Colonel Humherston afterwards joined the troops under Major-General Matthews, and was employed in several operations on the Malabar coast. He subsequently accompanied Colonel Macleod to Bombay, to make some representations to the council, and sailed from thence, on the 5th of April, 1783, in the Ranger, to rejoin the army. Three days afterwards that vessel was attacked by the Mahratta fleet, and after a desperate resistance of five hours, was taken possession of. Every officer on board was either killed or wounded, and among them the gallant Colonel Humberston was shot through the body with a four-pound ball, of which he died at Geriah on the 30th of April, 1783.
James Murray.
Appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, 1st November, 1783, and Colonel in 1786.
James Murray, second son of Lord George Murray, who was lieut.-general of the Pretender’s forces during the rebellion in 1745 and 1746, served many years in the Forty-second Highlanders, in which corps he was appointed Captain on the 20th of July, 1757. He served with his regiment in North America, under General Sir Jeffery (afterwards Lord) Amherst, and after the conquest of Canada in 1760 he returned to Europe, and served under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in Germany, where he received a musket-ball in the breast, which could never be extracted, and which prevented his being able to lie in a recumbent posture during the remainder of his life. In 1769 he was promoted to captain and lieut.-colonel on the 18th of December, 1777. He took an active part in the formation of the regiment of Highlanders raised by his uncle, John fourth Duke of Athol, which was numbered the 77th regiment, and he was appointed to the colonelcy by commission dated the 25th of December, 1777: in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of major-general. At the peace in 1783, when the Athol Highlanders were disbanded, he was nominated commandant of the Seventy-eighth, now SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders. He was appointed governor of Fort William, in Scotland; was many years a member of parliament for the county of Perth, and was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in 1793. He died on the 19th of March, 1794. About eight weeks before his death he was stopped by two footpads on Hounslow Heath, when he jumped out of his carriage, drew a dirk, wounded one, and put both to flight.
Adam Williamson.
Appointed 19th March, 1794.
Adam Williamson entered the army in the reign of King George II., and on the 21st of April, 1760, he was promoted captain in the fortieth regiment. He served in North America during the seven years’ war, and in 1770 he was promoted to the majority of the sixty-first foot, with which corps he served at the island of Minorca; on the 9th of December, 1775, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the eighteenth regiment, which corps he commanded many years with credit to himself, and advantage to the service. On the 20th of April, 1790, he was rewarded with the rank of major-general, and in July following with the colonelcy of the forty-seventh regiment, from which he was removed in 1794 to the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders. In January, 1797, he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; he was also honored with the dignity of Knight of the Order of the Bath, and appointed governor of Jamaica. His death took place on the 21st of October, 1798, and was occasioned by a fall.
James Stuart.
Appointed 23rd October, 1798.
James Stuart commenced his career of brilliant and honorable service, as ensign in the sixty-fourth regiment, in October, 1761; in 1764 he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and in 1768 he accompanied the regiment to North America, where he was advanced to captain of the grenadier company in 1770. He was stationed at Boston when hostilities commenced between Great Britain and the colonies in North America. He shared in the severe duties at Boston during the winter of 1775-6, when that town was blockaded on the land side by the Americans, and subsequently proceeded to Halifax, from whence he sailed with the expedition towards New York, and was employed, under General Sir William Howe, in the reduction of Long Island, in August, 1776, also in the movements by which possession was gained of New York, and the Americans forced from their positions at White Plains, which was followed by the capture of Fort Washington and Fort Lee. In the summer of 1777 he was engaged in operations in the Jerseys, and afterwards in the expedition to Pennsylvania; he was engaged at the battle of Brandywine, and in repulsing the attack of the Americans on the position at Germantown. In the winter he was selected, as an officer of ability and experience, for the commission of major in the regiment of Highlanders, raised by the Earl of Seaforth, now the SEVENTY-SECOND, or Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders, to which he was appointed by commission dated the 18th of December, 1777; but he did not arrive from America until August, 1778. He accompanied his regiment to the East Indies in 1781, with the local rank of lieut.-colonel in that country, and on the 2nd of June, 1782, he was at the action with the forces of Hyder Ali near Arnee, under Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote. He commanded his regiment, in which he had been appointed lieut.-colonel in February, 1782, under Major-General Stuart, in the action near Cudalore, on the 13th of June, 1783, and was commended in the general’s public despatch, and in orders. He served at the siege of Cudalore; and subsequently penetrated into the Mysore under Colonel Fullerton, and was at the capture of the fortresses of Palacatcherry and Coimbetore. In 1788 he commanded a detachment sent against the refractory Rajah of the little Murwar country, when he engaged his opponents at Kallengoody, and captured Caliacoil, the capital. When Tippoo Sultan attacked the Rajah of Travancore, a British ally, Lieut.-Colonel Stuart commanded the left wing of the army assembled on Trichinopoly plain under Major-General Medows, and penetrated the Mysore. After the capture of Caroor, Daraporum, and Coimbetore, he was detached on the 23rd of July, 1790, against Palacatcherry, but his progress was impeded by heavy rains and mountain torrents, and his force was too weak for the reduction of the fortress; he therefore returned to Coimbetore. He was again detached, on the 2nd of August, against the fortress of Dindigal, which he took after a short siege. He afterwards traversed the country to Palacatcherry, which he besieged, and, when a practicable breach was made in the works, the garrison surrendered. He subsequently rejoined the army with his detachment, and was commended in general orders; and he took part in the operations of the campaign, evincing great personal bravery and ability on all occasions.