown, on

the 11th of February 1780. Owing to various impediments, he did not

reach Charlestown till the end of March. After a siege of six weeks

the place surrendered. The loss of the British did not exceed 300

men. Lieutenant Macleod of the 42d, and 9 privates, were killed; and

Lieutenant Alexander Grant of the same regiment, son of Colonel Grant

of Moy, was wounded by a six-pound ball, which struck him on the back

in a slanting direction, near the right shoulder, and carried away

the entire scapula with several other bones. The surgeons considered

his case as utterly hopeless, but to their surprise they found him

alive next morning, and free from fever and all bad symptoms. He

recovered completely, and served many years in perfect good health.

14 privates were wounded.

The Royal Highlanders, with the Grenadiers and Hessians, re-embarked

on the 4th of June for New York, and, after several movements in the

province went into winter quarters. Here they received an accession

of 100 recruits from Scotland. The regiment was not again employed in

any active service during the remainder of the war.

Whilst the war lasted, the Americans held out every allurement to the

British soldiers to induce them to desert their ranks and join the

cause of American independence. Many were, in consequence, seduced

from their allegiance; but during five campaigns, and until the

unfortunate draft of men from the 26th regiment, not one man from

the 42d deserted its ranks. About the close of the war the regiment

was stationed at Paulus Hook, an advanced post from New York leading

to the Jerseys, and here, for the first time, several of the men

deserted to the enemy. One of these deserters, by name Anderson, was

afterwards taken, tried by a court-martial, and shot.

After the peace the establishment of the regiment was reduced to

8 companies of 50 men each. The officers of the ninth and tenth

companies were not put on half-pay, but kept as supernumeraries

to fill up vacancies as they occurred in the regiment. Many of the

men having been discharged at their own request, their places were

supplied by drafts from Fraser’s and Macdonald’s Highlanders, and

from the Edinburgh and Hamilton regiments, some of the men in these

corps having preferred rather to remain in America than return home

with their regiments.

During the American revolutionary war the loss of the Royal

Highlanders was as follows:--

KILLED.

In Officers, 2

Sergeants, 9

Rank and File, including Drummers, 72

----

Total, 83

WOUNDED.

In Officers, 12

Sergeants, 18

Rank and File, including Drummers, 256

----

Total, 286

----

Grand Total, 369

In October 1783, the regiment was sent to Halifax, in Nova Scotia,

where it remained till the year 1786, when six companies were removed

to the island of Cape Breton, the remaining two companies being

detached to the island of St John. Next year two companies were

added to the regiment, in consequence of preparations for war with

Holland. Captains William Johnstone and Robert Christie succeeded to

these companies. Lieutenant Robert Macdonald, brother of Macdonald of

Sanda, from the half-pay of Fraser’s regiment, and Ensign James Rose,

were appointed lieutenants; and Ensign David Stewart (afterwards

major-general, and author of the _Sketches_,) and James Stewart,

nephew of the Earl of Moray, ensigns.

On the 1st of January 1785, new colours were presented to the

regiment by Major-General John Campbell, commanding the Forces in

Nova Scotia, who made an eloquent address on that occasion:--

“Forty-second, Royal Highlanders,--With particular pleasure I address

you on this occasion, and congratulate you on the service you have

done your country, and the honour you have procured yourselves, by

protecting your old colours, and defending them from your enemies in

different engagements during the late unnatural rebellion.

“From those ragged, but honourable, remains, you are now to transfer

your allegiance and fidelity to these new National and Regimental

Standards of Honour, now consecrated and solemnly dedicated to the

service of our King and Country. These Colours are committed to

your immediate care and protection; and I trust you will, on all

occasions, defend them from your enemies, with honour to yourselves,

and service to your country,--with that distinguished and noble

bravery which has always characterised the ROYAL HIGHLANDERS in the

field of battle.

“With what pleasure, with what peculiar satisfaction,--nay, with

what pride, would I enumerate the different memorable actions where

the regiment distinguished itself. To particularise the whole

would exceed the bounds of this address: let me therefore beg your

indulgence while I take notice only of a few of them.”

He then in glowing language alluded to the numerous engagements

in which the regiment had distinguished itself, from Fontenoy to

Pisquata, and concluded by urging upon the men ever to try to sustain

the high character of the regiment, and never to forget they were

citizens of a great country, and Christians as well as soldiers.

About this time the regiment had to regret the loss of its colonel,

Lord John Murray, who died on the 1st of June 1787, after commanding

the corps forty-one years. He was the steady friend of the officers

and men. Major-General Sir Hector Monro succeeded him in the

command.[310]

The regiment embarked for England in August 1789, and landed in

Portsmouth in October, after an absence of fourteen years. They

wintered in Tynemouth barracks, where they received a reinforcement

of 245 young recruits. At this time a small alteration was made

in the military appointments of the men. Instead of the black

leather belts for the bayonet, white buff belts were substituted.

The epaulettes of the officers, formerly very small, were then

enlarged.[311]

The regiment was removed to Glasgow in the month of May 1790, where

they were received with great cordiality by the inhabitants. From an

ill-judged hospitality on the part of the citizens, who compelled

some of the soldiers to drink copiously of ardent spirits, the

discipline of the regiment was relaxed; but its removal to Edinburgh

Castle in the month of November cured the evil.

Warlike preparations having been made in 1790, in expectation of a

rupture with Spain, orders were received to augment the regiment;

but, from recent occurrences in the Highlands, the regiment was not

successful in recruiting. Several independent companies were raised,

one of which, a fine body of young Highlanders, recruited by the

Marquis of Huntly (afterwards Duke of Gordon), joined the regiment

along with his lordship, who had exchanged with Captain Alexander

Grant.

The regiment was reviewed in June 1791, by Lord Adam Gordon, the

commander-in-chief in Scotland, and was marched to the north in

October following. The head quarters were at Fort George; one company

was stationed at Dundee, another at Montrose, two at Aberdeen, and

one at Banff. The regiment assembled at Fort George in the spring of

1792, and after having been marched south to Stirling, and reviewed

by the Hon. Lieutenant-General Leslie, returned to their former

cantonments along the coast. The men had however scarcely returned

to their quarters, when they were ordered to proceed by forced

marches into Ross-shire, to quell some tumults among the tenantry

who had been cruelly ejected from their farms. Fortunately, however,

there was no occasion for the exercise of such an unpleasant duty,

as the poor people separated and concealed themselves on hearing

of the approach of the military. After a series of marches and

countermarches, the regiment returned to its former cantonments.

In consequence of the war with France, the whole regiment was ordered

south, and, preparatory to their march, assembled at Montrose in

April 1793. An attempt to increase the establishment by recruiting

proved unsuccessful, the result, in some degree, of the depopulating

system which had lately been commenced in Ross-shire, and which

soured the kindly dispositions of the Highlanders. The corps at this

time scarcely exceeded 400 men, and to make up for deficiencies in

recruiting, two independent companies, raised by Captains David

Hunter of Burnside, and Alexander Campbell of Ardchattan, were

ordered to join the regiment.

On the 8th of May, the regiment embarked at Musselburgh for Hull, the

inhabitants of which received the Highlanders most kindly, and were

so well pleased with their good conduct that, after they embarked

for Flanders, the town sent each man a present of a pair of shoes,

a flannel shirt, and worsted socks. The regiment joined the army

under his Royal Highness the Duke of York, then encamped in the

neighbourhood of Menin, on the 3d of October.

The first enterprise in which the Highlanders were engaged was in

conjunction with the light companies of the 19th, 27th, and 57th

regiments, in the month of October, when they marched to the relief

of Nieuport, then garrisoned by the 53d regiment, and a small

battalion of Hessians. On the appearance of this reinforcement, the

besiegers retired. The Highlanders had 1 sergeant and 1 private

killed, and 2 privates wounded. After this the regiment was

re-embarked for England, along with the three others just mentioned,

to join an expedition then preparing against the French colonies in

the West Indies; but on arriving at Portsmouth, the 42d was ordered

to join another expedition then fitting out against the coast of

France, under the command of the Earl of Moira. Colonel Graham, who

had held the command of the regiment since the year 1791, being at

this time appointed to the command of a brigade, the command devolved

on Major George Dalrymple.

The expedition sailed on the 30th of November; but although it

reached the coast of France to the eastward of Cape la Hogue, no

landing took place. The expedition, after stopping some time at

Guernsey, returned to Portsmouth in the beginning of January 1794.

The troops remained in England till the 18th of June, when they were

re-embarked for Flanders, under the command of the Earl of Moira.

They landed at Ostend on the 26th. At this time the allied armies,

in consequence of the advance of a large French army and the partial

defection of Prussia, were placed in a very critical situation,

particularly the small division under the Duke of York encamped

at Malines. A junction with the duke became a primary object with

Lord Moira, who accordingly resolved to abandon Ostend. He embarked

all the stores and the garrison, and whilst the embarkation was

proceeding, the troops were ordered under arms on the sand hills

in the neighbourhood in light marching order. The officers left

all their luggage behind, except what they carried on their backs.

In the evening of the 28th the troops moved forward, and halting

ten miles beyond the town, proceeded at midnight towards Ostaker,

and reached Alost on the 3d of July. Whilst these troops remained

here, about 400 of the enemy’s cavalry entered the town, and being

mistaken for Hessians, passed unmolested to the market-place. One of

them made an attempt to cut down a Highlander named Macdonald, who

was passing through the market-place with a basket on his head. The

dragoon having wounded the man severely in the hand which held the

basket, the enraged mountaineer drew his bayonet with the other hand

and attacked the horseman, who fled. Macdonald thereupon continued

his course, venting his regret as he went along that he had not a

broadsword to cut down the intruder. On being recognised, the enemy

were driven out by some dragoons and picquets.

After a fatiguing march in presence of a superior force under

General Vandamme, the reinforcement joined the Duke of York on the

9th of July. A succession of petty skirmishes occurred until the

20th, when Lord Moira resigned the command. He was succeeded by

Lieutenant-General Ralph Abercromby, to whom the command of the third

brigade, or reserve, in which were the Highlanders, was assigned.

The army crossed the Waal at Nimeguen on the 8th of October. Several

smart affairs took place between the advanced posts of the two armies

till the 20th, when the enemy attacked the whole of the British

advanced posts. They were repulsed, but the 77th regiment sustained

a severe loss in officers and men. By incessant attacks, however,

the enemy established themselves in front of Nimeguen, and began to

erect batteries preparatory to a siege; but on the 4th of November

they were driven from their works, after an obstinate resistance. The

enemy still persevering with great energy to push their preparations

for a siege, it was found necessary to evacuate the town.

This evacuation took place on the 7th of November, and the army was

cantoned along the banks of the river. They suffered greatly from the

severity of the weather, and so intense was the frost, that the enemy

crossed the Waal on the ice. They took post at Thuyl; but although

the place was surrounded with entrenchments, and the approach flanked

by batteries placed on the isle of Bommell, they were forced from

all their posts, and obliged to repass the Waal, by a body of 8000

British, among whom was the third brigade. The loss of the British

was trifling. The enemy again crossed the Waal on the 4th of January

1795, and retook Thuyl, from which it was now found impossible to

dislodge them. In an attack which they made on the forces under

General David Dundas at Gildermaslen, they were repulsed with the

loss of 200 men, whilst that of the British was only about one-fourth

of that number. The 42d had 1 private killed, and Lieutenant-Colonel

Lamond and 7 privates wounded.

Compelled by the severity of the weather, and the increasing numbers

of the French, to retreat, the British troops retired behind the

Leck, after the division under Lord Cathcart had repulsed an attack

made by the enemy on the 8th.

Disease, the result of a want of necessaries and proper clothing,

had greatly diminished the ranks of the British; and the men, whose

robustness of constitution had hitherto enabled them to withstand

the rigours of one of the severest winters ever remembered, at last

sank under the accumulated hardships which beset them. Such was the

state of the British army when General Pichegru, crossing the Waal in

great force, made a general attack on the 14th of January along the

whole line, from Arnheim to Amerougen. After a continued resistance

till morning, the British began the disastrous retreat to Deventer,

the miseries of which have only been exceeded by the sufferings

of the French in their disastrous retreat from Moscow.[312] The

inhumanity of the Dutch boors, who uniformly shut their doors against

the unfortunate sufferers, will ever remain a disgrace on the Dutch

nation. The hospitable conduct of the inhabitants of Bremen, where

the remains of this luckless army arrived in the beginning of April,

formed a noble contrast to that of the selfish and unfeeling Dutch.

In no former campaign was the superiority of the Highlanders over

their companions in arms, in enduring privations and fatigues,

more conspicuous than in this; for whilst some of the newly-raised

regiments lost more than 300 men by disease alone, the 42d, which had

300 young recruits in its ranks, lost only 25, including those killed

in battle, from the time of their disembarkation at Ostend till their

embarkation at Bremen, on the 14th of April.

The Royal Highlanders having landed at Harwich were marched to

Chelmsford, and encamped in June 1795 in the neighbourhood of

Danbury. In September the regiment was augmented to 1000 men, by

drafts from the Strathspey and Perthshire Highlanders, and the

regiments of Colonel Duncan Cameron and Colonel Simon Fraser,

which had been raised the preceding year, and were now broken up.

“Although these drafts,” says General Stewart, “furnished many good

and serviceable men, they were, in many respects, very inferior to

former recruits. This difference of character was more particularly

marked in their habits and manners in quarters, than in their conduct

in the field, which was always unexceptionable. Having been embodied

for upwards of eighteen months, and having been subject to a greater

mixture of character than was usual in Highland battalions, these

corps had lost much of their original manners, and of that strict

attention to religious and moral duties which distinguished the

Highland youths on quitting their native glens, and which, when in

corps unmixed with men of different characters, they always retained.

This intermixture produced a sensible change in the moral conduct and

character of the regiment.”

Since 1795 the soldiers of the 42d have worn a red feather or

“heckle” in their bonnets, being in this respect distinguished from

all the other Highland regiments. The following is the story of the

“glorious old red heckle,” as told by Lieutenant-Colonel Wheatley,

who, we believe, had his information directly from those who took

part in the exploit on account of which the Black Watch is entitled

to wear the plume.

In December 1794, when the Forty-Second were quartered at Thuyl, as

above mentioned, they received orders for the night of the 31st to

march upon Bommell, distant some miles on the opposite side of the

river Waal, which they reached by four o’clock on the morning of 1st

January 1795. Here they were joined by a number of other regiments,

and lay on their arms until daybreak, when they attacked the French

army, and drove them across the river on the ice. The British held

their position on the banks of the river until the evening of the

3d, when (the French having been reinforced) a partial retreat took

place early on the morning of the 4th. The British retired upon the

village of Guildermalson, where the 42d, with a number of other

regiments, halted, and formed up to cover the retreat through the

village. The French cavalry, however, cut through the retreating

picquets, and made their way up to the regiments stationed at the

village, where they were met and repulsed, and a number of them

taken prisoners.[313] Two field-pieces were placed in front of the

village to protect the retreat of the picquets; but instead of

resisting the charge of cavalry, they (the picquets) retreated to the

rear of the village, leaving their guns in possession of the French,

who commenced dragging them off. An A.D.C. (Major Rose) ordered Major

Dalrymple, commanding the 42d, to charge with his regiment, and

retake the guns; which was immediately done, with the loss of 1 man

killed and 3 wounded. The guns were thus rescued and dragged in by

the 42d, the horses having been disabled and the harness cut.

There was little or no notice taken of this affair at the time, as

all was bustle; but after their arrival in England, it was rumoured

that the 42d were to get some distinctive badge for their conduct in

retaking the guns on the 4th of January; but the nature of the honour

was kept a profound secret. On the 4th of June 1795, as the regiment,

then quartered at Royston, Cambridgeshire, was out on parade to

fire three rounds in honour of his Majesty’s birthday, the men were

surprised and delighted when a large box was brought on to the field,

and a red feather distributed to each soldier. This distinctive

ornament has ever since adorned the otherwise funereal head-dress of

the old Black Watch.

In 1822, from a mistaken direction in a book of dress for the

guidance of the army, some of the other Highland regiments concluded

that they also had a right to wear “a red vulture feather.” The 42d,

however, remonstrated, and their representations at headquarters

called forth the following memorandum:--

“_For Officers commanding Highland Regiments._

“HORSE GUARDS, _20th Aug. 1822_.

“The red vulture feather prescribed by the recent regulations

for Highland regiments is intended to be used exclusively by the

Forty-Second Regiment: other Highland corps will be allowed to

continue to wear the same description of feather that may have been

hitherto in use.

“H. TORRENS, Adjutant-General.”

III.

1795-1811.

Expedition to the West Indies--England, Gibraltar,

Minorca, 1798--Expedition to Egypt, 1800--Battle of the

13th March 1801--Battle of the 21st--Death of Sir Ralph

Abercromby--Capture of Rosetta--Surrender of Grand Cairo and

of Alexandria--England--Misunderstanding between the 42d and

the Highland Society of London--The regiment reviewed by George

III.--Return of the 42d to Scotland--Embarks at Leith for Weeley

in Essex--Second battalion--Gibraltar--Portugal--Spain--Retreat

to Corunna--Battle of Corunna--Death of Sir John Moore--England,

1809--Walcheren--Scotland, 1810--England, 1811.

Government having determined to reduce the French and Dutch

possessions in the West Indies, a large armament was fitted out

under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. The

land forces consisted of 460 cavalry and 16,479 infantry. The Royal

Highlanders formed part of this expedition. Another expedition,

destined also for the West Indies, consisting of 2600 cavalry and

5680 foot, assembled at Cork during the embarkation of the first.

Great care was taken to furnish the troops with everything necessary

for the voyage, and particular attention was paid to their clothing.

To protect them from the damps and chills of midnight, they were

supplied with flannel, and various changes were made in their

clothing to guard them against the effects of the yellow fever. Among

other changes, the plaid kilt and bonnet of the Highlanders were laid

aside, and their place supplied by Russian duck pantaloons and a

round hat; but experience showed that the Highland dress was better

suited to a campaign in the West Indies during the rainy season, than

the articles which superseded it.

The embarkation was completed by the 27th of October 1795; but in

consequence of damage sustained by some of the ships in a hurricane,

and the loss of others, the expedition did not sail till the 11th of

November. On that day the fleet, amounting to 328 sail, got under

weigh with a favourable breeze. Owing to accidents which befell two

of the ships, the fleet did not clear the channel till the 13th of

December; but it had scarcely got out when a violent storm arose,

which continued almost without intermission for several weeks. The

greater part of the fleet was scattered, and many of the ships took

refuge in different ports in England. Admiral Crichton struggled with

such of the ships as remained with him till the end of January, but

was at last obliged, from the disabled state of some of the ships,

to return to Portsmouth, where he arrived on the 29th of that month

with about 50 sail. Seventy-eight of the ships which kept the sea

proceeded on their voyage, and reached Barbadoes in a straggling

manner. Had the troops been sent off in detachments as they embarked,

these misfortunes would have been avoided.

After the partial return of the expedition, the destination of

some of the returned regiments was changed. Five companies of the

Highlanders were in a few weeks embarked for Gibraltar, under the

commanded of Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson. The other five companies

reached Barbadoes on the 9th of February in the _Middlesex_ East

Indiaman, one of the straggling ships which had proceeded on the

voyage. The expedition again put to sea on the 14th of February,

and arrived at Barbadoes on the 14th of March. By the great

care of Sir Ralph Abercromby, in ordering the transports to be

properly ventilated on their arrival, and by enforcing cleanliness

and exercise among the troops, few deaths occurred; and of the

five Highland companies, none died, and only 4 men with trifling

complaints were left on board when the troops disembarked at St Lucia

in April. The troops from Cork, though favoured with better weather,

were less fortunate in their voyage, several officers and a great

many men having died.

The first enterprise was against the Dutch colonies of Demerara

and Berbice, which surrendered to a part of the Cork division

under Major-General White on the 22d of April. On the same day the

expedition sailed from Barbadoes, and appeared off St Lucia on the

26th, it being considered imprudent to attempt Guadaloupe with a

force which had been so much diminished.

The troops landed in four divisions at Longueville Bay, Pigeon

Island, Chock Bay, and Ance la Raze. The Highlanders, under the

command of Brigadier-General John Moore, landed in a small bay

close under Pigeon Island. The army moved forward on the 27th to

close in upon Morne Fortunée, the principal post in the island. To

enable them to invest this place, it became necessary to obtain

possession of Morne Chabot, a strong and commanding position

overlooking the principal approach. Detachments under the command of

Brigadier-Generals Moore and the Hon. John Hope, were accordingly

ordered to attack this post on two different points. General Moore

advanced at midnight, and General Hope followed an hour after by

a less circuitous route; but falling in with the enemy sooner

than he expected, General Moore carried the Morne, after a short

but obstinate resistance, before General Hope came up. Next day

General Moore took possession of Morne Duchassaux. By the advance

of Major-General Morshead from Ance la Raze, Morne Fortunée was

completely invested, but not until several officers and about 50 of

the grenadiers, who formed the advanced post under Lieutenant-Colonel

Macdonald, had been killed and wounded.

To dispossess the enemy of the batteries they had erected on the Cul

de Sac, Major-General Morshead’s division was ordered to advance

against two batteries on the left; whilst Major-General Hope, with

the five companies of the Highlanders, the light infantry of the

57th regiment, and a detachment of Malcolm’s Rangers, supported by

the 55th regiment, was to attack the battery of Secke, close to the

works of Morne Fortunée. The light infantry and the rangers quickly

drove the enemy from the battery; but they were obliged to retire

from the battery in their turn under the cover of the Highlanders,

in consequence of the other divisions under Brigadier-General Perryn

and Colonel Riddle having been obstructed in their advance. In this

affair Colonel Malcolm, a brave officer, was killed, and Lieutenant

J. J. Fraser of the 42d, and a few men, wounded. The other divisions

suffered severely.

So great were the difficulties which presented themselves from the

steep and rugged nature of the ground, that the first battery was

not ready to open till the 14th of May. In an attempt which the

31st regiment made upon a fortified ridge called the Vizie, on the

evening of the 17th, they were repulsed with great loss; but the

grenadiers, who had pushed forward to support them, compelled the

enemy to retire. For six days a constant fire was kept up between the

batteries and the fort. Having ineffectually attempted to drive back

the 27th regiment from a lodgment they had formed within 500 yards

of the garrison, the enemy applied for and obtained a suspension

of hostilities. This was soon followed by a capitulation and the

surrender of the whole island. The garrison marched out on the

29th, and became prisoners of war. The loss of the British was 2

field officers, 3 captains, 5 subalterns, and 184 non-commissioned

officers and rank and file killed; and 4 field officers, 12 captains,

15 subalterns, and 523 non-commissioned officers and rank and file

wounded and missing.

As an instance of the influence of the mind on bodily health, and of

the effect of mental activity in preventing disease, General Stewart

adduces this expedition as a striking illustration:--“During the

operations which, from the nature of the country, were extremely

harassing, the troops continued remarkably healthy; but immediately

after the cessation of hostilities they began to droop. The five

companies of Highlanders, who landed 508 men, sent few to the

hospital until the third day subsequent to the surrender; but after

this event, so sudden was the change in their health, that upwards

of 60 men were laid up within the space of seven days. This change

may be, in part, ascribed to the sudden transition from incessant

activity to repose, but its principal cause must have been the

relaxation of the mental and physical energies, after the motives

which stimulated them had subsided.”