The campaign of 1779 was begun by the capture, on the part of the British, of Verplanks and Stony Point. A garrison of 600 men, among whom were two companies of Fraser’s Highlanders, took possession of this last post; but owing to the too great confidence of the commander, it was surprised and re-captured. Flushed with this success, the American general, Wayne, made an immediate attack upon Verplanks, which was garrisoned by the 33d regiment; but receiving accounts of the advance of Colonel Stirling with the light infantry of the 42d, he retreated from Verplanks and abandoned Stony Point, of which Colonel Stirling took possession. This officer being shortly thereafter appointed aide-de-camp to the king, and a brigadier-general, the command of the 42d regiment devolved on Major Charles Graham.
About this time a circumstance occurred which tended greatly to deteriorate, for several years, the hitherto irreproachable character of the Royal Highland regiment. By order of the inspector-general at Chatham, a body of 150 recruits, raised principally from the refuse of the population of London and Dublin, was embarked for the regiment in the autumn of this year. Of such dissipated habits had these men been, that 16 died on the voyage, and 75 were sent to the hospital as soon as they disembarked.[308] The infusion of such immoral ingredients could not have failed to taint the whole mass, and General Stirling made a strong representation to the commander-in-chief to avert such a calamity from the regiment, by removing the recruits to another corps. They were, in consequence, drafted into the 26th, in exchange for the same number of Scotchmen; but the introduction of these men into the regiment dissolved the charm which, for nearly forty years, had preserved the Highlanders from contamination. During that long period there were few courts-martial, and, for many years, no instance of corporal punishment occurred. So nice were their notions of honour, that, “if a soldier was brought to the halberts, he became degraded, and little more good was to be expected of him. After being publicly disgraced, he could no longer associate with his comrades; and, in several instances, the privates of a company have, from their pay, subscribed to procure the discharge of an obnoxious individual.” But “punishments being found indispensable for the men newly introduced, and others becoming more habituated to the sight, much of the sense of honour was necessarily lost.”[309]
An illustration of the strong national feeling with which the corps was regarded by the Highlanders, and of the expediency of keeping it unmixed, occurred in April of the same year, when two strong detachments of recruits belonging to the 42d and 71st regiments arrived at Leith from Stirling Castle, for the purpose of embarking to join their respective regiments in North America. Being told that they were to be turned over to the 80th and 82d, the Edinburgh and Hamilton regiments, the men remonstrated, and declared openly and firmly that they were determined to serve only in the corps for which they were enlisted. After some negotiation, troops were sent to Leith with orders to convey the refractory Highlanders as prisoners to Edinburgh Castle, if they persisted in their determination. As they still refused to forego their resolution, attempts were made to enforce the orders; but the Highlanders refused to submit, and flying to arms, a desperate conflict ensued, in which Captain Mansfield of the South Fencible regiment and 9 men were killed, and 31 soldiers wounded. Being at last overpowered, the mutineers were carried to the castle.
In the month of May following, three of these prisoners, Charles Williamson and Archibald Macivor, soldiers of the 42d regiment, and Robert Budge, soldier of the 71st, were brought before a court-martial, “charged with having been guilty of a mutiny at Leith, upon Tuesday the 20th of April last past, and of having instigated others to be guilty of the same, in which mutiny several of his majesty’s subjects were killed, and many wounded.”
Their reasons for resisting the orders to embark are thus stated in their defence:—“The prisoners, Archibald Macivor and Charles Williamson, enlisted as soldiers in the 42d, being an old Highland regiment, wearing the Highland dress. Their native language was Gaelic,—the one being a native of the northern parts of Argyleshire, and the other of the western parts of Inverness-shire, where the language of the country is Gaelic only. They have never used any other language, and are so ignorant of the English tongue that they cannot avail themselves of it for any purpose of life. They have always been accustomed to the Highland habit, so far as never to have worn breeches, a thing so inconvenient, and even so impossible for a native Highlander to do, that, when the Highland dress was prohibited by act of parliament, though the philibeg was one of the forbidden parts of the dress, yet it was necessary to connive at the use of it, provided only that it was made of a stuff of one colour and not of tartan, as is well known to all acquainted with the Highlands, particularly with the more mountainous parts of the country. These circumstance made it more necessary for them to serve in a Highland regiment only, as they neither could have understood the language, nor have used their arms, or marched in the dress of any other regiment.”
The other prisoner, Budge, stated that he was a native of the upper parts of Caithness, and being ignorant of the English language, and accustomed to wear the Highland garb, he enlisted to serve in Fraser’s Highlanders, and in no other regiment. In continuation, the three prisoners stated, that, “when they arrived at Leith, they were informed by their officer, Captain Innes, who had conducted them, that they were now to consider the officers of the 82d, or Duke of Hamilton’s regiment, a regiment wearing the Lowland dress and speaking the tongue, as their officers; but how this happened they were not informed. No order from the commander-in-chief for their being drafted was read or explained to them, but they were told that they must immediately join the Hamilton and Edinburgh regiments. A great number of the detachment represented, without any disorder or mutinous behaviour, that they were altogether unfit for service in any other corps than Highland ones, particularly that they were incapable of wearing breeches as a part of their dress. At the same time, they declared their willingness to be regularly transferred to any other Highland regiment, or to continue to serve in those regiments into which they had been regularly enlisted. But no regard was paid to these remonstrances, which, if they had had an opportunity, they would have laid before the commander-in-chief. But an order for an immediate embarkation prevented this. The idea that naturally suggested itself to them was, that they should insist on serving in the same regiment in which they had been enlisted, and not to go abroad as part of the Duke of Hamilton’s regiment till such time as these difficulties were removed. They accordingly drew up under arms on the shore of Leith, each respective corps by itself. The prisoners were informed that the orders issued were to take them prisoners to the castle: had these orders been explained to them, they would have submitted, and, with proper humility, have laid their case before those that could have given them redress. But, unfortunately, the sergeant who undertook to explain to them in Gaelic, represented that they were immediately to go on board as part of the Hamilton regiment, but which they do with great deference say, that they did not at the time conceive they could lawfully have done.” After the defence was read, “Captain Innes of the 71st regiment showed an attestation to the court, which he said was in the uniform style of the attestations for that regiment; and it expressly bore, that the persons thereby attested were to serve in the 71st regiment, commanded by General Simon Fraser of Lovat, and that they were to serve for three years only, or during the continuance of the present war.”
Having been found guilty, the prisoners were sentenced to be shot. The king gave them a free pardon, “in full confidence that they would endeavour, by a prompt obedience and orderly behaviour, to atone for this atrocious offence.” These men, along with the rest of the detachment, joined the second battalion of the 42d. The prisoners justified the confidence of his majesty by steadiness and good conduct in the regiment.
With the intention of pushing the war with vigour, the new commander-in-chief resolved to attack Charlestown, the capital of South Carolina. Leaving General Knyphausen in command, he embarked part of his army, and after a boisterous and protracted voyage of nearly seven weeks, during which some of his transports were lost or taken, he landed at John’s Island, 30 miles from Charlestown, on the 11th of February 1780. Owing to various impediments, he did not reach Charlestown till the end of March. After a siege of six weeks the place surrendered. The loss of the British did not exceed 300 men. Lieutenant Macleod of the 42d, and 9 privates, were killed; and Lieutenant Alexander Grant of the same regiment, son of Colonel Grant of Moy, was wounded by a six-pound ball, which struck him on the back in a slanting direction, near the right shoulder, and carried away the entire scapula with several other bones. The surgeons considered his case as utterly hopeless, but to their surprise they found him alive next morning, and free from fever and all bad symptoms. He recovered completely, and served many years in perfect good health. 14 privates were wounded.
The Royal Highlanders, with the Grenadiers and Hessians, re-embarked on the 4th of June for New York, and, after several movements in the province went into winter quarters. Here they received an accession of 100 recruits from Scotland. The regiment was not again employed in any active service during the remainder of the war.
Whilst the war lasted, the Americans held out every allurement to the British soldiers to induce them to desert their ranks and join the cause of American independence. Many were, in consequence, seduced from their allegiance; but during five campaigns, and until the unfortunate draft of men from the 26th regiment, not one man from the 42d deserted its ranks. About the close of the war the regiment was stationed at Paulus Hook, an advanced post from New York leading to the Jerseys, and here, for the first time, several of the men deserted to the enemy. One of these deserters, by name Anderson, was afterwards taken, tried by a court-martial, and shot.