_Lieut.-Colonel_, The Hon. George Mackenzie.
_Majors._
Hamilton Maxwell.
Norman McLeod.
_Captains._
Hon. Colin Lindsay.
John McIntosh.
James Fowlis.
Robert Sinclair.
Mackay Hugh Baillie.
Stair Park Dalrymple.
David Ross.
Adam Colt.
_Lieutenants._
Norman Maclean.
John Irving.
Rod. Mackenzie, _senior_.
Charles Douglas.
Angus McIntosh.
John Fraser.
Robert Arbuthnot.
David M‘Cullock.
Rod. Mackenzie, _junior_.
Phineas M‘Intosh.
John Mackenzie, _senior_.
Alexander Mackenzie.
Phipps Wharton.
Laughlan M’Laughlan.
Kenneth Mackenzie.
Murdoch Mackenzie.
George Fraser.
John Mackenzie, _junior_.
Martin Eccles Lindsay.
John Dallas.
David Ross.
William Erskine.
_Ensigns._
John Fraser.
John M‘Dougal.
Hugh Gray.
John Mackenzie.
John Forbes.
Æneas Fraser.
William Rose.
Simon Fraser, _Adjt._
_Chaplain_, Æneas Macleod.
_Adjutant_, Simon Fraser.
_Quartermaster_, Charles Clark.
_Surgeon_, Andrew Cairncross.
The uniform of the regiment was red, with the regular Highland
equipments.
It is worthy of remark that, when first raised, there were no less
than 19 officers in the regiment named Mackenzie. It is probable that
the proportion of non-commissioned officers and privates of that
name was equally large, owing to the fact of the regiment having, as
already stated, been principally raised on the estates of the Earl
of Cromarty, the father of Lord McLeod. These estates are now in the
possession of the present Duchess of Sutherland, who is Countess of
Cromarty in her own right.
[Sidenote: 1st bat.]
[Sidenote: 1780.]
After being embodied at Elgin, the first battalion remained there
some weeks, and then marched to Fort George, where it was formed
into ten companies. It embarked on the 8th of May, 1,100 strong,
under Lord McLeod, for Portsmouth, where it was to be transhipped and
accompany the East India Fleet. The passage, however, having occupied
fifteen days, the fleet sailed before the arrival of the transports,
which were then ordered to proceed to Guernsey and Jersey. Here
the battalion disembarked, and remained until relieved by the
Seventy-eighth Regiment on the 27th November. Embarking on board the
transports which brought the latter, it was conveyed to Portsmouth,
where it disembarked on the 10th December and marched to Petersfield,
where it was quartered until the close of the year. Orders having
been received for its embarkation for the East Indies, a mutiny
occurred in one of the companies, owing to a rumour gaining ground
that the men had been sold to the East India Company by the British
Government. This was happily checked, by the prompt and resolute
spirit displayed by the officers, and the assurance of their Colonel
that this report was entirely groundless. In January the battalion,
about 1,100 strong, embarked on board Indiamen, under the command of
Colonel Lord McLeod. Three vessels formed part of a fleet, escorted
by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, which in its passage touched at
Goree, on the Coast of Africa, and captured that settlement from the
French. After leaving Goree the fleet proceeded to the Cape of Good
Hope, at that time in possession of the Dutch, where it landed its
sick. It remained there three months, anchored in Table Bay, and
then continued its course to India. The voyage, though tedious, was
on the whole prosperous, and was brought to a close by anchor being
dropped in Madras Roads on the 20th January, 1780, just twelve months
subsequent to embarkation. The battalion was landed without delay at
Fort St. George, where it remained about a month in barracks, after
which it was removed to Poonamallee.
[Sidenote: 2nd bat.]
[Sidenote: 1778.]
[Sidenote: 1780.]
Before following the proceedings of the first battalion any further,
it will be as well to return to the second battalion, which, as
already mentioned, was embodied in September, 1778. In March of
the following year, this battalion, 1,000 strong, and commanded by
Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. George Mackenzie (brother of Lord McLeod),
embarked at Fort George, and was conveyed to Plymouth. There it
remained encamped upon Maker Heights until the 27th November, when
it embarked for Gibraltar in transports under convoy of Admiral Sir
George Brydges Rodney. In the Bay of Biscay the Spanish Caraccas
Fleet was encountered, and captured, and the Admiral being compelled
to employ a number of the men of his ships of war to man the prizes,
called upon Lieut.-Colonel Mackenzie for the services of the
battalion as Marines. A few days after the men had been distributed
in this manner, the fleet fell in with the Spanish Admiral Don Juan
de Langara, with a fleet consisting of eleven sail of the line,
the whole of whose ships were either taken or dispersed. On the
18th January, 1780, the second battalion disembarked at Gibraltar,
then closely blockaded by the Spaniards, landing at the New Mole
and occupying the Casemates in the King’s Bastion, the marching in
strength being as follows:—
30 Officers,
6 Staff ditto,
22 Drummers,
944 Rank and file,
50 Sergeants.
Here it remained during the whole of the siege of that fortress by
the French and Spaniards, sustaining a high character as steady and
trustworthy soldiers.
In the grand sortie in which the Spanish batteries before the
garrison were destroyed, all the grenadier and light infantry
companies in garrison were made up to their establishment previous
to the sortie. The grenadier and light companies in this regiment
consisted of four officers, five sergeants, and 101 rank and file
each. They were stationed with the companies of the Thirty-ninth and
Fifty-sixth Regiments, and a proportion of artillery and engineers,
amounting in all to 668 men, in the centre, or reserve column,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Dachenhausen and Major Maxwell. The
orders they received were to march through Bayside barrier, towards
the mortar batteries. The moon shone brightly as the soldiers
assembled on the sands at midnight. Between two and three o’clock
darkness overspread the country, and the troops issued silently from
the fortress. They were challenged and fired upon by the enemy’s
sentries, but the British soldiers rushed forward, overpowered the
Spanish guards, and captured the batteries. The enemy’s soldiers,
instead of defending the works, fled in dismay and communicated the
panic to the troops in their rear. Within an hour the object of the
sortie was effected, trains were laid to the enemy’s magazines, and
the soldiers withdrew. As they entered the fortress, tremendous
explosions shook the ground, and rising columns of smoke, flame, and
burning timber proclaimed the destruction of the enemy’s immense
stores of gunpowder. General Elliot stated in orders:—
“The bearing and conduct of the whole detachment, officers,
seamen and soldiers on this glorious occasion, surpass my utmost
acknowledgements.” The casualties in the three columns of attack were
only 4 killed, 24 wounded, and 1 missing. The grenadier company,
commanded by Captain Sinclair on this occasion, drove the enemy
from their centre guard-house, and the light infantry, commanded by
Captain Dalrymple, obliged them to evacuate Parchal’s battery.
The casualties of the battalion during the three years that the siege
lasted were 1 sergeant, 41 privates killed; 6 officers, 7 sergeants,
and 108 rank and file wounded, and 58 privates died from sickness.
Although application has frequently been made to the authorities, for
permission to have Gibraltar inscribed on the colours, yet for some
inexplicable reason, this has always been refused, though granted to
other regiments that served during the siege with the Seventy-third.
In May, 1783, it embarked on board transports, and sailed for
Portsmouth, where it landed in July, and occupied Hilsea Barracks.
The following month it marched to Stirling, where it was disbanded
on the 3rd October after a service of five years, during the whole
of which period it was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. George
Mackenzie.
In 1784 the officers belonging to the late second battalion who were
regimentally senior to those serving with the first were given the
option of joining that battalion in the East Indies at their own
expense, of which some availed themselves.
[Sidenote: 1st bat.]
We shall now return to the first battalion which we left in quarters
at Poonamallee in February, 1780. At the commencement of 1780 a new
war had broken out in India, the causes of which it is not easy to
unravel, owing to the depth to which the several Presidencies of the
East India Company had entered into the intrigues and quarrels of
the Native rulers. On the 5th April, the Mahratta Chiefs, Holkar and
Scindia, were defeated in their camp whilst advancing on Surat, and
this victory was followed by numerous less important successes. In
Bengal, military movements were taking place under the direction of
Sir Eyre Coote, who had now succeeded to the chief command in India,
and the strong fortress of Gwalior, hitherto regarded as impregnable,
was taken by escalade on the 3rd August.
On the side of Madras the forces on the establishment did not exceed
30,000 men, dispersed in very distant quarters, and the Presidency
had unfortunately been engrossed in internal disputes rather than
in active measures of preparation to oppose the enemy. Such was the
state of affairs at Madras when on the 10th of June information
was received that a large army was assembling at Bangalore under
Hyder Ali, the son of a petty chief in Mysore, who had risen to the
chief command of the army of that State. On the death of the Rajah,
Hyder Ali assumed the guardianship of his eldest son, who was left
a minor, placing him under restraint, and seizing upon the reins of
government. Having a considerable territory under his control, he
maintained a formidable military establishment, which he endeavoured
to bring into a high state of discipline and efficiency. Standing
now in the position of Sultan of Mysore, he formed a league with the
French, and entered into a confederacy with the Nizam of the Deccan,
the Mahrattas, and other native powers, for the purpose of expelling
the British from India.
In July, 1780, Hyder Ali, having passed the Ghauts, burst like a
torrent into the Carnatic, whilst his son, Tippoo Saïb, advanced with
a large body of cavalry against the Northern Circars, and even the
villages near Madras were attacked by parties of the enemy’s horse.
In consequence of these events the first battalion Seventy-third
Regiment was ordered to join the army being assembled at St. Thomas’s
Mount under the command of Major-General Sir Hector Munro, K.B. This
army amounted to upwards of 4,000 men, consisting entirely of the
Honourable East India Company’s troops, with the exception of the
Seventy-third Highlanders, then about 800 strong. It was composed as
follows:—
{ Infantry 1,000
European { Artillery 300
{ Dragoons 30
Native { Infantry 3,250
{ Dragoons 30
-----
Total 4,610
Attached to these were 30 field pieces and howitzers, and four
battering 24-pounders.
On the 25th August this corps marched to Conjeveram, about 50 miles
west of Madras on the Arcot road, where it was to be met by a body
of men under Colonel Baillie, from the Gunton Circar, the joint
force proceeding to raise the siege of Arcot, invested by Hyder Ali
on the 21st August. Sir Hector Munro’s army arrived at Conjeveram
on the 29th August, being followed the whole way by the enemy’s
horse. The country here was found to be entirely under water, so
that no provisions of any kind were to be procured, and the force
was consequently dependent upon the four day’s provisions in its
possession.
Hyder Ali now raised the siege of Arcot, and detached Tippoo Saïb
with a force of 40,000 horse and foot and 12 guns to intercept
Colonel Baillie and prevent his junction with the main army. This
junction had been expected to take place on the 30th August, but
Baillie being delayed some days by the sudden rising of a small
river, this time was utilised by the enemy to intercept him.
Colonel Baillie reached Perambaucum, 15 miles from General Munro’s
position, on the 6th September, where he was attacked by Tippoo
Saïb, whom after a contest of several hours he repulsed. Strange
to say, however, the forces of Munro and Baillie, though within a
few hours’ march of each other, made no effort to unite. Two days
after the battle, Colonel Baillie sent notice to General Munro to
push forward with the main body, as, from the loss he had lately
sustained and from want of provisions, he was unable to advance in
the face of an enemy so superior in numbers. After this unaccountable
delay, the General sent forward a detachment under Colonel Fletcher
consisting of the flank companies Seventy-third (now Seventy-first),
two companies of European grenadiers, and 11 companies of Sepoys, in
all 1,000 men. Of the flank companies, Seventy-third, the grenadier
company was commanded by Lieutenant the Hon. John Lindsay, and the
light company by Captain, afterwards General the Right Hon. Sir David
Baird, G.C.B. Colonel Fletcher joined Colonel Baillie’s force on the
9th September.
Reinforced by this detachment, Colonel Baillie set out to join Munro
on the same evening, but had not proceeded beyond a mile when he fell
in with the pickets of Hyder Ali’s army. An irregular fire commenced,
which was kept up by both parties for several miles, until Colonel
Baillie halted about midnight, when he lay on his arms all night
without being disturbed by the enemy.
He continued his march next morning without opposition, and after
proceeding two miles entered a jungle. The Sultan had concentrated
his army about this spot, and on the preceding day had thrown up
three batteries, one in the centre of the grove and one on each
flank. No sooner had Colonel Baillie entered the jungle than a heavy
and destructive fire was opened upon him from 57 pieces of cannon.
The march was continued in the form of a square, with the sick,
baggage, and ammunition in the centre; and though the detachment
was assailed on all sides by an immense force, the enemy after a
desperate conflict of three hours’ duration, was driven back at every
point.
Thus repulsed, Hyder Ali determined to retreat, and orders had been
given to Colonel Lally, a French officer in the service of the
Sultan, to draw off his men, and to the cavalry to cover the retreat,
when two explosions were seen to take place in the British line.
These laid open one entire face of their column, destroyed their
artillery, and threw the whole into irreparable confusion. This
occurrence revived Hyder’s hopes, his cavalry charged in successive
squadrons, and his infantry poured volleys of musketry upon the
devoted band. Reduced at length to little more than 400 men, Colonel
Baillie formed these into a square upon a small eminence. Here, after
two-thirds of the number had been killed or disabled, the officers
with their swords, and the soldiers with their bayonets, repulsed
thirteen charges. At length, borne down by fresh bodies of horse,
Colonel Baillie, to save the lives of the few brave men who survived,
displayed a flag of truce. Quarter was promised, but no sooner had
the men laid down their arms, than they were savagely attacked, and
only by the humane interference of the French officers were any lives
saved.