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Sketches of The
Character, Manners, and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland |
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Military Annals of the Highland Regiments
Seventy-ninth Regiment
or
Cameron Highlanders
1793
This respectable regiment was the second raised in
this war. On the 17th of August 1793, Letters of Service were granted to
Allan Cameron of Errach, for the purpose of raising a corps of
Highlanders. To regiments embodied in this manner, Government generally
allowed a bounty, but under no certain regulation, being higher or
lower, according to time and circumstances. But, in this instance, no
bounty whatever was given, and the men were recruited at the sole
expense of Mr Cameron and his officers. How well they succeeded in the
execution of this task appeared by the rapid completion of the corps. It
was inspected at Stirling in February 1794, and embodied under the
number and denomination of the 79th or Cameron Highlanders. Mr Cameron
was appointed Lieutenant-colonel-commandant. The success of this first
effort encouraged him to proceed; and, in a short time, the corps was
completed to 1000 men.
Not having been able to procure any detailed account
of the movements and service of this regiment, beyond such a sketch or
outline as must be familiar to all general readers, as well to military
men, I shall, therefore, only state that it was employed in the campaign
of 1794 and 1795 in Flanders; and that in the
summer of the latter year it embarked for
the West Indies. A duty of
two years in Martinique reduced the strength of the corps
considerably.—In July 1797, a proposition was made to the men to
volunteer into other regiments. Such of them as chose to return to
Europe were to join the 42d regiment, then under orders to embark, and
those who preferred the West Indies were at liberty to make choice of
any regiment destined to continue on that station. The officers, and
non-commissioned officers, were to return to Scotland to recruit for
another battalion. Many of the men chose to remain in the West Indies.
Those who preferred the 42d—a number amounting to 210 men—came home in
1797, and in such good health, that five companies of 100 men each,
including the men of both corps, landed at Portsmouth on the 31st of
August, in perfect health. It has been already mentioned, that when the
report of the regiment was sent on shore, on the arrival of the ships at
Portsmouth, it was supposed that the number of sick had been omitted
through mistake, and no small surprise was expressed when the
correctness of the report was ascertained.Colonel
Cameron and his officers came home in the same fleet, and were
immediately ordered to Scotland to recruit Great exertions were now
made, (although there was less inducement on the part of the officers,
who obtained no rank for their exertions, as their predecessors had
done), and, in an especial manner, Colonel Cameron himself was so
zealous and successful, that, in the year
1798, a fresh body of 780 men was assembled at
Inverness, and afterwards formed part of the expedition to the Helder in
1799. The loss in this service, as well as all others, in which the
regiment was engaged with the enemy, will be seen in the annexed lists
of killed and wounded, which show, at one view, the actions in which the
corps was engaged, and the total loss sustained from the beginning to
the conclusion of the war. [See Appendix.]
In 1800 the regiment was embarked for Ferrol, under
Lieutenant-General Sir James Pulteney. From thence it proceeded to join
the force under Sir Ralph Abercromby, off Cadiz, and accompanied the
expedition to the Mediterranean and to Egypt.
[In the action of the 21st of March, near Alexandria,
Lieutenant Patrick Ross was wounded, and his arm amputated close to the
shoulder. By a good habit of body, and an excellent constitution, he
recovered rapidly, and, with spirit equally honourable and exemplary, he
refused the leave of absence offered him to go home for the cure of his
wound. Eager to be at his post, he joined his regiment before the skin
had closed over the amputated limb; and, on the 25th of April, less than
five weeks after his arm was cut off, he mounted picquet, and continued
to perform every duty, however fatiguing, during the whole campaign, in
the course of which, at Rhamanich, he had nearly lost his other arm, a
six-pound shot having passed under it as he was in the act of giving
directions to his men. On many, indeed all occasions, he displayed the
same spirit; and the Duke of York, with that attention which he has
always shown to merit, when made known to him, promoted Lieutenant Boss
to a company in the 69th, at the head of which he was killed at the
storming of Fort Cornelis in Java, in 1811, on which occasion he was
animated with the same enthusiastic zeal and heroic bravery.
Those who have faith in the hereditary influence of
blood, will also believe that this young man had a hereditary
predisposition to firmness and bravery. His father, Mr William Ross,
late tacksman of Brae in Ross-shire, evinced similar qualities in very
early life. In the summer of 1746, when so many gentlemen who had been
engaged in the Rebellion were forced to take shelter in the woods and
mountains, and when the troops were quartered on their e-states, Ross of
Pitcalney, a chieftain of the clan, was an object of more than ordinary
search, having joined the rebels in opposition to the remonstrances and
threats of his uncle, the Lord President Forbes. As no concealment from
the people was necessary, Pitcalney was in the habit of sleeping in bad
weather in his tenants' houses, but always going to one or other of his
hiding-places before day-light, in case of a search of the house by the
troops. One night he slept in the farm-house of Brae, and remaining
later in the morning than
ordinary, Mr
Ross, then a lad of fifteen, was directed by his father to accompany
Pitcalney through the most unfrequented parts of the woods, in case the
troops should be stirring at that late hour of the day. The lad had
performed his task, and was returning home, when he met a party of
soldiers, who
knew him, and,
suspecting where he had been, questioned him very sharply
about his knowledge of Pitcalney's retreat. He
pleaded total ignorance and persisting in doing so, they threatened to
shoot him, or to hang him on the next tree—a menace which in those times
was the most usual mode of extorting confession. But this having no
effect, they proceeded to action, and tied him up to a tree, placing
four men before him with their pieces ready to fire if he still denied
what they were sensible he knew. But all in vain; neither the fear of
death, nor the previous preparation, which, to a boy of his age, must
have been sufficiently trying, could induce him to betray the friend and
landlord of his father. So strong were the principles of affection and
regard to promise and to principle instilled thus early by the
instructions of his parents, and the example of his countrymen. The
party, either respecting the boy's firmness, or not wishing to carry
matters to extremity, released and allowed him to go home. When he told
the story he always concluded, When I shut my eyes waiting to be shot, I
expected to open them again in Heaven. Such was the father of that brave
soldier Captain Patrick Ross.]
In 1804 a second battalion was added to the regiment,
the officers raising men for their promotion. This was an excellent and
efficient corps of young men, of good morals, and healthy constitutions;
and formed an excellent nursery of recruits for the first battalion,
which, being for several years actively employed, constantly required a
regular supply for the consumption occasioned by the usual casualties of
war.
In 1808 the regiment embarked for Portugal, and
entering Spain under Sir John Moore, accompanied all his movements till
his fall at Corunna. In the following autumn they embarked for Zealand,
under Lieutenant-General the Earl of Chatham, and suffered so little in
this unfortunate expedition, in which so many thousands of our best
soldiers fell a sacrifice to the climate, that in a few months the corps
was again efficient, and in 1810 sailed for Spain.
The returns of killed and wounded will indicate the
successive engagements in which they bore a conspicuous share, till the
battle of Toulouse, [The very distinguished
part this regiment had in the conquest and subsequent defence of the
batteries on the heights of Toulouse, will be found under the head of
the 42d Regiment.] on which important occasion the steady bravery
of this corps was most eminently displayed, as, indeed, it had been in
every instance in which, during the preceding campaigns, they came in
contact with the enemy. At Fuentes de Honor, on the 3d of May 1811,
they highly distinguished themselves, and mainly contributed to
repulse one of the formidable columns sent forward by Massena in his
reiterated and desperate assaults on that village.
[At Fuentes de Honor
Colonel Cameron lost his eldest son, Lieutenant-Colonel Philips Cameron,
a young officer of talents and professional promise.
At Bergen in 1799 the regiment lost Captain James
Campbell of Duntroon, who, with great intelligence, an open and generous
mind, and a personal appearance the most prepossessing, exhibited in
every view, according to the opinion of an old Highlander, a perfect
model of one of the heroes described by Ossian. In Egypt
Lieutenant-Colonel Macdowall, nephew to the Earl of Dumfries, died of
his wounds. Major Lawrie was killed at Burgos, and Captain Purves, only
son of Sir Alexander Purves, at Toulouse. These Were officers whom their
regiment and friends had much cause to lament.
Colonel Cameron's second son, a Major of his
regiment, died of sickness caught in the service, but the veteran
himself, who entered the army at an advanced period in life, never lost
one day's duty with his regiment when any service was to be performed,
till his promotion rendered his regimental duty incompatible with his
rank of Major-General. He accompanied his regiment Flanders, to the West
Indies, to Holland, Egypt, Portugal, and Spain, period of life when men
of less strength of mind, and of common consituations and habits, would
have been incapable of encountering such changes of
climate, and such exhausting duties. ]
The same observation applies to their conduct at the
passage of the Nive in December 1813, when the cool and well-directed
fire of this regiment was more destructive to the enemy than almost any
similar instance of the kind during these campaigns.
On the termination of hostilities, the regiment
embarked at Bourdeaux for England, and in 1815 was again ordered to
serve in Flanders. At Quatre Bras, where their discipline and military
qualities were put to a severe proof, they supported the reputation
which they had acquired at Fuentes de Honor and Toulouse, and had their
full share in the duties of that hard-fought day. In this battle, which
laid so good a foundation for the great victory which soon ensued, the
regiments were frequently compelled to fight separately, each on its own
ground, independently of the support of others, the enemy pouring down
in separate columns of attack on the different corps as they reached the
ground, so that each regiment had to stand or fall by its own individual
exertions. In these trials of courage and firmness the Cameron
Highlanders were uniformly successful. Not satisfied with repelling the
enemy, they followed up the blow, and drove them off the ground, yet at
the same time, preserved such regularity of formation, that they were
prepared for every fresh attack. These attacks were repeated, and
received sometimes in position;—at other times they advanced to meet the
charge of the French infantry, which never stood the onset. The cavalry
were received in squares, and with equal success. It is remarkable,
that, on this day, the enemy never combined their different arras. When
the infantry advanced, the cavalry were at a distance, which again
pushed forward in their turn, but never in any combined effort. If the
cavalry had followed close upon the attacks of the infantry, and made
their charge so immediately succeeding the repulse of the latter, as to
prevent the proper formation of a square, our troops must have found a
greater difficulty in presenting a proper resistance to such bold and
experienced squadrons.
At Waterloo, this regiment, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Douglas, was in Major-General Kempt's brigade,
with the 28th and 32d regiments, and formed the centre of
Lieutenant-General Picton's division. The 32d and 79th were stationed
150 yards in rear of a hedge occupied by a corps of Belgians and part of
the Rifle brigade. About two hours after the commencement of the battle,
three heavy columns of the enemy, preceded by artillery and
sharpshooters, advanced with a seeming determination to take possession
of the hedge. The Belgians fired a volley, and retreated in great
confusion. The 32d, 79th, and Rifle corps, instantly pushed forward,
occupied the ground left by the Belgians, and, forming upon the hedge,
fired a volley, and charged. This threw them into confusion, as the
enemy were deploying into line. They then made
an attempt to get towards their right, but were received by the 28th,
which made a desperate attack upon the right of the enemy as they
advanced. The other two regiments pursued their advantage, each
attacking the column opposed to them, till at length the enemy gave way
in the greatest confusion. At this moment General Picton was killed, and
General Kempt severely wounded; but the latter never left the field.
Like his old commander, Sir Ralph Abercromby, to whom he had been
confidential secretary, he allowed no personal consideration to
interfere with his duty; and, although unable to sit on horseback from
the severity of the wound, he would not allow himself to be carried away
from his soldiers, whose situation, pressed by a brave and powerful
enemy, required every assistance from his presence and talents.
The enemy, anxious to gain the position behind the
hedge, repeated their attempts, but every attempt was repulsed. It was
less, however, by these desperate attacks of the enemy, than by the
cannonading and skirmishing of sharpshooters, that the regiment
suffered. An enemy who is so quickly driven back will seldom fire
steadily. Not so with the artillery and sharpshooters, whose distance
enables them to take a better and cooler aim. This regiment, which had
been warmly engaged on both days, suffered severely ; but what they lost
in numbers was compensated by the honour which, in common with other
corps, they acquired in this decisive battle.
The regiment remained some time in France, and
returned to Britain in 1818. As they had been more successful in
recruiting than any other Highland corps, and as a number of the old and
disabled men have been discharged, two-thirds of those who now compose
the regiment are in the prime of life, active and efficient. Although
the Highlanders have not lately enlisted readily in their own country,
Major James Campbell, of this regiment,
enlisted nearly 200 young men in Edinburgh and
Glasgow in a few weeks. They had come up from the North in search of
work; and, having been unsuccessful, they engaged with him.
The casualties will, in all probability, be so few
for many years, that they will be easily supplied, and none but good men
received. The returns and lists in the Appendix will show the number of
killed and wounded. There are also 342 discharged men on the strength of
Chelsea Hospital, receiving pensions for length of service, and from
being disabled by wounds or disease. But many of the pensioners have
suffered so little, that they have been again called to serve in veteran
battalions.
The number of soldiers killed, from 1793 to the peace
of 1814, has been 89; and at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, 55; in all 144,
down to the final peace of 1815, an eventful period of twenty-two years'
warfare, in the course of which this regiment bore an active share, in
Europe, Africa, and the West Indies. |
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