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BESIDES the various
Highland Regiments of which an account has now been given, a number of
other similar corps, all showing, wherever possible, the same qualities of
bravery and good conduct, have from time to time been raised within the
old clan districts. During the Rebellion of 1745 two battalions (of about
600 men each) of Campbell or Argyll Highlanders were raised in Argyllshire
and the West, in aid of the Hanoverian cause, as well as 20 companies of
100 men each in the counties of Inverness and Ross, while the Earl of
Sutherland had 2400 men under his command, equipped and maintained at his
own expense. Grant of Grant was, however, able to bring only 98 men, and
Macleod of Macleod only 200 to the Duke of Cumberland’s aid, while the
Duke of Atholl and the Earl of Breadalbane, notwithstanding their great
personal power and influence, could induce none of their people to fight
against the Jacobite cause, though the Duke’s brother, Lord George
Murray, who took the Stewart side, obtained in a few days from the same
district a following of 1400 men. Previous, however, to the commencement
of the Rebellion, over 300 men from the Atholl and Breadalbane country had
joined Loudon’s Highlanders, as well as a number of Grants, Macleods,
Mackenzies (Kintail), Mackays, Rosses, and tenants of the Earl of
Sutherland. The Argyll Highlanders were actively employed during the
insurrection, and were with Hawley’s force at Falkirk, where they were
left to guard the camp when the other battalions moved forward to battle,
and with the Duke of Cumberland’s army at Culloden, where they acted as
baggage guard. [Chambers, in his History of the Rebellion of 1745, states,
on the authority of Campbell of Dunstaffnage, that the night before
Culloden the leaders of the Argyll men held a meeting at which it was
settled that should the Highland army be successful in the coming fray,
the Campbells were to declare for Prince Charles Edward. He vouches for
the correctness of the information, but considering the dislike
entertained for the followers of MacCailean Mhor by the rest of the clans,
the possibility of their contemplating such a movement seems somewhat
doubtful.] The regiment, or a portion of it, also formed part of the
cordon of troops that surrounded the Morar district, when Prince Charles
was in hiding there. The corps was reduced after the restoration of order
in Scotland. "The other troops were not regimented, but acted.
independently in one or more companies under the command of the gentlemen
who raised them; or served together when assembled for any general
purpose."
During the progress of the
Seven Years’ War (1756—63), independent companies were again enrolled
in the Highlands, and large numbers of recruits were also obtained for new
regiments formed in the South, into which the Highlanders were drafted.
One of these, raised by Major Colin Campbell of Kilberrie, was embodied at
Stirling in 1761, and numbered the 100th Regiment of the Line. It
proceeded at once to Martinique, where it remained till the peace of
Hubertsburgh in 1763, when it returned to Scotland and was reduced. Two
battalions raised by Colonel David Graeme of Gorthy, and constituting the
105th Regiment of the Line (the Queen’s Highlanders), were embodied at
Perth in 1762, and after serving in Ireland were reduced at the peace the
following year. Two regiments, raised by Major James Hamilton (113th
Regiment, Royal Highland Volunteers) and Captain Allan Maclean of Torloisk,
were never on active service, but seem to have been treated as depot
battalions for the supply of drafts to the various Highland regiments then
serving in Germany and America. Like the others mentioned, they were
reduced in 1763. During the great European war (1793-1815) brought on by
the excesses of the French Revolution, besides the 2d battalions of the
various regiments previously noticed, regiments raised by Major-General
Campbell of Monzie, Colonel Duncan Cameron of Callart, and Colonel Simon
Fraser were placed on the army establishment in 1794, and numbered the
116th, the 132nd, and the 133rd; but they were for some reason broken up
soon afterwards, and their officers and men transferred to other corps.
The battalions noticed all
belonged to the regular army, but during these periods of national strain,
as well as in the intervening one of the first American War (1775-83),
there were also enrolled in both Highlands and Lowlands a number of
regiments intended for local defence, and styled Fencible Regiments. The
formation of such corps was first proposed and carried out by Mr Pitt,
afterwards Earl of Chatham, in 1759. In the early period of the Seven
Years’ War, and of the great Colonial War between Great Britain and
France, into which their portion of the struggle grew, the British armies
and fleets had both suffered reverses, and to retrieve the national
character great efforts were necessary. Most of the regular troops had in
consequence to be sent abroad, and it became requisite to provide for the
internal defence of the country in their absence. In England county
militia regiments were raised for the purpose, but with the Rebellion of
1745 still fresh in recollection, it was at first deemed imprudent to
extend that system to Scotland, or to intrust its inhabitants with arms;
and groundless as the reasons for this caution undoubtedly were in regard
to the Lowlands, to have armed the clans would certainly have been
hazardous, at a time when the Stewarts and their adherents were still
plotting a restoration. An exception was, however, made in favour of the
people of Argyll and Sutherland, whose loyalty had been already tried, and
letters of service were issued to the Duke of Argyll, then the most
influential nobleman in Scotland, and the Earl of Sutherland, empowering
each of them to raise a Fencible Regiment within his own district. Unlike
the militia regiments which were raised by ballot, the Fencibles were to
be formed by the ordinary mode of recruiting, and as in the regiments of
the line the officers were to be appointed and their commissions signed by
the King. The service was originally limited to Scotland, but during the
Napoleonic wars, when the prospects of a termination of hostilities seemed
far distant, this confined sphere of duty was found to be so inconvenient
that many of the first-raised regiments had to be disbanded, while the men
of those formed later were enlisted for duty all over the British Isles.
These battalions, besides fulfilling their own distinct purpose in the
national defence, served also as excellent schools for the training of men
for the Highland Regiments of the Line. The last of them was formed in
1799, and all were disbanded in 1802, after the peace of Amiens. We shall
here give a brief account’ of them, partly in chronological, and partly
in alphabetical, order.
The Fencible Regiments
raised during the Seven Years’ War were:-
1. The Argyll Regiment (No.
1). This was the earliest of all, the commissions being dated July 1759.
It numbered about 1000 men, and after being quartered in different parts
of Scotland, was reduced after the peace of 1763.
2. The Sutherland Regiment
(No. 1). The officers’ commissions were dated August 1759. It numbered
1050 men, and so tall were all its members, that there were two grenadier
companies, but no light one. In 1788 it was marched back to Sutherland and
disbanded in May. During the whole period of service, such was the
excellence of the men’s behaviour, that no restrictions had been
required, and no man had been punished.
The Regiments raised during
the American War were:-
1. The Argyll or Western
Regiment (No. 2). Raised partly by Lord Frederick Campbell in Argyllshire,
and partly by the Earl of Eglinton about Glasgow and in the south-west of
Scotland, it was embodied at Glasgow in April 1778, and reduced at the
same place in 1783. The men voluntarily offered to extend their services
to any part of the world where they might be necessary.
2. The Gordon Regiment (No.
1). Raised in 1778 by the Duke of Gordon on his estates in the counties of
Inverness, Elgin, Banff, and Aberdeen, it was embodied with a strength of
960 men at Aberdeen in 1778, and was reduced in 1788.
3. The Sutherland Regiment
(No. 2). Raised in Sutherland and Caithness, it was embodied at Fort
George in February 1779, and was stationed principally near Edinburgh.
"Desertions or crimes," says a contemporary account,
"requiring the check of courts-martial were totally unknown in this
regiment.• Such was their economy, that if any officer in whom they had
any confidence required a temporary supply of money, one thousand pounds
could be raised among the men. They were always remitting money, and
sending home little presents to their friends" It was disbanded at
Fort George in 1783, and a number of the men afterwards joined the 93rd
Sutherland Highlanders on the formation of that regiment in 1800.
The Regiments raised for
the wars that followed the French Revolution were much more numerous, a
circumstance which shows that the former distrust of Scottish loyalty to
the House of Hanover was rapidly becoming extinct. Certainly no part of
the United Kingdom was in that time of national danger more lavish of the
best and bravest of her sons than the Highlands. The corps then enrolled
were:—
1. The Argyll Regiment (No.
3), consisting ultimately of three battalions. The first, raised by the
Marquis of Lorne, was embodied at Stirling in 1793, and after serving in
various parts of Scotland, was reduced in 1799. The second, raised by
Colonel Henry M. Clavering in 1794, had a good many lowlanders in its
ranks. It served in Ireland, where it was reduced in 1802. The third,
raised by Colonel Archibald Macneil of Colonsay in 1799, contained but few
men from Argyllshire. Enlisted for service in any part of Europe, it went
to Gibraltar in 1800 to relieve some of the troops destined for Sir Ralph
Abercromby’s expedition to Egypt, and was finally reduced at Dumbarton
in July 1802.
2. The Breadalbane
Regiment, which consisted of three battalions, numbering in all 2300 men.
Raised by the Earl of Breadalbane from his estates in Perthshire and
Argyllshire, the 1st and 2d Battalions were embodied at Perth in 1793, and
after serving in various parts of Scotland, were reduced in 1798. The
third, raised in 1794, served in Ireland, and was disbanded in 1802. While
the Breadalbane men were stationed at Glasgow in 1795, several of them who
were confined in the guard-house and threatened with corporal punishment
for some military offence were forcibly released by their comrades, who
had become greatly excited at the idea of the deep disgrace that would
attach itself to the regiment should any of its members be subjected to
such a degrading infliction. So universal was the feeling among the men,
and so equal the guilt of all concerned in this mutinous outbreak, that
the difficulty of settling which of them should be regarded as ringleaders
was decided only by a certain number voluntarily offering to abide by
"the sentence of the law as an atonement for the whole." These
were marched to Edinburgh Castle and tried there; but of the four
sentenced to be shot on Musselburgh Sands only one was executed, the
others being pardoned.
3. The Gordon Regiment (No.
2) or Northern Fencible Highlanders. Raised on the Duke of Gordon’s own
estates and those of his neighbours in the North, it was partly Highland
and partly Lowland in its character. After being embodied at Aberdeen in
1793, the men volunteered to extend their services beyond Scotland, and
the offer being accepted they were sent to Kent in 1794. The battalion was
then also marched to London by special orders from King George III. (who
had never seen a Highland regiment), and reviewed before him in Hyde Park.
His Majesty was highly gratified and pleased with its appearance. This was
the second review of a Highland regiment in London, that of the 42nd in
1743 having been the first. This corps was reduced in Scotland in 1798.
4. The Grant or Strathspey
Regiment or Fencible Men in North Britain. Raised by Sir James Grant of
Grant, it was embodied at Forres in June 1793, and after serving at
various places in the south of Scotland, was reduced in 1799. While the
battalion was stationed at Dumfries in 1795, a mutiny similar to that
already noticed in connection with the Breadalbane Fencibles occurred. The
regiment was at once removed to Musselburgh, where a corporal and three
privates were tried for the part they had taken in the outbreak, and were
sentenced to be shot on Gullane Links, but only two of the latter were put
to death, the others being pardoned.
5. The Sutherland Regiment
(No. 3). Raised in Sutherland and Ross by Major-General William Wemyss of
Wemyss, who had commanded the Sutherland Fencibles of 1779, it was
embodied at Fort George in 1793. In 1797 it extended its service to
Ireland, and was engaged in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion. It was
reduced at Fort George in 1798, but by far the greater number of the men
re-enlisted in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders when that regiment was
formed in 1800.
6. The Caithness Regiment,
or more properly the Rothesay and Caithness Regiment raised by Sir John
Sinclair of Ulbster, of "Statistical Account" fame, who wrote an
interesting account of it, this was the first British regiment, i.e., with
the men enrolled for service in any part of the United Kingdom. The
officers were very tall, and were known among the people of Inverness as
"Thier nan mhor," or the great chiefs. There were two
battalions, the first being embodied at Inverness in 1794, and after
serving in Scotland and the north of England reduced on Bruntsfield Links,
Edinburgh, in May 1799. The 2d Battalion was embodied at Forfar in May
1795, and after serving in Ireland, the men, with the exception of 50,
volunteered in 1797 for service in any part of Europe. It was, however,
never sent abroad (though it supplied 200 volunteers to the 72nd and 92nd
Regiments in 1800), and was reduced in Scotland in 1802.
7. The Caithness Legion.
Raised in 1794-96 by Sir Benjamin Dunbar of Hempriggs, it served in
Ireland, and was reduced in 1802.
8. The Dumbarton Regiment.
Raised by Colonel Campbell of Stonefield in 1794, it was embodied in the
following year and sent to Guernsey, where, in order to get rid of a
number of indifferent characters who had been recruited in Glasgow, the
number of men was reduced to 500. It was actively employed in Ireland
during the Rebellion, and was, "as the service required confidential,
trustworthy men," selected, on the recommendation of Sir John Moore,
to furnish a guard for 400 prisoners, who were to be sent to Prussia. It
was reduced in 1802.
9. The Fraser Regiment.
Raised by James Fraser of Belladrum in 1794, it was embodied at Inverness
in June 1795, the men being mostly from the Fraser country or the
surrounding districts. The regiment saw service during the Irish
Rebellion, and was the last to retreat in the unfortunate affair at
Castlebar. It was reduced at Glasgow in July 1802.
10. The Glengarry or
British Highland Regiment Raised by Alexander Macdonell of Glengarry from
his own estate and the surrounding districts in 1794, it served in Jersey
and Guernsey, and was reduced at Ayr in 1802. The greater number of the
Glengarry men, after their discharge, emigrated with their families and
relatives to Canada, and settled in a district which they named after
their native glen. During the American War of 1812-14 they formed along
with other Highland emigrants a regiment called by the old name of
Glengarry Fencibles, which did good service.
11. The Inverness-shire
Regiment or Loyal Inverness Fencible Highlanders. Raised for service
within the British Isles by Major Baillie of Dunean in 1794, it was
embodied at Inverness in October 1795, and proceeded thereafter to
Ireland, where it was actively employed during the Rebellion, and behaved
so well that its designation was changed to The Duke of York’s Royal
Inverness-shire Highlanders. Many of the men were lowlanders, and in 1801
they offered to extend their service to any part of the world. The Peace
of Amiens prevented the offer from being accepted, and the corps was
disbanded at Stirling in March 1802.
12. The Reay Regiment.
Raised by George Mackay of Bighouse in "the Reay Country" in
1794, it was embodied at Fort George in March 1795, and saw active service
in Ireland during the Rebellion, the conduct of the three companies
engaged at Tara Hill on the 26th of May 1798 being particularly cornmended.
The regiment was held in high esteem by Generals Lake and Nugent, the
former of whom selected his personal guard from its ranks. It was reduced
at Stirling Castle in October 1802.
13. The Ross-shire Regiment
Embodied in 1796 by Major Colin Mackenzie of Mountgerald, it made up for
its small numbers by its excellent character, not a single man having been
punished during the whole period of service, which lasted till 1802.
14. The Clan Alpine
Regiment Raised by Colonel Alexander Macgregor Murray, it was embodied at
Stirling in May 1799, the men being enlisted for service in any part of
Europe. It occupied various stations in Ireland, and was reduced at
Stirling in July 1802.
15. The Lochaber Regiment.
Raised by Cameron of Lochiel, it was embodied at Falkirk in May 1799, and,
after serving in Ireland, was reduced at Linlithgow in July 1802.
16. The Regiment of the
Isles or Macdonald’s Fencible Regiment. Raised by Lord Macdonald on his
estates in the Western Isles, it was embodied at Inverness in June 1799,
and, after serving in the south of Scotland and the north of England, was
reduced at Fort George in July 1802. So much attached to the officers were
the men, that after the dismissal "the soldiers ordered out all the
carriages in the garrison, and, putting the officers in them, dragged them
to the village of Campbelltown, where they treated them with wine,
etc."
17. The Ross and Cromarty
Rangers. Embodied by Colonel Lewis Mackenzie, yr. of Scatwell, in June
1799 for service in any part of Europe, it never left Scotland, and was
reduced at Inverness in July 1802.
18. The Macleod or Princess
Charlotte of Wales’ Regiment. Raised by John Macleod of Colbecks in
1799, this was the last Fencible Regiment formed in the Highlands. It was
embodied at Elgin in June, and, after serving in Ireland, was reduced at
Tynemouth Barracks in June 1802.
The so-called Perthshire
Highlanders or Perthshire Highland Regiment, raised by Colonel William
Robertson of Ludein 1794, had but few Highlanders in its ranks, and was
reduced at an early period. Other lowland Fencible Regiments were the
Aberdeen Highland or Princess of Wales’ Regiment (1794.1803), Angusshire
Regiment (1794-1802), Banffshire Regiment, Lord Elgin’s Regiment
(1794.1802)—which however contained some 300 Highlanders and the men of
which wore the Highland bonnet and trews,—Fifeshire Regiment
(1794-1802), Loyal British Regiment, Loyal Tarbert Regiment (1799.1802),
Loyal Tay Regiment (1794.1802), North Lowland Regiment (1796-1802), West
Lowland Regiment, Orkney Battalion, Prince of Wales’ Own Regiment
(1794-1802), and Southern Regiment.
A regiment to be called the
Canadian Fencibles was raised in the Highlands in 1804 for service in
Canada, but when the men assembled at Glasgow it was found that they had
been greatly deceived as to the conditions of service, and were in
consequence in a discontented and mutinous state. After being marched to
Ayr they were discharged, and a number of them enlisted in the second
battalions of the 78th and 79th Regiments, which were then being formed.
Of the rest some emigrated to America, while the others returned to their
Highland homes full of wrath over their wrongs, and with such a tale of
ill-treatment and deception as could not fail to destroy the already
somewhat shaken faith of their countrymen in the promise of public men.
Lists of volunteer and
militia regiments connected with the Highlands in the end of last and the
beginning of the present century, accounts of which do not fall within the
scope of this work, will be found in Stewart’s Sketches. |
