CHAPTER XXVI.
“Awake on your hills, on your islands awake,
Brave sons of the mountain, the frith, and the lake!
’Tis the bugle—but not for the chase is the call;
’Tis the pibroch’s shrill summons—but not to the hall.
“’Tis the summons of heroes for conquest or death,
When the banners are blazing on mountain and heath:
They call to the dirk, the claymore, and the targe,
To the march and the muster, the line and the charge.”
“BLACK WATCH”—FONTENOY—REBELLION 1745—AMERICA—1729–1760.
This distinguished regiment has long deservedly enjoyed the public favour. It is the link which binds us to the Old Highland Brigade, of which it remains the only and worthy representative. Mr Cannon, in his Military Records, thus introduces his account of the regiment by the following eulogy on the excellence of our Highland soldiers: “The Highlanders of Scotland have been conspicuous for the possession of every military virtue which adorns the character of the hero who has adopted the profession of arms. Naturally patient and brave, and inured to hardship in their youth in the hilly districts of a northern climate, these warlike mountaineers have always proved themselves a race of lion-like champions, valiant in the field, faithful, constant, generous in the hour of victory, and endued with calm perseverance under trial and disaster.” As already noted, the Government had wisely determined more largely to enlist the sympathy and good services of the clans on their side; and, in consequence, had armed a certain proportion of the well-affected clans—such as the Campbells, the Frasers, the Grants, and the Munroes—who, formed into independent companies under the command of their own or other well-known chieftains, were quartered in the more troubled districts of the Highlands, where the Jacobite clans of Cameron, Stuart, MʻIntosh, MʻDonald, and Murray rendered their presence necessary for maintaining order and preventing any sudden rising, as well as for the protection of property in those lawless times. They were called the “Freicudan Dhu,” or “Black Watch,” from the sombre appearance of their tartan uniform, compared with the scarlet coats of the regular soldiers. They were mostly composed of the sons of the landed gentry, as the Government felt that care was necessary, especially in this their first experiment, in selecting individuals who had something at stake in the common country, and consequently affording some guarantee for their fidelity. The success of the experiment was soon abundantly manifest; and whilst, in 1729, the “Black Watch” consisted only of six companies, ten years later these were assembled at Perth, augmented to ten companies, and regimented as the Highland Regiment, under the Earl of Crawford. The original high character of this famous regiment has never been excelled; no, not even by the Royal Guards. Nearly all its members were six feet in height—illustrious for physical prowess and might—highly connected, as may be well inferred from the fact that many, when proceeding to drill, went on horseback, followed by servants bearing their firelock and uniform. On one occasion the King, having heard of the splendid physical appearance of the men, desired to see a specimen; and accordingly three were sent up to London. One of these, Grant of Strathspey, died on the way; the other two, MʻGregor and Campbell, were presented to His Majesty, and, in presence of the King, the Duke of Cumberland, Marshal Wade, and other officers, performed the broadsword exercises and that of the Lochaber axe. Their dexterity and skill so pleased His Majesty that he gave each a gratuity of one guinea—a large sum in those days—imagining he had appropriately rewarded them; but such was the character of these men—above want, generally in good circumstances—that each bestowed his guinea upon the porter at the palace gate as he passed out. There is one feature which we record with more peculiar pleasure, as leaving a mightier impress of character upon these gallant men, and we quote it in the words of an English historian who was evidently no friend of theirs, yet wondrously surprised, as he relates, “to see these savages, from the officer to the commonest man, at their several meals, first stand up and pull off their bonnets, and then lift up their eyes in the most solemn and devout manner, and mutter something in their own gibberish, by way, I suppose,” says he, “of saying grace, as if they had been so many Christians.”
THE “BLACK WATCH,” OR FORTY-SECOND ROYAL HIGHLANDERS.
The idea that they should only serve in their own country had so strongly possessed the minds of many, that, when marched into England, and learning they were destined for service in the West Indies—a place associated in their minds only as a place of punishment for felons and the like—the regiment mutinied; but by a judicious blending of firmness and lenity on the part of Government, this splendid corps was not only brought to submit, but preserved to win honour for our country, and amply redeem, by brave deeds, the faults which for a moment clouded its early history.
In 1743 the Highlanders joined the British army in Flanders, where their conduct was so exemplary that the Elector Palatine specially thanked our King “for the excellent behaviour of the regiment while in his territories, and for whose sake,” he added, “I will always pay a respect and regard to a Scotsman in future.” Of their valour, no higher tribute can be paid than to say that at the battle of Fontenoy, where the regiment made its first essay in arms, our Highlanders were placed in brigade with the veterans of the British Guards. The result proved them to be every way worthy of the compliment. Truly they presented the choicest troops of the land, and eminently their success, like a meteor flash, for a moment lighted up the fortunes of battle and promised victory. Alas! all in vain; the disasters in other parts of the field compelled retreat. Marshal Saxe, who commanded the French on this occasion, with all the generosity which becomes a soldier, and who could distinguish valour even in a foeman, said of the Highlanders—“These furies rushed in upon us with more violence than ever did a sea driven by a tempest.”
The rebellion of Prince Charles Edward in 1745 occasioned the recall of the Forty-second, or, as it was then designated, the Forty-third, from the Continent, the scene of its early glory. With the army, the regiment was encamped in the south of England, prepared to dispute the menaced landing of a French force upon our coasts, which the rebels hoped should effect a favourable diversion. Meanwhile, three new companies which had not as yet joined the regiment, served in the royal army against the rebels—one company being taken prisoner at the battle of Prestonpans. The internal peace of the country being secured by the decisive victory of Culloden, many of the regiments returned to Flanders; whilst the Highlanders, with 2000 of the Foot Guards and other troops, attempted a descent upon the French coast, but failed to accomplish that success which had been anticipated, from the superior strength of the enemy. In the attack upon port L’Orient, assuming the disguise of Highlanders, a body of French, in a sally, succeeded in approaching the British lines, and had nearly entered them when discovered. They experienced the deadly wrath of our true Highlanders, whose blood was roused because of the indignity offered to the kilts in the foe attempting to deceive our troops thereby. The result proved that it needed more than the tartans to constitute the genuine Highlander—the dauntless native courage being wanting.
Returning home, the regiment was stationed a while in Ireland, until removed to reinforce the army fighting in Flanders, in alliance with the Austrians and Dutch, against the French. Excepting, however, at the siege of Hulst, and covering the embarkation of the army for South Beveland, the regiment was little engaged in these campaigns, being kept in reserve in South Beveland. Returning to Britain in 1749, the Highlanders were variously stationed in Ireland during the following six years. In 1756, the outbreak of hostilities in America between the British and French colonists called for the immediate presence of a British army, of which the Forty-second formed a part. On their arrival, the strangeness of their garb excited the interest of “the Indians, who flocked from all quarters to see the strangers, who, they believed, were of the same extraction as themselves, and therefore received them as brothers.” Landed in America, Lord Loudon, as commander-in-chief, hesitated to advance against the enemy until his soldiers had acquired some knowledge of the novel warfare of the bush in which they were to be so much engaged. The enemy, meanwhile, reaped many valuable advantages from the precious moments thus lost through the over-cautiousness and procrastination of the British commander.
In 1758, with the Twenty-seventh, the Forty-fourth, the Forty-sixth, the Fifty-fifth, two battalions of the Sixtieth, and upwards of 9000 provincials, the Forty-second formed the division of our army, under Major-General James Abercromby, which attempted the reduction of the strong fort of Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain. The obstacles to be overcome, and the strength of the garrison were such, that the utmost and repeated efforts of our soldiers failed to effect its capture. The distinguished bravery of the Forty-second is thus commemorated by an eye-witness:—“With a mixture of esteem, grief, and envy, I consider the great loss and immortal glory acquired by the Scots Highlanders in the late bloody affair. Impatient for orders, they rushed forward to the entrenchments, which many of them actually mounted. They appeared like lions, breaking from their chains. Their intrepidity was rather animated than damped by seeing their comrades fall on every side. I have only to say of them, that they seemed more anxious to revenge the cause of their deceased friends, than careful to avoid the same fate.” Their valour was further rewarded by an order to dignify the regiment with the title of the “Royal” Highlanders. So desperate was the fight, that the loss of the regiment exceeded 650 men and officers. It was here that the gallant and brave Brigadier-General Viscount Howe, of the Fifty-fifth regiment, met his death: he who had been “the life and soul of the expedition,” and was peculiarly the favourite of the soldiers.
In October, 1758, a second battalion was raised at Perth and grafted upon the good old stock of the Royal Highlanders. Soon after its formation, it was embarked for Barbadoes, where it joined the expedition under Major-Generals Hopson and Barrington, which was baffled in an attempt upon the French Island of Martinique. This reverse was, however, somewhat avenged by a more successful attack upon the Island of Guadaloupe, which, after four months’ hard fighting and much suffering from the insalubrity of the climate, was surrendered to the British. The defence is remarkable as affording a striking instance of female heroism in the person of Madame Ducharmey, who, arming her negroes when others had retired, refused to yield, resolutely defending the island for some time.
Removed from the West Indies to the continent of America, the second battalion was at length united to the first. These formed part of the expeditionary force, under General Amherst, which, advancing, occupied the strong fortresses of Ticonderago, Crown Point, and Isle aux Noix, successively evacuated by the French. In the campaign of 1760 our Highlanders were with the army which, crossing Lake Ontario, descended the St Lawrence, effected the surrender of Montreal, and in its fall sealed the subjugation of the entire province of Canada.
CHAPTER XXVII.
“For gold the merchant ploughs the main,
The farmer ploughs the manor;
But glory is the sodger’s prize,
The sodger’s wealth is honour.
The brave poor sodger ne’er despise,
Nor count him as a stranger:
Remember he’s his country’s stay,
In day and hour o’ danger.”
MARTINIQUE—HAVANNAH—BUSHYRUN—ILLINOIS—AMERICAN
REVOLUTION—HALIFAX—CAPE BRETON—1762–1769.
Its sobriety, abstemious habits, great activity, and capability of bearing the vicissitudes of the West Indian climate, had commended the selection of the Forty-second as part of an expedition then assembling at Barbadoes for a renewal of the attack upon the valuable island of Martinique, which, after some severe fighting, was surrendered, in 1762, by the French governor to the British commander, Major-General the Honourable Robert Monckton. Scarcely had the rude tempest of war subsided in its wrath, and the genial calm of peace asserted its blessed influence over the nation, ere that tranquillity was again disturbed by the malignant passions which unhappily prevailed, and launched our country into antagonism with Spain. Reinforced by fresh troops from home—including our Highlanders—the British army of the West Indies, under the Earl of Albemarle, embarking, effected a landing on the Spanish island of Cuba, and gloriously captured its wealthy metropolis, acquiring therein prize-money to the enormous extent of three millions sterling. After achieving this very successful result, the regiment, embraced in one battalion, returned to the continent of America, where it was employed in most harassing duty, checking and punishing the depredatory incursions of the Indians, who were ever on the alert to avenge themselves on the white men of the colony, whom they could not help regarding, and not altogether unreasonably, as their spoilers, and hence their natural enemies. At Bushyrun the Forty-second encountered the army of red warriors, and inflicted a severe defeat, which so sorely distressed them, that, tendering their submission, a favourable peace was thereupon secured. Thereafter a party of a hundred men, detached from the regiment, under Captain, afterwards General Sir Thomas Stirling, was engaged in an exploring expedition, journeying 3000 miles in ten months, as far as Fort Charteris on the Illinois; and notwithstanding all the difficulties and dangers encountered in the way, returning to head-quarters safe and sound. At length, after these many faithful and arduous services, the regiment received the order to return home. Enjoying the esteem of the colonists, its departure was most deeply regretted. The regiment reached Cork in October, 1767, and remained on duty in Ireland for about twelve years, whence it was removed to Scotland in 1775, to be recruited. Scarcely had its establishment been completed when the American Revolution, involving our country in a new war, occasioned its recall to that continent. On the eve of its departure from Greenock, the regiment comprised 931 Highlanders, 74 Lowlanders, 5 Englishmen (in the band), 1 Welshman, and 2 Irishmen—ample evidence of its genuine Highland character. In the passage outwards the fleet was separated in a tempest, and a company of the Forty-second, which had been quartered on board the “Oxford” transport, was so unfortunate as to be captured by an American privateer. Retained as prisoners on board the “Oxford,” the soldiers succeeded in overpowering the crew, and, assuming the command of the vessel, navigated it to the Bay of Chesapeake, unwittingly to find themselves in the enemy’s grasp, who held possession of the bay. As captives, our Highlanders were removed into the interior of the continent, where every attempt was made to seduce them from their allegiance, and tempt them to enter the American service, but, “true to their colours,” without avail. Meanwhile, the rest of the regiment had joined the British army in Staten Island, under General the Honourable Sir William Howe.
During the whole course of the war which followed, it may with truth be averred that no one regiment was more constantly employed, serving chiefly with one or other of the flank corps, and that no regiment was more exposed to danger, underwent more fatigue, or suffered more from both.
The events of the war are so much a matter of history, that we forbear to detain the reader with more than a mere enumeration of those in which the Forty-second bore a conspicuous part. Having, through the battle of Brooklyn, achieved the capture of Long Island, landing with the British army on the mainland, the Highlanders were present with distinction at the siege of Fort Washington, the capture of Fort Lee, the re-taking of Trenton, but especially in the affair of Pisquata, where, assailed by overwhelming numbers, the gallantry of the regiment was beyond all compliment. The Forty-second was also present, although in a subordinate position, at the battle of Brandywine, where General Washington was defeated. On the 20th September, 1777, it was detached with the first battalion of Light Infantry and the Forty-fourth regiment, to surprise a strong force of Americans which lay concealed in the recesses of the forest in the neighbourhood of the British camp, purposing to annoy the army and cut off stragglers. The surprise—effected with scarcely any loss—favoured by the darkness of the night, was successful. The enemy, wholly unsuspecting, was utterly dispersed with great slaughter. The regiment was further engaged in the attack upon Billingspoint and the defence of Germanstown.
At length allied with France, the Americans were so helped and encouraged that it became necessary to concentrate the British army, and, in consequence, relinquishing many of their more distant conquests, our troops retired to the sea coast to oppose the threatened debarkation of a French force from their fleet which cruised off the coast. Dispersed by a storm, this armament failed to afford that assistance which had been anticipated, compelling General Sullivan, who commanded an auxiliary army of Americans, to abandon the siege of Nieuport, in Rhode Island, and beat a precipitate retreat to the mainland. Meanwhile, the Forty-second, with the Thirty-third, Forty-sixth, and Sixty-fourth regiments, successfully accomplished the destruction of the arsenals and dockyards of Bedford and Martha’s Vineyard. At Stoneypoint and Vereplanks, after a desperate struggle, the persevering efforts of the Royal Highlanders were rewarded with complete success. Under General Sir Henry Clinton, the regiment formed a part of the expedition which undertook and achieved the siege of Charlestown. The increasing force and daring of the enemy, inspired and sustained by the genius of Washington, glorying in the disaster of Yorktown, where a British army was forced to surrender, induced peace, which, concluded in 1782, put an end to further hostilities. The regiment served for a while thereafter in Halifax, and, ere it returned home in 1789, garrisoned the island of Cape Breton. Whilst in Nova Scotia, in 1785, Major-General John Campbell, in presenting a new set of colours to the regiment, thus ably addressed it—an address which, in its excellence, lives to encourage our army, and than which we are convinced no better epitome of a soldier’s duty exists:—
“I congratulate you on the service you have done your country, and the honour you have procured yourselves, by protecting your old colours, and defending them from your enemies in different engagements during the late unnatural rebellion.
“From those ragged, but honourable remains, you are now to transfer your allegiance and fidelity to these new National and Regimental Standards of Honour, now consecrated and solemnly dedicated to the service of our King and Country. These colours are committed to your immediate care and protection; and I trust you will, on all occasions, defend them from your enemies, with honour to yourselves and service to your country—with that distinguished and noble bravery which have always characterised the Royal Highlanders in the field of battle.
“With what pleasure, with what peculiar satisfaction—nay, with what pride, would I enumerate the different memorable actions where the regiment distinguished itself. To particularise the whole would exceed the bounds of this address; let me therefore beg your indulgence while I take notice only of a few of them.
“And, first, the conduct of the regiment at the battle of Fontenoy was great and glorious! As long as the bravery of the fifteen battalions in that conflict shall grace the historic page, and fill the breast of every Highlander with pleasure and admiration, so long will the superior gallantry of the Forty-second Regiment bear a conspicuous part in the well-fought action of that day, and be recorded in the annals of Fame to the latest posterity!
“I am convinced that it will always be a point of honour with the corps, considered as a collective body, to support and maintain a national character!
“For this purpose you should ever remember that, being a national and reputable corps, your actions as citizens and civil subjects, as well as your conduct as soldiers, will be much observed—more than those of any other regiment in the service. Your good behaviour will be handed down with honour to posterity, and your faults, if you commit any, will not only be reported, but magnified, by other corps who are emulous of your civil as well as of your military character. Your decent, sober, and regular behaviour in the different quarters you have hitherto occupied, has rendered you the distinguished favourites of their respective inhabitants. For the sake, then, of your country—for the sake of your own established character, which must be dearer to you than every other consideration—do not tarnish your fame by a subsequent behaviour less manly!
“Do not, I beseech you, my fellow-soldiers, allow your morals to be corrupted by associating with low, mean, or bad company. A man is always known by his companions; and if any one among you should at any time be seen spending his money in base, worthless company, he ought to be set up and exposed as an object of regimental contempt!
“To conclude: As you have, as soldiers, displayed sufficient valour in the field by defeating the enemies of your country, suffer me to recommend to you, as Christians, to use your best endeavours, now in the time of peace, to overcome the enemies of your immortal souls! Believe me, my fellow-soldiers, and be assured, that the faith and virtues of a Christian add much to the valour, firmness, and fidelity of a soldier. He, beyond comparison, has the best reason, and the strongest motive, for doing his duty in scenes of danger, who has nothing to fear, but every thing to hope, in a future existence.
“Ought you not, therefore, to be solicitous to adorn your minds with, at least, the principal and leading Christian virtues, so that if it should be your fate hereafter to fall in the field of battle, your acquaintances and friends will have the joyful consolation of hearing that you leave an unspotted name, and of being assured that you rose from a bed of honour to a crown of immortality.”