I shall have occasion to mention an early offer made
by the Laird of Grant, in 1793, along with the Duke of Gordon, the
Marchioness of Stafford, and the Earl of Breadalbane, to raise Fencible
regiments in the Highlands. As soon as Sir James Grant's Fencible
regiment was embodied, he made further proposals to raise a regiment for
general service. After the exertions recently made to complete the Grant
Fencibles, this was an arduous undertaking.
The difficulty soon appeared. Though the corps was
numerically completed to 1000 men within the stipulated time, all of
them were not of that class which formed the Fencible corps. The
Lieutenant-Colonel, Major, and others of the officers, were not natives
of the North, and without local knowledge or influence; their
commissions depending on their success in recruiting, their principal
object was to procure a sufficient number capable of passing muster,
and, as money in manufacturing towns effected what influence did in the
North, many men were recruited whose character and constitutions could
bear no comparison with men of regular and hardy habits raised in the
agricultural districts. However, there was among them a number of very
good men: the flank companies were excellent.
The regiment was inspected and embodied at Elgin by
Major-General Sir Hector Munro, and numbered the 97th; and thus a
private gentleman added 1300 soldiers to the force of the country,
besides those raised by the officers in the Southern districts. From
this, and several other instances at this period, we may, without going
back to the days of chiefs and clansmen, estimate the great importance
of family, territorial, and personal influence. When exercised by such
men as the late Sir James Grant—honourable, humane, and hospitable in
his private character, as well as a kind and generous landlord to a
numerous and grateful tenantry—Great Britain may calculate on commanding
the willing services of the youth of the mountains.
The 97th was ordered to the south of England in 1794,
served a few months as marines on board Lord Howe's fleet in the
Channel. In autumn 1795, the men and officers were drafted into
different regiments, and the two flank companies turned over to the 42d,
when preparing to embark for the West Indies.
