Old Block House, Fort Duquesne..

The 42nd regiment passed the winter at Fort Pitt, and during the summer of 1764, eight companies were sent with the army of Boquet against the Ohio Indians. After a harrassing warfare the Indians sued for peace. Notwithstanding the labors of a march of many hundred miles among dense forests, during which they experienced the extremes of heat and cold, the Highlanders did not lose a single man from fatigue or exhaustion. The army returned to Fort Pitt in January, 1765, during very severe weather. Three men died of sickness, and on their arrival at Fort Pitt only nineteen men were under the surgeon's charge. The regiment was now in better quarters than it had been for years. It was greatly reduced in numbers, from its long service, the nature and variety of its hardships, amidst the torrid heat of the West Indies, the rigorous winters of New York and Ohio, and the fatalities on the field of battle.

The regiment remained in Pennsylvania until the month of July, 1767, when it embarked at Philadelphia for Ireland. Such of the men who preferred to remain in America were permitted to join other regiments. These volunteers were so numerous, that, along with those who had been previously sent home disabled, and others discharged and settled in America, the regiment that returned was very small in proportion of that which had left Scotland.

The 42nd Royal Highlanders, or The Black Watch, made a very favorable impression in America. The Virginia Gazette, July 30, 1767, published an article from which the following extracts have been taken:

"Last Sunday evening, the Royal Highland Regiment embarked for Ireland, which regiment, since its arrival in America, has been distinguished for having undergone most amazing fatigues, made long and frequent marches through an unhospitable country, bearing excessive heat and severe cold with alacrity and cheerfulness, frequently encamping in deep snow, such as those that inhabit the interior parts of this province do not see, and which only those who inhabit the most northern parts of Europe can have any idea of, continually exposed in camp and on their marches to the alarms of a savage enemy, who, in all their attempts, were forced to fly. * * * And, in a particular manner, the freemen of this and the neighboring provinces have most sincerely to thank them for that resolution and bravery with which they, under Colonel Boquet, and a small number of Royal Americans, defeated the enemy, and ensured to us peace and security from a savage foe; and, along with our blessings for these benefits, they have our thanks for that decorum in behavior which they maintained during their stay in this city, giving an example that the most amiable behavior in civil life is no way inconsistent with the character of the good soldier; and for their loyalty, fidelity, and orderly behavior, they have every wish of the people for health, honor, and a pleasant voyage."

The loss sustained by the regiment during the seven years it was employed in America and the West Indies was as follows:

KILLEDWOUNDED
Fed.
Officers		Capts.Subal
terns		Serj
eants		Drum
mers		Priv
ates		Fed.
Officers		Capts.Subal
terns		Serj
eants		Drum
mers		Priv
ates
Ticonderoga, July 7, 17581169...267...51210...306
Martinique, January, 1759...............8......12...22
Guadeloupe, February and March, 1759......11...25......43...57
General Amherst's Expedition to the Lakes, July and August, 1759...............3.........1...4
Martinique, January and February, 1762...111...121173172
Havanna, June and July, 1762, both battalions.............13............14
Expedition under Colonel Boquet, August, 1763...111...26...112230
Second Expedition under Boquet, in 1764 and 1765...............7.........1...9
Total in the Seven Years War1391213511725224504

Comparing the loss sustained by the 42nd in the field with that of other corps, it has generally been less than theirs, except at the defeat at Ticonderoga. The officers who served in the corps attributed the comparative loss to the celerity of their attack and the use of the broadsword, which the enemy could never withstand.