from the possession of the higher, or, at all events, the more
dignified range of attributes, yet, as a curious study, is not
undeserving of a few notes. It is pretty well known that each
officer of a regiment has attached to his special service a man
selected from the ranks, and in most cases from the company to
which he himself belongs. Now, it is not to be supposed that the
captain of a company will sanction the employment in this way of
his smartest men, nor, indeed, would the commanding officer be
likely to ratify the appointment if he did; still, I have seen
smart young fellows occasionally filling the position of officer’s
servant, though they rarely continued long in it, but reverted,
as a rule, sooner or later, to their places in the ranks, under
the influence of a soldier’s proper ambition, which pointed to the
acquisition of at least a non-commission officer’s stripes; not to
speak of the difference between Her Majesty’s livery and that of
any intermediate master, however much in his own person deserving
of respect. The young ensign, however, in joining will rarely find
himself accommodated with a servant of this class. He will have
presented to him, in that capacity, some steady (we had almost
said “sober,” but that we should have been compelled forthwith to
retract), grave, and experienced old stager, much, probably, the
worse of wear from the lapse of time and from subsidiary influences,
and serving out his time for a pension (I speak of days when such
things were), after such fashion as military regulations and an
indulgent captain permitted. This sort of man was generally held
available for the newly joined ensign, upon much the same principle
as that which places the new dragoon recruit on the back of some
stiff-jointed steed of supernatural sagacity and vast experience of
a recruit’s weak points in the way of security of seat, which last,
however, he only puts to use when he sees a way of doing so with
benefit to his position, unaccompanied with danger to his hide; in
other words, while regarding with much indifference the feelings of
the shaky individual who bestrides him, he has a salutary dread of
the observant rough-rider. A soldier servant of the above class will
devote himself to making what he can, within the limits of strict
integrity, out of a juvenile master; but woe betide the adventurous
wight whom he detects poaching on his preserve! On the whole,
therefore, the ensign is not badly off, for the veteran is, after
all, really honest, and money to almost any amount may be trusted to
his supervision; as for tobacco and spirits, he looks upon them, I am
afraid, as contraband of war, a fair and legitimate forfeit if left
within the scope of his privateering ingenuity.
Many years ago, while the 79th Highlanders formed the garrison of
Edinburgh Castle, Her Majesty the Queen, who had very lately ascended
the throne of Great Britain, paid a visit to the metropolis of her
Scottish dominions, and a guard of honour from the above regiment was
despatched down to Holyrood to keep watch and ward over the royal
person. It was late in the season, or early, I forget which, Colonel
Clephane writes, and when the shades of evening closed round, the
officers of the guard were sensible, in their large, gloomy chamber,
of a chilly feeling which the regulated allowance of coals failed to
counteract. In other words, the fuel ran short, and they were cold,
so it was resolved to despatch one of their servants, a type of the
class just alluded to, for a fresh supply. Half-a-crown was handed to
him for this purpose--a sum which represented the value of more than
a couple of hundredweights in those days,--and Donald was instructed
to procure a scuttlefull, and bring back the change. Time went on,
the few embers in the old grate waxed dimmer and dimmer, and no
Donald made his appearance. At last, when the temper of the expectant
officers had reached boiling point, increasing in an inverse ratio
to their bodily caloric, the door opened, and Donald gravely entered
the apartment. The chamber was vast and the light was dim, and the
uncertain gait of the approaching domestic was at first unnoticed.
Calmly disregarding a howl of indignant remonstrance on the score
of his dilatory proceedings, the latter silently approached the end
of the room where the two officers were cowering over the dying
embers. It was now seen that he carried in one hand a piece of coal,
or some substance like it, about the size of a six-pounder shot.
“Where have you been, confound you! and why have you not brought
the coals?” roared his master. Donald halted, steadied himself, and
glanced solemnly, first at the “thing” which he carefully bore in
his palm, then at the speaker’s angry lineaments, and in strangely
husky accents thus delivered himself:--“Not another--hic--bit of coal
in Edinburgh; coalsh--hic--’sh very dear just now, Mr Johnstone!”
The delinquent’s master was nearly beside himself with fury when he
saw how the matter stood, but he could not for the life of him help,
after a moment or two, joining in the merriment which shook the very
frame of his comrade. Donald, in the meantime, stood regarding both
with an air of tipsy gravity, and was apparently quite bewildered
when ordered to retire with a view to being placed in durance vile.
This incident naturally ended the connection between him and his
aggrieved master. It is but fair to state that the hero of the above
little anecdote, though I have called him “Donald,” was a Lowlander.
SUCCESSION LIST OF COLONELS AND LIEUTENANT-COLONELS OF THE 79TH, THE
QUEEN’S OWN CAMERON HIGHLANDERS.
COLONELS.
+-----------------------+-------------------+---------------------------+
| Names. | Date of | Remarks. |
| | Appointment. | |
+-----------------------+-------------------+---------------------------+
|Major Alan Cameron |August 17, 1793 |Died Lieut.-General, March |
| | | 9, 1828. |
|Lieut.-General R. C. |March 24, 1828 |Died, April 10, 1841. |
| Ferguson, G.C.B. | | |
|Major-General the Hon. |April 27, 1841 |Died, June 28, 1842. |
| J. Ramsay | | |
|Lt.-General Sir James |July 14, 1842 |To 71st Foot, February 8, |
| Macdonell, K.C.B. | | 1849. |
|Major-General James |February 8, 1849 |Died, February 25, 1854. |
| Hay, C.B. | | |
|Lieut.-General W. H. |March 24, 1854 |Died, 1862. |
| Sewell, C.B. | | |
|Hugh Arbuthnot, C.B. |March 14, 1862 |Vice Sewell, deceased. |
|J. F. Glencairn |July 12, 1868 |Vice Arbuthnot, deceased. |
| Campbell | | |
|Henry Cooper, C.B. |August 21, 1870 |Vice Campbell, deceased. |
| |
| LIEUTENANT-COLONELS. |
| Bat. |
| 1. Alan Cameron, |Lt.-Col. |Major-General, July 25, |
| Major-Com | Feb. 19, 1794 | 1810. |
| 1. The Hon. A. C. |May 2, 1794 |Promoted to colonel of a |
| Johnstone | | regiment, Jan. 26, 1797. |
| 1. William Ashton |September 18, 1794 |Died, September 1796. |
| 1. Patrick Macdowall |November 1, 1796 |Died of wounds, August |
| | | 1801. |
| 1. William Eden |August 15, 1798 |To 84th Foot, December 11, |
| | | 1806. |
| 1. Archibald Maclean |September 3, 1801 |Retired, May 28, 1807. |
| 2. Philip Cameron |April 19, 1804 |To 1st Battalion, December |
| | | 11, 1806. |
| 2. John Murray |December 11, 1806 |To 1st Battalion, May 28, |
| | | 1807. |
| 1. Philip Cameron |December 11, 1806 |From 2nd Battalion. Died of|
| | | wounds, May 13, 1811. |
| 1. John Murray |May 28, 1807 |To Malta Regiment, February|
| | | 23, 1808. |
| 2. Robert Fulton |May 28, 1807 |To 1st Battalion, May 13, |
| | | 1811. |
| 1. Robert Fulton |May 13, 1811 |Retired, December 3, 1812. |
| 2. Wm. M. Harvey |May 30, 1811 |To 1st Battalion, December |
| | | 3, 1812. |
| 1. Wm. M. Harvey |December 3, 1812 |Died at sea, June 10, 1813.|
| 2. Neil Douglas |December 3, 1812 |To 1st Battalion, February |
| | | 20, 1813. |
| 1. Neil Douglas |February 20, 1813 |To Half-pay, August 16, |
| | | 1833. |
| 2. Nathaniel Cameron |June 24, 1813 |Reduced with 2nd Battalion,|
| | | Dec 25, 1815. |
| | | |
| _Only one Battalion in Regiment._ |
| | | |
| 1. Duncan Macdougal |September 6, 1833 |Retired, March 13, 1835. |
| 1. Robert Ferguson |March 13, 1835 |Retired, June 8, 1841. |
| 1. Andrew Brown |June 8, 1841 |To 1st Battalion Royals, |
| | | October 29, 1841. |
| 1. John Carter, K.H. |October 29, 1841 |Retired June 14, 1842. |
| 1. The Hon. Lauderdale|June 14, 1842 |To Half-pay unattached, |
| Maule | | December 24, 1852. |
| 1. Edmund James Elliot|December 24, 1852 |Died, August 12, 1854. |
| 1. John Douglas, |August 13, 1854 | |
| K.C.B. | | |
| 1. R. C. H. Taylor, |December 12, 1854 |To Depôt Battalion, October|
| C.B. | | 1, 1856. |
| 1. R. C. H. Taylor, |August 1, 1857 | |
| C.B. | | |
| 1. T. B. Butt |April 15, 1859 |Chief Inspector of |
| | | Musketry, Bengal, 1860. |
| | | Exchanged to 86th |
| | | Regiment, Sept. 13, 1864.|
| 1. W. C. Hodgson |July 10, 1860 |Died at Parkhurst, Isle of |
| | | Wight, March 1, 1872. |
| 1. R. M. Best |September 13, 1864 |Brigadier-General, India, |
| | | May 24, 1870. Exchanged |
| | | from 86th Regiment, Sept.|
| | | 13, 1864. |
| 1. K. R. Maitland |March 2, 1872 |To Half-pay, October 19, |
| | | 1872. |
| 1. G. M. Miller |October 19, 1872 | |
+-----------------------+-------------------+---------------------------+
FOOTNOTES:
[509] No portrait of this indomitable Colonel exists, or it should
have been given as a steel engraving.
[510] Captain Robert Jameson’s _Historical Record of the 79th_. To
this record, as well as to the original manuscript record of the
regiment, we are indebted for many of the following details.
[511] “At this interview, Colonel Cameron plainly told the Duke, ‘to
draft the 79th is more than you or your Royal father dare do.’ The
Duke then said, ‘The King my father will certainly send the regiment
to the West Indies.’ Colonel Cameron, losing temper, replied, ‘You
may tell the King your father from me, that he may send us to h--l
if he likes, and I’ll go at the head of them, but _he daurna draft
us_,’--a line of argument which, it is unnecessary to add, proved
to the Royal Duke perfectly irresistible.”--Jameson’s _Historical
Record_.
[512] “In 1809, the 79th accomplished what no other regiment did. In
January of that year they were in Spain at the Battle of Corunna, and
returned to England in February, when 700 men and several officers
suffered from a dangerous typhus fever, yet not a man died. In July
they embarked 1002 bayonets for Walcheren, were engaged during the
whole siege of Flushing in the trenches, yet had not a man wounded,
and, whilst there, lost only one individual in fever--Paymaster
Baldock, the least expected of any one. During the three months after
their return to England, only ten men died, and in December of that
same year again, embarked for the peninsula. 1032 strong.”--Note by
Dr A. Anderson, Regimental surgeon, p. 44 of H. S. Smith’s _List of
the Officers of the 79th_.
[513] “This gallant officer commanded the picket of the 79th, and
could not be induced to withdraw. He was last seen by Captain
(afterwards the late Lieut.-General Sir Neil) Douglas, fighting
hand to hand with several French soldiers, to whom he refused to
deliver up his sword. His body was found pierced with seven bayonet
wounds.”--Jameson’s _Records_, p. 24.
[514] Jameson’s _Record_.
[515] Jameson’s _Record_, p. 27.
[516] In a note to this poem, Scott says that the 71st and 79th, on
seeing Cameron fall, raised a dreadful shriek of grief and rage;
“they charged with irresistible fury the finest body of French
grenadiers ever seen, being a part of Bonaparte’s selected guard.
The officer who led the French, a man remarkable for stature and
symmetry, was killed on the spot. The Frenchman who stepped out of
the ranks to take aim at Colonel Cameron was also bayoneted, pierced
with a thousand wounds, and almost torn to pieces by the furious
Highlanders, who, under the command of Colonel Cadogan, bore the
enemy out of the contested ground at the point of the bayonet.”
[517] His portrait is on p. 504, vol. ii.
[518] “Sergeant Mackenzie had previously applied to Major Cocks for
the use of his dress sabre, which the major readily granted, and used
to relate with great satisfaction that the sergeant returned it to
him in a state which indicated that he had used it with effect.”
[519] Captain Jameson’s _Record_.
[520] His portrait will be found on the steel-plate of Colonels of
the 71st and 72nd Regiments.
[521] As the part taken by the 79th in the Peninsular battles has
been described at some length in connection with the 42nd and other
regiments, it is unnecessary to repeat the details here.
[522] Whilst the enemy thus gained a temporary possession of the
redoubts, Lieutenant Ford and seven men of the 79th, who were in a
detached portion of the work, separated from its front face by a deep
road, had their retreat cut off by a whole French regiment advancing
along this road in their rear, when one of the men, with great
presence of mind, called out “sit down,” which hint was immediately
acted on, with the effect of saving the party from being made
prisoners, as the enemy supposed them to be wounded, _and a French
officer shrugged his shoulders in token of inability to render them
any assistance_!
[523] Jameson’s _Historical Record_, p. 43.
[524] “Evan” and “Donald” are Sir Evan or Ewen Cameron, and Donald,
the “Gentle Lochiel.” Their portraits are on pages 296 and 519, vol.
i.
[525] _Historical Record_, p. 51.
[526] “During the formation, Piper Kenneth Mackay of the 79th, a
brave Highlander, stepped outside of the bayonets and continued to
play round the outside of the square, the popular air of ‘_Cògaidh nà
Sith_’ with much inspiriting effect.”--Jameson’s _Historical Record_.
[527] See his portrait on the steel-plate of Colonels of the 78th and
79th regiments.
[528] For these and other personal anecdotes relating to the history
of the 79th during the last forty years, we are indebted to the
kindness of Lt.-Colonel Clephane.
[529] “The magnificent mile of line,” says Captain Jameson,
“displayed by the Guards and Highlanders, the prominent bear-skin,
the undulating waves of the clan-tartans, the stalwart frames, steady
and confident bearing of these young and eager soldiers advancing
under fire, can never be forgotten by those who witnessed it, whilst
it contributed materially to the discouragement of the enemy, whose
columns perceptibly wavered as they approached. His masses of
four-and-twenty deep, absolutely reeled and staggered to and fro
under the murderous fire of the Scottish line, which was delivered
with great effect at a distance of 200 yards.”
[530] _Invasion of the Crimea_, vol. ii. p. 487.
[531] For the episode of Sir Colin Campbell’s Scotch bonnet, and
other incidents connected with the Highland Brigade generally, we
must again refer the reader to our account of the 42nd.
[532] _Historical Record_, p. 100.
[533] The British showed a curious contrast to their allies in this
respect. Their complete subordination and obedience to orders were
no less remarkable than praiseworthy. This, however, was of no real
benefit to the owners, for our free and easy allies had no such
scruples. As is usual with them, the comic element soon began largely
to intermingle with the thirst for “loot,” and grim-looking Zouaves
and Sappers were to be seen parading with absurd airs and paces about
the streets dressed in ladies garments, with little silk parasols
held over smart bonnets perched on the top of their own appropriate
head-dresses, and accompanied by groups of quasi-admirers, demeaning
themselves after what they doubtless considered to be the most
approved Champs Elysées fashion, to the no small wonder and amusement
of their less mercurial allies of Scotland, who stood about looking
on with broad grins at “_Frangsy_ makin’ a fule o’ himsel’.”
[534] The two addresses delivered to the Highland brigade in the
Crimea by Sir Colin Campbell--the first on Sept. 21st, 1855, in
connection with the distribution of medals and clasps, and the second
on May 9th, 1856, on his leaving the Crimea for England--will be
found in the account of the 42nd.
[535] We regret that the Record-Book of the 79th is extremely meagre
in its account of the part taken by the regiment in the Indian
campaign, and we have been unable to obtain details elsewhere. This,
however, is the less to be regretted, as the details given in the
history of the 42nd, 78th, and 93rd are so full that our readers will
be able to form a tolerably good idea of what the 79th had to undergo.
[536] So in the Record-Book, and if correct, must include a very
large number who died from sunstroke, fatigue, and disease.
THE 91ST PRINCESS LOUISE ARGYLLSHIRE HIGHLANDERS.
I.
1794-1848.
Raising of the Regiment--At first the 98th--South Africa--Wynberg
--Saldanha Bay--Number changed to 91st--Faithfulness of the
Regiment--Returns to England--Germany--Ireland--The Peninsula
--Obidos--Vimeiro--Corunna--The detached company--Talavera
--Walcheren--Peninsula again--Vittoria--Pamplona--Nivelle--Nive
--Bayonne--Orthes--Toulouse--Ireland--Quatre Bras--Waterloo
--France--Ireland--91st loses Highland dress--Jamaica--England
--Ireland--St Helena--Cape of Good Hope--The Reserve Battalion
formed and sails for S. Africa--Wreck of the “Abercrombie Robinson”
--Insurrection of Dutch farmers--Frontier service--The Boers again
--New colours--The Kaffir War--Amatola Mountains--Attack on Fort
Peddie--Buffalo Spruits--1st Battalion goes home.
[Illustration: XCI
NE OBLIVISCARIS.
ROLEIA.
VIMEIRO.
CORUNNA.
PYRENEES.
NIVELLE.
NIVE.
ORTHES.
TOULOUSE.
PENINSULA.]
This regiment was raised, in accordance with a desire expressed by
His Majesty George III., by the Duke of Argyll, to whom a letter of
service was granted, dated the 10th of February 1794. In March it was
decided that the establishment of the regiment should consist of 1112
officers and men, including 2 lieutenant-colonels. Duncan Campbell
of Lochnell, who was a captain in the Foot Guards, was appointed
Lieutenant-colonel commandant of the regiment, and assumed the
command at Stirling on the 15th of April, 1794.
The regiment was inspected for the first time, on the 26th of May,
when it had reached a strength of 738 officers and men, by General
Lord Adam Gordon, who particularly noticed the attention and good
appearance of the men. The regiment remained at Stirling for a month
after this inspection, marching about the middle of June to Leith,
at which port, on the 17th and 18th of that month, it embarked _en
route_ for Netley, where it went into encampment. On the 9th of July
the king approved of the list of officers, and the regiment was
numbered the 98th.
The 98th, which had meantime removed to Chippenham, marched to
Gosport about the end of April, 1795, and on the 5th of May it
embarked at Spithead as part of the joint expedition to South Africa,
against the Dutch, under Major-General Alured Clark. It arrived
in Simon’s Bay on the 3rd, landing at Simon’s Town, on the 9th of
September, and encamped at Muysenberg.[537]
[Illustration:
THE PRINCESS LOUISE.
FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY HILL & SAUNDERS
THE MARQUIS OF LORNE.
FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY ELLIOT & FRY.]
After the army under Major-General Clark arrived at the Cape, it
advanced on the 14th of September and carried Wynberg, the battalion
companies of the regiment, under Colonel Campbell, forming the centre
of the line. On this occasion the 98th had 4 privates wounded. On
September 16th the regiment entered Cape Town Castle, and relieved
the Dutch garrison by capitulation, all the forts and batteries
of Cape Town and its dependencies having been given over to the
possession of the British. About a year afterwards, however, an
expedition was sent from Holland for the purpose of winning back the
Cape of Good Hope to that country, and in the action which took place
at Saldanha Bay on the 17th of August 1796, and in which the British
were completely victorious, the grenadier and light companies
of the 98th took part. The regiment remained in South Africa till
the year 1802, during which time little occurred to require special
notice.
In October 1798, while the regiment was at Cape Town, its number was
changed from the 98th to the 91st.
In May 1799 a regimental school was established for the first time
for the non-commissioned officers and men.
In the beginning of 1799 a strong attempt was made by a number of the
soldiers in the garrison at Cape Town to organise a mutiny, their
purpose being to destroy the principal officers, and to establish
themselves in the colony. Not only did the 91st not take any part in
this diabolical attempt, but the papers containing the names of the
mutineers and their plans were discovered and seized by the aid of
private Malcolm M’Culloch and other soldiers of the regiment, who had
been urged by the mutineers to enter into the conspiracy. Lt.-Col.
Crawford in a regimental order specially commended the conduct of
M’Culloch, and declared that he considered himself fortunate in being
the commander of such a regiment.
In November 1802 the first division of the 91st embarked at Table Bay
for England, arriving at Portsmouth in February 1803. On the 28th of
the latter month the second division had the honour of delivering
over the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch, to whom it had been secured
at the peace of Amiens. After performing this duty the division
embarked at Table Bay, arriving at Portsmouth in May, and joining the
first division at their quarters in Bexhill during the next month.
During the next few years the Record Book contains nothing but an
enumeration of the various places to which the regiment marched
for the purpose of encamping or acting as garrison. A slight, and
no doubt welcome interruption of this routine was experienced in
December 1805, at the end of which month it embarked for Hanover,
and was brigaded along with the 26th and 28th regiments, under the
command of Major-General Mackenzie Fraser.[538] After the regiment
had been about a month in Germany the British army was recalled, and
the 91st consequently returned to England in the end of January 1806,
taking up its quarters at Faversham.
In August 1804, in accordance with the recent Act of Parliament known
as the Defence Act, means were taken to add a second battalion to the
91st, by raising men in the counties of Perth, Argyll, and Bute.
The regiment remained in England until the end of 1806, when
it embarked at Dover for Ireland, disembarking at the Cove of
Cork on Jan. 7th, 1807, and marching into Fermoy. It remained in
Ireland, sending detachments to various places, till the middle
of 1808, embarking at Monkstown on the 15th of June, to form part
of the Peninsular expedition under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley. The 91st was brigaded with the 40th and 71st regiments
under Brigadier General Crawford, the three regiments afterwards
forming the 5th Brigade.[539] The 91st was engaged in most of the
actions during the Peninsular war, and did its part bravely and
satisfactorily.
On August 9th 1808, the 91st advanced with the rest of the army,
and, on the 17th, in the affair at Obidos the light company of the
regiment, with those of the brigade under the command of Major
Douglas of the 91st, were engaged, when the advanced posts of the
enemy were driven from their positions. On August 21st, the regiment
was present at the battle of Vimeiro, forming part of the reserve
under General C. Crawford, which turned the enemy’s right,--a
movement which was specially mentioned in the official despatch
concerning this important battle.
In the beginning of September, by a new distribution of the army, the
91st was placed in Major-General Beresford’s brigade with the 6th and
45th regiments, and in the 4th division, that of Lieutenant-General
Sir Arthur Wellesley. On Sept. 20th, however, it seems to have been
attached, with its brigade, to the 3rd division.
On Oct. 19th the regiment advanced into Spain, with the rest of
the army under Lt.-Gen. Sir John Moore, proceeding by Abrantes,
Covilhão, Belmonte, Morilhão, Ciudad Rodrigo, and Salamanca, arriving
at the last-mentioned place on Nov. 18th. On the 28th the regiment
was formed into a brigade with the 20th, 28th, 52nd, and 95th
regiments, to compose a part of the reserve army under Major-General
the Hon. Edward Paget, in which important capacity it served during
the whole of Sir John Moore’s memorable retreat to Corunna. On
Jan. 11th, 1809, the 91st, along with the rest of the army, took
up its position on the heights of Corunna, the reserve brigade on
the 16th--the day of battle--being behind the left of the British
army. The 91st does not appear to have been actively engaged in this
disastrous battle,--disastrous in that it involved the loss of one of
England’s greatest generals, the brave Sir John Moore. On the evening
of the 16th the 91st embarked, and arrived in Plymouth Sound on the
28th.
The officers, non-commissioned officers, and men who were left sick
in Portugal on the advance of the regiment with Sir John Moore, were
formed into a company under Captain Walsh, and placed as such in
the first battalion of detachments. This battalion was commanded by
Lt.-Col. Bunbury, and composed part of the army in Portugal under
Lt.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. This company was actively employed
in the affairs of May 10th, 11th, and 12th, which led to the capture
of Oporto. It afterwards advanced with the army which drove the enemy
into Spain.
The company was engaged on July 27th and 28th in the battle of
Talavera, in which, out of a total strength of 93 officers and men,
it lost 1 officer, Lieutenant Macdougal, and 9 rank and file killed,
1 sergeant and 30 rank and file wounded, and 1 officer, Captain James
Walsh, and 19 men missing; in all, 61 officers and men. Captain Walsh
was taken prisoner by the enemy in a charge, and with many other
officers was marched, under a strong escort, towards France. He,
however, effected his escape at Vittoria on the night of August 20th,
and after suffering the greatest privation and hardship, he rejoined
the army in Portugal, and reported himself personally to Lord
Wellington. Captain Thomas Hunter, of the 91st, who was acting as
major of brigade, was also wounded and taken prisoner in this action.
Meantime, the main body of the 91st, after being garrisoned in
England for a few months, was brigaded with the 6th and 50th Foot,
under Major-General Dyott, and placed in the 2nd division, under
Lieut.-General the Marquis of Huntly, preparatory to its embarkation
in the expedition to Walcheren, under Lieut.-General the Earl of
Chatham. The regiment disembarked at South Beveland on August 9th,
and entered Middelburg, in the island of Walcheren, on Sept. 2nd.
Here it seems to have remained till Dec. 23rd, when it re-embarked at
Flushing, arriving at Deal on the 26th, and marched to Shorncliffe
barracks. In this expedition to Walcheren the 91st must have suffered
severely from the Walcheren fever, as in the casualty table of the
Record Book for the year 1809 we find, for the months of Sept. and
Oct. respectively, the unusually high numbers of 37 and 42 deaths.
The 91st remained in England till the month of Sept. 1812, on the
18th and 19th of which it again embarked to take its share in the
Peninsular war, arriving at Corunna between the 6th and the 12th of
October. On October 14th the regiment set out to join the army under
the Duke of Wellington, arriving on Nov. 1st at Villafranca, about
12 miles from Benavente. After taking part in a movement in the
direction of Bragança, on the frontiers of Portugal, the 91st, which
had been placed in the Highland or General Pack’s brigade, then under
the command of Colonel Stirling of the 42nd Regiment, in the 6th
division,--finally removed to San Roma, where it remained during the
winter.
In April 1813, the 91st left its winter quarters, and on May 14th
advanced with the combined army to attack the enemy. At the battle of
Vittoria, on June 21st, the 6th division, to which the 91st belonged,
was ordered to defile to the right to watch the movements of a
division of the enemy during this important action, and on the 22nd
it marched through Vittoria, and took charge of the guns and other
warlike stores abandoned by the enemy.
On June 27th the 91st, along with the rest of the army, commenced
the march towards Pamplona, and on July 6th the 6th division, in
conjunction with the 5th, invested that fortress. But the blockade
of Pamplona having been left to the 5th division and the Spanish
legion, the 6th division advanced to San Estevan on July 15th. On
the 26th of the same month, the enemy having made some movements to
raise the siege of Pamplona, the 6th division moved from San Estevan
on that day, and, in conjunction with the 4th and 7th divisions, on
July 28th attacked the head of the French column at the small village
of Sorauren, near Pamplona, and completely checked its progress.
On the 30th, at daybreak, the action recommenced on the right of
the division by an attack from the enemy’s left wing. The action
continued hotly until about noon, when the light companies of the
Highland brigade, under the direction of Major Macneil of the 91st
Regiment, stormed and carried the village of Sorauren, causing the
enemy to flee in all directions, pursued by the division.
On the 28th the regiment lost 1 sergeant and 11 rank and file killed,
and 6 officers--Captain Robert Lowrie, Lts. Allan Maclean, John
Marshall, and S. N. Ormerod, and Ensigns J. A. Ormiston and Peter
M’Farlane--and 97 rank and file wounded; on the 30th, 1 private was
killed, and Major Macneil and 8 rank and file wounded. At least about
40 of the wounded afterwards died of their wounds.
The 91st continued to take part in the pursuit of the enemy, and on
the night of August 1st bivouacked on the heights of Roncesvalles; on
August 8th it encamped on the heights of Maya. The regiment remained
in this quarter till the 9th of Nov., on the evening of which the
army marched forward to attack the whole of the enemy’s positions
within their own frontier; and on the next day, the 10th of Nov., the
battle of Nivelle was fought, the British attacking and carrying all
the French positions, putting the enemy to a total rout. The 91st
lost in this action, Captain David M’Intyre and 3 men killed, and 2
sergeants and 4 men wounded.
On November 11th the British continued to pursue the enemy towards
Bayonne, but the weather being extremely wet the troops were ordered
into cantonments. The British were in motion again, however, in the
beginning of Dec., early on the morning of the 9th of which the 6th
division crossed the Nive on pontoon bridges, and attacked and drove
in the enemy’s outposts. As the 6th division had to retire out of the
range of the fire of the 2nd division, it became during the remainder
of the day merely an army of observation. The only casualties of the
91st at the battle of the Nive were 5 men wounded.
Marshal Soult, finding himself thus shut up in Bayonne, and thinking
that most of the British troops had crossed the Nive, made, on the
10th, a desperate sally on the left of the British army, which for a
moment gave way, but soon succeeded in regaining its position, and in
driving the enemy within the walls of Bayonne. During the action the
6th division recrossed the Nive, and occupied quarters at Ustaritz.
At Bayonne, on Dec. 13th, Sir Rowland Hill declined the proffered
assistance of the 6th division, which therefore lay on its arms in
view of the dreadful conflict, that was terminated only by darkness.
The enemy were completely driven within the walls of Bayonne.
During December and January the British army was cantoned in the
environs of Bayonne, but was again in motion on Feb. 5th, 1814,
when, with the exception of the 5th division and a few Spaniards
left to besiege Bayonne, it proceeded into France. On Feb. 26th the
6th division arrived on the left bank of the Adour, opposite Orthes;
and on the morning of the 27th the 3d, 4th, 6th, and 7th divisions
crossed on pontoons and drew up on the plain on the right bank of
the river. The French thought themselves secure in their fortified
heights in front of the British position. About 9 o’clock in the
morning the divisions moved down the main road towards Orthes; each
division, as it came abreast of the enemy’s position, broke off the
road and attacked and carried the position in its front. About noon
the enemy fled, pursued by the British, who were stopped only by
the darkness of night. In the battle of Orthes the 91st had Captain
William Gunn and Lts. Alexander Campbell, John Marshall, and John
Taylor, and 12 rank and file wounded. At the Aire, on March 2nd, the
91st had 1 man killed, and Captain William Douglas, Ensign Colin
Macdougal, 1 sergeant, and 14 men wounded.
The 91st continued with its division to advance towards Toulouse,
where the great Peninsular struggle was to culminate. On March 26th,
the 6th division arrived at the village of Constantine, opposite
to and commanding a full view of Toulouse, and on the 8th it moved
to the right, and occupied the village of Tournefouille. Early on
the morning of April 4th the division moved a few miles down the
Garonne, and a little after daybreak crossed.[540] On the morning of
April 10th the army left its tents at an early hour, and at daybreak
came in sight of the fortified heights in front of Toulouse. The
6th division was ordered to storm these heights, supported by the
Spaniards on the right and the 4th division on the left. About ten
o’clock the Highland brigade attacked and carried all the fortified
redoubts and entrenchments along the heights, close to the walls of
Toulouse. Night alone put an end to the contest. We are sorry that we
have been unable to obtain any details of the conduct of the 91st;
but it may be gathered from what has been said in connection with
the 42nd and 79th, as well as from the long list of casualties in
the regiment, that it had a full share of the work which did so much
honour to the Highland brigade.
At Toulouse the 91st had 1 sergeant and 17 men killed, and 7
officers--viz., Col. Sir William Douglas,[541] who commanded the
brigade after Sir Dennis Pack was wounded, Major A. Meade, Captains
James Walsh and A. J. Callender, Lts. J. M. Macdougal, James Hood,
and Colin Campbell--1 sergeant, and 93 rank and file wounded; a good
many of the latter afterwards dying of their wounds.
As is well known, on the day after the battle of Toulouse news of
the abdication of Napoleon, and the restoration of the Bourbons, was
received, and hostilities were therefore suspended. On April 20th
the 6th division marched for Auch, and on the 24th of June the first
detachment of the regiment sailed for home, the second following on
July 1st, both arriving at Cork towards the end of the latter month.
Lt.-Colonel Macneil was presented with a gold medal, and promoted
to the rank of lt.-colonel in the army, for his services in the
Peninsula, and especially for his gallant conduct in command of the
light companies of the light brigade of the 6th division at Sorauren.
Captain Walsh was also promoted to the rank of brevet lt.-colonel.
On March 17th the 91st, accompanied by the 42nd, 71st, and 79th
regiments, sailed for Carlingford Bay, in the north of Ireland, and
from thence to the Downs, where it was transhipped into small crafts
and sailed for Ostend, where it arrived on the night of the 17th of
April.
Although at Quatre Bras and Waterloo,[542] the 91st had no
opportunity of coming to close quarters with the enemy, yet its
service in these days was so efficient as to gain for it all the
honours, grants, and privileges which were bestowed on the army for
that memorable occasion. The 91st did good service on the morning
of the 18th of June by helping to cover the road to Brussels, which
was threatened by a column of the French. On the 19th the 91st took
part in the pursuit of the flying enemy, and on the 24th it sat down
before Cambray, which, having refused to capitulate, was carried by
assault. On this occasion the 91st had Lt. Andrew Cathcart and 6 men
wounded; and at Autel de Dieu, on June 26th, a private was killed
on this post by some of the French picquets. On July 7th the 91st
encamped in the Bois de Boulogne, where it remained till Oct. 31st,
when it went into cantonments.
The 91st remained in France till Nov. 2nd, 1818, when it embarked at
Calais for Dover; sailed again on Dec. 17th from Gosport for Cork,
where it disembarked on the 24th; finally, marching in two divisions,
on Dec. 27th and 28th, for Dublin, which it reached on the 6th and
7th Jan. 1819.
By this time the 91st had ceased to wear both kilt and tartan, lost
its Highland designation, and had gradually become an ordinary
regiment of the line. From the statement of John Campbell, who was
living at Aberdeen in 1871, and who served in the 91st throughout
the Peninsular war, we learn that in 1809, just before embarking for
Walcheren, the tartan for the kilts and plaids reached the regiment;
but an order shortly came to make it up into trews. Along with the
trews, a low flat bonnet with a feather on one side was ordered to
be worn. About a year after, in 1810, even the tartan trews were
taken from the 91st, a kind of grey trousers being ordered to be worn
instead; the feathered bonnet was taken away at the same time, and
the black cap then worn by ordinary line regiments was substituted.
The 91st remained in Dublin till July 22nd, 1820, eliciting the
marked approbation of the various superior officers appointed to
inspect it. On July 22nd it proceeded to Enniskillen, furnishing
detachments to the counties of Cavan, Leitrim, and Donegal. Orders
having been received in June 1821 that the regiment should prepare to
proceed for Jamaica from the Clyde, the 91st embarked on the 18th at
Donaghadee for Portpatrick, and marched to Glasgow, where it arrived
on the 27th and 28th.
The regiment embarked at Greenock in two divisions in Nov. 1821
and Jan. 1822, arriving at Kingston, Jamaica, in Feb. and March
respectively.
The 91st was stationed in the West Indies till the year 1831, during
which time nothing notable seems to have occurred. The regiment,
which lost an unusually large number of men by death in the West
Indies, left Jamaica in three divisions in March and April 1831,
arriving at Portsmouth in May and June following. The reserve
companies having come south from Scotland, the entire regiment
was once more united at Portsmouth in the beginning of August. In
October the 91st was sent to the north, detachments being stationed
at various towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire till the 10th of July
1832, when the detachments reunited at Liverpool, where the regiment
embarked for Ireland, landing at Dublin on the following day. The
91st was immediately sent to Mullingar, where headquarters was
stationed, detachments being sent out to various towns. From this
time till the end of 1835 the regiment was kept constantly moving
about in detachments among various stations in the centre, southern,
and western Irish counties, engaged in duties often of the most
trying and harassing kind, doing excellent and necessary service,
but from which little glory could be gained. One of the most trying
duties which the 91st had to perform during its stay in Ireland at
this time, was lending assistance to the civil power on the occasion
of Parliamentary elections. On such occasions the troops were
subjected to treatment trying to their temper in the highest degree;
but to the great credit of the officers and men belonging to the
91st, when employed on this duty, they behaved in a manner deserving
of all praise.
The 91st having been ordered to proceed to St Helena, embarked in two
detachments in November, and sailed from the Cove of Cork on the 1st
of Dec. 1835, disembarking at St Helena on the 26th of Feb. 1836. The
companies were distributed among the various stations in the lonely
island, and during the stay of the regiment there nothing occurred
which calls for particular notice. At the various inspections the
91st received nothing but praise for its discipline, appearance, and
interior economy.
On the 4th of June 1839, headquarters, grenadiers, No. 2, and the
light infantry companies, left St Helena for the Cape of Good Hope,
disembarking at Algoa Bay on the 3d of July, and reaching Grahamstown
on the 8th.
Nothing of note occurred in connection with the regiment for the
first two years of its stay at the Cape. It was regularly employed
in detachments in the performance of duty at the various outposts on
the Fish river, the Kat river, the Koonap river, Blinkwater, Double
Drift, Fort Peddie, and other places, the detachments being relieved
at regular intervals.
Government having decided upon the formation of reserve battalions,
for the purpose of facilitating the relief of regiments abroad, and
shortening their periods of foreign service, early in the month
of April 1842, the establishment of the four company dépôts of
certain regiments was changed, and formed into battalions of six
skeleton companies by volunteers from other corps. The 91st, the
dépôt companies of which were then stationed at Naas, was selected
in March 1842 as one of the regiments to be thus augmented. When
complete the numbers and distribution of the rank and file stood as
follows:--1st battalion, 540; reserve battalion, 540; dépôt, 120;
total, 1200.
The Lt.-Colonel, whose post was to be with the 1st battalion, had
the general charge and superintendence of the whole regiment,
assisted by an additional major. The reserved battalion had the
usual proportion of officers and non-commissioned officers appointed
to it, but had no flank companies. The senior major had the
immediate command of the reserve battalion.
The reserve battalion having been reported fit for service, was
directed to hold itself in readiness to proceed to the Cape of Good
Hope.
The wing under Capt. Bertie Gordon--who had joined the regiment about
nine years previously, and who was so long and honourably connected
with the 91st--joined the headquarters of the regiment at Naas on May
26th 1842, where the six companies were united under his command,
both the lt.-col. and the major being on leave. On the 27th of May
the battalion, under Capt. Gordon, proceeded from Naas to Kingstown,
and embarked on board the transport “Abercrombie Robinson.” On the 2d
of June the transport sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, the strength
of the regiment on board being 17 officers and 460 men, Lt.-Col.
Lindsay being in command. The ship also contained drafts of the 27th
regiment and the Cape Mounted Rifles. The transport having touched at
Madeira, arrived in Table Bay on the 25th of August 1842. Here the
battalion was warned for service on the north-eastern frontier of the
colony, relieving the 1st battalion of the regiment, which was to be
stationed at Cape Town. In consequence of this arrangement Lt.-Col.
Lindsay and Major Ducat disembarked on the 27th, for the purpose of
joining the 1st battalion, to which they belonged. All the other
officers, not on duty, obtained permission to go ashore, and all
landed except six, the command of the troops on board devolving on
Capt. Bertie Gordon.
An event now took place which can only be paralleled by the famous
wreck of the “Birkenhead” ten years afterwards, the narrative of
which we have recorded in our history of the 74th.
At 11 o’clock P.M., on the night of the 27th, it was blowing a
strong gale, and the sea was rolling heavily into the bay. The
ship was pitching much and began to feel the ground, but she rode
by two anchors, and a considerable length of cable had been served
out the night before. Captain Gordon made such arrangements as he
could, warning the officers, the sergeant-major, and the orderly
non-commissioned officers to be in readiness.
From sunset on the 27th the gale had continued to increase, until
at length it blew a tremendous hurricane, and at a little after 3
o’clock on the morning of the 28th the starboard cable snapped in
two. The other cable parted a few minutes afterwards, and away went
the ship before the storm, her hull striking with heavy crashes
against the ground as she drove towards the beach, three miles
distant under her lee. About the same time the fury of the gale,
which had never lessened, was rendered more terrible by one of
the most awful storms of thunder and lightning that had ever been
witnessed in Table Bay.
While the force of the wind and sea was driving the ship into
shoaler water, she rolled incessantly and heaved over fearfully with
the back set of the surf. While in this position the heavy seas
broke over her side and poured down the hatchways, the decks were
opening in every direction, and the strong framework of the hull
seemed compressed together, the beams starting from their places.
The ship had been driven with her starboard bow towards the beach,
exposing her stern to the sea, which rushed through the stern-posts
and tore up the cabin floors of the orlop deck. The thunder and
lightning ceased towards morning, and the ship seemed to have
worked a bed for herself on the sand; for the rolling had greatly
diminished, and there then arose the hope that all on board might
get safe ashore.
At daybreak, about 7 o’clock, the troops, who had been kept below,
were now allowed to come on deck in small numbers. After vain
attempts to send a rope ashore, one of the cutters was carefully
lowered on the lee side of the ship, and her crew succeeded in
reaching the shore with a hauling line. The large surf-boats were
shortly afterwards conveyed in waggons to the place where the ship
was stranded, and the following orders were given by Captain Gordon
for the disembarkation of the troops:--1. The women and children
to disembark first; of these there were above 90. 2. The sick to
disembark after the women and children. 3. The disembarkation of the
troops to take place by the companies of the 91st Regiment drawing
lots; the detachment of the 27th Regiment and the Cape Mounted
Rifles to take the precedence. 4. The men to fall in on the upper
deck, fully armed and accoutred, carrying their knapsacks and their
great-coats. 5. Each officer to be allowed to take a carpet-bag or
small portmanteau.
The disembarkation of the women and children and of the sick
occupied from half-past 8 until 10 o’clock A.M. The detachments
of the 27th Regiment and the Cape Mounted Rifles followed. The
disembarkation of the 91st was arranged by, first, the wings drawing
lots, and then the companies of each wing.
At half-past 10 one of the surf boats, which had been employed up
to this time in taking the people off the wreck, was required to
assist in saving the lives of those on board the “Waterloo” convict
ship, which was in still more imminent peril about a quarter of a
mile from the “Abercrombie Robinson.” There was now but one boat to
disembark 450 men, the wind and sea beginning again to rise, and the
captain was apprehensive that the ship might go to pieces before
sunset.
The disembarkation of the six companies went on regularly but slowly
from 11 A.M. until 3.30 P.M., the boat being able to hold only 30
men at a time. At half-past 3 the last boat-load left the ship’s
side. It contained those of the officers and crew who had remained
to the last, Captain Gordon of the 91st, Lt. Black, R.N., agent
of transports, the sergeant-major of the reserve battalion of the
91st, and one or two non-commissioned officers who had requested
permission to remain.
Nearly 700 souls thus completed their disembarkation after a night
of great peril, and through a raging surf, without the occurrence
of a single casualty. Among them were many women and children, and
several sick men, two of whom were supposed to be dying. Although
it had been deemed prudent to abandon the men’s knapsacks and the
officer’s baggage, the reserve battalion of the 91st went down the
side of that shattered wreck fully armed and accoutred, and ready
for instant service.
It would be difficult to praise sufficiently the steady discipline
of that young battalion, thus severely tested during nearly
seventeen hours of danger, above eight of which were hours of
darkness and imminent peril. That discipline failed not when the
apparent hopelessness of the situation might have led to scenes
of confusion and crime. The double guard and sentries which had
at first been posted over the wine and spirit stores were found
unnecessary, and these stores were ultimately left to the protection
of the ordinary single sentries. Although the ship was straining
in every timber, and the heavy seas were making a fair breach over
her, the companies of that young battalion fell in on the weather
side of the wreck as their lots were drawn, and waited for their
turn to muster at the lee gangway; and so perfect were their
confidence, their patience, and their gallantry, that although
another vessel was going to pieces within a quarter of a mile of
the transport ship, and a crowd of soldiers, sailors, and convicts
were perishing before the eyes of those on board, not a murmur arose
from their ranks, when Captain Gordon directed that the lot should
not be applied to the detachment of the 27th regiment and Cape
Mounted Riflemen, but that the 91st should give the precedence in
disembarking from the wreck.
The narrative of the wreck was submitted to Field-Marshal the Duke
of Wellington, who wrote upon it words of the highest commendation
on the conduct of officers and men. “I have never,” the Duke
wrote, “read anything so satisfactory as this report. It is highly
creditable, not only to Captain Bertie Gordon and the officers and
troops concerned, but to the service in which such an instance has
occurred, of discretion and of firmness in an officer in command, and
of confidence, good order, discipline, and obedience in all under his
direction, even to the women and children.” The Duke did not forget
the conduct of those concerned in this affair; it was mainly owing
to the way in which Sergeant-major Murphy performed his duty on this
occasion, that in 1846, through the Duke of Wellington’s influence,
he was appointed to a wardership of the Tower.
In consequence of this unfortunate disaster the 91st remained
stationed at Cape Town until Feb. 1843. In Oct. 1842 Lt.-Col.
Lindsay took command of the 1st battalion at Grahamstown, and Major
Ducat assumed command of the reserve.
As the histories of the two battalions of the 91st during their
existence are to a great extent separate, and as the 1st battalion
did not remain nearly so long at the Cape as the reserve, nor had
so much fighting to do, it will, we think, be better to see the 1st
battalion safely home before commencing the history of the 2nd.
During the remainder of its stay at the Cape, till 1848, the 1st
battalion continued as before to furnish detachments to the numerous
outposts which guarded the colony from the ravages and ferocity of
the surrounding natives. Such names as Fort Peddie, Fort Armstrong,
Trompeter’s Drift, Commity Drift, Eland’s River, Bothas Post, &c.,
are continually occurring in the Record Book of the regiment.
The three companies that were left at St Helena in June 1839 joined
the headquarters of the 1st battalion on Dec. 6th, 1842.
In the beginning of Dec. 1842 a force, consisting of 800 men, of whom
400 belonged to the 1st battalion of the 91st, was ordered to proceed
from the eastern frontier to the northern boundary, an insurrection
of the Dutch farmers having been expected in that quarter. This
force, commanded by Colonel Hare, the Lieutenant-Governor, arrived
at Colesberg, a village near the Orange river, about the end of the
month. No active operations were, however, found necessary, and the
troops were ordered to return to their quarters, after leaving 300
men of the 91st in cantonment at Colesberg. Previous to the force
breaking up, Colonel Hare issued a frontier order, dated Feb. 1st,
1843, in which he expressed his admiration of the conduct of officers
and men.
In the beginning of June 1843 nearly all the disposable troops on the
eastern frontier were ordered on a special service to Kaffirland.
The 1st and reserve battalions of the 91st furnished detachments
for this service. The object of the expedition was to drive a
refractory Kaffir chief, named Tola, from the neutral territory, and
to dispossess him of a number of cattle stolen from the colony. The
third division, commanded by Lt.-Col. Lindsay of the 91st Regiment,
in the performance of this duty encountered some opposition from
a body of armed Kaffirs, in a skirmish with whom one man of the
battalion was severely wounded. The force returned to the colony in
the beginning of the following July, having captured a considerable
number of cattle.
The emigrant farmers beyond the Orange river, or N.E. boundary of
the colony, having early in the year 1845 committed aggressions on
the Griquas or Bastards, by attacking their villages and kraals, and
carrying off their cattle, &c., the Griquas claimed the protection of
the British Government, the Boers having assembled in large bodies.
Accordingly, the detachment of the 91st stationed at Colesberg,
consisting of the grenadiers No. 2 and light companies, under the
command of Major J. F. G. Campbell, was ordered to the Orange river,
about fifteen miles from Colesberg. The detachment, along with a
company of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, crossed the river on the night
of April 22nd, and marched to Philippolis, a village of the Griquas.
Information having been received that the Boers were encamped in
force at Touw Fontein, about thirty-five miles from Philippolis, the
detachment marched on the night of the 23rd of April for the camp,
within four miles of which camp the Boers and Griquas were found
skirmishing, the former, 500 strong, being mounted. Dispositions were
made to attack the camp, but the troops of the 7th Dragoon Guards
and the company of the Cape Rifles pushed forward, and the Boers
fled in all directions, after offering a very slight resistance. The
detachment of the 91st remained encamped until the 30th of June, when
it was ordered to Grahamstown.
On Nov. 25th of this year the 1st battalion was inspected by Colonel
Hare, who, at the same time, presented the regiment with new colours,
and expressed in a few words his entire approval of the battalion.
At the commencement of the Kaffir war, in March 1846, the battalion
proceeded to Fort Peddie, in the ceded territory,[543] and shortly
afterwards it was joined by detachments of the corps from various
outposts. The grenadier company at the commencement of the war was
attached to the field force under Colonel Somerset, K.H., and was
engaged in the Amatola Mountains with the enemy on the 16th, 17th,
and 18th of April, when Lt. J. D. Cochrane was severely wounded. What
details we have been able to collect concerning the part taken by the
91st in this long and arduous engagement we shall record in speaking
of the reserve battalion, which was also largely engaged during these
three days.
After this the grenadier company was attached to the reserve
battalion, with the exception of a few men, who accompanied Captain
Hogg’s Hottentot levy to Makassa’s Country.
The headquarters of the battalion was engaged in protecting the
Fingoe settlement at Fort Peddie, being stationed there when the post
was attacked, on the 28th of May 1846, by upwards of 8000 Kaffirs.
The strength of the battalion consisted of 254 officers and men;
there was also a weak troop of cavalry at the post. The details of
this attack will be best told in the words of a writer quoted by Mrs
Ward:--[544]
“Finding their scheme of drawing the troops out did not succeed,
small parties advanced in skirmishing order, and then the two
divisions of Páto and the Gaikas moved towards each other, as if
intending a combined attack on some given point. Colonel Lindsay was
superintending the working of the gun himself, and, as soon as a
body of the Gaikas came within range, a shot was sent into the midst
of them, which knocked over several, disconcerted them a little,
and threw them into confusion; rapid discharges of shot and shell
followed. The Kaffirs now extended themselves in a line six miles in
length. These advancing at the same time, so filled the valley that
it seemed a mass of moving Kaffirs; rockets and shells were poured
rapidly on them, and presently a tremendous fire of musketry was
poured, happily, over our heads. The enemy, however, did not come
near enough for the infantry to play upon them, and only a few shots
were fired from the infantry barracks.
“The dragoons were ordered out, and, though rather late, followed
up some of Páto’s men, who fled at their approach, Sir Harry Darell
galloping after them with his troop. The daring Fingoes followed the
Kaffirs to the Gwanga river, four miles off.
“Upwards of 200 of the enemy fell, and more were afterwards
ascertained to be dead and dying, but they carried off the greater
part of the cattle.”
Towards the end of June the battalion furnished to the second
division of the army, under Colonel Somerset, three companies under
a field officer, which proceeded with the division as far as the
Buffalo affluents in Kaffraria, and rejoined headquarters, when the
division fell back for supplies, on Waterloo Bay in September. The
whole force was under the command of Sir Peregrine Maitland, and,
after encountering many difficulties, hardships, and privations,
successfully effected the object of the expedition.
Soon after this the battalion furnished detachments for the Fish
River line, from Trompeter’s Drift to Fort-Brown; and, after the
second advance of the 2nd division into the enemy’s country,
performed a very considerable amount of escort duty in guarding
convoys of supplies for the Kei river and other camps.
During the remainder of the stay of the 1st battalion at the Cape,
we have no record of its being engaged in any expedition. On January
12th, 1848, it marched from Grahamstown to Algoa Bay, and thence
proceeded to Cape Town, where headquarters and three companies
embarked for home on the 23rd of February, followed on the 10th of
March by the other three companies, arriving at Gosport on the 28th
of April and 11th of May respectively. The dépôt was consolidated
with the battalion on the 1st of May.
By a memorandum, dated “Horse Guards, 5th May 1846,” a second
lieut.-colonel was appointed to the 91st, as well as to all the
regiments having reserve battalions; he was to have the command of
the reserve battalion.
II.
1842-1857.
The reserve battalion--Captain Bertie Gordon cures
desertion--Grahamstown--Fort Beaufort--Kaffir War--Amatola
Mountains--The Tyumie River--A daring deed--Trompeter’s
Hill--Amatola and Tabindoda Mountains--“Weel done, Sodger!”--The
Kei River--The Rebel Boers--Grahamstown--The Second Kaffir
War--Fort Hare--The Yellow Woods--Amatola Mountains--Fort Hare
attacked--Kumnegana Heights--The Waterkloof--The Kumnegana
again--Amatola Mountains and the Tyumie--The Waterkloof--The
Waterkloof again--Patrol work--The Waterkloof again--Eland’s
Post--The Kei--The Waterkloof again--Blinkwater and other
posts--From Beaufort to Port Elizabeth--The battalion receives
an ovation--Home--Redistribution of regiment--Aldershot--The
Queen visits the lines of the 91st--“The Queen’s Hut”--Duke
of Cambridge compliments the regiment--Second visit of the
Queen--Berwick--Preston--Final absorption of the second battalion.
To return to the reserve battalion. During Oct. and Nov. 1842
desertions had taken place among the young soldiers of the reserve
battalion, then at Cape Town, to an unusual extent. At length, when
eighteen soldiers had deserted in less than six weeks, and every
night was adding to the number, Captain Bertie Gordon volunteered his
services to the Major commanding, offering to set off on the same day
on a patrolling expedition, to endeavour to apprehend and bring the
deserters back. Captain Gordon only stipulated to be allowed the help
of one brother officer and of a Cape Corps soldier as an interpreter,
with a Colonial Office Order addressed to all field-coronets,
directing them to give him such assistance, in the way of furnishing
horses for his party and conveyances for his prisoners, as he might
require. Captain Gordon’s offer was accepted.
Captain Gordon had not the slightest trace or information of the
track of a single deserter to guide his course over the wide
districts through which his duty might lead his patrol. In taking
leave of his commanding officer before riding off, Major Ducat said
to him,--“Gordon, if you do not bring them back we are a ruined
battalion.” The patrol was absent from headquarters for eight
days, during which Captain Gordon rode over 600 miles; and when,
on the evening of the 16th of Nov., his tired party rode into the
barracks of Cape Town, just before sunset, after a ride of 80 miles
in 13 hours, 16 out of 18 deserters had been already lodged in the
regimental guard-room as the result of his exertions. Two more
deserters, hearing that Captain Gordon was out, had come in of their
own accord, and thus all were satisfactorily accounted for. The
desertions in the reserve battalion from that period ceased.
The battalion embarked on the morning of Feb. 22nd, 1842, for Algoa
Bay, but the ship did not sail till the 27th, anchoring in Algoa Bay
on March 4th, the battalion disembarking at Port Elizabeth on the
5th. On the 7th the reserve battalion set out for Grahamstown, which
it reached on the 13th, and took up quarters at Fort England with the
1st battalion of the regiment.
In the beginning of Jan. 1844 the reserve battalion left Grahamstown
for Fort Beaufort, which became its headquarters for the next four
years, detachments being constantly sent out to occupy the many posts
which were established, and keep the turbulent Kaffirs in check.
In the early part of 1846 the Kaffir war was commenced, and on April
11th the headquarters of the reserve battalion, augmented to 200
rank and file by the grenadier company of the 1st battalion, marched
from Fort Beaufort into Kaffirland with the division, under command
of Col. Richardson of the 7th Dragoon Guards; and, on the 14th, the
detachment joined Col. Somerset’s division near the Debè Flats.
The object of this expedition was to chastise the Kaffirs for some
outrages which they had committed on white settlers,--one of which
was the murder of a German missionary in cold blood, in open day, by
some of the people of the chief named Páto.
The attack on the Kaffirs in the Amatola mountains having been
ordered for an early hour on April 16th, and the rendezvous having
been fixed at the source of the Amatola River, the 91st, of the
strength already given, under command of Major Campbell, with about
an equal number of Hottentot Burghers, crossed the Keiskamma river,
and ascended the Amatola valley. During the greater part of the
way the march was through dense bush, with precipitous and craggy
mountains on each hand. On reaching the head of the valley the
Kaffirs, estimated at from 2000 to 3000, were seen on the surrounding
heights, closing in upon the force. The ascent to the place of
rendezvous was by a narrow rugged path, with rocks and bush on both
sides, and, when the party had got about half-way up the hill, it
was attacked on each flank, and was soon exposed to a cross-fire
from three sides of a square, the enemy having closed on the rear.
The height was gained, however, and the party then kept its ground
until joined by Colonel Somerset with the rest of the force shortly
afterwards; while waiting for the latter the party was repeatedly
attacked. In the performance of this service the 91st had 3 privates
killed, and several wounded, 3 severely.
During the night of the 16th a division, under Major Gibsone of the
7th Dragoon Guards, which had been left in charge of the baggage at
Burns’ Hill, was attacked and the recklessly brave Captain Bambrick
of the same regiment killed.
“Major Gibsone’s despatch states further--‘About seven o’clock,
just as I had diminished the size of my camp, we were attacked by
a considerable body of Kaffirs, whom we beat off in six or seven
minutes, I am sorry to say, with the loss of 4 men of the 91st
killed, and 4 wounded.’
“On the 17th, Major Gibsone, in compliance with Colonel Somerset’s
instructions, moved from Burns’ Hill at half-past ten A.M. From
the number of waggons (125), and the necessity of giving a support
to the guns, Major Gibsone was only enabled to form a front and
rear baggage-guard, and could not detach any men along the line of
waggons. After proceeding about a mile, shots issued from a kloof
by the side of the road; Lieut. Stokes, R.E., ran the gun up to a
point some 300 yards in advance, and raked the kloof with a shell.
When half the waggons had passed, the Kaffirs made a dash upon one
of them, firing at the drivers and some officers’ servants, who
were obliged to fly; then took out the oxen, and wheeled the waggon
across the river. An overpowering force then rushed down from the
hills in all directions, keeping up an incessant fire, which was
returned by the 7th Dragoon Guards and the 91st with great spirit.
The gun was also served with much skill; but, owing to the Kaffirs’
immense superiority in numbers, Major Gibsone, to prevent his men
from being cut off, was obliged to return to Burns’ Hill, where
he again put the troops in position. A short time after this, a
company of the 91st, under Major Scott, advanced in skirmishing
order, keeping up a heavy fire; but the waggons completely blocking
up the road, the troops were obliged to make a _détour_, and, after
considerable difficulty, succeeded in getting the ammunition-waggons
into a proper line, but found it quite impracticable to save the
baggage-waggons, the Kaffirs having driven away the oxen. One of
the ammunition-waggons broke down, but the ammunition was removed
to another; the troops then fought their way, inch by inch, to the
Tyumie camp, where they were met by Colonel Somerset’s division, and
where they again encamped for the night.”[545]
On the 18th the camp, with captured cattle, was moved to Block Drift;
the guard on the large train of waggons consisted of a detachment
of the 91st regiment, under Captain Scott. The rear of the retiring
column was brought up by Captain Rawstorne of the 91st and his
company, assisted by Lieut. Howard of the 1st battalion. The enemy
vigorously attacked the waggons and the division whenever they found
cover from the dense bush, which extended the greater part of the
distance to Block Drift. Captain Rawstorne was wounded in the stomach
by a musket ball, and 1 man of the 91st was killed and 1 mortally
wounded.
On approaching the Tyumie river, the ammunition of Captain
Rawstorne’s company being all expended, it was relieved from
protecting the rear by the grenadier company of the 91st. The
waggons crossed the river, the drift being held by the reserve
battalion of the 91st and a few dismounted dragoons, the guns of the
royal artillery firing from the higher ground on the opposite side of
the river.
Again to quote Mrs Ward--[546]
“Thus, scarcely 1500 men, not all regular troops, encumbered with
125 waggons, made their way into the fastnesses of these savages,
who were many thousands in number; and although unable to follow up
the enemy, of whom they killed at least 300, succeeded in saving all
their ammunition, captured 1800 head of cattle, and finally fought
their way to the original ground of dispute.
“Among the slain was afterwards discovered a soldier of the 91st,
who had probably been burned to death by the savages, as his remains
were found bound to the pole of a waggon, and horribly defaced by
fire.”
The headquarters of the reserve battalion remained at Block Drift
until the July following. On the 12th of May it was attacked by the
Kaffirs, who were repulsed, with the loss of a chief and 60 men
killed; the 91st had 1 man mortally wounded.[547]
[Illustration: Crossing the Tyumie or Chumie River.
From a drawing by Major Ward, 91st.]
Lieut. Dickson of the reserve battalion of the 91st, while commanding
at Trompeter’s Drift, frequently obtained the approbation of Sir
Peregrine Maitland and Lt.-Col. Johnston for his great zeal
and activity; and on the 21st of May, when a convoy of waggons,
proceeding from Grahamstown and Fort Peddie, was attacked and
captured by the enemy on Trompeter’s Hill, the gallant conduct of Lt.
Dickson, who had voluntarily joined the escort, was highly commended
by his Excellency the commander-in-chief, in general orders. In
reference to this incident, Mrs Ward writes as follows:--
“On this occasion Lieut. Dickson, 91st Regiment, who had been
ordered to assist in escorting the waggons a certain distance, till
the other escort was met, nobly volunteered to proceed further, and
led the advance; nor did he retire till his ammunition was expended.
On reaching the rear, he found the commanding officer of the party
retreating, by the advice of some civilians, who considered the
defile impassable for so many waggons, under such a fire. Lieut.
Dickson’s coolness, courage, and energy, in not only leading the
men, but literally ‘putting his shoulder to the wheel’ of a waggon,
to clear the line, were spoken of by all as worthy of the highest
praise. His horse, and that of Ensign Aitchison, were shot under
their riders.”
On July 27th, the battalion proceeded with Colonel Hare’s division to
the Amatola mountains, and was present in the different operations
undertaken against the Kaffirs between that time and the end of
December, when the battalion returned to Block Drift, and thence
proceeded to Fort Beaufort, where it remained stationary until the
renewal of hostilities against the Kaffirs in the following year.
The head-quarters and two companies entered Kaffirland with Col.
Campbell’s column, and were present in the operations undertaken
in the Amatola and Tabindoda mountains during the months of Sept.
and Oct.[548] As a result of these operations the Kaffir chief,
Sandilli, surrendered, the 91st having had only 3 men wounded.
Lt.-Col. Campbell and the above column received the warmest
approbation of Lt.-Gen. Sir George Berkeley in Orders of Dec. 17th,
1847, at the close of the war.
At the end of Oct. the two companies above mentioned, under
the command of Capt. Scott, marched to King-Williamstown to
join the force about to proceed to the Kei river, under the
commander-in-chief, Lt.-Gen. Sir George Berkeley. They were attached
to Col. Somerset’s division, and served therewith until the end of
December, when peace was concluded, and the detachment of the 91st
returned to Fort Beaufort.
We regret that we have been unable to obtain more details of the
part taken by the 91st during the Kaffir War of 1846-47, in which it
was prominently employed. Among those who were honourably mentioned
by Sir Peregrine Maitland, in general orders, for their conduct in
defending their respective posts when attacked, were Lts. Metcalfe
and Thom, and Sergeants Snodgrass and Clark of the 91st.
The reserve battalion removed from Fort Beaufort to Grahamstown in
Jan. 1848, nothing of note occurring until the month of July. In that
month two companies under the command of Capt. Rawstorne marched
from Grahamstown to Colesberg, to co-operate with a force under
the immediate command of the Governor, Lt.-Gen. Sir Harry Smith,
against the rebel Boers in the N.E. district. After an arduous and
protracted march, owing to the inclement season, and swollen state
of the rivers, the companies reached the Governor’s camp on the
Orange river, on August 24th. Detachments under Lt. Owgan, from Fort
Beaufort, and under Ensign Crampton, from Fort England, here joined,
so that the strength of the party of the 91st amounted to 178
officers and men.
After the troops had crossed, Captain Rawstorne remained at Bothas
Drift, on the Orange river, with a party of 40 men of the 91st, to
guard the Drift, and keep open the communication with the colony. The
remainder of the party, furnished by the reserve battalion, under
Lt. Pennington, proceeded with the Governor’s force in pursuit of
the rebels, and was engaged in a most severe and spirited skirmish
with the enemy at Boem Plaats on Aug. 29th, when Ensign Crampton,
Lt. Owen, and 5 privates were wounded. The enemy held a very strong
position, occupying a series of koppies on the right of the road,
from which they kept up a heavy fire, against which the Rifle Brigade
advanced, supported by the 45th Regiment and artillery. The 91st
remained with the guns till the enemy appeared among the ridges
on the left, when they were immediately ordered to fix bayonets
and charge, which they did in the most gallant manner, causing
the enemy to retreat in the greatest confusion, and driving them
from every successive hill on which they took up a position, until
nightfall. The pursuit was continued with untiring energy, and
severe loss to the enemy. Lt. Pennington’s name was mentioned by the
Commander-in-Chief in his despatch as commanding on that occasion a
detachment of the reserve battalion of the 91st, which shared in the
praise bestowed by His Excellency on the troops.
The companies returned to Grahamstown on the 15th of October, and
from this date the headquarters of the battalion remained at Fort
England and Drostdy’s Barracks, Grahamstown, for upwards of two
years, sending out detachments to perform the ordinary outpost duties
of the frontier.
At the outbreak of the second Kaffir war, at the end of 1850, every
available man was required for active operations in the field, and
the reserve battalion of the 91st marched en route to Fort Hare on
Dec. 12th. On the 26th a small detachment of the regiment, under Lt.
Mainwaring, marched from Fort Hare to patrol the vicinity of the
“military villages,”[549] about six miles distant. As Kaffirs were
observed to be assembling in force, a reinforcement from Fort Hare
was sent for; on the arrival of this, the patrol proceeded across the
country to the Tyumie (or Chumie) Missionary Station, where it halted
for a short time. On the patrol leaving the missionary station, a
fire was opened on its rear, which was kept up until the party got in
sight of Fort Hare, when a company was sent out to assist.
On Dec. 29th a detachment of the 91st, led by Colonel Yarborough,
marched towards Fort Cox, under Colonel Somerset, for the purpose of
opening a communication with the Commander of the Forces, who was
surrounded by the enemy, and of throwing in a supply of cattle for
the troops. When nearing the Kamka or Yellow-Woods river, the Kaffirs
opened a heavy fire upon this force, when two companies were thrown
out in extended order, and advanced till they reached the base of
the hill which surmounts the Umnassie (or Peel’s) Valley, where a
formidable force of the enemy had taken up a position behind rocks
which skirt the summit of the hill. It was then found necessary
to retire, the Kaffirs endeavouring to outflank and cut off the
retreat. A reinforcement was sent from Fort Hare to the assistance
of the patrol, which enabled it to return to the fort after a severe
struggle, in which Lts. Melvin and Gordon, and 20 men were killed,
and Lt. Borthwick, 2 sergeants, and 16 men were wounded; 2 of the
latter dying of their wounds.
On the 7th of January 1851, Fort Beaufort, in which was a small
detachment of the 91st, under Captain Pennington, was attacked by a
numerous force of Kaffirs, under the Chief Hermanes, when the latter
was killed in the square of the fort.
On Feb. 24th, the Kaffirs in force, from 5000 to 7000, surrounded
Fort Hare, and endeavoured to capture the Fingoes’ cattle, but were
repulsed by 100 men of the 91st, under Ensign Squirl.
For the next few months the regiment furnished frequent detachments
for the performance of patrol duty, which required considerable
tact, and was attended with considerable danger. On one of these
occasions, June 27th, when a detachment of the 91st was with Colonel
Eyre’s division, Ensign Pickwick and 1 private were wounded.
On the 24th of June, a detachment of 180 men of the 91st, under
Major Forbes, proceeded to the Amatola mountains, under command
of Major-General Somerset, and was engaged with the enemy on the
26th, 27th, and 28th of June, and the 2nd of July. A General Order
was issued on July 3rd, in which the Commander-in-Chief spoke in
high terms of the conduct of the troops on this occasion, when
the operations were crowned with signal success and the complete
discomfiture of the enemy; 2200 head of cattle and 50 horses
fell into the hands of the troops, while the enemy were driven
with considerable loss from every one of the strong and almost
insurmountable passes they attempted to defend.
“The accuracy and energy,” the Order says, “with which Major-General
Somerset carried into effect with the 1st division [to which the
91st Regiment belonged], the part assigned to him in the complicated
and combined movements, deserve the Commander-in-Chief’s highest
praise. His column sustained the chief opposition of the enemy,
principally composed of rebel Hottentots, who resisted our troops
with great determination.”
Previous to this, on June 6th, Captain Cahill of the 91st, with a
small detachment, joined a patrol under Lt.-Col. Michell, which was
attacked by a body of the enemy at Fort Wiltshire. It joined Colonel
M’Kinnon’s division on the Debè, captured a number of cattle and
horses, and patrolled Seyolo’s country, returning to Fort Peddie on
the 12th.
On the 14th of June the enemy, taking advantage of Major-General
Somerset’s absence from Fort Hare, assembled their bands in the
neighbourhood, with the intention of carrying off the Fingoe’s
cattle. Lt.-Col. Yarborough promptly despatched all the Fingoes,
supported by 160 men of the 91st, under Lt. Mainwaring, for the
protection of the herds. The Fingoes gallantly attacked the Kaffirs,
completely routing them, killing 14 of their number, and re-capturing
the whole of the cattle.
On the 8th of August a detachment of the 91st, under Lt. Rae,
proceeded from Fort Peddie to escort cattle and waggons to
Gentleman’s Bush, and after handing them over returned and joined a
patrol under Lt.-Col. Michell. The patrol on the following morning
marched to Kamnegana Heights, and on arriving there lay concealed
till 9 A.M., and afterwards descending to reconnoitre were nearly
surrounded by the enemy, when Major Wilmot’s life was saved by
Sergeant Ewen Ferguson of the 91st. The patrol retired, and attacked
the enemy again on the following morning, returning to Fort Peddie on
the 11th.
From October 13th to the 23rd a detachment of the 91st, consisting
of 318 of all ranks under Lt.-Col. Yarborough, was engaged with the
enemy in a series of combined movements at the Waterkloof, as also
on the 6th and 7th of November. An idea of the nature of the work
which the regiment had to perform may be obtained from the following
extract from the “Precis,” transmitted to the Commander-in-Chief by
Major-General Somerset, who commanded the expedition. On the night
of the 13th the force had encamped on one of the spruits of the Kaal
Hoek river, and on the 14th Major-General Somerset writes:--
“Marched at 1 A.M.; very thick fog. Gained the ascent above Bush Nek
by 5 A.M. At 7 A.M. moved to the bush at the head of the Waterkloof;
observed the enemy in force along the whole face of the ridge. At
half-past 7 I observed Lt.-Col. Fordyce’s brigade on the opposite
ridge; moved up Lt. Field’s guns, and opened on the enemy, who
showed at the head of the Blinkwater. Ordered Lt.-Col. Michel’s
brigade forward, and sent a squadron of Cape Mounted Rifles and two
battalions forward, directing a strong body of skirmishers to be
thrown into and line the forest. These were immediately received by
a smart fire from the enemy at several points. This sharp attack
drove the enemy from their position, which they evacuated, and
retired into Blinkwater and Waterkloof. The enemy continued to show
themselves. I reinforced the skirmishers with two companies of the
91st, dismounted a troop of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and ordered the
whole to push through the ravine, and to communicate with Lt.-Col.
Fordyce’s brigade, and to order them through. This movement was well
effected. In the meantime the enemy continued their efforts to annoy
us. Having brought the brigade through, and the enemy being beaten,
and all the troops having been under arms from 1 A.M., I retired to
form camp at Mandell’s Farm, leaving one squadron, one battalion,
and two guns of the Royal Artillery to cover the movement. On
commencing our move the enemy came out in force and opened a smart
fire, following the rear-guard. The enemy were driven off. The
troops encamped at Mandell’s at 5 o’clock, after being under arms
for eighteen hours.”
So in all the operations of the succeeding days, in and around the
almost inaccessible Waterkloof, the 91st, to judge from the merest
hints in Major-General Somerset’s despatches, must have performed
important services, especially when acting as skirmishers. The
fighting continued almost without intermission up to the 7th of
November, the loss to the regiment being 1 private killed, and Ensign
Ricketts and 8 privates wounded; the ensign afterwards died of his
wound, and was buried in the little group of graves at Post Retief.
The next operations in which the 91st seems to have been engaged was
on the 30th of December, when Lt. Mackenzie and a small detachment
joined a patrol under Major Wilmot, which proceeded from Fort Peddie
to the Goga, where it arrived at daylight on the following morning.
The patrol lay concealed in the bush until the morning of the 1st
of January 1852, and then proceeded to the Kamnegana, scouring the
bush and destroying a number of huts. On entering a path lined on
both sides with huts the patrol commenced to destroy them, and was
vigorously opposed by the Kaffirs, who commenced a heavy fire on its
advance, when Major Wilmot was killed by a musket ball fired from one
of the huts. Lt. Mackenzie immediately assumed command of the patrol,
which was between three camps occupied by the enemy, when he found
it necessary to retreat to Fort Peddie, carrying Major Wilmot’s body
with him.
On the 26th of Jan. a detachment of 416 of all ranks of the 91st
under Lt.-Col. Yarborough marched from Fort Hare, and was employed
in destroying the enemy’s crops on the Amatola mountains and Tyumie
until the end of Feb., when it proceeded to Haddon. On the 4th
of March the force proceeded to the Waterkloof, and was engaged
in a combined movement[550] against the Kaffirs from daylight on
that morning until evening, the casualties to the regiment being
1 sergeant and 3 privates killed, and Lt.-Col. Yarborough, Ensign
Hibbert, 3 sergeants, and 12 privates wounded, 1 of the sergeants
and 1 private ultimately dying of their wounds.[551] Sir Harry Smith
in writing to Earl Grey said, “Lt.-Col. Yarborough of the 91st is
a steady officer, and greatly distinguished himself on the day he
was wounded;” and in reference to this occasion a Division Order,
dated March 5th, was issued by Major-General Somerset, from which the
following is an extract:--
“The movement was most ably and gallantly conducted by Lt.-Col.
Yarborough.... He attributes the comparatively small loss to the
manner in which the enemy was charged, checked, and driven back when
pressing on in great force, although with every advantage of ground.”
We may mention here that on board the “Birkenhead” when she was
wrecked on the morning of Feb. 26, 1852,[552] were Captain Wright and
41 privates of the 91st.
[Illustration: Brass Tablet erected in Chelsea Hospital.
To the memory of
Colonel Edward W:C:Wright C:B
late 91^{st} Highlanders
and Deputy Inspector of Reserve Forces
who died 26^{th} August 1871 Aged 57.
Cap^t Wright was the senior surviving Officer
of the Troops embarked in Her Majestys Ship
Birkenhead wrecked off the Cape of Good
Hope on 26. Feby:1852: For his distinguished
service on this occasion he was promoted to the
rank of Major and awarded a good service pension
He was also engaged in the Kaffir wars of 1846-47 and
1852-53 for which he was granted the medal and promoted
for service in the Field to the rank of Lt. Colonel:
This Tablet is erected by his Brother Officers
MDCCCLLXXIII ]
On the 10th of March a force of 375 of all ranks of the 91st, under
Major Forbes, was again engaged at the Waterkloof in a combined
movement,[553] in which 11 rank and file of the regiment were
wounded. The Commander-in-Chief, in writing of these operations,
said:--
“Lt.-Col. Napier moved on the 10th up the Waterkloof Valley, and
on entering the narrow and difficult ground towards its head, it
was evident that the enemy meditated an attack upon the rear, and
Colonel Napier accordingly placed the 91st regiment, under Major
Forbes, in a position to resist it. This was most effectually done
after a short fight, and Colonel Napier gained and maintained his
position.”
On the 17th of March the battalion, under Major Forbes, proceeded
from Blinkwater _en route_ to Thorn river with Colonel Napier’s
division, patrolling the country, capturing the enemy’s cattle,
and destroying the crops. The following extracts from a report of
Colonel Napier, dated “Camp, Quantie River, 8th April 1852,” gives
some details of the work done by the force, of which the 91st formed
part:--
“I marched from the camp at the Thomas river at 9 A.M. on the 5th
instant, and encamped at the Quantie river at 4 P.M. Next morning I
sent Captain Tylden’s force, the whole of the mounted Burghers and
Fingoes, before daylight to scour the country between the Thomas
river and the Kei, while I followed in support with the Cape Mounted
Rifles, 60 of the 74th regiment, 200 of the 91st regiment, and the
Kat River levy, leaving Captain Robinson, R.A., with the gun and
100 of the line to take charge of the camp. At noon I perceived
Captain Tylden on a hill to my front, and the Burghers on another to
my left, who made a signal (previously agreed upon) that they saw
cattle and wanted support.”
The cattle, however, were too far off to attempt to capture them that
afternoon, and the infantry remained on the heights. The attack was
resumed next day, when the Kaffirs were made to retreat, and a great
quantity of cattle, horses, and goats were captured.
“The infantry, under Major Forbes, 91st regiment,” the report
states, “were not engaged with the enemy; but, from the judicious
position the Major took up, were of great use in preventing the
cattle escaping from Captain Tylden.”
The battalion returned to Blinkwater on the 16th of May. During
the greater part of July operations were carried on against the
enemy in the Waterkloof region, in which a detachment of the 91st
formed a part of the force engaged. It was probably during these
operations that an attack by a body of rebels upon Eland’s Post
was gallantly repulsed by a small detachment of the 91st stationed
there under Captain Wright (the survivor of the “Birkenhead.”) The
enemy appeared in considerable force, and manœuvred with all the
skill of disciplined troops, extending, advancing, and retiring by
sound of bugle. After endeavouring, almost successfully, to draw the
little garrison into an ambuscade, they sounded the “close” and the
“advance,” and moved on to the fort. Captain Wright, with only 23 men
of the 91st, then marched out to meet them, and, being joined by a
party of the Kat River levy, drove them off with loss.
On the 30th of July the battalion marched from Blinkwater, under
Major Forbes, on an expedition which lasted during a great part of
August, across the Kei, to capture cattle from the chief Kreli. The
expedition was very successful, having captured many thousand head of
cattle.
On the 14th of September the battalion, under Major Forbes, marched
from Blinkwater to unite with a force under His Excellency General
Cathcart to expell the Kaffirs and rebel Hottentots from the
Waterkloof. The troops having been concentrated in the neighbourhood
of the Waterkloof, were so posted as to command every accessible
outlet from the scene of the intended operations, which consisted of
an irregular hollow of several miles in extent, nearly surrounded by
precipitous mountains, the bases of which, as well as the greater
part of the interior basin, were densely wooded. The arduous nature
of the duty imposed upon the troops of dislodging such an enemy from
such a position may thus be faintly imagined. Four companies of the
91st and Cape Mounted Rifles were posted on the northern heights of
the Waterkloof, while another detachment of the regiment and some
irregulars from Blinkwater were to move up the Fuller’s Hoek ridge;
other troops were judiciously posted all around the central position
of the enemy. The dispositions having been completed, the several
columns moved upon the fastnesses they were to clear at daylight on
the 15th.
“The operations of that and the following day,” to quote General
Cathcart’s order, “were conducted with unabated vigour and great
judgment on the part of the officers in command. The troops
bivouacked each night on the ground of their operations, and pursued
on the following day, with an alacrity which cannot be too highly
commended, the arduous task of searching for and clearing the forest
and krantzes of the enemy. These appeared to be panic-stricken,
offering little resistance, but endeavouring to conceal themselves
in the caverns and crevices of the wooded hills, where many of
them were killed. The results of the three days’ operations have
been, the evacuation of the Waterkloof and other fastnesses by the
Tambookie chief Quashe and the Gaika chief Macomo and his adherents,
and the expulsion and destruction of the Hottentot marauders.”
Among those specially mentioned by the Commander-in-chief was Major
Forbes of the 91st.
The battalion returned to Blinkwater on the 20th of September, where
it stayed till the 29th, when it proceeded to Fort Fordyce, sending
out detachments to the Waterkloof, Port Retief, and various other
posts. The headquarters of the battalion remained at Fort Fordyce
till the 10th of November 1853, when it marched to garrison Fort
Beaufort, where it remained till July 1855, sending out detachments
regularly to occupy various frontier posts.
On July 6th 1855 the battalion marched, under command of Major
Wright, from Fort Beaufort _en route_ for embarkation at Port
Elizabeth, having been ordered home, after a stay of thirteen years
in the colony. Previous to its march, the Commander of the forces
issued a General Order highly complimentary to the battalion; and the
inhabitants of Fort Beaufort presented an address to the officers and
men, which spoke in the highest terms of the conduct of the regiment
during the Kaffir wars.
In marching through Grahamstown the battalion received a perfect
ovation from the inhabitants and from the other regiments stationed
there. About the middle of the pass which leads out of the town a
sumptuous luncheon had been prepared for officers and men by the
inhabitants; before partaking of which, however, the regiment was
presented with an address, in the name of the inhabitants, expressive
of their high regard and admiration for the officers and men of the
91st.
A very large number must have remained behind as settlers, as the
battalion, when it embarked at Port Elizabeth on the 30th of July,
numbered only 5 captains, 7 lieutenants, 4 staff, 21 sergeants,
14 corporals, 9 drummers, and 340 privates. Nothing of importance
occurred during the voyage, the battalion disembarking at Chatham on
the 29th of September.
[Illustration: Lieutenant-Colonel Bertie Edward Murray Gordon.
From a Photograph.]
On the 10th of Nov., a letter was received from the Horse-Guards,
directing a redistribution of the regiment into 6 service and 6
dépôt companies, each of 60 rank and file, besides officers and
non-commissioned officers, the term “reserve battalion” being
thenceforth discontinued, though, practically, the battalion seems to
have lasted till 1857, when the dépôt companies of the two battalions
were incorporated. We shall briefly carry the history of this
battalion up to that time.
On the 4th of April 1856, the dépôt companies, as the reserve
battalion was now called, left Chatham for Aldershot, under command
of Lt.-Col. Gordon, and took up their quarters in the North Camp
(Letter M).
On the 19th and 20th of April the troops in camp, including the
91st, were reviewed by Her Majesty, and on July the 16th the Queen
visited the lines of the 91st. The royal carriage stopped in the
centre of the 91st lines, where Her Majesty alighted, and entered one
of the soldiers’ huts. The Queen walked quite through the hut, and
asked questions of Lt.-Col. Gordon, and made observations indicating
Her Majesty’s Gracious satisfaction. After leaving this hut, which
belonged to No. 2 company (Capt. Lane’s), the Queen signified her
desire to see the soldiers’ cook-house, which she entered, expressing
her praise of its cleanliness and order, and of the excellence of the
soup. The Queen then re-entered her carriage and proceeded at a foot
pace through the other portions of the lines, Lt.-Col. Gordon walking
by the side of Her Majesty, and pointing out various other excellent
arrangements. After the Queen had departed the soldiers visited the
hut which had received the royal visit, and surveyed it with a sort
of wondering and reverential interest.
The following inscriptions were afterwards placed on the doors at
each end of the hut (No. 6 hut, M lines, North Camp), which had been
honoured by Her Majesty’s visit. On the front door:--
“Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Princess Royal, and the Princess
Alice, visited the lines of Her Majesty’s faithful soldiers of the
91st Argyll Regiment, and deigned to enter this hut. 16th June 1856.”
On the door in the private street:--
“Henceforth this hut shall be a sacred place,
And its rude floor an altar, for ’twas trod
By footsteps which her soldiers fain would trace,--
Pressed as if the rude planking were a sod,
By England’s monarch; none these marks efface,
They tell of Queenly trust, and loyalty approved of God.”
Orders were afterwards issued to the troops in camp at Aldershot, by
direction of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, calling attention to the
manner in which the lines of the 91st camp were kept, and desiring
that the same order and the same efforts to procure occupation and
amusement for the soldiers might be made by the other regiments.
The strictest orders were also issued to the barrack department to
maintain the inscription on the “Queen’s Hut,” as it is called.
On the 7th of July, the lieutenant-general commanding made an
unexpected visit of inspection of the lines of the regiment.
Lt.-General Knollys expressed himself satisfied in the highest degree
with the order of the lines, and with the companies’ huts, as also
with the works completed by the dépôt to give amusement to the men.
On the same day Lt.-Col. Gordon received orders to be ready to
proceed to Berwick-on-Tweed early on the following morning, and
on the same evening the Queen, without warning, again passed down
through the lines of the 91st, the royal carriage stopping opposite
the door of the hut previously visited by Her Majesty, who read the
inscription which had been placed over the door.
On the morning of July 8th the companies of the 91st left Aldershot
by train for Berwick, stopping at Peterborough and York, and reaching
Berwick on the 10th.
On Jan. 20th, 1857, Lt.-General Sir Harry Smith inspected the dépôt
companies, and addressed Lt.-Col. Gordon and the battalion in a
speech which was highly complimentary, afterwards assuring Lt.-Col.
Gordon in a private note, that his words of praise “were as fully
merited as they were freely bestowed.”
The dépôt companies remained in Berwick till the 3rd of March, when
they proceeded by train to Preston, almost the entire population of
Berwick accompanying the dépôt to the railway station. The Mayor
and Sheriff had previously expressed to Lt.-Col. Rawstorne the
general respect with which the conduct of all ranks had inspired the
citizens, and the general regret which was felt at the removal of the
91st. At Preston, on the 30th of March 1857, the remains of the dépôt
companies were incorporated with the dépôt battalion at Preston,
commanded by Lt.-Col. Smith, C.B., while under the command of Brevet
Lt.-Col. Rawstorne.
Thus ends the somewhat chequered history of the reserve battalion of
the 91st; and now we shall return to the point at which we left off
the history of the 1st battalion of the regiment.
III.
1857-1874.
The first battalion--Gosport--Dover--The regiment deprived of its
bagpipes--The northern district--Belfast--Excellent conduct of
the regiment--Enniskillen--Dublin--Cork--Furnishes volunteers to
Crimean regiments--Malta--Greece--The Piræus--Useful works of the
91st while in Greece--Major Gordon the moving spirit--Encampment at
Salamis Bay and Pentelicus--Reading-room started--Works executed at
the Piræus by the regiment--New system of promotion--Discovery of
the old Waterloo Roll--Old Colours--Highland dress and designation
restored--Home--The Queen’s attentions--Col. Gordon’s retirement--He
is succeeded by Lt.-Col. Sprot--His energy and efficiency--Marriage
of the Princess Louise--The 91st as her guard of honour--The
presents from the officers and men--Aldershot--Inverary Castle--The
Queen’s mark of approbation--The change of designation--Regimental
Museum--The Tontine Snuff-Box, &c.
We left the 1st battalion at Gosport in May 1848, and on Oct. the
13th of the same year Lt.-Col. Lindsay retired from the service, when
the command of the battalion devolved upon Lt.-Col. Yarborough. The
regiment remained at Gosport till April 1850, during which time there
is nothing remarkable to record.
The 91st proceeded to Dover in three divisions, on the 4th, 6th, and
9th of April; headquarters, under the command of Lt.-Col. Campbell,
occupying the Heights’ Barracks, other companies being located in the
Castle.
After the arrival of the regiment at Dover it was inspected by
Major-General G. Brown, C.B., K.H., Adjutant-General to the Forces,
who, for some inscrutable reason, ordered the immediate abolition
of the bagpipes, which had been fondly clung to as the last relic
that remained of the origin, the history, and the nationality of the
corps. To the unofficial mind this must appear an exceedingly harsh,
and quite uncalled for measure, though, as will be seen, ample amends
was in the end made to the regiment for this “unkindest cut of all.”
In the meantime the 91st lost its bagpipers.
The 91st did not stay long at Dover; having received orders to move
to the northern district, it proceeded by detachments, in the end
of Dec. 1850 and beginning of Jan. 1851, to Preston, Liverpool, and
Manchester, moving about among these three towns for the next few
months, the grenadier company, under Captain Bayly, being sent to the
Isle of Man. After about six months’ duty in the northern district,
the regiment proceeded to Fleetwood, and embarked in detachments on
the 22nd and 24th of July for Belfast, whence a draft of 1 sergeant
and 60 rank and file, under Captain Wright, proceeded to Cork on the
26th Dec., and embarked on board the ill-fated “Birkenhead,” on Jan.
7th, 1852, to join the the reserve battalion at the Cape of Good Hope.
[Illustration: Major-General John Francis Glencairn Campbell.
From a Photograph.]
The stay of the regiment in Belfast was comparatively short; but
during that time officers and men won the respect and attachment of
the inhabitants for their excellent behaviour, their kindliness, and
their liberality to charitable institutions. On the occasion of the
regiment’s leaving Belfast, an address, signed by the Mayor, the Earl
of Belfast, and about 200 of the leading citizens, was presented
to Lt.-Col. Campbell and the other officers, expressive of their
gratitude and esteem for the “high-toned gentlemanly conduct” of the
officers, and the soldierlike and exemplary conduct of the men.
Between the 26th of April and the 3rd of May the regiment marched in
detachments to Enniskillen, where it was next to be stationed. On
several occasions, during its stay at Enniskillen, the 91st had to
perform the delicate, and not very agreeable duty of aiding the civil
power to maintain order at elections as well as on other occasions.
This duty the regiment always performed with admirable promptness,
great tact, and excellent effect.
The 91st remained at Enniskillen until the month of March 1853, when,
between the 19th and 30th of that month, it marched in detachments to
Dublin, and was there quartered in Richmond Barracks. The 91st was,
of course, regularly inspected while in Ireland, the reports of the
inspecting officers being invariably of the most favourable kind.
After a year’s stay in Dublin the 91st left that city by railway, in
detachments, for Cork, and out-stations, between the 25th of April
and the 1st of May 1854, detachments being sent from headquarters to
Spike Island, Haulbowline Island, and Carlisle Fort. The regiment,
although as a body it did not take part in the Crimean war, liberally
furnished volunteers to the three Highland regiments that bore so
distinguished a part in that contest, and also to the 50th Regiment.
In this way it parted with about 250 of its best men.
On the 23rd of June Lt.-Col. J. F. G. Campbell was promoted to the
rank of Colonel.[554]
The 91st made but a short stay at Cork, as on the 15th of December
it embarked, under command of Col. Campbell, on board H.M.S.
“Saint George,” _en route_ for Malta, and this heavy old-fashioned
three-decker did not cast anchor in the harbour of Valetta till
Jan. 11th 1855. Besides 26 officers and staff, the strength of the
regiment, as it landed at Malta, was 649 non-commissioned officers
and privates, 39 women, and 51 children.
After a stay of about two months at Malta the 91st embarked on the
20th of March for the Piræus, in Greece, which it reached on the
23rd. The regiment took up its quarters in the miserable warehouses
that formed the barracks of the British soldiery. Colonel Straubenzee
of the 3rd Regiment handed over the command of the British Force in
Greece to Colonel Campbell, who also retained the command of the
regiment; but he was ordered by the general commanding-in-chief to
hand it over, on the 3rd of June, to Major Bertie Gordon.
The 91st was located in Greece for about two years, during which
time it was engaged in operations which were of the highest benefit,
not only to the men, but also to the district in which they were
stationed. We regret that space prevents us from giving a detailed
account of the various ways in which the regiment rendered itself
useful, and staved off the _ennui_ and consequent demoralisation
which always attend the idle soldier. The presiding genius of the
regiment during its stay in Greece, and, indeed, during the whole
time that he had any important connection with it, was Major Bertie
Gordon.
The relations of the 91st with the French force stationed in Greece,
officers and men, were particularly cordial, both as regards work and
enjoyment.
The accommodations allotted to the regiment were very defective in
every detail that is deemed necessary for the permanent barrack
occupation of British soldiers, while, owing to a peculiar
arrangement with the commissariat department, the evil could not be
remedied. It was, no doubt, the thoughtful ingenuity of Major Gordon
that discerned a happy remedy for the evil, by selecting a spot at
Salamis Bay, about three miles from the Piræus, on a slope close to
the sea, for the construction of a camp in which a detachment of
the regiment might take up its quarters, and thus remedy to some
extent the stinted accommodation provided in the town. To this place
the grenadiers and No. 1 company marched on the 4th of April, under
the command of Major Gordon, who commenced at once a system of
road-making, throwing up field-works, the construction of a small
landing place, and other works, which employed and interested both
officers and men; thus the little camp soon became a cheerful and
accessible spot. The only difficulty that they had to encounter was
the want of tools, of which the supply from headquarters was very
stinted indeed; it consisted of three spades and three pickaxes.
But by dint of persistent applications. Major Gordon obtained an
additional supply from the Greek authorities. An ancient well, which
may have watered part of the fleet of Xerxes, was at the bottom of
the hill, and furnished excellent water.
To this delightful little encampment detachments were sent in
rotation at intervals during the stay of the regiment in the Piræus;
and it was no doubt greatly owing to this and to the other exertions
of Major Gordon for the good of his men, that the regiment was in
such excellent condition, notwithstanding its miserable quarters in
the town.
Another excellent service of Major Gordon, one which both benefited
the health of the men and trained them to the practical duties of
the soldier, was to take a detachment occasionally to a considerable
distance from camp where it bivouacked as best it could, and
sometimes slept out all night on extemporised couches of heath and
branches, arranged round the bivouac fires.
On the 15th of June, another encampment was formed at a spot
selected near the monastery of Pentelicus, on Mount Pentelicus, nine
miles from Athens, and fifteen miles from the Piræus, the ground
having been previously selected by Major Gordon. To this camp also
detachments were sent in regular rotation.
In September 1855 Major Gordon was very deservedly promoted to the
rank of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel.
We should have stated before, that, on the 29th of June, a
reading-room for the soldiers was established for the first time
in the regiment. A sergeant and his wife were placed in charge, a
roll of members was prepared, and a subscription of 6d. a month was
charged from each member. Periodicals and newspapers were procured,
and coffee and light drinks were prepared by the sergeant’s wife for
those who cared to pay for them.
Lt.-Col. Gordon, after repeatedly urging it upon those in authority,
at length gained permission to commence the reconstruction and
elevation of the whole surface-level of the wide projecting quay
which formed the parade of the battalion; also to raise, drain,
and level the roadways of the streets, in which the barracks of the
battalion were situated. These useful works were commenced on the
18th of December, and ten days later, Lt.-Col. Gordon went home to
take command of the six dépôt companies, when the command of the
service companies devolved on Major W. T. L. Patterson, who had
recently been promoted from captain.
The 91st embarked in two divisions on the 28th of Feb. 1857 for the
Ionian Islands, where it was stationed for the next eighteen months,
detachments being located in Corfu, Vido, Zante, and latterly,
Cephalonia. Here, also, the regiment was employed in the construction
of useful works. Among these was an approach from the esplanade at
Argostoli, in Cephalonia, in the shape of steps upon a large scale,
formed from the materials of a useless five-gun battery, which work
was described by the Resident of Cephalonia as a “great public
improvement,” and, with his authority, obtained the appellation of
“The Argyll Steps.”
Lt.-Col. Bertie Gordon arrived at Corfu in April 1857, and assumed
command of the regiment, Colonel Campbell having obtained leave of
absence in the previous March.
In taking leave of the headquarters companies on the 17th of August,
they having been ordered from Corfu to the Southern Islands,
Major-General Sir George Buller, C.B., told them “he had selected the
91st for the service of the Southern Islands, partly because it was
a more formed regiment, a finer body of men, and better drilled than
the others.”
The 91st, having received orders to proceed to India by the overland
route, embarked at Corfu, and sailed on the 5th of Sept. 1858,
arriving at Alexandria on the 8th; but it seems to have remained on
board H.M.S. “Perseverance” until the 18th. On that day headquarters,
with 5½ companies, disembarked at 1.30 P.M., and at once entered
railway carriages prepared for their conveyance, and proceeded
towards Suez. The left wing disembarked on the following day. Partly
by railway, and partly on donkeys, the two wings were conveyed to
Suez, where they embarked on board two vessels, which arrived at
Bombay on the 7th and 9th of October respectively. Both detachments
were reunited at Poonah on the 11th.
On Oct. 28th Colonel Campbell, C.B., having been appointed to the
command of a brigade at Toogoo, in Burmah, Major Patterson assumed
command of the regiment.
On Nov. 3rd the 91st commenced its march to Kamptee, where it did
not arrive till the 11th of the following month. On its march, while
at Jafferabad, on Nov. 20th, an order was received by telegraph from
the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras army to leave a wing at Jaulnah.
The left wing, under command of Major Savage, accordingly returned
to that place, and did not arrive at headquarters until the 25th of
Feb. 1859. It had been employed during the latter part of January and
the beginning of February in operations against insurgent Rohillas,
to the south of Jaulnah, and had made long marches, without, however,
being engaged with the enemy.
On the 7th of March Lt.-Colonel Bertie Gordon arrived from England
and assumed the command, and on the 9th a small detachment, under
Lieut. Gurney, proceeded to Chindwarrah, a village about 84 miles
north of Kamptee. On the same day No. 5 company, under Captain
Battiscombe, marched as part of a field-force directed on Mooltye and
Baitool. On the 27th Major Patterson joined and took command of the
field-force, which remained out till the 18th of April. A similar
field-force was sent out on April 22nd for a short time to the same
districts.[555]
It was about this time that Colonel Bertie Gordon inaugurated his new
system of promotion in the non-commissioned ranks of the regiment.
Competitive examinations of lance and full corporals, under a
strictly organised system, were the basis of this plan. During the
period extending from Sept. 1860 to Jan. 1861, seventy corporals
and lance-corporals were examined, twenty-five of whom obtained
promotion out of their regular turn, owing to their position on the
merit roll.
The 91st remained in India till the year 1868, and we can note
only in the briefest possible manner the principal occurrences in
connection with the regiment during that period.
An event of very great interest to the regiment occurred on the 27th
of Aug. 1871; this was the discovery of the old Waterloo roll of
the regiment among the orderly-room papers. It had been saved from
destruction by Sergeant Hirst in 1848, when a quantity of old books
and papers had been ordered to be burned. The interesting document
was now sent to London, where it was so handsomely bound as to
ensure, we hope, its preservation in all time coming.
On the 16th of Oct. of the same year, Col. Gordon received from the
daughters of the late Lt.-Col. Lindsay an offer of the old colours
of the 91st. Col. Gordon gladly accepted this graceful offer, and
sent the colours, which had seen many a hard-fought field, to Ellon
Castle, Aberdeenshire, there to find a permanent home, and to be
preserved as an heirloom in his family.
In Aug. 1861, Lt.-Col. Gordon was promoted to be colonel by brevet.
He had succeeded to the command of the regiment in Nov. 1860, on
the promotion of Lt.-Colonel Campbell to the rank of Major-General.
There had been for some time, in accordance with the regulations for
the augmentation of the Indian establishment, two Lt.-Cols. to the
91st, Major W. T. L. Patterson having been raised to that rank on the
retirement of Col. Campbell.[556]
On the 24th of April 1862, Col. Gordon proceeded on leave to
England. During his absence, in Feb. 1863, the 91st left Kamptee for
Jubbulpoor, which it reached on the 19th, after a march of fifteen
days. The regiment was now in the Bengal Presidency, and under the
command of Gen. Sir Hugh Rose, G.C.B. then Commander-in-Chief in
India.
One of the most notable and gratifying events in the history of the
91st during the _régime_ of Col. Bertie Gordon was the restoration
to it of its original Highland designation, along with the Highland
dress, the tartan trews, however, taking the place of the more airy
kilt. So far back as 1833, an ineffectual effort had been made to
have its nationality restored to the regiment. Col. Gordon resumed
the attempt shortly after he obtained command of the regiment at
Kamptee in 1859, and with the most determined perseverance, amid
discouragements that would have daunted any ordinary man, he did not
cease his solicitations until they resulted in complete success in
the year 1864. Col. Gordon found a powerful and willing supporter in
his Grace the Duke of Argyll, who was naturally anxious to have the
regiment raised by his ancestors once more recognised by its original
name, “the Argyllshire Highlanders.” The voluminous correspondence
carried on between Col. Gordon, the War Office authorities, and the
Duke of Argyll, we cannot reproduce here. The letters of Col. Gordon
show clearly his ability, his enthusiasm, his perseverance, and his
intense nationality and love for his regiment. We can only say
that, after a long correspondence, Col. Gordon’s efforts resulted
in triumph, as will be seen in the following War Office memorandum,
notifying the restoration to the 91st of its Highland designation and
dress, of which it had been deprived fifty years before:--
“WAR OFFICE, PALL MALL, _May 3, 1864_.
“Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve of the 91st
Foot resuming the appellation of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders,
and being clothed and equipped as a non-kilted Highland corps, as
follows:--TUNIC, as worn in all Highland regiments; TREWS, of the
Campbell tartan; CHACO, blue cloth, with diced band and black braid;
FORAGE CAP, Kilmarnock, with diced band. The officers to wear plaids
and claymores. The alteration of the dress is to take place from
1st April 1865. The white waistcoat with sleeves, issued to other
Highland regiments, will not be worn by the 91st Foot.”
In Jan. 1866 Col. Gordon arrived at Jubbulpoor, and assumed command
of the regiment. In Dec. of the same year the 91st left its quarters
at Jubbulpoor and proceeded partly on foot and partly by train to
Dumdum, which it reached on the 11th. While at Dumdum Col. Gordon’s
health broke down, and on the recommendation of a medical board, he
left India for Europe in Oct. 1866, handing over the command of the
regiment to Major Battiscombe.
After staying a year at Dumdum, the 91st was removed in Jan. 1867
to Hazareebagh. Here the 91st remained until the end of the year,
setting out on Dec. 1st for Kamptee again, which it reached after a
long and tedious journey, partly on foot and partly by train, on the
26th of January 1868.
After a stay of a few months at Kamptee, the 91st got the welcome
route for home, setting out in two detachments on the 7th and 8th
of Oct. for Bombay, where it embarked on the 12th. The regiment
proceeded by Suez, and arrived at Portsmouth on Nov. 13th,
disembarking on the 15th, and proceeding by rail to Dover, where Col.
Bertie Gordon resumed command. The 91st had been on foreign service
for the long period of fourteen years, and it is very remarkable
that during all that time there were only ten desertions. The dépôt
companies removed from Fort George and were amalgamated at Dover with
the service companies on Nov. 25th.
In August of this year Her Majesty was pleased to place the name of
Col. Bertie Gordon on the list of officers receiving the reward of
£100 a year for distinguished service.
The 91st remained at Dover until June 1870, during which time two
events occurred of some importance in its domestic history. The
first of these was the presentation of new colours on the 24th of
Aug. 1869, on the glacis of the Western Heights, Dover. As the Duke
and Duchess of Argyll were unable to be present, the colours were
presented to the regiment by Mrs Bertie Gordon, as her Grace’s
representative. The Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated the colours,
being assisted by five other clergymen in full canonicals. After
an impressive prayer by his Grace the Archbishop, the colours were
received by Mrs Gordon at the hands of Major Penton and Major Sprot,
and by her given to Ensigns Lloyd and Gurney, with these words:--
“Colonel Gordon, officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers
of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders,--Proud as I am this day to
present to you your new colours, I would fain have had my place
better filled by her Grace the Duchess of Argyll. Soldiers, your
colours have been well earned, not alone in the protracted struggle
of three Kaffir campaigns, but also by long service in tropical
climes under a burning sun. I know you will receive them as a sacred
trust. Guard them carefully. Fight manfully around them when called
upon. Be foremost, as you have always been, in serving your Queen
and country; and be the pride, as you are at this moment, of your
commanding officer.”
After a fervent address by Col. Gordon, thanking Mrs Gordon for
the service she had performed, which was only one of “many acts of
unobtrusive kindness” by which she showed her interest in the welfare
of the regiment.
The old colours having been gladly accepted by the Duke of Argyll,
were, in the month of October, taken by an escort to Inverary Castle,
in the great hall of which they now occupy a conspicuous position.
The other important event in the history of the regiment while it was
stationed at Dover, was the retirement of Colonel Bertie Gordon. This
was indeed an event of very great moment in the career of the 91st,
and we therefore must find space for the pathetic order in which
Colonel Gordon bade farewell to the regiment he loved so dearly. He
had left on leave on the 11th of Nov. 1869, handing over the command
of the regiment to Major Sprot, and his farewell order is dated
“Ellon Castle, Ellon, 29th January 1870:”--
“His Royal Highness the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief having
been pleased to grant compliance with the request preferred by
Colonel Bertie Gordon, to be permitted to retire on the half-pay
of the army, Colonel Gordon bids farewell to the noble regiment in
which he has served for more than seven and thirty years, and in
which he has held command ever since April 1855. Colonel Gordon’s
service in the 91st Highlanders comprises exactly one-half the
period of its existence as a corps, and he has held command in his
regiment during a fifth part of its history. Years have gone by
since every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private soldier
with whom he stood in these noble ranks, when he commenced his
career in the army, have passed away. For twelve years Colonel
Gordon has been the very last of the 800 who formed the Argyllshire
regiment in 1832, and in its ranks of the present day he leaves
behind him but one soldier (Lt. Grant) who shared with him those
hours of impending death, when he commanded the Reserve Battalion of
the regiment in 1842, cast away on the shores of Africa in that dark
night of tempest, when its discipline and devotion came forth from
the shattered wreck unbroken and undiminished by that sorest trial.
Colonel Gordon calls to mind that he has served under three stands
of colours presented to the regiment, and that at the recommendation
of His Royal Highness the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, he
was permitted, by the favour of Her Most Gracious Majesty, to
announce to his old regiment, seven years ago, the restoration of
that nationality in its designation and uniform, under which it was
embodied by its ducal chieftain in the last century.
“Colonel Gordon believes that the time has come to retire from the
regiment he has loved, and to leave its fortunes in younger and
stronger hands. But, although severed from its noble ranks, Colonel
Gordon will still feel that the words of his regimental order of
1863 must ever prove true--‘The Argyllshire regiment has ever served
their sovereign and their country steadily;’ while he calls upon
all ranks to remember those that the late Lieut.-General Sir George
Napier addressed to the Reserve Battalion in 1842--‘Ninety-first, I
have known you in camp and quarters, and I have seen you in action,
and I have never known or seen a better.’”