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Part III
Military Annals of
the Highland Regiments
Section VIII
Edinburgh Castle,
1791—Ross-shire, 1792— War, 1793—Embark —Join the army under the Duke of
York at Menin, 1793— Ostend—Nieuport—England, 1794—Ostend—Join the Duke of
York—Nimeguen—Inclement season—Bremen—England.
In consequence of
preparations for an expected rupture with Spain in the year 1790, the
establishment was augmented; but, as recent circumstances in the Highlands
had excited a strong sensation among the people, the regiment was not
successful in recruiting.
Several independent
companies were this summer raised. One of these, a fine band of young
Highlanders, recruited by the Marquis of Huntly, joined the 42d, along
with his Lordship, who had exchanged with Captain Alexander Grant.
In November, the regiment
marched to Edinburgh Castle, and was a year stationed in that garrison. In
this interval, it was remarked, that more fires occurred in the town than
during any known period of the same extent; and an opportunity was thus
afforded for the display of that alacrity with which the men turned out on
any alarm. After being reviewed, in June 1791, by Lord Adam Gordon, the
Commander in Chief, they marched to the North in October. Their
head-quarters were at Fort George : one company was stationed at Dundee,
one at Montrose, two at A-herdeen, and one in Banff.
In the spring of 1792, they
assembled at Fort George, from thence marched to Stirling in July, and
were reviewed there by the Honourable Lieutenant-General Leslie. They
afterwards marched northward, and were cantoned along the coast towns in
the same manner as in the preceding year.
In autumn, the whole were ordered into
Ross-shire, on account of some disturbances among the inhabitants, great
numbers of whom had been dispossessed of their farms, in consequence of
the new system of converting large tracts of country into pasture. The
manner in which the people gave vent to their grief and rage, when driven
from their ancient homes, showed that they did not merit this treatment,
and that an improper estimate had been formed of their character. A few
months after these cold-hearted wholesale ejectments, those who were
permitted to remain as cottagers rose in a body, and, collecting all the
sheep which had been placed by the great stock farmers on the possessions
which they themselves had formerly held, they drove the whole before them,
with an intention of sending them beyond the boundaries of the country;
thinking, in their simplicity and despair, that, if they got quit of the
sheep, they would be again reinstated in their farms. In this state of
insurrection they continued for some time, but no act of violence or
outrage occurred; nor did the sheep suffer in the smallest degree beyond
what resulted from the fatigues of the journey, and the temporary loss of
their pasture. Though pressed with hunger, these conscientious peasants
did not take a single animal for their own use, contenting themselves with
the occasional supplies of meal or victuals which they obtained in the
course of their journey. To quell these tumults, which occasioned little
less alarm among some of the gentlemen of Ross than the Rebellion of 1745,
the 42d regiment were ordered to proceed, by forced marches and by the
shortest routes, to Ross-shire.
When they reached the expected scene of
action, there was, fortunately, no enemy; for the people had separated and
disappeared of their own accord. Fortunate, indeed, it was that the affair
was concluded in this manner, as the necessity of turning their arms
against their fathers, their brothers, and their friends, must have been
in the last degree painful to the feelings of the soldiers, and dangerous
to their discipline,—setting their duty to their King and country in
opposition to filial affection and brotherly love and friendship. [I was a
very young soldier at the time, but on no subsequent occasion were my
feelings so powerfully excited as on this. To a military man it could not
but be gratifying to see the men, in so delicate and trying a situation,
manifesting a full determination to do their duty against whomsoever their
efforts should be directed; while, to their feelings of humanity, the
necessity of turning their arms against their friends and relations,
presented a severe alternative. Eighteen of the rioters were sent to
Inverness for trial. They were eloquently defended by Mr Charles Ross,
advocate, one of their own countrymen; but, as their conduct was illegal,
and the offence clearly proved, they were found guilty, and condemned to
be transported to Botany Bay. It would appear, however, that, though the
legality of the verdict and sentence could not be questioned, these did
not carry along with them the public opinion, which was probably the cause
that the escape of the prisoners was in a manner connived at; for they
disappeared out of prison, no one knew how, and were never inquired after
or molested.] After
passing the summer and autumn in marching and countermarching, in
consequence of the riots and insurrections of their countrymen against
their landlords, a circumstance somewhat novel in these regions, and one
of the first symptoms of the effects of that hind of civilization which is
practised in the Highlands, the Royal Highlanders were, in the course of
the following winter, as actively employed against the Lowlanders, who
were rioting, and hanging, drowning, and burning the effigies of those
whom they called their political oppressors;—a species of refinement in
the expression of their sentiments towards their superiors, to which the
ignorant Highlanders have not yet attained; but they are in full progress
to this state of civilized and enlightened improvement, which must afford
high gratification to those philanthropists and patriots who have so
materially contributed to forward, and bring into practice, "those blessed
results of our labours in the vineyard," as is reported by some societies
established for the religious and moral improvement of the Highlanders.
The inhabitants of Perth, Dundee, and some other towns, amused themselves
with planting the tree of liberty, dancing round it, and threatening
vengeance on all who should oppose them. The regiment was hurried South as
rapidly as it went North; and, during the winter and spring, garrisoned
the town of Dundee, and all the coast as far as Fort George.
Hostilities having been declared against
France, the whole regiment was assembled at Montrose in April 1793,
preparatory to a march southward. The establishment was ordered to be
augmented to 750 men, but the regimental recruiting parties were not
successful. The late transactions in Ross-shire began to show their
baneful influence. It was not now, as in 1756 and 1776, when the regiment
was completed to more than 1100 men in a few weeks;—as quickly, indeed, as
they could be collected from their distant districts. Nor was it, as in
1755, when the Laird of Mackintosh completed a company in one day.
[In the year 1755, when the
establishment of the regiment was augmented preparatory to the war, the
Laird of Mackintosh, then a captain in the regiment, had the charge of all
the recruiting parties sent from Ireland to the Highlands, and quickly
collected 500 men, the number he was desired to recruit. Of these he
enlisted 87 men in one forenoon.
One morning, as he was sitting at breakfast in
Inverness, 38 young men of the name of Macpherson, from Badenoch, appeared
in front of the window, with an offer of their service to Mackintosh;
their own immediate chief, the Laird of Cluny, being then in exile, in
consequence of his attainder after the Rebellion. The late General Skinner
of the engineers was at breakfast with Mackintosh that morning; and being
newly arrived in that part of the country, the whole scene, with all its
circumstances, made an impression on his mind which he never forgot.]
The same corps, in 1793, must have gone on
service with little more than 400 men, had not orders been issued for
raising independent companies; so opposite were the feelings and
dispositions of the people at different periods,—affording a striking
example of the difference when people are harshly or kindly treated. Two
of the companies raised by Captains David Hunter of Burnside and Alexander
Campbell of Ardchattan, were ordered to join the 42d regiment. On the
whole, these were good men, but not of the same description with those
who, in former times, were so ready to join the standard of the Black
Watch. In May, the
regiment marched from Montrose to Musselburgh, and embarked there on the
8th for Hull. In that town the appearance of the Highlanders occasioned
much interest and surprise, as no plaids or bonnets had as yet been seen
in that part of Yorkshire. The people showed them great hospitality, and
were so well satisfied with their conduct, that, after they embarked for
Flanders, the town of Hull sent each man a present of a pair of shoes, a
flannel shirt, and worsted socks; a very seasonable supply for a November
encampment. In August
they reached Gosport, and remained there till the middle of September,
when they sailed for Ostend, where they landed on the 1st of October, and
two days after, joined the army under his Royal Highness the Duke of York,
then encamped in the neighbourhood of Menin. This camp was soon broken up;
and his Royal Highness marched, with the combined armies, to join the
Prince of Saxe-Cobourg, then before Maubeuge.
The 19th 27th, 42d, and 57th regiments were
ordered back to England, to join an expedition then preparing under their
old commander in America, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Grey, against the
French colonies in the West Indies. While those regiments lay on board in
the harbour of Ostend, the enemy, who were then before Nieuport, pressed
that town so vigorously, that it was necessary to send immediate relief.
For this purpose, Sir Charles Grey and Major-General Thomas Dundas had
come from England; and the 42d regiment, with the Light companies of the
19th, 27th, and 57th regiments, were disembarked and marched to Nieuport.
The place was then garrisoned by the 53d regiment, and a small battalion
of Hessians under Colonel de Wurmb, who defended the place, with great
courage and firmness, against a very superior force. The reinforcement now
sent was very seasonable; for the works were so extensive, that the men
were obliged to be on duty without intermission. The enemy kept up so
constant and well-directed a fire, that upwards of 400 houses were
destroyed or damaged. However, on the appearance of this reinforcement,
they seemed to have lost all hopes of success. After keeping up a brisk
fire of shot and shells during the whole night, they were seen at
day-break, moving off with great expedition, leaving several pieces of
cannon, mortars, and ammunition. This sudden retreat occasioned great
disappointment to many young soldiers of the Light infantry, and the
Highlanders, who, having but very lately arrived in the seat of war, were
thus disappointed of an opportunity of facing the enemy, when eager to
make their debut under such men as Generals Sir Charles Grey and Thomas
Dundas. Had the enemy waited another day, this opportunity would have been
afforded, as it was resolved that General Dundas should attack the
trenches; and with the ardour of this gallant leader, and the spirit which
animated the troops, there would have been little doubt of success. The
loss of the garrison was inconsiderable; Lieutenant Latham, [The fate of
Lieutenant Latham of the 53d deserves to be noticed as a warning to young
officers. He was on the advanced picquet, which was protected by a small
entrenchment, three feet in height. He was strictly enjoined not to show
his men, as the enemy's sharpshooters were all around, picking off every
man who appeared. But in his eagerness to observe the motions of the
enemy, he looked over the low parapet, forgetting a cocked hat half a foot
higher than his head. An enemy took such a correct aim at the hat, that he
sent his ball through Mr Latham's forehead, and killed him on the spot.] 1
sergeant, and 2 privates, were killed; and Captain (now General Sir)
Ronald C. Ferguson, 1 sergeant, and 33 privates, wounded. Of this number
the Highlanders had 1 sergeant and and 1 private killed, and two privates
wounded. After the retreat of the enemy, the detachment marched back to
Ostend, reimbarked for England, and arrived at Portsmouth, where the
destination of the regiment was changed from an expedition to the west
Indies, to another then forming against the coast of France, under command
of the Earl of Moira.
At this time the command of the regiment
devolved on Major George Dalrymple, Colonel Graham, who had held the
command since the year 1781, being appointed to the command of a brigade.
On the 30th of November, the expedition sailed in three brigades; the
Highlanders being in the first, commanded by Brigadier-General Lord
Cathcart. On the 1st of December, they reached the Coast of France, to the
eastward of Cape la Hogue, and after cruising about for two days, put into
Guernsey, where part of the troops landed, and remained till the 4th of
January 1794, when the whole returned to Portsmouth. On the 21st the
Highlanders were marched to Lymington, being still under the command of
Lord Cathcart. In
this situation they remained till the 5th of June, when an encampment was
formed at Netly, in Hampshire, under the Earl of Moira. On the 18th, the
camp broke up, and the troops embarked on board the transports for
Flanders. During the
preceding spring, France had made prodigious preparations, haying raised a
force of more than 200,000 men, provided with every necessary
accompaniment of artillery and stores; the whole to be employed in
Flanders. This, with the partial defection of Prussia after having
accepted the British subsidies, placed the allied armies in a very
critical situation, particularly that small part under the command of the
Duke of York. The French Convention sent into Flanders their ablest
generals, Pichegru, Moreau, and Jourdan, who, exasperated by their defeats
at Cambray, Landrecy, Cateau, and Tour-nay, determined to bring forward
the utmost extent of force that they could command. In consequence of
these preparations, the original destination of the force under the Earl
of Moira was changed to this great theatre of the war, and again sailed,
on the 22d, for Ostend, where it landed on the 26th of June. The amount of
this reinforcement was 7000 men, and consisted of the following corps; the
19th, 27th, 28th, 40th, Royal Highlanders, 54th, 67th, 59th, 87th, and
88th regiments. Lord
Moira had now to decide on his future movements, whether he should remain
in Ostend, and sustain a siege from an enemy who had already occupied
Ypres and Thou-reut, and were ready to advance upon him; or whether he
should force a march through the enemy, and join the Duke of York. To
sustain a siege in Ostend, would have occupied a considerable portion of
the enemy's troops, but it would have deprived his Royal Highness of a
very necessary reinforcement, when opposed to so numerous a host as was
now ready to attack him. It was, therefore, determined to march forward,
and to embark all the stores from Ostend, along with the troops left to
garrison the place. Both services were conducted with address and
precision. The evacuation and embarkation were intrusted to Colonel Vyse,
who had just embarked the last division, as the first of the enemy entered
the town. The troops were stationed on the sand hills in the neighbourhood,
and were ordered under arms in light marching order, the officers leaving
all baggage behind, except what they carried on their backs. They moved
off the ground on the evening of the 28th, and halting ten miles beyond
the town, proceeded at midnight towards Ostaker, and reached Alost on the
3d of July. While in this place, about 400 of the enemy's cavalry dashed
into the town, and, being mistaken for Hessians, were allowed to push
forward unmolested to the market place. Colonel Doyle, who rode up to
them, was wounded by a cut of a sabre, before the mistake was discovered.
However, they were soon driven back by the 8th light dragoons and the
picquets. [A Highlander passing through the market-place with a basket on
his head as the enemy rushed in, one of them made a cut at the hand which
held the basket, and wounded him severely. However, he drew his bayonet
with the other hand, and attacked the horseman, who made off. Macdonald
carried home his basket, murmuring, as he went along, that he had not a
broadsword.] On the
9th the troops marched by Warloo's camp, and joined the Duke of York's
army at Malines. This was a fatiguing march, but it had been so well
conducted, that the enemy, although in very superior numbers, under
General Vandamme, did not venture upon any attack except this dash into
Alost. A succession of petty skirmishes occurred until the 20th, when Lord
Moira resigned his command, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Ralph
Abercromby. The brigades of the army were changed on the 31st of August,
and the third brigade, in which were the Highlanders, with the Guards,
formed the reserve under the command of Lieutenant-General Abercromby. The
enemy having obtained possession of Boxtel on the 14th of September,
General Abercromby, with the reserve, was ordered to force them from this
position. The third brigade, now under the command of the Honourable
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Wellesley of the 33d regiment, marched at four
in the morning of the 15th, and joined the brigade of Guards, When they
approached Boxtel, the enemy were discovered to be in too great force to
be attacked with any prospect of success. Various movements took place
till the 6th of October, when the army crossed the Waal at Nimeguen. In
this position, there were several smart engagements till the morning of
the 20th, when the enemy made a general attack on all the advanced posts
of the army. The whole were defended, and the enemy repulsed with great
gallantry; but the 37th regiment, mistaking a party of the enemy for
Rhoan's hussars, allowed them to advance too close. In consequence of this
mistake, that gallant regiment sustained a severe loss in officers and
men. [The enemy, on many occasions, took advantage of the variety of
uniforms in the British army, and frequently dressed parties in a similar
manner for the purpose of deceiving our troops,—an artifice which
sometimes succeeded.]
On the 27th and 28th, the enemy renewed their
attacks on the outposts. In that on Fort St Andre, Lieu. tenant-General
Abercromby was wounded. By a continuation of this system of incessant
attack, the outposts were all driven in, and the enemy, having established
themselves in front of Nimeguen, began to erect batteries, preparatory to
a siege of the place. It was therefore resolved to attempt the destruction
of these works, and on the 4th of November, the Hon. Lieutenant-General De
Burgh, with the 8th, 27th, 28th, 55th, 63d, and 78th Highland regiment,
supported by two battalions of Swiss in the Dutch service, and some
regiments of dragoons, was ordered on this duty. The works were carried
with all the gallantry to be expected from such troops. The enemy made a
brave defence. The loss of the British was 1 sergeant, and 31 rank and
file, killed, and 1 field officer, 5 captains, 5 subalterns, 10 sergeants,
and 149 rank and file, wounded. As the enemy quickly repaired their
batteries, and continued their approaches with fresh vigour, it was found
necessary to evacuate the town.
After this evacuation, which took place on the
7th, the army was cantoned along the banks of the river, where they began
to suffer much from the severity of the weather, and the want of
necessaries, as the clothing for the year had not been received. So
intense was the frost, that the enemy were enabled to cross the Waal on
the ice, and, by availing themselves of their superior numbers, to
commence active operations. As they threatened the towns of Culenberg and
Gorcum, it was determined to compel them to repass the Waal. About 8000
British, among whom was the third brigade, marched against them on the
13th of December. The French were posted at Thuyl, the road to which was
flanked by batteries planted in the Isle of Bommell, the place itself
being surrounded with entrenchments. These obstacles were surmounted, and,
notwithstanding their great superiority of numbers, the French were forced
from all their posts, and obliged to re-cross the Waal, with the loss of a
considerable number of men, and several pieces of cannon. The loss of the
British was comparatively trifling, being only 1 field officer, and 5 rank
and file, killed, and 1 drummer, and 18 rank and file, wounded.
The enemy having again crossed the Waal on the
4th of January 1795, and taken Thuyl, General Walmoden sent orders to
Generals David Dundas and Dulwich, to collect their forces and drive them
back. They were found, however, to be too strong; and, having advanced a
considerable force, they attacked General Dundas at Gildermalsen, but were
received with great firmness, and repulsed with the loss of 200 men. The
British lost 3 privates killed, and 1 general officer (Sir Robert Lawrie),
2 captains, 1 subaltern, and 54 privates, wounded ; the loss of the 42d
being 1 private killed, and Lieutenant Coll Lamont, and 7 privates,
wounded. The severity of the weather, and the duties which pressed upon
the troops, in consequence of the accumulated numbers, and successive
reinforcements of the enemy, were such as few constitutions could
withstand for any length of time. It was, therefore, determined to
withdraw, and take up a more defensive position behind the Leck. During
the preliminary movements in execution of this determination, the enemy
advanced in considerable force, and on the 8th attacked the troops under
Lord Cathcart. The attack was made, and received with such energy, that
each party was alternately attacked and repulsed four times successively,
till at length the enemy were forced to give up the contest, and retreated
with considerable loss.
On this occasion, the 14th and Enniskillen
regiments particularly distinguished themselves, as did the 28th, which
came up towards the close of the action, and decided the day. The loss was
4 subalterns, and 13 privates, killed, and 5 field officers, 2 captains, 1
subaltern, and 52 privates, wounded.
Having crossed the Waal on the 10th in great
force, the enemy pressed forward on the British, now much reduced by
disease and accumulated hardships; [The most distressing of these was the
state of the hospitals, of which it was observed, that whoever entered
them never came out till carried to the grave; and when a man was sent to
the hospital, his return was never expected. The consequent impression on
the minds of the sick, and the fatal effects thereof, must be evident.]
and, on the 14th, Pichegru made a general attack along the whole line from
Arnheim to Amerougen, when the British, after a resistance which continued
till night, retired at all points. But they had now to contend with a
worse foe than the French, in the inclemency of a season the most rigorous
ever remembered. In this dreadful winter, they had to traverse barren and
extensive wastes, and to encounter the hostility of the country people,
who could not be softened to the least kindness by the sight of any degree
of misery, however extreme. Whether a British soldier was starving with
hunger, or freezing to death, the doors of the Dutch boors were equally
shut against him. The
misery of the succeeding retreat to Deventer was such as had not then been
experienced by any modern army, and has only been exceeded by the
sufferings of the French in their disastrous retreat from Moscow. There
have been few situations where the courage, constancy, and temper of the
British army have been more severely tried, than in the continuation of
this eventful campaign, and when pursued by an enemy of more than thrice
their numbers, through a country so hostile, that every house contained an
inveterate and concealed adversary, ready to refuse the slightest shelter
to the harassed soldiers. Exhausted by an accumulation of difficulties,
the army, in the beginning of April, reached Bremen in two divisions.
There the hospitality of the inhabitants formed a noble contrast to the
conduct of those through whose country they had marched, and whose
inveterate hatred little merited the forbearance with which they had been
treated by the British.
On the 14th of April, the whole were embarked,
and soon after sailed for England. The Highlanders, having landed at
Harwich, proceeded to Chelmsford, and, in the month of June, were encamped
in the neighbourhood at Danbury, under the command of General Sir William
Meadows. Throughout
the course of the last campaign, the 42d were remarkably healthy; for,
from the landing at Ostend in June, till the embarkation in April, the
deaths in battle and by sickness had been only twenty-five,—a small
number, considering the length of the service, the fatigue they underwent,
and the severity of the weather to which they had been exposed. Of the
soldiers, 300 were young men recently recruited. They had, indeed, a great
advantage in forming themselves on the habits and example of the more
experienced soldiers; for many still remained who had served in America.
Without taking into account this advantage over a young corps, where all
are inexperienced and unprepared for emergencies and hardships, it would
not be easy, notwithstanding the acknowledged hardihood and capability of
the Highlanders, to account for this small loss, in a service in which
some of the newly raised regiments had lost more than 300 men by disease,
and many who, left behind from exhaustion, fell into the hands of the
enemy. In September
1795, the regiment was augmented to 1000 men, from several Highland
regiments which had been raised the preceding year, and were now to be
broken up and drafted into different regiments. The Royal Highlanders
received drafts from the 97th, or Strathspey Highlanders, the 116th, or
Perthshire Highlanders, 132d, or Colonel Duncan Cameron's, and 133d, or
Colonel Simon Eraser's regiment: 5 captains, 10 lieutenants, and 2 ensigns
from the 116th, were also appointed to the 42d; the captains to be in
second, or supernumeraries, and to succeed to companies as they became
vacant. This was considered a serious injury, and a great check to the
promotion of the subalterns, when on the eve of embarking on an unpleasant
and dangerous service, as no step was to be expected till the five
supernumerary captains had got companies. A representation was therefore
made, and one of the captains was removed.
Although these drafts furnished many good and
service able men, they were, in many respects, very inferior to former
recruits. This difference of character was more particularly marked in
their habits and manners in quarters than in their conduct in the field,
which was always unexceptionable. Having been embodied for upwards of
eighteen months, and having been subject to a greater mixture of character
than was usual in Highland battalions, these corps had lost much of their
original manners, and of that strict attention to religious and moral
duties, which distinguished the Highland youths on quitting their native
glens, and which, when in corps unmixed with men of different characters,
they always retained. This intermixture produced a sensible change in the
moral conduct and character of the regiment. |
