FOOTNOTES:
[560] His portrait is on the plate of [colonels of the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd regiments].
[561] “Here the Lochaber men (raised by Captain Cameron) showed at once the influence of that clan-feeling under which they had consented to go to war. When it was proposed to draft them into the separate divisions of grenadiers and light troops, they at once declared that they would neither be separated from each other, nor serve under any captain except Cameron, that they had followed him as their leader, and him only they would serve. It required all his persuasion to induce them to submit to the rules of the service; but, assisted by his relative, Major Campbell of Auch,—a man of weight and experience,—and promising that he himself would always watch over their interests in whatever division they were ranked, he prevailed on them to submit; and as we shall subsequently see, none of them ever had cause to reproach him with forgetting his pledge.” Memoir of Colonel Cameron, by Rev. A. Clerk.—When Huntly first resolved to raise the regiment, he called on old Fassifern, and offered to his son John a captain’s commission in it. Fassifern, however, declined the gratifying offer on the ground that he was unable to raise the number of men necessary to entitle his son to such a rank; whereupon the marquis offered the captaincy without any stipulation or condition, saying he would be glad to have John Cameron as a captain in his regiment, though he brought not a single recruit.
[562] Stewart.—The following extract from a letter from Moore to Lt.-Col. Napier will explain the reason of this:—
“Richmond, 17th Nov. 1804.
“My Dear Napier,— ... My reason for troubling you for a drawing is that, as a knight, I am entitled to supporters. I have chosen a light infantry soldier for one, and a Highland soldier for the other, in gratitude to and commemoration of two soldiers of the 92nd, who, in action of the 2nd October, raised me from the ground when I was lying on my face wounded and stunned (they must have thought me dead), and helped me out of the field. As my senses were returning I heard one of them say, ‘Here is the General, let us take him away,’ upon which they stooped, and raised me by the arm. I never could discover who they were; and, therefore, concluded they must have been killed. I hope the 92nd will not have any objection—as I commanded them, and as they rendered me such a service—to my taking one of the corps as a supporter ... believe me, &c.,
“John Moore.”
[563] Cannon’s Record of 92nd Regiment.
[564] Journal, page 122.
[565] John Cameron was son of Ewen Cameron of Fassifern, a nephew of the “Gentle Lochiel.” As we have seen, he entered the regiment at its formation, and took part in most of its hard services. He was universally beloved and respected, especially by the Highland soldiers, in each man of whom he took the interest of a father, and felt himself responsible for their welfare and good conduct. The following account of his death is taken from his biography, written by the Rev. Dr Archibald Clerk of Kilmallie:—“The regiment lined a ditch in front of the Namur road. The Duke of Wellington happened to be stationed among them. Colonel Cameron seeing the French advance asked permission to charge them. The Duke replied, ‘Have patience, you will have plenty of work by and by.’ As they took possession of the farm-house Cameron again asked leave to charge, which was again refused. At length, as they began to push on the Charleroi road, the Duke exclaimed, ‘Now, Cameron, is your time, take care of the road.’ He instantly gave the spur to his horse, the regiment cleared the ditch at a bound, charged, and rapidly drove back the French; but, while doing so, their leader was mortally wounded. A shot fired from the upper storey of the farm-house passed through his body, and his horse, pierced by several bullets, fell under him. His men raised a wild shout, rushed madly on the fated house, and, according to all accounts, inflicted dread vengeance on its doomed occupants. Ewen Macmillan (Cameron’s foster brother), who was ever near his master and his friend, speedily gave such aid as he could. Carrying him with the aid of another private beyond reach of the firing, he procured a cart, whereon he laid him, carefully and tenderly propping his head on a breast than which none was more faithful.” He was carried to the village of Waterloo, and laid in a deserted house by the roadside, stretched upon the floor. “He anxiously inquired how the day had gone, and how his beloved Highlanders had acquitted themselves. Hearing that, as usual, they had been victorious, he said, ‘I die happy, and I trust my dear country will believe that I have served her faithfully.’ ... Thus he met with a warrior’s death, and more, with a Highland warrior’s death. His remains were hastily interred in a green alley—Allée verte—on the Ghent road, under the terrific storm of the 17th.” In the April of the following year his remains were removed to Scotland, and from Leith conveyed in a King’s ship to Lochaber, and committed to their final resting-place in the churchyard of Kilmallie, where lie many chiefs of the Cameron clan. His age was only 44 years. In honour of Cameron’s distinguished service his father was created Baronet of Fassifern. A handsome monument—an obelisk—was afterwards erected to Cameron at Kilmallie, for which an inscription was written by Sir Walter Scott, who seems to have had an intense admiration for the brave and chivalrous Highland hero, and who, in his Dance of Death, speaks of him thus:—