Chapter LXX: Introduction: Military character of the Highlands (37)

The force halted at Bhowra until the 18th of Sept., the whole being formed into one brigade under Lt.-Col. Lockhart. Setting out on that day, the force marching by Seronj reached Mungrowlee on the 9th of Oct., when just as the tents had been pitched, it was reported that the rebels were advancing in force, and were within half a mile of the camp. The squadron of the 17th Lancers was immediately pushed forward, rapidly followed by the artillery and infantry, the 92nd being commanded by Captain Bethune. The enemy, taken by surprise, retreated, and took up position on an eminence 3 miles distant from Mungrowlee, and crowned by the ruins of a village. The rebels covered their front with guns placed in a strip of jungle, which was filled with cavalry and infantry. The British infantry deployed into line, and, covered by skirmishers, advanced upon the enemy’s position. The guns of the latter at once opened, and there was also a well-sustained but not very effective fire of small arms kept up from the jungle. The skirmishers directing their fire on the enemy’s guns (whose position could only be ascertained from their smoke), steadily advanced. After an ineffectual attempt to turn the left wing of the British by the enemy’s cavalry, the latter gave way, leaving their infantry to be severely handled by the Lancers. The line continued to advance, and six guns were taken by a rush of the skirmishers, many of the gunners being shot and bayoneted when endeavouring to escape. The guns being now brought up, the rebels soon were in rapid retreat. There appears to have been no casualties to the 92nd in this well-fought action.

It having been ascertained that the rebels had crossed the Betwa, and were now located on the right bank of that river, Major-General Michel arranged with Brigadier Smith, commanding a field column in the Chundaree district, that the two forces should make a combined movement, and for this purpose they were divided into three columns. The left column, consisting of the infantry of his brigade, under Brigadier Smith, was to move down the left bank of the river towards the Chundaree, prepared to cross to the right bank if necessary. The cavalry and horse artillery of both brigades, forming the centre column, under the immediate command of Major-General Michel, was to cross at the ford by which the enemy had retreated. The right column, consisting of the infantry and artillery of Lt.-Col. Lockhart’s brigade, under that officer, was to cross the river by the Khunjea Ghaut and proceed to Nurat. This place it reached on the 17th of October, and on the 18th was joined by the centre column, which had been unable to penetrate the very dense jungle.

On the morning of the 19th, the 92nd being led by Captain A. W. Cameron, the two combined columns marched upon the village of Sindwaho, about 12 miles distant, and where the enemy were reported to be in strength. The force halted within half a mile of the village, to the right of which the enemy were discovered drawn up in order of battle. The cavalry and horse artillery advanced to the attack, and the infantry, who were to advance upon the village, under Lt.-Col. Lockhart, were deployed into line, covered by skirmishers. The 71st passed to the right of the village, the 92nd through the village and thick enclosures on the left, and the 19th Bombay Native Infantry were on more open ground to the left of the 92nd. The enemy were found to have abandoned the village, but many were shot down in the advance of the skirmishers through the enclosures. When clear of the village, the infantry advanced in echelon of battalions from the right. While the 71st took ground to the right, and the 19th Bengal Native Infantry went to the help of the Bombay Artillery, the 92nd, under Captain Cameron, advanced in the face of a large body of cavalry, who had posted themselves under a large tope of trees on a rising ground and frequently threatened to charge. By this time the 92nd was quite separated from the rest of the force. A battery of artillery having been sent to join the 92nd, and as the enemy still threatened to charge, the skirmishers were recalled, and fire opened from right to left; as shot and shell were at the same time thrown into the tope, the enemy retired, and were soon in rapid retreat, pursued by the cavalry.

During the 20th the force halted at Tehree and on this as on previous occasions the Major-General issued an order congratulating the troops on their success, and justly praising the exertions and bravery of officers and men. On this last occasion, Col. Lockhart’s ability in handling his brigade elicited the Major-General’s warmest approbation.

The force set out again on the 21st, and marching each day reached Dujorial on the 24th. The Major-General having heard that the enemy were at Kimlasa, moved on Kuraya at 2 A.M. on the 25th, and at dawn the whole of the rebel army was discovered crossing in front just beyond Kuraya. When the cavalry, which had started an hour later than the infantry, came up, they found that the infantry under Col. Lockhart, having cut through the enemy’s line of march, had just wheeled to the right and part advanced skirmishing. The infantry had indeed dispersed the enemy when the cavalry arrived; the latter therefore set out in rapid pursuit, the infantry following for about five miles and clearing the villages of the rebels.

The force remained at Kuraya till the 27th, when it proceeded south, and reached Bhilsa on the 2nd of November. On the 4th the Major-General proceeded with the cavalry in pursuit of the rebels, who had crossed the Nerbudda, leaving the infantry and Le Marchant’s battery of artillery to watch Bhilsa and Bhopal, both being threatened by bodies of local rebels. The infantry remained at Bhilsa until the 9th, when, proceeding by Goolgong, they reached Bhopal on the 17th, leaving it on the 23rd for Sehore.

The rebels, in the meantime, after crossing the Nerbudda, had been again repulsed by the troops in Candeish. One hundred men of the 92nd, part of a small column under Major Sutherland, proceeded on the 20th of November to cross the Nerbudda, and on the 24th reached Jeelwana, where they were joined by another 50 men of the 92nd and a like number of the 71st mounted on camels. On the morning of the 24th Major Sutherland proceeded with 120 Highlanders and 80 sepoys, partly on camels, and soon ascertaining that the rebels, under Tantéa Topee, with two guns, were on the road to Rajpoor, pushed on in pursuit. On approaching Rajpoor, the rebel force was perceived passing through it, and the Highlanders, on camels, pushing rapidly forward, came on the enemy in half an hour. Before the men, however, could dismount for the attack, the rebels again retired. By this time the men following on foot, both Europeans and natives, having marched at a very rapid pace in rear, overtook the men on camels. The whole now advanced together direct upon the enemy, who had taken up a strong position, in order of battle, on a rocky and wooded ridge, their two guns on the road commanding the only approach. The Highlanders, supported by the native troops, at once advanced, and rushing up the road under a shower of grape, in a very short time captured the guns, on which the rebels precipitately abandoned their position. In this attack, Lt. and Adjutant Humfrey was wounded.

Major Sutherland’s force remained in the neighbourhood of Kooksee until the 27th of December, when it was ordered to join headquarters at Mhow.

Lt.-Col. Lockhart’s column left Sehore and marched upon Indore on the 29th of November, that town being considered in danger of an attack by the rebels. Indore was reached on December 4th, and the column halted there until the 6th, when it returned to quarters at Mhow, having detached No. 10 and part of No. 3 companies under Captain Bethune to join a small force proceeding towards Rutlâm. These companies were subsequently attached to Brigadier Somerset’s column, and mounted on camels, they underwent great privations and severe fatigue during the rapid pursuit in the Banswarra country. On the morning of the 1st of January 1859, the column came up with the rebels at daylight at Baroda, but the men had scarcely dismounted ere the rebels had, as usual, commenced a rapid retreat; this, however, they did not effect before being considerably cut up by the cavalry and guns attached to the force. These companies did not rejoin headquarters until the 24th of May 1859.

On the 2nd of March, headquarters, numbering about 1000 officers and men, marched from Mhow to Jhansi, there to be quartered; but, on reaching Bursud, they were directed by Brigadier-General Sir R. Napier to assist in clearing that neighbourhood of some rebels said to be located in the jungles. For this purpose all the heavy baggage was left at Bursud in charge of a company, and the remainder proceeded in light order to Ummeerghur and subsequently to Karadev. The jungles were in vain searched for any rebels, and on the 25th the force again got on to the main road at Goona and proceeded towards Jhansi, which it reached on the 7th of April. Nos. 8 and 9 companies proceeded direct to Lullutpoor, where they were stationed on detached duty under Major Sutherland. Remnants of rebels who had, after being broken up into small parties, reunited under Feroze Shah, and taken refuge in the dense jungles, were by the junction of forces from Lullutpoor and other places driven from their refuge, without, however, their having been actually come in contact with. The duty was, nevertheless, of a harassing nature, and was rendered more so by the sickness which had latterly prevailed at Lullutpoor and reduced the men stationed there to a weak condition.

On the 1st of June 1859, No. 7 company was detached to Seepree, and on the evening of the 30th, 40 men of that company under Ensign Emmet, mounted on elephants, proceeded with a mixed native force, the whole under the command of Major Meade, to surprise a numerous party of rebels who had located themselves in a village about 28 miles distant. The village, which was situated on an eminence and surrounded by thick jungle, was reached by 5.30 A.M. on the 1st of July, and the attack immediately commenced. The rebels in considerable numbers took refuge in a large house well loop-holed, and kept up a warm fire of musketry on their assailants; they were not finally subdued until the house caught fire. Of the 92nd, 4 rank and file were wounded, and Major Meade, in reporting the affair to the commanding officer, said:--“I cannot speak too highly of Ensign Emmet and your men; their coolness and steadiness was most conspicuous.”

On the 14th of October, Nos. 1 and 2 companies proceeded, mounted on camels, as part of a small force ordered from Jhansi under command of Col. Lockhart, in conjunction with 6 other columns, to clear the Bundelcund jungles of rebels. The force continued in the field until the 14th of December. Some difficult and harassing marches were performed in the course of these operations, but the rebels having broken through the circle to the north-east, the Jhansi column, being stationed on the west, did not come in contact with them.

Thus it will be seen that the 92nd performed important and harassing duties during the suppression of the great Indian Mutiny, and certainly seem to have deserved some outward mark of the services they then rendered to their country. Brigadier-General Sir Robert Napier, in bidding farewell to the officers and men of the Gwalior division on the 11th of January 1860, specially acknowledged the important assistance he had received from Col. Lockhart and the men under his command. Notwithstanding the fatiguing work the 92nd had to undergo, both Sir Robert Napier and Lord Clyde, in reporting on their inspection, spoke in the highest terms of the condition of the regiment.

The various detachments having joined headquarters at Jhansi, the regiment, numbering about 960 officers and men, under command of Col. Lockhart, C.B., left Jhansi on the 15th of March for Dugshai, there to be quartered.

The 92nd remained in India for nearly three years longer, during which little occurred in connection with the regiment calling for special notice. Besides the places already mentioned, it was stationed at Umballa, Benares, Rajghaut, and Calcutta, and, on its half-yearly inspection, invariably elicited the unqualified commendation of the inspecting officers and the War Office authorities; the regimental school gained the special praise of the latter.

While stationed at Dugshai, in September 1861, the regiment received the gratifying intelligence that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to authorise the 92nd being designated “The Gordon Highlanders,” by which name it was popularly known at the period of its being raised and for some time afterwards; indeed we suspect it had never ceased to be popularly known by this title.

The Gordon Highlanders embarked at Calcutta for England in two detachments on the 24th and 28th of January 1863, respectively, and rejoined at Gosport on the 20th of May. This was the first time the regiment had been quartered in England since the 22nd of August 1816. Before the 92nd left India, 396 men volunteered into regiments remaining in the country; the deficiency was, however, soon filled up, as, on its being made known, Scotchmen serving in English regiments gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of serving in so distinguished a corps.

The 92nd did not remain long at Gosport. It embarked at Portsmouth on the 10th of July for Edinburgh, arriving off Granton Pier on the 13th, and marching to the Castle through an enthusiastic crowd. It was 17 years since the Gordon Highlanders had last been in Edinburgh. Shortly after its arrival the regiment was inspected by its Colonel, General Sir John M’Donald, K.C.B., who had formerly commanded the 92nd for the long period of 18 years.

The regiment remained scarcely a year in Edinburgh, during which time only one event occurred to mark the “even tenor of its way;” this was the presentation of new colours on the 13th of April 1864. The Highlanders, on that day, were formed in review-order on the Castle Esplanade, shortly after which Major-General Walker, C.B., commanding in Scotland, arrived on the ground accompanied by his staff. General Sir John M’Donald, K.C.B., the veteran colonel of the regiment, was also present, along with Lady M’Donald and other members of his family. After the usual ceremony had been gone through with the old colours, and after the Rev. James Millar, Chaplain of Edinburgh Castle, had offered up an appropriate prayer, the Major-General placed the new colours in the hands of Lady M’Donald, who addressed the regiment in a few most appropriate words:--

“It would be, I believe,” she said, “according to established
custom, that, in placing these colours in your hands, I should
remind you of the duty you owe to them, your Queen, and your
country; but, to the Gordon Highlanders, any such counsel would,
I feel, be superfluous; their glorious deeds of the past are
sufficient guarantee for the future, that wherever and whenever
these colours are borne into action, it will be but to add new
badges to them and fresh honour to the regiment. I cannot let this
opportunity pass without touching on the many happy years I spent
among you, without assuring you of the pleasure it gives me to see
you again, and of my warmest wishes for your welfare and prosperity.”

On the 25th of May 1864, the 92nd left Edinburgh for Glasgow under the command of Col. A. I. Lockhart, C.B. Detachments were also sent to Paisley and Ayr. The 92nd remained in Glasgow till March 1865, during which time it took part in a large sham fight in Renfrewshire, and was present at the inauguration by the Queen of a statue of Prince Albert at Perth, the first erected in the kingdom. On the 25th of January 1865, the depôt joined headquarters from Stirling. It is unnecessary to say that in all its public appearances, and at all inspections while in Scotland, as elsewhere, the Gordon Highlanders received, and that deservedly, the highest encomiums on their appearance, discipline, and conduct.

On the 6th of March 1865, the 92nd, consisting of 1033 officers, men, women, and children, embarked on the Clyde for Portsmouth, _en route_ for Aldershot, arriving at the Camp on the 10th of the same month. While at Aldershot, Major C. M. Hamilton was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and succeeded to the command of the regiment in place of Col. Lockhart, C.B.

The 92nd after remaining a year at Aldershot, during which nothing of note occurred, left for Portsmouth on the 1st of March 1866, and embarked on the same day for Ireland, Lt.-Col. Hamilton commanding. The regiment disembarked at Kingstown on the 5th, and proceeded to the Curragh Camp, where it remained till the 9th, when it removed to Dublin, with the exception of A and C companies, which were left at the Curragh to go through a course of musketry instruction. On the regiment leaving Aldershot, a most gratifying report concerning it was sent to headquarters; the 92nd Highlanders, the Brigade General reported,--

“Are well drilled, their conduct sober, orderly, and soldierlike;
discipline good, and all one could desire in a well regulated corps.”

During its stay in Ireland the 92nd had a taste of the unpleasant duty of aiding the civil power. On the 31st of December 1867, two detachments were sent out for this purpose from the Curragh Camp, where the whole regiment was then stationed, one, under command of Major A. W. Cameron, to Cork; and the other, under command of Captain A. Forbes Mackay, to Tipperary. These detachments seem to have performed their duty effectively and without the sad necessity of resorting to extreme measures;[567] they did not return to Dublin, the former remaining at Cork and the latter proceeding to that place on the 18th of January 1868. Here these detachments were joined by the rest of the regiment on the 25th of January, on which day it embarked at Queenstown for India, sailing next day under command of Lt.-Col. Hamilton. The regiment proceeded by the overland route, and landed at Bombay Harbour on the 26th of February. Here the 92nd was transhipped into three vessels to be taken to Kurrachee, where headquarters arrived on the 8th of March. From Kurrachee this detachment made its way partly by river (the Indus), partly by rail, and partly by road, to Julinder, in the Punjaub, which it reached on the 30th of March, and was joined by the remaining portion of the regiment on the 7th of April. During its stay at Julinder the 92nd furnished detachments regularly to garrison Fort Govindghur, Umritsur, and had the honour, in February 1870, to take part in the reception at Meean Meer of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh; on this occasion the regiment was commanded by Lt.-Col. M’Bean, who had been promoted to the command of the 92nd in room of Lt.-Col. Hamilton. Detachments, consisting mostly of young and sickly men, were also sent occasionally to Dalhousie to be employed in road-making in the Chumba Hills.

The 92nd remained quartered at Julinder until the 18th of December 1871, on which day headquarters and three companies under command of Major G. H. Parker, proceeded by rail to Delhi to form part of the force collected there at the Camp of Exercise. Here it was posted to the 1st brigade (Col. N. Walker, C.B., 1st Buffs) of the 2nd division commanded by Major-General M’Murdo, C.B. The remaining three companies joined headquarters on the following day. The camp of exercise was broken up on the 1st of February 1872, and in the brigade order issued on the occasion by Col. Walker, he stated that--

“The last six weeks have added to the interest I have for many years
taken in the career of my old friends the 92nd Highlanders;”

he also specially mentioned the name of Captain Chalmer of the 92nd, for the valuable services which the latter invariably rendered him.

On the 2nd of February the regiment set out on its march to Chukrata, which it reached on the 2nd of March.

We have much pleasure in referring our readers to the plate of Colonels of the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd regiments, on which we give a portrait of the Marquis of Huntly, who raised the regiment, and was afterwards the last Duke of Gordon, from a painting by A. Robertson, miniature painter to H.R.H. the late Duke of Sussex, and kindly lent us by the Duke of Richmond for our engraving. The portrait was painted in 1806 A.D., and exhibited the same year at the Royal Academy.

The Duke of Gordon’s statue stands in Castle Street, Aberdeen, with the inscription “First Colonel 92nd Gordon Highlanders” at the foot of the granite pedestal. His familiar name in his own district was “The Cock of the North.”

The 92nd uniform is the full Highland costume of Gordon tartan. The officers have a black worm through their lace, as a token of mourning for Sir John Moore.

SUCCESSION LISTS OF COLONELS AND LIEUTENANT-COLONELS OF THE 92ND GORDON HIGHLANDERS.

COLONELS.

GEORGE, MARQUIS OF HUNTLY, May 3, 1796
Served as Brigadier-General in Ireland in 1798
Went to Holland, 1799
Wounded at Egmont-op-Zee, Oct. 2, 1799
Major-General, Jan. 1, 1801
Colonel of the 42nd, Jan. 3, 1806
Lieut.-General, April 1808
General, Aug. 1809
To the 1st (Royal Foot), 1820
K.G.C.B., Duke of Gordon, 1827
Governor of Edinburgh Castle and Keeper of
the Great Seal of Scotland, 1834
Removed to the Scots Fusilier Guards, 1834
Died, May 28, 1836

JOHN, EARL OF HOPETOUN, G.C.B., Jan. 3, 1806
Cornet Light Dragoons, May 28, 1784
Lieutenant in 27th Foot, 1786
Captain 17th Light Dragoons, 1789
Major in 1st Foot, 1792
Lieut.-Col. 25th, 1793
M.P. for Linlithgowshire, 1796
Deputy Adjutant-General in Holland, 1799
Adjutant-General to the Army in the
Mediterranean, 1800
Served in Egypt, 1801
Colonel of the Lowland Fencible Infantry
and Major-General, 1802
Deputy Governor of Portsmouth, 1805
Lieut.-General, April 25, 1808
Commanded under Moore in Spain, 1809
Succeeded in command on Moore’s death, 1809
Last on board the fleet at Corunna; K.C.B., 1809
Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, 1813
At Nivelle, Nive, Bayonne, 1813
Baron Niddry and Earl of Hopetoun, 1814
General, 1819
Colonel of the 42nd, 1820
Died at Paris, Aug. 27, 1823

SIR JOHN HOPE, G.C.H., Jan. 29, 1820
Cadet in Houston’s Brigade, 1778
Ensign, 1779
Captain, 1782
Captain 60th Foot, 1787
Captain 13th Light Dragoons, June 30, 1788
Aide-de-Camp to Sir Wm. Erskine, 1793 and 1794
Major 28th Light Dragoons, 1795
Lieut.-Colonel, 1796
Served at the Cape, 1798-1799
To 32nd Foot, 1799
In the West Indies, 1800-1804
Assistant Adjutant-General in Scotland, 1805
Deputy Adjutant-General to Copenhagen, 1807
Brigadier-General to the Staff, N. Britain, 1808
And then Deputy Adjutant-General there, 1809
Major-General, 1810
On the Peninsular Staff, 1812
For Salamanca, a medal.
On the Staff in Ireland and N. Britain till
1819; made Lieut.-General and G.C.H., 1819
Colonel of the 92nd, Jan. 29, 1820
To the 72nd Highlanders, Sept. 6, 1823
Died, Aug. 1, 1836

HON. SIR ALEXANDER DUFF, G.C.H., Sept. 6, 1823
Removed to the 37th Regiment, July 20, 1831

JOHN, EARL OF STAIR, K.T., July 20, 1831
Removed to the 46th Regiment, May 31, 1843

SIR WM. M’BEAN, K.C.B., May 31, 1843

SIR JOHN MACDONALD, K.C.B., June 25, 1855

LORD STRATHNAIRN, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., June 25, 1866

SIR JOHN CAMPBELL, March 1869
Lieut.-General. Died, Dec. 28, 1871

LIEUT.-GENERAL GEORGE STAUNTON, Dec. 29, 1871

LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.

+-------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------------+
| | Date of | Date of | |
| Names. | Appointment. | Removal. | Remarks. |
+-------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------------+
|The Marquis of |Feb. 10, 1794 |May 3, 1796 |Promoted Colonel |
| Huntly, Lieut.- | | | 92nd, May 3, 1796. |
| Col. Commandant | | | |
|Charles Erskine |May 1, 1795 |March 13, 1807 |Died of wounds |
| | | | received in action |
| | | | near Alexandria, |
| | | | March 13, 1801. |
|James Robertson |Oct. 11, 1798 |Aug. 3, 1804 |Retired on Half-pay. |
|Alexander Napier |April 5, 1801 |Jan. 16, 1809 |Killed at Corunna, |
| | | | Jan. 16, 1809. |
|James Willoughby |Aug. 4, 1804 |June 13, 1808 |Quarter-Master |
| Gordon | | | General of the |
| | | | Forces, and promoted|
| | | | Lieut.-Col. |
| | | | Commandant of the |
| | | | Royal African Corps.|
|John Cameron |June 23, 1808 |June 16, 1815 |Killed at Quatre |
| | | | Bras. |
|John Lamont |Mar. 30, 1809 |Dec. 25, 1814 |Retired on Half-pay. |
|James Mitchell |June 13, 1815 |Sept. 1, 1819 |Retired. |
|Sir Frederick |Sept. 2, 1819 |Aug. 8, 1821 |Removed to the 90th |
| Stovin | | | Foot. |
|William Brydges |Aug. 9, 1821 |Oct. 3, 1821 |Exchanged to H. P. of|
| Neynoe | | | the 4th Foot. |
|David Williamson |Oct. 4, 1821 |Nov. 20, 1828 |Retired. |
|John Macdonald |Nov. 21, 1828 |Nov. 8, 1846 |Promoted Major- |
| | | | General, Nov. 9, |
| | | | 1846. |
|John Alex. Forbes |Nov. 9, 1846 |Nov. 22, 1849 |Retired. |
|Mark Kerr Atherley |Nov. 23, 1849 |Sept. 25, 1855 | |
|Geo. Edward Thorold|Sept. 25, 1855 |Nov. 10, 1856 |Retired on Half-pay; |
| | | | 42nd, July 23, 1857;|
| | | | retired on full-pay,|
| | | | March 16, 1858. |
| | | | See 42nd R. H. |
|Archibald Inglis |Dec. 26, 1857 |March 1865 |Retired. |
| Lockhart | | | |
|E. E. Haines |Mar. 4, 1865 |Sept. 1, 1865 |Retired. |
|Christian Monteith |Sept. 1, 1865 |Dec. 14, 1865 |Retired. |
| Hamilton | | | |
|Forbes M’Bean |Dec. 15, 1869 |Dec. 23, 1873 |Retired. |
|Arthur Wellington |Dec. 24, 1873 | | |
| Cameron | | | |
+-------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------------+

FOOTNOTES:

[560] His portrait is on the plate of colonels of the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd regiments.

[561] “Here the Lochaber men (raised by Captain Cameron) showed at once the influence of that clan-feeling under which they had consented to go to war. When it was proposed to draft them into the separate divisions of grenadiers and light troops, they at once declared that they would neither be separated from each other, nor serve under any captain except Cameron, that they had followed him as their leader, and him only they would serve. It required all his persuasion to induce them to submit to the rules of the service; but, assisted by his relative, Major Campbell of Auch,--a man of weight and experience,--and promising that he himself would always watch over their interests in whatever division they were ranked, he prevailed on them to submit; and as we shall subsequently see, none of them ever had cause to reproach him with forgetting his pledge.” Memoir of Colonel Cameron, by Rev. A. Clerk.--When Huntly first resolved to raise the regiment, he called on old Fassifern, and offered to his son John a captain’s commission in it. Fassifern, however, declined the gratifying offer on the ground that he was unable to raise the number of men necessary to entitle his son to such a rank; whereupon the marquis offered the captaincy without any stipulation or condition, saying he would be glad to have John Cameron as a captain in his regiment, though he brought not a single recruit.

[562] Stewart.--The following extract from a letter from Moore to Lt.-Col. Napier will explain the reason of this:--

“RICHMOND, _17th Nov. 1804_.

“MY DEAR NAPIER,-- ... My reason for troubling you for a drawing is that, as a knight, I am entitled to supporters. I have chosen a light infantry soldier for one, and a Highland soldier for the other, in gratitude to and commemoration of two soldiers of the 92nd, who, in action of the 2nd October, raised me from the ground when I was lying on my face wounded and stunned (they must have thought me dead), and helped me out of the field. As my senses were returning I heard one of them say, ‘Here is the General, let us take him away,’ upon which they stooped, and raised me by the arm. I never could discover who they were; and, therefore, concluded they must have been killed. I hope the 92nd will not have any objection--as I commanded them, and as they rendered me such a service--to my taking one of the corps as a supporter ... believe me, &c.,

“JOHN MOORE.”

[563] Cannon’s _Record of 92nd Regiment_.

[564] _Journal_, page 122.

[565] John Cameron was son of Ewen Cameron of Fassifern, a nephew of the “Gentle Lochiel.” As we have seen, he entered the regiment at its formation, and took part in most of its hard services. He was universally beloved and respected, especially by the Highland soldiers, in each man of whom he took the interest of a father, and felt himself responsible for their welfare and good conduct. The following account of his death is taken from his biography, written by the Rev. Dr Archibald Clerk of Kilmallie:--“The regiment lined a ditch in front of the Namur road. The Duke of Wellington happened to be stationed among them. Colonel Cameron seeing the French advance asked permission to charge them. The Duke replied, ‘Have patience, you will have plenty of work by and by.’ As they took possession of the farm-house Cameron again asked leave to charge, which was again refused. At length, as they began to push on the Charleroi road, the Duke exclaimed, ‘Now, Cameron, is your time, take care of the road.’ He instantly gave the spur to his horse, the regiment cleared the ditch at a bound, charged, and rapidly drove back the French; but, while doing so, their leader was mortally wounded. A shot fired from the upper storey of the farm-house passed through his body, and his horse, pierced by several bullets, fell under him. His men raised a wild shout, rushed madly on the fated house, and, according to all accounts, inflicted dread vengeance on its doomed occupants. Ewen Macmillan (Cameron’s foster brother), who was ever near his master and his friend, speedily gave such aid as he could. Carrying him with the aid of another private beyond reach of the firing, he procured a cart, whereon he laid him, carefully and tenderly propping his head on a breast than which none was more faithful.” He was carried to the village of Waterloo, and laid in a deserted house by the roadside, stretched upon the floor. “He anxiously inquired how the day had gone, and how his beloved Highlanders had acquitted themselves. Hearing that, as usual, they had been victorious, he said, ‘I die happy, and I trust my dear country will believe that I have served her faithfully.’ ... Thus he met with a warrior’s death, and more, with a Highland warrior’s death. His remains were hastily interred in a green alley--_Allée verte_--on the Ghent road, under the terrific storm of the 17th.” In the April of the following year his remains were removed to Scotland, and from Leith conveyed in a King’s ship to Lochaber, and committed to their final resting-place in the churchyard of Kilmallie, where lie many chiefs of the Cameron clan. His age was only 44 years. In honour of Cameron’s distinguished service his father was created Baronet of Fassifern. A handsome monument--an obelisk--was afterwards erected to Cameron at Kilmallie, for which an inscription was written by Sir Walter Scott, who seems to have had an intense admiration for the brave and chivalrous Highland hero, and who, in his _Dance of Death_, speaks of him thus:--

“Through battle, rout, and reel,
Through storm of shot, and hedge of steel,
Led the grandson of Lochiel,
The valiant Fassifern.

Through steel and shot he leads no more,
Low laid ’mid friend’s and foemen’s gore;
But long his native lake’s wild shore,
And Sunart rough, and wild Ardgour,
And Morven long shall tell;

And proud Ben Nevis hear with awe,
How, at the bloody Quatre Bras,
Brave Cameron heard the wild hurrah
Of conquest as he fell.”

[566] Stewart.

[567] The regiment had arranged a grand New Year’s entertainment, and the unfortunate men of these detachments, who had to march on two hours’ notice, had to leave the dinner cooking. They turned out as cheerfully as circumstances would permit, there being just enough of grumbling to have made it very hot work for the Fenians had they showed fight.

THE 93RD SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS.

I.

1800-1854.

Curious method of raising the regiment--Character of the men
--Guernsey--Ireland--Cape of Good Hope--Battle of Blauw-Berg--High
character of the regiment--A regimental church formed--Its
benevolence--England--America--New Orleans--Dreadful carnage
--Ireland--West Indies--Canterbury--Presentation of New Colours
by the Duke of Wellington--Weedon--The northern district--Ireland
--Canada--Stirling--Edinburgh--Glasgow--Aberdeen--Portsmouth
--Chobham--Devonport--War with Russia.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
ALMA.
BALAKLAVA.
SEVASTOPOL.
LUCKNOW.]

This, perhaps the most Highland of the Highland regiments, was raised in the year 1800, letters of service having been granted for that purpose to Major-General Wemyss of Wemyss,[568] who had previously raised the Sutherland Fencibles, many of the men from which joined the new regiment. The strength at first fixed upon was 600 men, which number was in a short time raised, 460 being obtained from Sutherland, and the remainder from Ross-shire and the adjoining counties. The regiment was however, soon augmented to 1000 men, with officers in proportion; and in 1811 it numbered 1049 officers and men, of whom 1014 were Highlanders and Lowlanders, 17 Irish, and 18 English.

One striking peculiarity in the constitution of the 93rd consists in its having probably furnished the last instance of the exercise of the clan influence on a large scale in the Highlands. The original levy was completed not by the ordinary modes of recruiting, but by a process of conscription. A census having been made of the disposable population on the extensive estates of the Countess of Sutherland, her agents lost no time in requesting a certain proportion of the able-bodied sons of the numerous tenantry to join the ranks of the Sutherland regiment, as a test at once of duty to their chief and their sovereign. The appeal was well responded to; and though there was a little grumbling among the parents, the young men themselves seem never to have questioned the right thus assumed over their military services by their chief. In a very few months the regiment was completed to its establishment.

As a crucial proof of the high character of the first levy for the 93rd it may be stated, that until the final inspection of the corps the recruits were never collected together. They were freely permitted, after enrolling their names, to pursue their callings at home, until it was announced in the various parish churches that their presence was required, when a body of 600 men was assembled, and marched, without a single absentee, to Inverness, where the regiment was inspected by Major-General Leith Hay in August 1800.

During the sojourn of the regiment at Inverness there was no place of confinement in connection with it, nor were any guards mounted, the usual precautions necessary with soldiers being quite inapplicable to the high-principled, self-respecting men of Sutherland. Many of the non-commissioned officers and men were the children of respectable farmers, and almost all of them of reputable parentage, the officers being mostly well-known gentlemen connected with Ross and Sutherland. Indeed, the regiment might be regarded as one large family, and a healthy rivalry, and stimulus to the best behaviour was introduced by classifying the different companies according to parishes. While the characteristics referred to seem to have strongly marked the Sutherland Highlanders, our readers will have seen that to a greater or less degree they belonged to the original levies of all the Highland regiments.

In Sept. 1800 the 93rd embarked at Fort George for Guernsey, where it was for the first time armed and fully equipped, and where it made rapid progress in military training.[569]

In February 1803 the 93rd was removed to Ireland, where it continued till July 1805. While in Dublin, like most of the other Highland regiments at one time or another in Ireland, it had to assist in quelling an attempted insurrection, performing the disagreeable duty kindly, but firmly and effectually.

In July 1805 the 93rd joined the armament against the Cape of Good Hope, under Major-General Sir David Baird, referred to already in connection with the 71st and 72nd, which took part in the expedition.

The expedition sailed early in August, and, after a boisterous voyage, arrived and anchored in Table Bay on Jan. 4th, 1806. The troops formed two brigades, one of which, consisting of the 24th, 38th, and 83rd regiments, was under the command of Brigadier-General Beresford; the other, called the Highland brigade, comprehending the 71st, 72nd, and 93rd regiments, was commanded by Brigadier-General Ronald C. Ferguson. On the 5th, General Beresford, who had been detached to Saldanha Bay, in consequence of the violence of the surf in Table Bay, effected a landing there without opposition; and on the 6th the Highland brigade landed in Lospard Bay, after a slight resistance from a small body of light troops stationed on the adjoining heights. In landing, 35 men of the 93rd were drowned by the upsetting of a boat in the surf, and Lt.-Colonel Pack of the 71st, and a few men, were wounded.

Having landed his stores on the 7th, General Baird moved forward the following day, and ascending the summit of the Blauw-Berg (Blue Mountain), he found the enemy, to the number of about 5000 men, drawn up in two lines on a plain, with twenty-three pieces of cannon. Forming his troops quickly in two columns, he thereupon directed Lt.-Colonel Joseph Baird, who commanded the first brigade, to move with that brigade towards the right, while the Highland brigade, which was thrown forward upon the high road, advanced against the enemy. Apparently resolved to retain their position, the enemy opened a heavy fire of grape, round shot, and musketry, which was kept up warmly as the British approached, till General Ferguson gave the word to charge. This order was obeyed with the accustomed alacrity of the Highlanders, who rushed upon the enemy with such impetuosity as at once to strike them with terror. After discharging the last volley without aim or effect, the enemy turned and fled in great confusion, leaving upwards of 600 men killed and wounded. The loss of the British was only 16 men killed and 191 wounded. The 93rd had only 2 soldiers killed, and Lt.-Col. Honyman, Lts. Scobie and Strachan, Ensigns Hedderick and Craig, 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, and 51 rank and file wounded. After this victory the colony surrendered.

The Sutherland Highlanders remained in garrison at the Cape till 1814, when they embarked for England. During this long period nothing occurred to vary the quiet and regular life of the regiment. This life was, indeed, remarkably regular, even for a Scottish regiment, and, we fear, would find no parallel in any corps of the present time. The men, who were mostly actuated by genuine religious principle, such principle as is the result of being brought up in a pious Scottish family, conducted themselves in so sedate and orderly a fashion, that during their stay at the Cape severe punishments in their case were unnecessary, and so rare was the commission of crime, that twelve and even fifteen months have been known to elapse without a single court-martial being assembled for the trial of any soldier of the 93rd. Moreover, as an emphatic compliment to the steadiness of the men, their presence was generally dispensed with when the other troops of the garrison were commanded to witness the infliction of corporal punishment.

But the most remarkable proof of the intensity and genuineness of the religious feeling in the regiment, as well as of its love of all that was peculiar to their native land, remains to be told. There being no divine service in the garrison except the customary one of reading prayers to the troops on parade, these Sutherland men, in addition to their stated meetings for reading the Bible and for prayer, in 1808 formed a church among themselves, appointed elders and other office-bearers, engaged and paid a stipend to a minister of the Church of Scotland, and had divine service regularly performed according to the forms of the Presbyterian Church. As a memorial of this institution there still remains in possession of the sergeants’ mess the plate used in the communion service, and until recently there existed among the regimental records the regulations intended for the government of its members. This establishment had an excellent effect, not only on its immediate members, who numbered several hundreds, but also upon those who made no pretence of being guided by religious principle.

Such men were not likely to forget the claims of relationship and benevolence, and indeed such was their frugality, that in addition to their contributing to the support of their minister and to the charitable funds formed in the regiment, the men were in the habit of lodging in a trusted officer’s hands savings amounting to from £5 to £50, until an opportunity occurred of forwarding the money to their relatives at home; upon one occasion, in particular, £500 were remitted to Sutherland, exclusive of many minor sums sent home through the post-office.

In the month of April 1814, the 93rd embarked for Europe, amid, as may easily be believed, the general regret of the colony; it landed at Plymouth on August 15th of the same year. Of the 1018 non-commissioned officers and men who disembarked, 977 were Scotch.

The regiment had not been many weeks at home when it was again ordered on foreign service, this time, alas, of a much more disastrous kind than that which it performed during its long stay at the Cape. Although it had not the good fortune to take part in the stormy events which were shortly to take place on the field of Europe, and share in the glory accruing therefrom, yet the work it was called upon to perform, so far as bravery, endurance, and suffering are concerned, deserved as great a meed of praise as if it had been performed on the field of Quatre Bras or Waterloo.

Early in September 1814,[570] the 93rd had received orders to hold itself in readiness for immediate embarkation, and on the 16th it embarked in three divisions as part of the armament under Major-General Sir John Keane, destined to operate in North America; for at this time, unfortunately, Britain was at war with the United States. The fleet sailed on the 18th, and on November 23rd, joined, at Jamaica, the squadron under Vice-Admiral the Honourable Alexander Cochrane.

The united forces, the command of which was now assumed by General Keane, amounted to 5400 men. With this force he sailed from Jamaica on the 27th of November, and on December 13th landed near Cat Island, at the entrance of a chain of lakes leading to New Orleans. On the 23rd the troops landed without opposition at the head of the Bayonne; but were attacked on the following night by a large body of infantry, supported by a strong corps of artillery. After a spirited contest the enemy were repulsed with loss. On the 27th, Major-General the Honourable Sir Edward Pakenham, who had arrived and assumed the command of the army on the 25th, moved the troops forward in two columns, and took up a position within six miles of New Orleans, in front of the enemy’s lines. The position of the Americans was particularly favourable, having a morass and a thick wood on their left, the Mississippi on their right, and a deep and broad ditch in front, bounded by a parapet and breast-works, extending in a direct line about a thousand yards, and mounted with artillery, and a flanking battery on the right bank of the river.

For several hours on the 28th, the force was kept in front of these works, under insufficient shelter, and, allowed neither to advance nor retire, suffered considerable loss from the storm of shot and shell poured upon it; the 93rd lost 3 men killed and several were wounded. On the three following days, the 93rd, as did every other corps, lost several men in their encampment, from the guns of the enemy, which were placed in battery on the right bank of the Mississippi. We shall give the rest of this narrative in the words of the well-kept Record-Book of the regiment, which, we believe, quotes from the journal kept by Captain Charles Gordon, one of the early officers of the 93rd.

On the 1st of January 1815, long before daybreak, the army was in
motion, and placed in position similar, but closer to the American
lines than on the 28th of December. Forming in close column of
regiments, the troops were ordered to lie down and wait for the
favourable issue of the British batteries against the enemy’s works,
the former opening with a brisk fire at daylight, but unfortunately
all in vain. After a cannonade of several hours, the greater part of
the guns were silenced and dismounted, and after a harassing day,
the army was ordered to retire to its former bivouac. The 93rd lost
1 subaltern, 1 sergeant, and 6 rank and file killed, and several
wounded.

Nothing was done for the next few days, though the army underwent
great fatigue in the carriage of guns, stores, &c., and were
continually annoyed by the batteries of the enemy on the opposite
side of the Mississippi. On the afternoon of the 7th, the army had
its hopes again raised by the orders issued for a general attack on
the following morning, but, in the words of Captain Gordon, “as this
expedition commenced, so did it terminate, in disappointment--utter
disappointment and calamity.”

On the 8th of January the main body of the 93rd, flushed with the
hope of measuring bayonets with their hitherto concealed opponents,
advanced in compact close column towards the centre of the American
lines, from which poured a tremendous fire of grape and musketry
(including buckshot); but its patience and discipline were again put
to the test when within about 80 yards of the enemy’s breastworks,
by an order to halt. In this unenviable position, without permission
or even power to fire with any effect whatever, with nothing visible
but the murderous muzzles of thousands of American rifles, only the
tops of the men’s caps being seen as they loaded and fired resting
upon their parapets, a staff-officer was heard to exclaim as he
hurriedly came up and rode away,--“93rd, have a little patience and
you shall have your revenge.” But, alas! it was decreed otherwise;
the regiment continued in its fatal position without receiving any
further orders, officers and men being mowed down in all directions,
until Sir John Lambert, the senior surviving general officer,
thought it advisable to order the army to retire. In this most
disastrous affair, action it could not well be termed, the regiment
was dreadfully cut up.

The following is a list of the killed and wounded in this sadly mismanaged affair, in which the gallant 93rd probably lost more officers and men in a few hours than it did throughout the whole of the Indian Mutiny campaign, in which, as will be seen, it had perhaps hotter work to do than ever fell to the lot of any single regiment. The killed were Lt.-Col. Dale, commanding the 93rd, Captains Hitchins and Muirhead, Lieutenants Munro and Phaup (both prisoners, who died of their wounds), Volunteer Johnston, 4 sergeants, 1 drummer, and 115 rank and file, including those who died next day of their wounds. There were wounded, Captains Ryan, Boulger, M’Kenzie, and Ellis; Lieuts. John M’Donald, Gordon, Hay, Graves, M’Lean, Spark, and D. M’Pherson, Volunteer John Wilson, 17 sergeants, 3 drummers, and 348 rank and file. It is sad to think that neither gain nor glory resulted from this dreadful carnage.

The army having re-embarked, the fleet weighed anchor again on the 7th of February, and made for the mouth of the Bay of Mobile, where the greater part of the army disembarked on the Dauphin Isle. Preparations were here being made to attack the fortified town of Mobile, when news arrived that preliminaries of peace had been signed between Great Britain and the United States. After being encamped about six weeks, the army was ordered to embark for Europe. The 93rd, at least the fragment left of it, arrived at Spithead on the 15th of May 1815, and being in too weak a state to take part in the stirring events taking place on the Continent, it was ordered to Ireland, disembarking at Cork on the 28th of May, and proceeding to Birr Barracks.

The second battalion having been disbanded at Sunderland, the ranks of the first battalion were filled up by a large draft of non-commissioned officers and privates from the former. As the history of the regiment is comparatively uneventful up to the time of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny, we shall rapidly run over its movements previous to these stirring periods.

The 93rd appears to have moved about successively from Birr to Athlone, Nenagh, and Limerick, sending out numerous detachments, and in June 1818, to have proceeded to Dublin, where it remained till the following May (1819). On leaving Dublin, it was again detached to the southern counties, where it was frequently called upon to perform the most delicate and harassing duties.

Between the 3rd and 8th of November 1823, the regiment embarked at the Cove of Cork in four transports for the West Indies, without having lost a single man by desertion. It may be taken as a proof of the continued good conduct of the regiment during the eight years it was stationed in Ireland, that Lieutenant-General Lord Combermere, in his general order issued on its departure, stated that

“No regiment in the service stands in greater estimation, or has
been more conspicuous for its discipline and soldier-like conduct,
than the 93rd.”

Only one detachment proceeded to Demerara, the others being landed at Barbados in December 1823; the former, however, shortly afterwards joined the latter. The regiment remained in garrison at Barbados till the month of February 1826, when it was removed to Antigua and St Christopher, sending a detachment from the former island to Montserrat. These stations the 93rd occupied till February 1830, when it was removed to St Lucia and Dominica, where it remained till January 1832, when all the service companies were again collected together at Barbados, where they were stationed for upwards of two years longer. After having spent ten and a half years in the Windward and Leeward Island, the regiment embarked for England in two detachments on the 26th of March and the 3rd of April 1834, leaving behind it 117 of its men as volunteers to other regiments. On its arrival at Spithead on the 6th of May, the strength of the regiment was only 371, having been thus reduced by death, the discharge of invalids, and volunteers to other corps. The proportions of deaths in the regiment, however, while stationed in the West Indies, was considerably below that of other regiments.

It was originally intended that the regiment should proceed at once to Scotland, where it had not been quartered since its first formation; but on account of the serious demonstrations that were made by the populace in London about the period of the regiment’s return to England, it was deemed expedient to draw as many troops as possible around the capital. The 93rd was consequently sent to Canterbury, where it arrived on the 8th of May 1834, and where it was shortly afterwards joined by the depôt companies from Scotland.

During the stay of the Sutherland Highlanders in Canterbury, the most notable incident in its history was the presentation of new colours to the regiment by his Grace the Duke of Wellington, an event which seems even now to be looked back upon as marking a red-letter day in the calendar of the 93rd. The presentation took place on the 7th of October 1834, and immense preparations were made for the ceremony. The day fortunately turned out particularly favourable, and not fewer than 10,000 persons must have turned out to witness the presentation, including many of the nobility and gentry of the county. We regret that space forbids us entering into details, or giving at length the wise and stirring address of the “Great Duke.” Suffice it to say, that after referring to the past achievements of the 93rd, and of the soldier-like appearance and orderly conduct of individuals of the regiment who had attracted his attention in passing through the town, he urged upon officers and men, as the result of his long and valuable experience, the inestimable value of discipline in maintaining the efficiency of a regiment, without which no amount of personal valour would be of avail.