Government, awakened to the danger which threatened the peace of the country whilst the fiery valour of the clans, unrestrained, ran wild—save for the chieftain who exercised a species of independent sovereignty, not always for the weal of the State—wisely determined to enlist the sympathy of these petty tyrants on its side, and present a more useful and nobler field for the employment and development of that exceeding bravery and martial spirit which have ever characterised the clans, and the efforts of which had, when embraced in the rebel army of the Stuarts, justly caused most serious alarm. “I sought for merit,” said the great Chatham, “wherever it was to be found; it is my boast that I was the first minister who looked for it and found it in the mountains of the North. I called it forth, and drew into your service a hardy and intrepid race of men, who, when left by your jealousy, became a prey to the artifice of your enemies, and had gone nigh to have overturned the State.... These men were brought to combat on your side, have served with fidelity, have fought with valour, and conquered for you in every part of the world.”
About the year 1740, a variety of companies of Highlanders, known as the “Black Watch,” were regimented, and, under the Earl of Crawford, formed the Royal Forty-second Highlanders, whose history will be treated in succeeding chapters; meanwhile, we shall shortly enumerate the several corps, since disbanded, which at several periods constituted the Highland Brigade. The oldest of these
Loudon’s Highlanders,
was raised by the Earl of Loudon, a nobleman of great influence in the Highlands, in 1745. In its short but eventful career, the regiment served with credit and fidelity during the rebellion of 1745, and afterwards with equal distinction with the allied army in Holland. At the battle of Preston it was unfortunately captured. Having completed its term of service, the regiment was disbanded in 1748.
On the outbreak of the American war, the Government again appealed to the clans to enrol beneath the British banner, and on no occasion with more splendid success. Of the regiments then embarked were
Montgomery’s Highlanders,
raised in 1757 by Archibald Montgomery, afterwards Earl of Eglinton, and which served with its cotemporary,
Fraser’s Highlanders,
in America throughout the war. This last was raised, hence its title, by Sir Simon Fraser, son of Lord Lovat, a chieftain enjoying largely the confidence of the clans, yet dispoiled of his lands and destitute of funds by the misfortunes of the recent rebellion, in which he had figured conspicuously among the Jacobites.
Immediately upon their embodiment, these two regiments were embarked for America at Greenock. Associated in the British army, they were honourably distinguished in the contest which ensued. Their disbandment took place respectively in 1775 and 1763. Hostilities having extended to the continent of Europe, and the Government thoroughly appreciating the value of the Highland soldier, resolved to enrol, in 1759, other two regiments for service in Germany, respectively