Chapter XLIV: Introduction: Military character of the Highlands (11)

[307] From Watson’s _Annals of Philadelphia_ we learn that a Mrs Gordon opened a boarding-house in Front Street, which was much frequented by British officers during the American Revolution war, and at times was nearly filled with officers of the 42d and Royal Irish. “The British Barracks,” we learn from Watson’s _Annals of Philadelphia_, “were built in the Northern Liberties soon after the defeat of Braddock’s army, and arose from the necessity, as it was alleged, of making better permanent provision for troops deemed necessary to be among us for future protection. Many of the people had so petitioned the king, not being then so sensitive of the presence of ‘standing armies’ as their descendants have since become. The parade and ‘pomp of war’ which their erection produced in the former peaceful city of Penn, gave it an attraction to the town’s people, and being located far out of town, it was deemed a pleasant walk to the country and fields, to go out and see the long ranges of houses, the long lines of kilted and bonneted Highlanders, and to hear ‘the spirit stirring fife and soul-inspiring drum!’ The ground plot of the barracks extended from Second to Third Street, and from St Tamany Street to Green Street, having the officers’ quarters, a large three-storey brick building, on Third Street, the same now standing as a Northern Liberty Town Hall. The parade ground fronted upon Second Street, shut in by an ornamental palisade fence on the line of that street. After the war of Independence they were torn down, and the lots sold for the benefit of the public. It was from the location of those buildings that the whole region thereabout was familiarly called Campingtown. In 1758 I notice the first public mention of ‘the new barracks in Campingtown,’ the _Gazettes_ stating the arrival there of ‘Colonel Montgomery’s Highlanders,’ and some arrangement by the City Council to provide them their bedding, &c. In the year 1764 the barracks were made a scene of great interest to all the citizens; there the Indians, who fled from the threats of the murderous Paxtang boys, sought their refuge under the protection of the Highlanders, while the approach of the latter was expected, the citizens ran there with their arms to defend them and to throw up entrenchments.”

[308] “In the year 1776 (says General Stewart) the three battalions of the 42d and of Fraser’s Highlanders embarked 3248 soldiers; after a stormy passage of more than three months, none died; they had only a few sick, and these not dangerously.”

[309] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[310] “On the 1st of June this year, Lord John Murray died, in the forty-second year of his command of the regiment, and was succeeded by Major-General Sir Hector Munro. It is said that Lord Eglinton was much disappointed on that occasion. He had formed an attachment to the Highland soldiers, when he commanded his Highland regiment in the seven years’ war; and, owing to Lord J. Murray’s great age, had long looked to the command of the Royal Highlanders. In Lord North’s administration, and likewise in Mr Pitt’s, he had, in some measure, secured the succession; but the king had previously, and without the knowledge of his ministers, assented to an application from Sir H. Munro. Lord Eglinton was appointed to the Scots Greys on the first vacancy. Till Lord John Murray was disabled by age, he was the friend and supporter of every deserving officer and soldier in the regiment. The public journals during the German or seven years’ war give many instances. I shall notice one. When the disabled soldiers came home from Ticonderoga in 1758, to pass the Board at Chelsea, it is stated, ‘that the morning they were to appear before the Board, he was in London, and dressed himself in the full Highland uniform, and, putting himself at the head of all those who could walk, he marched to Chelsea, and explained their case in such a manner to the Commissioners, that all obtained the pension. He gave them five guineas to drink the king’s health, and their friends, with the regiment, and two guineas to each of those who had wives, and he got the whole a free passage to Perth, with an offer to such as chose to settle on his estate, to give them a house and garden.’”--_Westminster Journal._

[311] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[312] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[313] One of these, a trumpeter, was brought to England by the 42d, and given over to the York Rangers, at the formation of that corps.

[314] General Stewart says that in the assault on the redoubts, when proceeding from the second to the third, he found a lad of seventeen years of age whom he had enlisted in August preceding, with his foot on the body of a French soldier, and his bayonet thrust through from ear to ear, attempting to twist off his head. Lieutenant Stewart touched him on the shoulder, and desired him to let the body alone. “Oh, the brigand,” said he, “I must take off his head.” When told that the man was already dead, and that he had better go and take the head off a living Frenchman, he answered, “You are very right, Sir; I did not think of that;” and immediately ran forward to the front of the attack. Yet such is the power of example, that this young man, so bold, turned pale and trembled, when, a few days after he had enlisted, he saw one of his companions covered with blood from a cut he had received in the head and face in some horseplay with his comrades.

[315] In one of the skirmishes in the woods between a party of the 42d and the enemy, Lieutenant-Colonel Graham (afterwards a lieutenant-general and governor of Stirling Castle) was wounded, and lay senseless on the ground. “His recovery from his wound,” says General Stewart, “was attended by some uncommon circumstances. The people believing him dead, rather dragged than carried him over the rough channel of the river, till they reached the sea-beach. Observing here that he was still alive, they put him in a blanket and proceeded in search of a surgeon. After travelling in this manner four miles, I met them, and directed the soldiers to carry him to a military post, occupied by a party of the 42d under my command. All the surgeons were out in the woods with the wounded soldiers, and none could be found. Colonel Graham was still insensible. A ball had entered his side, and passing through, had come out under his breast. Another, or perhaps the same ball, had shattered two of his fingers. No assistance could be got but that of a soldier’s wife, who had been long in the service, and was in the habit of attending sick and wounded soldiers. She washed his wounds, and bound them up in such a manner, that when a surgeon came and saw the way in which the operation had been performed, he said he could not have done it better, and would not unbind the dressing. The colonel soon afterwards opened his eyes, and though unable to speak for many hours, seemed sensible of what was passing around him. In this state he lay nearly three weeks, when he was carried to Kingston, and thence conveyed to England. He was still in a most exhausted state,--the wound in his side discharging matter from both orifices. He went to Edinburgh, with little hopes of recovery; but on the evening of the illumination for the victory of Camperdoun, the smoke of so many candles and flambeaux having affected his breathing, he coughed with great violence; and, in the exertion, threw up a piece of cloth, carried in and left by the ball in its passage through his body. From that day he recovered as by a charm.

“The soldier’s wife,” continues the General, “who was so useful to him in his extremity, was of a character rather uncommon. She had been long a follower of the camp, and had acquired some of its manners. While she was so good and useful a nurse in quarters, she was bold and fearless in the field. When the arrangements were made previously to the attack on the Vizie on the 10th of June, I directed that her husband, who was in my company, should remain behind to take charge of the men’s knapsacks, which they had thrown off to be light for the advance up the hill, as I did not wish to expose him to danger on account of his wife and family. He obeyed his orders, and remained with his charge; but his wife, believing, perhaps, that she was not included in these injunctions, pushed forward to the assault. When the enemy had been driven from the third redoubt, I was standing giving some directions to the men, and preparing to push on to the fourth and last redoubt, when I found myself tapped on the shoulder, and turning round, I saw my Amazonian friend standing with her clothes tucked up to her knees, and seizing my hand, ‘Well done, my Highland lad,’ she exclaimed, ‘see how the brigands scamper like so many deer!’--‘Come,’ added she, ‘let us drive them from yonder hill!’ On inquiry, I found that she had been in the hottest fire, cheering and animating the men; and when the action was over, she was as active as any of the surgeons in assisting the wounded.”

[316] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[317] When the boats were about to start, two young French field officers, who were prisoners on board the _Minotaur_, Captain Louis, went up to the rigging “to witness, as they said, the last sight of their English friends. But when they saw the troops land, ascend the hill, and force the defenders at the top to fly, the love of their country and the honour of their arms overcame their new friendship: they burst into tears, and with a passionate exclamation of grief and surprise ran down below, and did not again appear on deck during the day.”--Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[318] “The great waste of ammunition,” says General Stewart, “and the comparatively little execution of musketry, unless directed by a steady hand, was exemplified on this occasion. Although the sea was as smooth as glass, with nothing to interrupt the aim of those who fired,--although the line of musketry was so numerous, that the soldiers compared the fall of the bullets on the water to boys throwing handfuls of pebbles into a mill-pond,--and although the spray raised by the cannon-shot and shells, when they struck the water, wet the soldiers in the boats,--yet, of the whole landing force, very few were hurt; and of the 42d one man only was killed, and Colonel James Stewart and a few soldiers wounded. The noise and foam raised by the shells and large and small shot, compared with the little effect thereby produced, afford evidence of the saving of lives by the invention of gunpowder; while the fire, noise, and force, with which the bullets flew, gave a greater sense of danger than in reality had any existence. That eight hundred and fifty men (one company of the Highlanders did not land in the first boats) should force a passage through such a shower of balls and bomb-shells, and only one man killed and five wounded, is certainly a striking fact.” Four-fifths of the loss of the Highlanders was sustained before they reached the top of the hill. General Stewart, who then commanded a company in the 42d, says that eleven of his men fell by the volley they received when mounting the ascent.

[319] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[320] Concerning this episode in the fight, and the capture of the standard of the “Invincibles” by one of the 42d, we shall here give the substance of the narrative of Andrew Dowie, one of the regiment who was present and saw the whole affair. We take it from Lieutenant-Colonel Wheatley’s Memoranda, and we think our readers may rely upon it as being a fair statement of the circumstances. It was written in 1845, in a letter to Sergeant-Major Drysdale of the 42d, who went through the whole of the Crimean and Indian Mutiny campaigns without being one day absent, and who died at Uphall, near Edinburgh--Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in the regiment--on the 4th July 1865:--While Dowie was inside of the ruin above mentioned, he observed an officer with a stand of colours, surrounded by a group of some 30 men. He ran and told Major Stirling of this, who advanced towards the French officer, grasped the colours, carried them off, and handed them to Sergeant Sinclair of the 42d Grenadiers, telling him to take them to the rear of the left wing, and display them. The major then ordered all out of the fort to support the left wing, which was closely engaged. Meantime, some of the enemy seeing Sinclair with the colours, made after and attacked him. He defended himself to the utmost till he got a sabre-cut on the back of the neck, when he fell with the colours among the killed and wounded. Shortly afterwards the German regiment, commanded by Sir John Stewart, came from the rear line to the support of the 42d, and in passing through the killed and wounded, one Anthony Lutz picked up the colours, stripped them off the staff, wound them round his body, and in the afternoon took them to Sir Ralph’s son, and it was reported received some money for them. In 1802 this German regiment (97th or Queen’s Own) arrived at Winchester, where this Anthony Lutz, in a quarrel with one of his comrades, stabbed him with a knife, was tried by civil law, and sentence of death passed upon him. His officers, to save his life, petitioned the proper authorities, stating that it was he who took the “Invincible Colours.” Generals Moore and Oakes (who had commanded the brigade containing the 42d), then in London, wrote to Lieut.-Col. Dickson, who was with the regiment in Edinburgh Castle, and a court of inquiry was held. Sergeant Sinclair was sent for from Glasgow, and, along with Dowie, was examined on the matter, the result of the examination being in substance what has just been narrated. Sergeant Sinclair was a captain in the 81st regiment in Sicily in 1810.

[321] General Hutchinson’s _Official Despatches_.

[322] See note, pp. 370, 71.

[323] Further details concerning this unfortunate misunderstanding will be given when we come to speak of the presentation of the vase in 1817.

[324] Of these 231 were Lowlanders, 7 English, and 3 Irish.

[325] General Orders, Horse Guards, 1st February 1809.

[326] “It was not without cause that the Highland soldiers shed tears for the sufferings of the kind and partial friend whom they were now about to lose. He always reposed the most entire confidence in them; placing them in the post of danger and honour, and wherever it was expected that the greatest firmness and courage would be required; gazing at them with earnestness in his last moments, and in this extremity taking pleasure in their successful advance; gratified at being carried by them, and talking familiarly to them when he had only a few hours to live; and, like a perfect soldier, as he was, dying with his sword by his side. Speaking to me, on one occasion, of the character of the Highland soldiers, ‘I consider,’ said he, ‘the Highlanders, under proper management, and under an officer who understands and values their character, and works on it, among the best of our military materials. Under such an officer, they will conquer or die on the spot, while their action, their hardihood, and abstinence, enable them to bear up against a severity of fatigue under which larger, and apparently stronger, men would sink. But it is the principles of integrity and moral correctness that I admire most in Highland soldiers, and this was the trait that first caught my attention. It is this that makes them trustworthy, and makes their courage sure, and not that kind of flash in the pan, which would scale a bastion to-day, and to-morrow be alarmed at the fire of a picquet. You Highland officers may sleep sound at night, and rise in the morning with the assurance that, with your men, your professional character and honour are safe, unless _you yourselves destroy the willing and excellent material entrusted to your direction_.’ Such was the opinion particularly addressed to me, as a kind of farewell advice in 1805, when my regiment left his brigade to embark for the Mediterranean. It was accompanied by many excellent observations on the character of the Highland soldier, and the duties of Highland officers, especially what regards their management of, and behaviour towards their soldiers, and the necessity of paying attention to their feelings. The correctness of his views on this important subject I have seen fully confirmed by many years’ experience.”--Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[327] Cannon’s _Historical Record of the 42d_.

[328] Marmont’s _Despatch_.

[329] The loss of the 79th will be found stated in the memoirs of that regiment.

[330] General Graham’s Despatches.

[331] In a conversation between General Hill and Major-General Stewart (Garth), a few days after the battle, the former, alluding to the attempt of the enemy to take the redoubt, said to General Stewart, “I saw your old friends the Highlanders in a most perilous situation; and had I not known their firmness I should have trembled for the result. As it was, they could not have resisted the force brought against them if they had not been so instantaneously supported.” Being asked by General Stewart what was the amount at which he calculated the strength of the enemy’s column of attack, he replied, “Not less than 6000 men.” In passing soon afterwards through Languedoc, Stewart stopped to view a brigade of French infantry exercising. The French commanding officer rode up to him, and invited him, with great politeness, to accompany him through the ranks. Talking of the recent battles, the French general concluded his observations thus,--“Well, we are quite satisfied if the English army think we fought bravely, and did our duty well.” General Stewart mentioning the Highland corps, “Ah!” said the Frenchman, “these are brave soldiers. If they had good officers, I should not like to meet them unless I was well supported. I put them to the proof on that day.” Being asked in what manner, he answered “that he led the division which attempted to retake the redoubt;” and on a further question as to the strength of the column, he replied, “More than 6000 men.” As General Hill was more than two miles from the field of action, the accuracy of his calculation is remarkable.

[332] Anton’s _Military Life_, p. 120.

[333] Cannon’s _Historical Records of the 42d_, p. 141.

[334] For music of this see end of the history of this regiment.

[335] Anton’s _Military Life_, p. 188.

[336] One English pint. There were four days’ allowance of bread, and three days’ of beef and spirits, issued before leaving Brussels for each man.

[337] These are the only officers of the regiment now (1873) alive who served in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; the former being now Captain Innes, and a military knight of Windsor, and the latter, Captain Orr, residing in Edinburgh.

[338] Stewart’s _Sketches_.

[339] There were no exchanges of men and officers between this and the first battalion.

[340] The number of men who died in this battalion from December 1803, to 24th October 1814, was 322. The number discharged and transferred to the first battalion and to other regiments, from 1803 till the reduction in 1814, was 965 men.

[341] The deaths by sickness in the second battalion are not included. This battalion sustained very little loss in war.

[342] Anton’s _Military Life_, p. 247.

[343] The following is an extract from the account published at the time; “Tuesday, the first division of the 42d regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Henry Dick (who succeeded to the command of the regiment, on the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Macara, killed at Quatre Bras), marched into the Castle. Major-General Hope, commander of the district, and Colonel David Stewart of Garth, accompanied the Lieutenant-Colonel at the head of the regiment. Not only the streets of the city were crowded beyond all former precedent with spectators, but the windows, and even the house-tops, were occupied. The road from Musselburgh, a distance of six miles, was filled with relations and friends; and so great was the crowd, that it was after four o’clock before they arrived at the Castle Hill, although they passed through Portobello about two o’clock. It was almost impossible for these gallant men to get through the people, particularly in the city. All the bells were rung, and they were everywhere received with the loudest acclamations.”

[344] Peelers and Bobbies are names by which the police are sometimes, even yet, referred to. They were embodied under an Act brought in by Sir Robert Peel about 1820. In 1823 it was extended to all Ireland.

[345] The 12th, 20th, 23d, 45th, 71st, 91st, 97th, and second battalion Rifle Brigade.

[346] Lieutenant-Colonel Johnstone appropriately acknowledged the honour thus conferred upon him by his Cephalonian friends:--

“_Farewell to Cephalonia, 1843._

“GENTLEMEN,

“_Nobili e cari Signori._

“I hardly know how to express my sense of your kindness, or how much I feel honoured by the announcement you have just made me of the intention of my friends in Cephalonia to present me with a medal, on my departure from this Island. As a proof of yours and their esteem, I cannot value it too highly, nor can I fail, however poor my merits may have been, to appreciate the generosity of feeling which has actuated you on this occasion.

“Your allusions to the 42d and my family have been most gratifying to me, and one and all desire to join me in every good wish for your prosperity and happiness. May this happiness be long continued to you; and may the zeal and ability for which so many of you are distinguished be honourably and usefully employed in promoting the best interests of your country.

“Dear Friends, farewell,
“Cari Cefeleni Amici, Addio.”

[347] Galatabourna, close to the Black Sea, about five miles to the south-west of Varna.

[348] Whose kindness in allowing us to make these extracts we have pleasure in acknowledging.

[349] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, vol. ii. pp. 186, 216.

[350] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 234.

[351] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, vol. ii. p. 242.

[352] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 242.

[353] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, v. ii. p. 252.

[354] _Letters from Headquarters._

[355] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, v. ii. p. 443.

[356] We shall take the liberty of quoting here the same author’s sketch of Campbell’s career:--

“Whilst Ensign Campbell was passing from boyhood to man’s estate, he was made partaker in the great transactions which were then beginning to work out the liberation of Europe. In the May of 1808 he received his first commission--a commission in the 9th Foot; and a few weeks afterwards--then too young to carry the colours--he was serving with his regiment upon the heights of Vimieira. There the lad saw the turning of a tide in human affairs; saw the opening of the mighty strife between ‘Column’ and ‘Line;’ saw France, long unmatched upon the Continent, retreat before British infantry; saw the first of Napoleon’s stumbles, and the fame of Sir Arthur Wellesley beginning to dawn over Europe.

“He was in Sir John Moore’s campaign, and at its closing scene--Corunna. He was with the Walcheren expedition; and afterwards, returning to the Peninsula, he was at the battle of Barossa, the defence of Tarifa, the relief of Taragona, and the combats at Malaga and Osma. He led a forlorn hope at the storming of St Sebastian, and was there wounded twice; he was at Vittoria; he was at the passage of the Bidassoa; he took part in the American war of 1814; he served in the West Indies; he served in the Chinese war of 1842. These occasions he had so well used that his quality as a soldier was perfectly well known. He had been praised and praised again and again; but since he was not so connected as to be able to move the dispensers of military rank, he gained promotion slowly, and it was not until the second Sikh war that he had a command as a general: even then he had no rank in the army above that of a colonel. At Chilianwalla he commanded a division. Marching in person with one of his two brigades, he had gained the heights on the extreme right of the Sikh position, and then bringing round the left shoulder, he had rolled up the enemy’s line and won the day; but since his other brigade (being separated from him by a long distance) had wanted his personal control, and fallen into trouble, the brilliancy of the general result which he had achieved did not save him altogether from criticism. That day he was wounded for the fourth time. He commanded a division at the great battle of Gujerat; and, being charged to press the enemy’s retreat, he had so executed his task that 158 guns and the ruin of the foe were the fruit of the victory. In 1851 and the following year he commanded against the hill-tribes. It was he who forced the Kohat Pass. It was he who, with only a few horsemen and some guns, at Punj Pao, compelled the submission of the combined tribes then acting against him with a force of 8000 men. It was he who, at Ishakote, with a force of less than 3000 men, was able to end the strife; and when he had brought to submission all those beyond the Indus who were in arms against the Government, he instantly gave proof of the breadth and scope of his mind as well as of the force of his character; for he withstood the angry impatience of men in authority over him, and insisted that he must be suffered to deal with the conquered people in the spirit of a politic and merciful ruler.

“After serving with all this glory for some forty-four years, he came back to England; but between the Queen and him there stood a dense crowd of families--men, women, and children--extending further than the eye could reach, and armed with strange precedents which made it out to be right that people who had seen no service should be invested with high command, and that Sir Colin Campbell should be only a colonel. Yet he was of so fine a nature that, although he did not always avoid great bursts of anger, there was no ignoble bitterness in his sense of wrong. He awaited the time when perhaps he might have high command, and be able to serve his country in a sphere proportioned to his strength. His friends, however, were angry for his sake; and along with their strong devotion towards him there was bred a fierce hatred of a system of military dispensation which could keep in the background a man thus tried and thus known.

“Upon the breaking-out of the war with Russia, Sir Colin was appointed--not to the command of a division, but of a brigade. It was not till the June of 1854 that his rank in the army became higher than that of a colonel.”

[357] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, vol. ii. pp. 474-79.

[358] Kinglake’s _Crimea_, vol. ii. pp. 481-86.

[359] Many of our people who had heard the cheers of the Highlanders were hindered from seeing them by the bend of the ground, and they supposed that the cheers were uttered in charging. It was not so. The Highlanders advanced in silence.

[360] Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 487-90, 493.

[361] _Letters from Headquarters._

[362] We omitted to notice the death of this excellent officer in the proper place. It occurred while the regiment was at Vido in 1835. Sir Charles had gone on leave to Switzerland, with unaccountable reluctance it is said, though he was in apparently perfect health, and died at Geneva, after a short illness, on 30th September. His loss was deeply lamented by all ranks. The announcement of his unexpected death cast a gloom over the regiment, which was long felt. His gentlemanly bearing and kindly disposition made him universally loved and respected both by officers and men. The regiment was fortunate in his successor--Major William Middleton, who had served in the corps from 1803.

[363] Alluding to the Brigade Centre for the 42d and 79th being told off for Dundee, which was subsequently altered to Perth.

[364] The rank after the name is that held in December 1872, or the one attained before death. The first date is that of joining the regiment, followed by the rank at the time. Field and staff officers since 1817 are included in the general list, as well as in the separate succession lists of those officers. Those left unfinished were alive, or still serving in the regiment, on the 1st January 1873.

[365] Never served in the regiment as an officer.

[366] Never served in the Regiment as an Officer.

LOUDON’S HIGHLANDERS.

1745-1748.

Raising of Regiment--Rebellion of 1745--Flanders--Bergen-op-Zoom
--Reduction of Regiment.

The bravery displayed by Lord John Murray’s Highlanders at Fontenoy opened the eyes of Government to the importance of securing the military services of the clans. It was therefore determined to repair, in part, the loss sustained in that well-fought action, by raising a second regiment in the Highlands, and authority to that effect was granted to the Earl of Loudon. By the influence of the noblemen, chiefs, and gentlemen of the country, whose sons and connexions were to be appointed officers, a body of 1250 men was raised, of whom 750 assembled at Inverness, and the remainder at Perth. The whole were formed into a battalion of twelve companies, under the following officers, their commissions being dated June 8th 1745:--

_Colonel._--John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, who died in 1782,
a general in the army.
_Lieutenant-Colonel._--John Campbell (afterwards Duke of
Argyll), who died a field-marshal in 1806.

_Captains._

John Murray (afterwards Duke of Athole), son of Lord George Murray.
Alexander Livingstone Campbell, son of Ardkinglass.
John Macleod, younger of Macleod.
Henry Munro, son of Colonel Sir Robert Munro of Fowlis.
Lord Charles Gordon, brother of the Duke of Gordon.
John Stewart, son of the Earl of Moray.
Alexander Mackay, son of Lord Reay.
Ewen Macpherson of Clunie.
John Sutherland of Forse.
Colin Campbell of Ballimore, killed at Culloden.
Archibald Macnab, who died a lieutenant-general in 1791, son of
the laird of Macnab.

_Lieutenants._

Colin Campbell of Kilberrie.
Alexander Maclean.
John Campbell of Strachur, who died in 1806, a general in the army,
and colonel of the 57th regiment.
Duncan Robertson of Drumachuine, afterwards of Strowan.
Patrick Campbell, son of Achallader.
Donald Macdonald.
James Macpherson of Killihuntly.
John Robertson or Reid, of Straloch, who died in 1806, at the age
of eighty-five, a general in the army and colonel of the 88th
or Connaught Rangers.[367]
Patrick Grant, younger of Rothiemurchus.
John Campbell of Ardsliginish.
Alexander Campbell, brother to Barcaldine.
Donald Macdonell of Lochgarry.
Colin Campbell of Glenure.

_Ensigns._

James Stewart of Urrard.
John Martin of Inch.
George Munroe of Novar.
Malcolm Ross, younger of Pitcalnie.
Hugh Mackay.
James Fraser.
David Spalding of Ashintully.
Archibald Campbell.
Donald Macneil.
Alexander Maclagan, son of the minister of Little Dunkeld.
Robert Bisset of Glenelbert, afterwards commissary-general of
Great Britain.
John Grant, younger of Dalrachnie.

Before the regiment was disciplined, the rebellion broke out, and so rapid were the movements of the rebels, that the communication between the two divisions, at Perth and Inverness, was cut off. They were therefore obliged to act separately. The formation of the regiment at the time was considered a fortunate circumstance, as many of the men would certainly have joined in the insurrection; and indeed several of the officers and men went over to the rebels. Four companies were employed in the central and southern Highlands, whilst the rest were occupied in the northern Highlands, under Lord Loudon. Three companies under the Hon. Captains Stewart and Mackay, and Captain Munro of Fowlis, were, with all their officers, taken prisoners at the battle of Gladsmuir. Three other companies were also at the battle of Culloden, where Captain Campbell and six men were killed and two soldiers wounded.

On the 30th of May 1747, the regiment embarked at Burntisland for Flanders, but it did not join the Duke of Cumberland’s army till after the battle of Lafeldt, on the 2d of July. Though disappointed of the opportunity which this battle would have given them of distinguishing themselves, another soon offered for the display of their gallantry. Marshal Saxe having determined to attack the strong fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom, with an army of 25,000 men under General Count Lowendahl, all the disposable forces in Brabant, including Loudon’s Highlanders, were sent to defend the lines, which were strongly fortified. To relieve the garrison, consisting of six battalions, and to preserve a communication with the country, eighteen battalions occupied the lines. The fortress, which was considered impregnable, was defended by 250 pieces of cannon. The siege was carried on unremittingly from the 15th of July till the 17th of September, during which time many sorties were made. In the _Hague Gazette_, an account is given of one of these, which took place on the 25th of July, in which it is stated “that the Highlanders, who were posted in Fort Rouro, which covers the lines of Bergen-op-Zoom, made a sally, sword in hand, in which they were so successful as to destroy the enemy’s grand battery, and to kill so many of their men, that Count Lowendahl beat a parley, in order to bury the dead. To this it was answered, that had he attacked the place agreeably to the rules of war, his demand would certainly have been granted; but as he had begun the siege like an incendiary, by setting fire to the city with red-hot balls, a resolution had been taken neither to ask or grant any suspension of arms.”

Having made breaches in a ravelin and two bastions, the besiegers made an unexpected assault on the night of the 16th of September, and throwing themselves into the fosse, mounted the breaches, forced open a sally port, and, entering the place, ranged themselves along the ramparts, almost before the garrison had assembled. Cronstrun, the old governor, and many of his officers, were asleep, and so sudden and unexpected was the attack, that several of them flew to the ranks in their shirts. Though the possession of the ramparts sealed the fate of the town, the Scottish troops were not disposed to surrender it without a struggle. The French were opposed by two regiments of the Scotch brigade, in the pay of the States-general, who, by their firmness, checked the progress of the enemy, and enabled the governor and garrison to recover from their surprise. The Scotch assembled in the market-place, and attacked the French with such vigour that they drove them from street to street, till, fresh reinforcements pouring in, they were compelled to retreat in their turn,--disputing every inch as they retired, and fighting till two-thirds of their number fell on the spot, killed or severely wounded,--when the remainder brought off the old governor, and joined the troops in the lines.

The troops in the lines, most unaccountably, retreated immediately, and the enemy thus became masters of the whole navigation of the Scheldt. “Two battalions,” says an account of the assault published in the _Hague Gazette_, “of the Scotch brigade have, as usual, done honour to their country,--which is all we have to comfort us for the loss of such brave men, who, from 1450, are now reduced to 330 men--and those have valiantly brought their colours with them, which the grenadiers twice recovered from the midst of the French at the point of the bayonet. The Swiss have also suffered, while others took a more _speedy way to escape_ danger.” In a history of this memorable siege the brave conduct of the Scotch is also thus noticed: “It appears that more than 300 of the Scotch brigade fought their way through the enemy, and that they have had 19 officers killed and 18 wounded. Lieutenants Francis and Allan Maclean of the brigade were taken prisoners, and carried before General Lowendahl, who thus addressed them: ‘Gentlemen, consider yourselves on parole. If all had conducted themselves as you and your brave corps have done, I should not now be master of Bergen-op-Zoom.’”[368]

The loss of a fortress hitherto deemed impregnable was deeply felt by the allies. The eyes of all Europe had been fixed upon this important siege, and when the place fell strong suspicions were entertained of treachery in the garrison. Every thing had been done by the people of the United Provinces to enable the soldiers to hold out: they were allowed additional provisions of the best quality, and cordials were furnished for the sick and dying. Large sums of money were collected to be presented to the soldiers, if they made a brave defence; and £17,000 were collected in one day in Amsterdam, to be applied in the same way, if the soldiers compelled the enemy to raise the siege. Every soldier who carried away a gabion from the enemy was paid a crown, and such was the activity of the Scotch, that some of them gained ten crowns a-day in this kind of service. Those who ventured to take the burning fuse out of the bombs of the enemy (and there were several who did so), received ten or twelve ducats. In this remarkable siege the French sustained an enormous loss, exceeding 22,000 men; that of the garrison did not exceed 4000.[369]

After the loss of Bergen-op-Zoom, Loudon’s Highlanders joined the Duke of Cumberland’s army, and at the peace of 1748 returned to Scotland, and was reduced at Perth in June of the same year.

FOOTNOTES:

[367] For details as to General Reid, see accounts of Clan Robertson and the 42d Regiment.

[368] Lieutenant Allan Maclean was son of Maclean of Torloisk. He left the Dutch and entered the British service. He was a captain in Montgomery’s Highlanders in 1757; raised the 114th Highland regiment in 1759; and, in 1775, raised a battalion of the 84th, a Highland Emigrant regiment; and, by his unwearied zeal and abilities, was the principal cause of the defeat of the Americans at the attack on Quebec in 1775-6. Lieutenant Francis Maclean also entered the British service, and rose to the rank of Major-general. In the year 1777 he was appointed colonel of the 82d regiment, and, in 1779 commanded an expedition against Penobscot in Nova Scotia, in which he was completely successful.--_Stewart’s Sketches._

[369] The following anecdote of faithful attachment is told by Mrs Grant, in her _Superstitions of the Highlanders_. Captain Fraser of Culduthel, an officer of the Black Watch, was a volunteer at this celebrated siege, as was likewise his colonel, Lord John Murray. Captain Fraser was accompanied by his servant, who was also his foster-brother. A party from the lines was ordered to attack and destroy a battery raised by the enemy. Captain Fraser accompanied this party, directing his servant to remain in the garrison. “The night was pitch dark, and the party had such difficulty in proceeding that they were forced to halt for a short time. As they moved forward Captain Fraser felt his path impeded, and putting down his hand to discover the cause, he caught hold of a plaid, and seized the owner, who seemed to grovel on the ground. He held the caitiff with one hand, and drew his dirk with the other, when he heard the imploring voice of his foster-brother. ‘What the devil brought you here?’ ‘Just love of you and care of your person.’ ‘Why so, when your love can do me no good; and why encumber yourself with a plaid?’ ‘Alas! how could I ever see my mother had you been killed or wounded, and I not been there to carry you to the surgeon, or to Christian burial? and how could I do either without any plaid to wrap you in?’ Upon inquiry it was found that the poor man had crawled out on his knees and hands between the sentinels, then followed the party to some distance, till he thought they were approaching the place of assault, and then again crept in the same manner on the ground, beside his master, that he might be near him unobserved.”

Captain Fraser was unfortunately killed a few days thereafter, by a random shot, while looking over the ramparts.

MONTGOMERY’S HIGHLANDERS,

OR

SEVENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.

1757-1763.

Lord Chatham and the Highlanders--Raising of the Regiment
--America--Fort du Quèsne--Ticonderoga--Cherokees--Dominique
--West Indies--Newfoundland--Fort Pitt.

We have already quoted[370] Lord Chatham’s eloquent statement with regard to the Highland Regiments, in his celebrated speech on the differences with America in 1766. The only way by which the Highlanders could be gained over was by adopting a liberal course of policy, the leading features of which should embrace the employment of the chiefs, or their connections, in the military service of the government. It was reserved to the sagacity of Chatham to trace to its source the cause of the disaffection of the Highlanders, and, by suggesting a remedy, to give to their military virtue a safe direction.

Acting upon the liberal plan he had devised, Lord Chatham (then Mr Pitt), in the year 1757 recommended to his Majesty George II. to employ the Highlanders in his service, as the best means of attaching them to his person. The king approved of the plan of the minister, and letters of service were immediately issued for raising several Highland regiments. This call to arms was responded to by the clans, and “battalions on battalions,” to borrow the words of an anonymous author, “were raised in the remotest part of the Highlands, among those who a few years before were devoted to, and too long had followed the fate of the race of Stuarts. Frasers, Macdonalds, Camerons, Macleans, Macphersons, and others of disaffected names and clans, were enrolled; their chiefs or connections obtained commissions; the lower class, always ready to follow, with eagerness endeavoured who should be first listed.”

This regiment was called Montgomerie’s Highlanders, from the name of its colonel, the Hon. Archibald Montgomerie, son of the Earl of Eglinton, to whom, when major, letters of service were issued for recruiting it. Being popular among the Highlanders, Major Montgomerie soon raised the requisite body of men, who were formed into a regiment of thirteen companies of 105 rank and file each; making in all 1460 effective men, including 65 sergeants, and 30 pipers and drummers.

The colonel’s commission was dated the 4th of January 1757. The commissions of the other officers were dated each a day later than his senior in the same rank.

_Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding._

The Hon. Archibald Montgomerie, afterwards Earl of Eglinton, died a
general in the army, and colonel of the Scots Greys, in 1796.

_Majors._

James Grant of Ballindalloch, died a general in the army in 1806.
Alexander Campbell.

_Captains._

John Sinclair.
Hugh Mackenzie.
John Gordon.
Alexander Mackenzie, killed at St John’s, 1761.
William Macdonald, killed at Fort du Quèsne, 1759.
George Munro, killed at Fort du Quèsne, 1759.
Robert Mackenzie.
Allan Maclean, from the Dutch brigade, colonel of the 84th Highland
Emigrants; died Major-general, 1784.
James Robertson.
Allan Cameron.
Captain-lieutenant Alexander Mackintosh.

_Lieutenants._

Charles Farquharson.
Alexander Mackenzie, killed at Fort du Quèsne, 1759.
Nichol Sutherland, died Lieutenant-colonel of the 47th regiment,
1780.
Donald Macdonald.
William Mackenzie, killed at Fort du Quèsne.
Robert Mackenzie, killed at Fort du Quèsne.
Henry Munro.
Archibald Robertson.
Duncan Bayne.
James Duff.
Colin Campbell, killed at Fort du Quèsne, 1759.
James Grant.
Alexander Macdonald.
Joseph Grant.
Robert Grant.
Cosmo Martin.
John Macnab.
Hugh Gordon, killed in Martinique, 1762.
Alexander Macdonald, killed at Fort du Quèsne.
Donald Campbell.
Hugh Montgomerie, late Earl of Eglinton.
James Maclean, killed in the West Indies, 1761.
Alexander Campbell.
John Campbell of Melford.
James Macpherson.
Archibald Macvicar, killed at the Havannah, 1762.

_Ensigns._

Alexander Grant.
William Haggart.
Lewis Houston.
Ronald Mackinnon.
George Munro.
Alexander Mackenzie.
John Maclachlane.
William Maclean.
James Grant.
John Macdonald.
Archibald Crawford.
James Bain.
Allan Stewart.

_Chaplain._--Henry Munro.
_Adjutant._--Donald Stewart.
_Quarter-master._--Alex. Montgomerie.
_Surgeon._--Allan Stewart.

The regiment embarked at Greenock for Halifax, and on the commencement of hostilities in 1758 was attached to the corps under Brigadier-general Forbes in the expedition against Fort du Quèsne, one of the three great enterprises undertaken that year against the French possessions in North America. Although the point of attack was not so formidable, nor the number of the enemy so great, as in the cases of Ticonderoga and Crown Point; yet the great extent of country which the troops had to traverse covered with woods, morasses, and mountains, made the expedition as difficult as the other two. The army of General Forbes was 6238 men strong.

The brigadier reached Raystown, about 90 miles from the Fort, in September, having apparently stayed some time in Philadelphia.[371] Having sent Colonel Boquet forward to Loyal Henning, 40 miles nearer, with 2000 men, this officer rashly despatched Major Grant of Montgomery’s with 400 Highlanders and 500 provincials to reconnoitre. When near the garrison Major Grant imprudently advanced with pipes playing and drums beating, as if entering a friendly town. The enemy instantly marched out, and a warm contest took place. Major Grant ordered his men to throw off their coats and advance sword in hand. The enemy fled on the first charge, and spread themselves among the woods; but being afterwards joined by a body of Indians, they rallied and surrounded the detachment on all sides. Protected by a thick foliage, they opened a destructive fire upon the British. Major Grant then endeavoured to force his way into the wood, but was taken in the attempt, on seeing which his troops dispersed. Only 150 of the Highlanders returned to Loyal Henning.

In this unfortunate affair 231 soldiers of the regiment were killed and wounded. The names of the officers killed on this occasion have already been mentioned; the following were wounded: viz. Captain Hugh Mackenzie; Lieutenants Alexander Macdonald, junior, Archibald Robertson, Henry Monro; and Ensigns John Macdonald and Alexander Grant. The enemy did not venture to oppose the main body, but retired from Fort du Quèsne on its approach, leaving their ammunition, stores, and provisions untouched. General Forbes took possession of the Fort on the 24th of November, and, in honour of Mr Pitt, gave it the name of Pittsburgh.

AS IN 1753 A.D.,

TAKEN FROM THE JERSEY SIDE OF THE DELAWARE.

1. Christ Church.
2. State House.
3. Academy.
4. Wesleyan Church.
5. Dutch Calvinist Church.
6. The Court House.
7. Corn Mill.
8. Quaker Meeting House.

From a rare print, the drawing of which was made under the direction of Nicholas Scull, Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania.]

The regiment passed the winter of 1758 in Pittsburgh, and in May following they joined part of the army under General Amherst in his proceedings at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and the Lakes,--a detail of which has been given in the history of the service of the 42d regiment.

In consequence of the renewed cruelties committed by the Cherokees, in the spring of 1760, the commander-in-chief detached Colonel Montgomery with 700 Highlanders of his own regiment, 400 of the Royals, and a body of provincials, to chastise these savages. The colonel arrived in the neighbourhood of the Indian town Little Keowee in the middle of June, having, on his route, detached the light companies of Royals and Highlanders to destroy the place. This service was performed with the loss of a few men killed and two officers of the Royals wounded. Finding, on reaching Estatoe, that the enemy had fled, Colonel Montgomery retired to Fort Prince George. The Cherokees still proving refractory, he paid a second visit to the middle settlement, where he met with some resistance. He had 2 officers and 20 men killed, and 26 officers and 68 men wounded.[372] Of these, the Highlanders had 1 sergeant and 6 privates killed, and Captain Sutherland, Lieutenants Macmaster and Mackinnon, and Assistant-surgeon Monro, and 1 sergeant, 1 piper, and 24 rank and file wounded. The detachment took Fort Loudon,--a small fort on the confines of Virginia,--which was defended by 200 men.

The next service in which Montgomery’s Highlanders were employed was in an expedition against Dominique, consisting of a small land force, which included six companies of Montgomery’s Highlanders and four ships of war, under Colonel Lord Rollo and Commodore Sir James Douglas. The transports from New York were scattered in a gale of wind, when a small transport, with a company of the Highlanders on board, being attacked by a French privateer, was beaten off by the Highlanders, with the loss of Lieutenant Maclean and 6 men killed, and Captain Robertson and 11 men wounded. The expedition arrived off Dominique on the 6th of June 1761. The troops immediately landed, and marched with little opposition to the town of Roseau. Lord Rollo without delay attacked the entrenchments, and, though the enemy kept up a galling fire, they were driven, in succession, from all their works by the grenadiers, light infantry, and Highlanders. This service was executed with such vigour and rapidity that few of the British suffered. The governor and his staff being made prisoners, surrendered the island without further opposition.

In the following year Montgomery’s Highlanders joined the expeditions against Martinique and the Havannah, of which an account will be found in the narrative of the service of the 42d regiment. In the enterprise against Martinique, Lieutenant Hugh Gordon and 4 rank and file were killed, and Captain Alexander Mackenzie, 1 sergeant, and 26 rank and file, were wounded. Montgomery’s Highlanders suffered still less in the conquest of the Havannah, Lieutenant Macvicar and 2 privates only having been killed, and 6 privates wounded. Lieutenants Grant and Macnab and 6 privates died of the fever. After this last enterprise Montgomery’s Highlanders returned to New York, where they landed in the end of October.

Before the return of the six companies to New York, the two companies that had been sent against the Indians in the autumn of 1761, had embarked with a small force, under Colonel Amherst, destined to retake St John’s, Newfoundland, which was occupied by a French force. The British force, which consisted of the flank companies of the Royals, a detachment of the 45th, two companies of Fraser’s and Montgomery’s Highlanders, and a small party of provincials, landed on the 12th of September, seven miles to the northward of St John’s. A mortar battery having been completed on the 17th, and ready to open on the garrison, the French commander surrendered by capitulation to an inferior force. Of Montgomery’s Highlanders, Captain Mackenzie and 4 privates were killed, and 2 privates wounded.

After this service the two companies joined the regiment at New York, where they passed the ensuing winter. In the summer of 1763 a detachment accompanied the expedition sent to the relief of Fort Pitt under Colonel Bouquet, the details of which have been already given in the account of the 42d regiment. In this enterprise 1 drummer and 5 privates of Montgomery’s Highlanders were killed, and Lieutenant Donald Campbell, and Volunteer John Peebles, 3 sergeants, and 7 privates were wounded.

After the termination of hostilities an offer was made to the officers and men either to settle in America or return to their own country. Those who remained obtained a grant of land in proportion to their rank. On the breaking out of the American war a number of these, as well as officers and men of the 78th regiment, joined the royal standard in 1775, and formed a corps along with the Highland Emigrants in the 84th regiment.

FOOTNOTES:

[370] Vol. ii. p. 345.

[371] See vol. ii. p. 354, _note_.