| 6 | Troops of Horse Artillery. |
| 52 | Companies of Artillery. |
| 5 | Companies of Driver Corps, or Captain-Commissaries. |
| 11 | Companies of Invalids. |
| 1 | Company of Gentlemen Cadets. |
Kane’s List.
The geographical distribution of the Regiment, as far as the combatant companies were concerned, was as follows,—the year 1797 being selected as a year of comparative peace, between the two Continental Expeditions under the Duke of York:—
| On Home Stations | 29 | Troops and Companies. |
| In Portugal | 1 | Company. |
| In Canadal | 4 | Companies. |
| At Cape of Good Hopel | 2 | Companies. |
| At Gibraltarl | 5 | Companies. |
| In East Indiesl | 2 | Companies (belonging to no Battalions). |
| In Jamaical | 4 | Companies. |
| In Newfoundlandl | 1 | Company. |
| In Nova Scotia and Cape Bretonl | 2 | Companies. |
| In the West Indies (exclusive of Jamaica) | 8 | Companies. |
Of these companies, as has already been stated, many men were employed on board the bomb vessels. The companies stationed at the Cape of Good Hope deserve special notice at this time, as also subsequently did those at Gibraltar, for their loyalty at a time of mutiny among the other forces on D. A. General, R.A., 4 Feb. 1798, and Colonel Cleaveland’s MS. Notes. the station. On the 4th February, 1798, the following letter was published to the Regiment by Colonel Macleod, having been transmitted to him by order of Major-General Dundas, commanding the troops at the Cape of Good Hope, who had in the first instance addressed it to Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke, who commanded the Royal Artillery on that station:—
“Castle of Good Hope,
“15 November, 1797.
“Sir,
“The Corps of Artillery having had the greatest part of the extraordinary duty which the late disturbances on board the fleet have occasioned, as their alacrity in discharging their duty was no less conspicuous than on former occasions, when the Artillery have been called upon to act, I am directed by Major-General Dundas to express his entire approbation of their conduct,—honourable to themselves and to the Service.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “P. Abercrombie,
“Major of Brigade.”
Commendation of loyal conduct in time of civil disturbance is as noble a record to hoard in the story of a regiment, as the chronicle of valour in the field. Military discipline is indeed a miserable weapon, if it is not found true in time of national discontent, as well as in the hour of national danger. The great lesson for a soldier to learn is obedience; and if that obedience is to be conditional on the soldier’s inclination, then the nation which trains an armed force is but cherishing a possible enemy. The lesson of silent obedience is becoming every day more difficult to learn; discipline in civil life is rarer than it was, and impatience of control is almost a popular cry. What a noble mission, then, an army may follow in time of peace! To show that men with skill and power, and with a consciousness of these qualities, can yet subordinate themselves for the good of the commonwealth, instead of the individual, is surely a grand object for an army’s purpose. And in the daily life of such a force a nation might read a lesson, which, if taught from the mouths of rulers or the pulpits of preachers, would fall on deaf, because doubting ears; for a suspicion dogs the heels of the mere speaker, which vanishes before the open and consistent life of the actor.