Lord Wellington took up a position in front of Waterloo. The rain fell in torrents during the night, and the morning of the 18th was ushered in by a dreadful thunder-storm; a prelude which superstition might have regarded as ominous of the events of that memorable and decisive day. The allied army was drawn up across the high roads from Charleroi and Nivelles, with its right thrown back to a ravine near Merke Braine, which was occupied, and its left extended to a height above the hamlet Ter-la-Haye, which was also occupied. In front of the right centre, and near the Nivelles road, the allies occupied the house and farm of Hougoumont, and in front of the left centre they possessed the farm of La Haye Sainte. The Gordon Highlanders, who were commanded by Major Donald Macdonald, in consequence of the wound of Lt.-Col. Mitchell, who had succeeded Col. Cameron in the command, were in the ninth brigade with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highlanders, and the 44th regiment. This brigade was stationed on the left wing upon the crest of a small eminence, forming one side of the hollow, or low valley, which divided the two hostile armies. A hedge ran along this crest for nearly two-thirds its whole length. A brigade of Belgians, another of Hanoverians, and General Ponsonby’s brigade of the 1st or Royal Dragoons, Scotch Greys, and Inniskillings, were posted in front of this hedge. Bonaparte drew up his army on a range of heights in front of the allies, and about ten o’clock in the morning he commenced a furious attack upon the post at Hougoumont. This he accompanied with a very heavy cannonade upon the whole line of the allies; but it was not till about two o’clock that the brigades already mentioned were attacked. At that time the enemy, covered by a heavy fire of artillery, advanced in a solid column of 3000 infantry of the guard, with drums beating, and all the accompaniments of military array, towards the position of the Belgians. The enemy received a temporary check from the fire of the Belgians and from some artillery; but the troops of Nassau gave way, and, retiring behind the crest of the eminence, left a large space open to the enemy. To prevent the enemy from entering by this gap, the third battalion of the Royal Scots, and the second battalion of the 44th, were ordered up to occupy the ground so abandoned; and here a warm conflict of some duration took place, in which the two regiments lost many men and expended their ammunition. The enemy’s columns continuing to press forward, General Pack ordered up the Highlanders, calling out, “Ninety-second, now is your time; charge.” This order being repeated by Major Macdonald, the soldiers answered it by a shout. Though then reduced to less than 250 men, the regiment instantly formed two men deep, and rushed to the front, against a column ten or twelve men deep, and equal in length to their whole line. The enemy, as if appalled by the advance of the Highlanders, stood motionless, and upon a nearer approach they became panic-stricken, and, wheeling to the rear, fled in the most disorderly manner, throwing away their arms and every thing that incumbered them. So rapid was their flight, that the Highlanders, notwithstanding their nimbleness of foot, were unable to overtake them; but General Ponsonby pursued them with the cavalry at full speed, and cutting into the centre of the column, killed numbers and took nearly 1800 prisoners. The animating sentiment, “Scotland for ever!” received a mutual cheer as the Greys galloped past the Highlanders, and the former felt the effect of the appeal so powerfully, that, not content with the destruction or surrender of the flying column, they passed it, and charged up to the line of the French position. “Les braves Ecossais; qu’ils sont terribles ces Chevaux Gris!” Napoleon is said to have exclaimed, when, in succession, he saw the small body of Highlanders forcing one of his chosen columns to fly, and the Greys charging almost into his very line.
During the remainder of the day the 92nd regiment remained at the post assigned it, but no opportunity afterwards occurred of giving another proof of its prowess. The important service it rendered at a critical moment, by charging and routing the élite of the French infantry, entitle the 92nd to share largely in the honours of the victory.
“A column of such strength, composed of veteran troops, filled with the usual confidence of the soldiers of France, thus giving way to so inferior a force, and by their retreat exposing themselves to certain destruction from the charges of cavalry ready to pour in and overwhelm them, can only be accounted for by the manner in which the attack was made, and is one of the numerous advantages of that mode of attack I have had so often occasion to notice. Had the Highlanders, with their inferior numbers, hesitated and remained at a distance, exposed to the fire of the enemy, half an hour would have been sufficient to annihilate them, whereas in their bold and rapid advance they lost only four men. The two regiments, which for some time resisted the attacks of the same column, were unable to force them back. They remained stationary to receive the enemy, who were thus allowed time and opportunity to take a cool and steady aim; encouraged by a prospect of success, the latter doubled their efforts; indeed, so confident were they, that when they reached the plain upon the summit of the ascent, they ordered their arms, as if to rest after their victory. But the handful of Highlanders soon proved on which side the victory lay. Their bold and rapid charge struck their confident opponents with terror, paralysed their sight and aim, and deprived both of point and object. The consequence was, as it will always be in nine cases out of ten in similar circumstances, that the loss of the 92nd regiment was, as I have just stated, only 4 men, whilst the other corps in the stationary position lost eight times that number.”[566]
At Waterloo the 92nd had 14 rank and file killed, and Captains Peter Wilkie and Archibald Ferrier, Lts. Robert Winchester, Donald Macdonald, James Kerr Ross, and James Hope, 3 sergeants, and 96 rank and file wounded.
After Waterloo, the 92nd, along with the rest of the army, proceeded to Paris, in the neighbourhood of which it encamped on the 3rd of July. Shortly after leaving Waterloo, while halting near a small village for the night, the Duke of Wellington in person came up and thanked the 92nd for the manner in which the men had conducted themselves during the engagement, and lavished upon them the highest eulogiums for their exertions to uphold the reputation of the British army. The Highland Society of Scotland unanimously passed a vote of thanks “for the determined valour and exertions displayed by the regiment, and for the credit which it did its country in the memorable battles of the 16th and 18th of June 1815.”
The 92nd stayed at Paris till the end of November, when it was marched to Boulogne, and on December 17th it embarked at Calais, landing at Margate on the 19th. After staying at various places in England, it marched from Berwick-on-Tweed to Edinburgh on the 7th of September 1816, and took up its quarters in Edinburgh Castle on the 12th, this being the second visit to its native country since its embodiment. Like the 42nd in similar circumstances, the men of the 92nd were treated with the greatest kindness, and entertained with profuse hospitality at almost every place on the way. On their entry into Edinburgh, a vast crowd assembled in the roads and streets. The 42nd, between which and the 92nd there has always been a friendly rivalry, had been there shortly before, and a man of that regiment standing among the crowd cried in banter to a passing company of the 92nd, “This is nothing to what it was when we came home; we could hardly make our way through the crowd.” A 92nd man quickly retorted, “You should have sent for us to clear the way for you, as we have often done before.”
II.
1816–1874.
Ireland—Jamaica—Terrible losses from Yellow Fever—Colonelcy of the 92nd—Scotland—Ireland—New Colours—Gibraltar—Malta—Barbadoes—Scotland—Ireland—Ionian Islands—Gibraltar—Large numbers volunteer into Crimean regiments—Re-enlist in 92nd at first opportunity—Regiment goes to the Crimea—Return to Gibraltar—India—The Mutiny—Employed in Central Provinces—Performs much harassing work—Field service—Oojein—Harassing marches—Engagement near Rajghur—Mungrowlee—Combined movements—Sindwaho—Koraya—Rajpoor—Fatigueing work in the Bunswarra country—Mhow—Jhansi—Lullutpoor—Seepree—the Bundelcund Jungle—Importance of work performed by 92nd—Dugshai—Its various stations in India—Authorised to use designation of “Gordon Highlanders”—Home—Gosport—Edinburgh—Presentation of New Colours—Glasgow—Aldershot—Ireland—Aids the civil power—Leaves its New Year’s dinner cooking—India again—Julinder—Camp of exercise at Delhi—Chukrata—Portrait of the Marquis of Huntly, the last Duke of Gordon.
The regiment was quartered in Edinburgh till April 1817, when it was sent to Ireland, where it remained till 1819, performing duties somewhat similar to those already recorded of the 42nd. On the 16th April the 92nd sailed for Jamaica, where it arrived on June 2nd. On its march to Up-Park Camp, it was followed by the whole population of Kingston and vicinity, who crowded from all quarters to witness so novel a sight as a Highland regiment in Jamaica. Shortly after its arrival in Jamaica the regiment suffered fearfully from yellow fever in its most virulent form. Indeed, such was the sickness and mortality, that the regiment was, in August, in a manner ordered to be dispersed. On the 28th of that month, a strong detachment, chiefly composed of convalescents, embarked on board the “Serapis” guard-ship, then at anchor off Port-Royal.