THE MARQUIS OF LORNE.
FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY ELLIOT & FRY.
After the army under Major-General Clark arrived at the Cape, it advanced on the 14th of September and carried Wynberg, the battalion companies of the regiment, under Colonel Campbell, forming the centre of the line. On this occasion the 98th had 4 privates wounded. On September 16th the regiment entered Cape Town Castle, and relieved the Dutch garrison by capitulation, all the forts and batteries of Cape Town and its dependencies having been given over to the possession of the British. About a year afterwards, however, an expedition was sent from Holland for the purpose of winning back the Cape of Good Hope to that country, and in the action which took place at Saldanha Bay on the 17th of August 1796, and in which the British were completely victorious, the grenadier and light companies of the 98th took part. The regiment remained in South Africa till the year 1802, during which time little occurred to require special notice.
In October 1798, while the regiment was at Cape Town, its number was changed from the 98th to the 91st.
In May 1799 a regimental school was established for the first time for the non-commissioned officers and men.
In the beginning of 1799 a strong attempt was made by a number of the soldiers in the garrison at Cape Town to organise a mutiny, their purpose being to destroy the principal officers, and to establish themselves in the colony. Not only did the 91st not take any part in this diabolical attempt, but the papers containing the names of the mutineers and their plans were discovered and seized by the aid of private Malcolm M’Culloch and other soldiers of the regiment, who had been urged by the mutineers to enter into the conspiracy. Lt.-Col. Crawford in a regimental order specially commended the conduct of M’Culloch, and declared that he considered himself fortunate in being the commander of such a regiment.
In November 1802 the first division of the 91st embarked at Table Bay for England, arriving at Portsmouth in February 1803. On the 28th of the latter month the second division had the honour of delivering over the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch, to whom it had been secured at the peace of Amiens. After performing this duty the division embarked at Table Bay, arriving at Portsmouth in May, and joining the first division at their quarters in Bexhill during the next month.
During the next few years the Record Book contains nothing but an enumeration of the various places to which the regiment marched for the purpose of encamping or acting as garrison. A slight, and no doubt welcome interruption of this routine was experienced in December 1805, at the end of which month it embarked for Hanover, and was brigaded along with the 26th and 28th regiments, under the command of Major-General Mackenzie Fraser.[538] After the regiment had been about a month in Germany the British army was recalled, and the 91st consequently returned to England in the end of January 1806, taking up its quarters at Faversham.
In August 1804, in accordance with the recent Act of Parliament known as the Defence Act, means were taken to add a second battalion to the 91st, by raising men in the counties of Perth, Argyll, and Bute.
The regiment remained in England until the end of 1806, when it embarked at Dover for Ireland, disembarking at the Cove of Cork on Jan. 7th, 1807, and marching into Fermoy. It remained in Ireland, sending detachments to various places, till the middle of 1808, embarking at Monkstown on the 15th of June, to form part of the Peninsular expedition under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. The 91st was brigaded with the 40th and 71st regiments under Brigadier General Crawford, the three regiments afterwards forming the 5th Brigade.[539] The 91st was engaged in most of the actions during the Peninsular war, and did its part bravely and satisfactorily.
On August 9th 1808, the 91st advanced with the rest of the army, and, on the 17th, in the affair at Obidos the light company of the regiment, with those of the brigade under the command of Major Douglas of the 91st, were engaged, when the advanced posts of the enemy were driven from their positions. On August 21st, the regiment was present at the battle of Vimeiro, forming part of the reserve under General C. Crawford, which turned the enemy’s right,—a movement which was specially mentioned in the official despatch concerning this important battle.