“At this period,” says General Stewart, “a circumstance occurred which caused some conversation on the French standard taken at Alexandria. The Highland Society of London, much gratified with the accounts given of the conduct of their countrymen in Egypt, resolved to bestow on them some mark of their esteem and approbation. The Society being composed of men of the first rank and character in Scotland, and including several of the royal family as members, it was considered that such an act would be honourable to the corps and agreeable to all. It was proposed to commence with the 42d as the oldest of the Highland regiments, and with the others in succession, as their service offered an opportunity of distinguishing themselves. Fifteen hundred pounds were immediately subscribed for this purpose. Medals were struck with a head of Sir Ralph Abercromby, and some emblematical figures on the obverse. A superb piece of plate was likewise ordered. While these were in preparation, the Society held a meeting, when Sir John Sinclair, with the warmth of a clansman, mentioned his namesake, Sergeant Sinclair, as having taken or having got possession of the French standard, which had been brought home. Sir John being at that time ignorant of the circumstances, made no mention of the loss of the ensign which the sergeant had gotten in charge. This called forth the claim of Lutz,[322] already referred to, accompanied with some strong remarks by Cobbett, the editor of the work in which the claim appeared. The Society then asked an explanation from the officers of the 42d. To this very proper request a reply was given by the officers who were then present with the regiment. The majority of these happened to be young men, who expressed, in warm terms, their surprise that the Society should imagine them capable of countenancing any statement implying that they had laid claim to a trophy to which they had no right. This misapprehension of the Society’s meaning brought on a correspondence, which ended in an interruption of farther communication for many years.”[323]
In May 1802 the regiment marched to Ashford, where they were reviewed by George III., who expressed himself satisfied with its appearance; but although the men had a martial air, they had a diminutive look, and were by no means equal to their predecessors, either in bodily appearance or in complexion.
Shortly after this review the regiment was ordered to Edinburgh. During their march to the north the men were everywhere received with kindness; and, on approaching the northern metropolis, thousands of its inhabitants met them at a distance from the city, and, welcoming them with acclamations, accompanied them to the castle. They remained in their new quarters, giving way too freely to the temptations to which they were exposed, by the hospitality of the inhabitants, till the spring of 1803, when, in consequence of the interruption of peace, they were embarked at Leith for the camp then forming at Weeley, in Essex. The regiment at this time did not exceed 400 men, in consequence chiefly of the discharge of 475 men the preceding year. While in Edinburgh (December 1, 1803) new colours, bearing the distinctions granted for its services in Egypt, were formally presented to the regiment.
As a means at once of providing for the internal defence of the kingdom, and recruiting the regular army, an act was passed to raise a body of men by ballot, to be called “The Army of Reserve.” Their services were to be confined to Great Britain and Ireland, with liberty to volunteer into the regular army, on a certain bounty. In the first instance, the men thus raised in Scotland were formed into second battalions to regiments of the line. The quota raised in the counties of Perth, Elgin, Nairn, Cromarty, Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Argyle, and Bute, which was to form the second battalion of the 42d, amounted to 1343 men. These embarked in November at Fort George, to join the first battalion in Weeley barracks, about which time upwards of 500 had volunteered into the regular army. In April of this year Captain David Stewart, Garth, was appointed major, and Lieutenants Robert Henry Dick and Charles M’Lean, captains to the second battalion of the 78th regiment. In September following, Colonel Dickson was appointed brigadier-general; and Lieutenant-Colonels James Stewart and Alexander Stewart having retired, they were succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonels Stirling and Lord Blantyre. Captains M’Quarrie and James Grant became majors; Lieutenants Stewart Campbell, Donald Williamson, John M’Diarmid, John Dick, and James Walker, captains; and Captain Lord Saltoun was promoted to the Foot Guards.
In consequence of the removal of a part of the garrison of Gibraltar, the first battalion of the 42d, and the second battalion of the 78th, or Seaforth Highlanders, were marched to Plymouth, where they embarked early in October for Gibraltar, which they reached in November. Nothing worthy of notice occurred during their stay in Gibraltar. Since their former visit, the moral habits of the 42d had improved, and they did not fall into those excesses in drinking in which they had previously indulged. The mortality consequently was not so great as before—31 only out of 850 men having died during the three years they remained at this station.
In 1806 Sir Hector Munro, the colonel of the regiment, died, and was succeeded by Major-General the Marquis of Huntly, afterwards Duke of Gordon.
After the battle of Vimiera, which was fought on the 21st of August 1808, the British army was joined by the 42d from Gibraltar, then 624 men strong,[324] and by the Gordon and Cameron Highlanders from England. Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had gained the battle, was superseded the same day by two senior generals, Sir Harry Burrard and Sir John Moore, who were, strange to tell, again superseded by General Sir Hew Dalrymple the following morning. Generals Burrard and Dalrymple having been recalled in consequence of the convention of Cintra, the command of the army devolved on Sir John Moore, who, on the 6th of October, received an order to march into Spain. Having made no previous preparations for marching, the advance of the army from Lisbon was retarded; and as he could obtain little assistance from the Portuguese Government, and no correct information of the state of the country, or of the proper route he ought to take, he was obliged to act almost entirely upon conjecture. Conceiving it impossible to convey artillery by the road through the mountains, he resolved to divide his army, and to march into Spain by different routes.
One of these divisions, consisting of the brigade of artillery and four regiments of infantry, of which the 42d was one, under the Hon. Lieutenant-General Hope, marched upon Madrid and Espinar; another, under General Paget, moved by Elvas and Alcantara; a third by Coimbra and Almeida, under General Beresford; and a fourth, under General Mackenzie Fraser, by Abrantes and Almeida. These divisions, amounting together to 18,000 infantry and 900 cavalry, were to form a junction at Salamanca. General Moore reached Salamanca on the 13th of November, without seeing a single Spanish soldier. Whilst on the march, Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird arrived off Corunna with a body of troops from England, for the purpose of forming a junction with General Moore; but his troops were kept on board from the 13th to the 31st of October, and, when allowed to disembark, no exertions were made by the Spaniards to forward his march.
Whilst waiting the junction of General Baird and the division of General Hope, which, from its circuitous route, was the last of the four in reaching Salamanca, General Moore received intelligence of the defeat and total dispersion of General Blake’s army on the 10th of November, at Espenora de los Monteros, as well as of a similar fate which subsequently befell the army of General Castanos at Tudela. No Spanish army now remained in the field except the corps under the Marquis of Romana, but acting independently, it tended rather to obstruct than forward the plans of the British commander.
It was now the 1st of December. General Baird had reached Astorga, and General Hope’s division was still four day’s march from Salamanca. Beset by accumulated difficulties, and threatened with an army already amounting to 100,000 men, and about to be increased by additional reinforcements, General Moore resolved on a retreat, though such a measure was opposed to the opinion of many officers of rank. Whilst he himself was to fall back upon Lisbon, he ordered Sir David Baird to retire to Corunna, and embark for the Tagus. He afterwards countermanded the order for retreat, on receiving some favourable accounts from the interior, but having soon ascertained that these were not to be relied on, he resumed his original intention of retiring. Instead of proceeding, however, towards Lisbon, he determined to retreat to the north of Spain, with the view of joining General Baird. This junction he effected at Toro, on the 21st of December. Their united forces amounted to 26,311 infantry, and 2450 cavalry, besides artillery.