The loss of the 79th was Captain John Sinclair, Lt. and Adjutant John Kynock, and 28 rank and file killed; Lt.-Colonel Neil Douglas, Brevet Lt.-Colonels Andrew Brown and Duncan Cameron; Captains Thomas Mylne, Neil Campbell, William Marshall, Malcolm Fraser, William Bruce, and Robert Mackay; Lieuts. Thomas Brown, William Maddock, William Leaper, James Fraser, Donald MacPhee, and William A. Riach; Ensign James Robertson, Volunteer Alexander Cameron, 10 sergeants, and 248 rank and file wounded. All the field officers, according to Captain Jameson, in addition to severe wounds, had their horses shot under them.
At dusk on the 17th the division took up its position among some corn-fields near the farm La Haye Sainte, under cover of a rising ground, the ridge opposite to which was lined by the enemy’s columns. The 28th and 79th formed the centre of Picton’s division, the left of the division extending towards Ohain, its right resting on the Brussels road.
About half-past ten on the morning of the 18th of June, the French began to move forward to the attack, under cover of a tremendous cannonade, spiritedly answered by the British artillery, posted in advance of a road which ran along the crest of the rising ground in front of the division, and on each side of which was a hedge. Kempt’s brigade, deploying into line, advanced to this road, the light companies and the rifles descending into the valley, and maintaining a severe contest against overwhelming numbers. Meantime a heavy column of the enemy’s infantry, advancing towards the right of the division, was warmly received by the 28th; and the 32nd and 79th, following up the advantage, each attacking the column opposed to it, a close and obstinate engagement followed, “shedding lasting honour on Kempt’s brigade,” till at length the enemy gave way in the greatest confusion. It was during this contest that General Picton was killed and General Kempt severely wounded; but although unable, from the severity of the wound, to sit on horseback, the latter would not allow himself to be carried off the field. The column of the enemy thus routed was shortly afterwards surrounded and taken captive by Ponsonby’s brigade of cavalry.
Shortly after this the first brigade, being threatened by a body of the enemy’s cavalry, formed into squares, and soon afterwards returned to its former position on the road,[526] lining the hedge nearest the enemy, where it was exposed to a galling and destructive fire, both from the guns and sharpshooters, against whom the light companies of Kempt’s brigade and the division rifles were several times sent.
After falling back for a supply of ammunition, the first brigade again moved forward, and a general charge having been made along the whole line about seven o’clock, the enemy gave way in all directions, pursued by the Prussians and the English cavalry. The fifth division rested for the night near the farm of La Belle Alliance.
The loss of the 79th was Captain John Cameron, Lts. Duncan Macpherson, Donald Cameron, and Ewen Kennedy, 2 sergeants, and 27 rank and file killed; Captains James Campbell, senior, Neil Campbell; Lts. Alexander Cameron, Ewen Cameron, Alexander Forbes, Charles Macarthur, and John Powling; Ensigns A. J. Crawford and J. Nash, 7 sergeants, 4 drummers, and 121 rank and file wounded. Captain Neil Campbell, Lts. Donald Cameron, John Powling, and 48 men died soon afterwards. The total number of officers and men who entered the engagement on the 16th was 776, and out of that only 297 came out on the 18th unwounded; the loss of the 79th exceeded by one that of any other regiment in the army, except the 3rd battalion of the 1st Foot Guards, which was almost annihilated.
Wellington, in his despatch of the 19th, mentions the regiment in terms of high praise; and, as in the case of Toulouse, it was one of the only four British regiments—the 28th, 42nd, 79th, and 92nd—specially mentioned in the despatch. The distinction of a Companionship of the Bath was conferred upon Lt.-Colonel Neil Douglas, and upon Brevet Lt.-Colonels Andrew Brown and Duncan Cameron; Capt. Thomas Mylne was promoted by brevet to be major in the army; and Lt. Alexander Cameron, upon whom, from the great loss sustained in superior officers, the command of the regiment ultimately devolved, was promoted to the brevet rank of major for his distinguished conduct. Each surviving officer and soldier received the decoration of the “Waterloo” silver medal, and was allowed to reckon two additional years’ service.
The regiment, along with the rest of the army, proceeded on the 19th in pursuit of the enemy, arriving on July 8th at Paris, near which it was encamped till the beginning of December. While here, on the 17th of August, at the special request of the Emperor of Russia, Sergeant Thomas Campbell of the grenadiers, a man of gigantic stature, with Private John Fraser and Piper Kenneth Mackay, all of the 79th, accompanied by a like number of each rank from the 42nd and 92nd Highlanders, proceeded to the Palais Elysée in Paris, to gratify the Emperor’s desire of examining the dress and equipments of the Highland regiments. Sergeant Campbell especially was most minutely inspected by the Emperor, who, says Campbell, “examined my hose, gaiters, legs, and pinched my skin, thinking I wore something under my kilt, and had the curiosity to lift my kilt to my navel, so that he might not be deceived.” After asking Campbell many questions, the Emperor “requested Lord Cathcart to order me to put John Fraser through the ‘manual and platoon’ exercise, at which performance he was highly pleased. He then requested the pipers to play up, and Lord Cathcart desired them to play the Highland tune ‘Cògaidh nà Sith’ (‘war or peace’), which he explained to the Emperor, who seemed highly delighted with the music. After the Emperor had done with me, the veteran Count Plutoff came up to me, and, taking me by the hand, told me in broken English that I was a good and brave soldier, and all my countrymen were. He then pressed my hand to his breast, and gave me his to press to mine.”
In the beginning of December 1815, the 79th, as part of the Army of Occupation, went into cantonments in Pas de Calais, where it remained till the end of October 1818, when it embarked for England, taking up its quarters at Chichester on the 8th of November.
After moving from Chichester to Portsmouth, and Portsmouth to Jersey, the regiment, in May 1820, embarked at Plymouth for Ireland, where it took part in the critical and not very agreeable duty necessitated by the disturbed state of the country, details of which will be found in our account of the 42nd Royal Highlanders, who were in Ireland at the same time.