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Title: Historical Record of the Seventy-Second Regiment, or the Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1778, and of its subsequent services to 1848
Author: Cannon, Richard
Language: English
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SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT, OR THE DUKE OF ALBANY'S OWN HIGHLANDERS:
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT IN 1778, AND OF ITS
SUBSEQUENT SERVICES TO 1848 ***
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of each major section.
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Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration:
BY COMMAND OF His late Majesty WILLIAM THE IV^{TH}.
_and under the Patronage of_
Her Majesty the Queen.
HISTORICAL RECORDS,
_OF THE_
British Army
_Comprising the_
_History of every Regiment_
_IN HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE_.
_By Richard Cannon Esq^{re}._
_Adjutant Generals Office, Horse Guards._
London.
_Printed by Authority._]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT,
OR,
THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS;
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1778,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1848.
COMPILED BY
RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.
LONDON:
PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER,
30 CHARING CROSS.
M DCCC XLVIII.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE.
THE SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT,
OR
THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS,
BEARS ON ITS REGIMENTAL COLOUR
_THE DUKE’S CIPHER AND CORONET_
AS A REGIMENTAL BADGE;
ALSO THE WORD
“HINDOOSTAN,”
IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS SERVICES IN THE EAST INDIES FROM
1781 TO 1798;
AND THE WORDS
“CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,”
IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS SERVICES AT THE CAPTURE OF THAT COLONY
IN 1806.
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT,
OR
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.
CONTENTS OF HISTORICAL RECORD.
PAGE
YEAR INTRODUCTION xxxiii
1778 Formation of the Regiment 1
---- The Earl of Seaforth appointed Lieutenant-Colonel
Commandant 2
---- Officers appointed to Commissions 3
---- Establishment and National Composition --
---- Assembled and inspected at Elgin 4
---- Marched to Edinburgh --
---- Embarked for Jersey and Guernsey 5
1779 Defended Jersey against a French Naval force --
1781 Embarked for Portsmouth 6
---- ---- for the East Indies --
---- The Earl of Seaforth died on the passage --
---- Casualties on the voyage to India --
1782 Arrived at Madras --
1783 Joined the army destined for the attack of Cudalore 7
---- Attack of the fortress of Cudalore 8
---- Peace concluded with France 9
---- Decease of Hyder Ali, and succession of his
son, Tippoo Saib --
---- Negotiations of Peace with Tippoo Saib --
1783 Decease of Colonel Humberston 9
---- Major-General James Murray appointed Lieut.-Colonel
Commandant --
---- Advanced into the Mysore country 10
---- Capture of the fortress of Palacatcherry --
---- Capture of the fortress of Coimbetore 10
1784 Termination of the War in India 11
1785 Re-formation of the Regiment by volunteers from
other Corps --
1786 The numerical title altered from Seventh-eighth to
the Seventy-second Regiment --
1787 Establishment increased --
1789 War with Tippoo Saib recommenced 12
1790 Marched to Trichinopoly --
---- Advanced to Caroor, and encamped --
---- Marched to Daraporam --
---- Thence to Coimbetore --
---- Flank Companies of Seventy-first and Seventy-second
Regiments engaged in the siege of Palacatcherry 13
---- Advanced from Coimbetore to Velladi 14
---- Returned to Coimbetore 15
---- Capture of Palacatcherry --
---- Advanced from Coimbetore to Erroad --
---- Traversed extensive districts in pursuit of the
Sultan Tippoo Saib --
---- Returned to the Carnatic 16
---- Arrived and encamped at Arnee --
1791 General the Earl Cornwallis assumed the command of
the army --
---- Advanced to Vellore --
---- Traversed the pass of Mooglee 17
---- Marched towards the fortress of Bangalore --
---- Storming and capture of Bangalore 18
---- Received the thanks of Earl Cornwallis 20
1791 Joined by the Nizam’s Troops 21
---- Advanced towards Seringapatam 22
---- Returned to Bangalore 23
---- Storming and capture of Savendroog 25
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- of Outra-Durgum 26
---- Again completed by recruits from Scotland 27
1792 Marched for Seringapatam --
---- Crossed the Lokany River 28
---- Victory over the army of Tippoo Saib 30
---- Termination of the War 31
---- Marched from Seringapatam to Wallajabad --
1793 Proceeded against Pondicherry 32
1794 Returned to Wallajabad 33
---- Major-General A. Williamson appointed to the Colonelcy
in succession to General Murray, deceased 33
1795 Embarked from Fort St. George, and proceeded against
Ceylon --
---- Siege and capture of Trincomalee 34
---- Surrender of Batticaloe --
---- ---- ---- of Manaar --
1796 ---- ---- of Colombo --
1797 Removed to Pondicherry 35
1798 Embarked at Madras for England --
---- Arrived at Gravesend and proceeded to Scotland --
---- Authorised to bear the word “_Hindoostan_” on its
Colours and Appointments --
---- Major-General James Stuart appointed to the Colonelcy
in succession to Gen. Williamson, deceased --
1801 Embarked for Ireland --
1802 Establishment reduced after the Peace of Amiens 36
1803 War with France recommenced --
1804 Second Battalion formed in Scotland --
1805 First Battalion formed part of an expedition
under General Sir David Baird --
1805 Arrived in the Bay of Funchal in Madeira 37
---- Sailed to the Brazils, where the troops were landed
at St. Salvador for a few hours for refreshment --
---- Proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope --
1806 Effected a landing at Lospard’s Bay 38
---- Advanced against the Dutch troops 39
---- Expression of thanks and compliments to the Highland
Brigade 40
---- Authorised to bear the words “_Cape of Good Hope_”
on its Colours and Appointments 41
---- Surrender of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope to
the British Crown 42
1807 Stationed at Cape Town for three years --
1809 Discontinued the Highland Costume 43
---- Second Battalion embarked for Ireland --
1810 Marched from Cape Town to Stellinbosch --
---- Formed part of an Expedition with troops from India
against the Mauritius --
---- Surrender of the Mauritius --
---- Remained at the Mauritius upwards of three years --
1814 Embarked for the Cape of Good Hope 44
1815 Appointment of Lieut.-General Lord Hill to the
Colonelcy, in succession to General Stuart,
deceased 45
---- Embarked for Bengal 46
---- Re-embarked for the Mauritius --
1816 Proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope --
---- Disbandment of the Second Battalion --
1817 Appointment of Major-General Sir George Murray to the
Colonelcy, in succession to General Lord Hill,
removed to the Fifty-second regiment 47
---- Proceeded to Algoa bay, and engaged in detachments
against the Kafirs --
1819 Detachment engaged with a party of Kafirs; Captain
Gethin killed 48
1821 Embarked for England 49
1821 Received the thanks of the Governor of the Cape of
Good Hope --
1822 Arrived at Portsmouth --
1823 Proceeded to Jersey and Guernsey --
---- Appointment of Lieut.-General Sir John Hope to the
Colonelcy, in succession to Lieut.-General Sir
George Murray, removed to the Forty-second
Royal Highland Regiment --
---- Authorised by King George IV. to resume the Highland
Costume, the Officers and men wearing _Trews_
instead of _Kilts_, and to bear the title of
“_The Duke of Albany’s own Highlanders_” 50
1824 Embarked for Plymouth --
---- Authorized by King George IV., to assume as a
regimental badge, _the Duke of Albany’s
Cipher and Coronet_ --
---- Embarked for Scotland --
1825 Presentation of New Colours 51
---- Embarked for Ireland 52
1827 Formed into six Service Companies and four Depôt
Companies --
---- Service Companies embarked for Liverpool, and
marched to London --
1828 Reviewed in St. James’s Park --
---- Marched to Canterbury, and inspected by General
Lord Hill, Commanding-in-Chief 53
---- Embarked for the Cape of Good Hope --
1830 Depôt Companies removed from Ireland to Scotland --
1833 Service Companies engaged in war with the Kafir
tribes --
1835 Depôt Companies proceed to Ireland 55
1838 Service Companies continued on active service at
the Cape of Good Hope --
---- Depôt Companies returned to Scotland --
1840 Service Companies returned to England 56
---- Service and Depôt Companies re-united --
---- Expression of approbation of the conduct of the
Regiment by the Governor of the Cape of
Good Hope --
1841 Proceeded from Portsmouth to Windsor 57
1842 Presentation of New Colours by Field-Marshal the
Duke of Wellington, at Windsor Castle, in
presence of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the
Prince Albert, the King of Prussia, &c. --
---- Marched into Lancashire 60
1843 Embarked for Ireland --
1844 Formed into six Service, and four Depôt Companies --
---- Service Companies embarked for Gibraltar --
1847 Depôt Companies removed from Ireland to Scotland --
1848 Service Companies embarked for the West Indies --
---- Arrived at Barbadoes 61
---- Depôt Companies embarked from Scotland --
---- Arrived at Sheerness --
---- The Conclusion --
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT,
OR
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.
SUCCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS COMMANDANT AND COLONELS.
YEAR PAGE
1777 Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth 63
1782 Thomas F. M. Humberston --
1786 James Murray 65
1794 Adam Williamson 66
1798 James Stuart 67
1815 Rowland Lord Hill 69
1817 George Murray 70
1823 John Hope --
1836 Colin Campbell 71
1847 Neil Douglas 72
PLATES.
Costume of the Regiment _to face_ 1
Colours of the Regiment ” 62
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
As several corps have, at successive periods, within the last
century, been borne on the establishment of the Army, and numbered
SEVENTY-SECOND regiment, it is considered necessary to prefix to
the Historical Record of the services of the Regiment, which at
present bears the title of the “_Seventy-second Highlanders_,” the
following explanatory details, in order to prevent the blending, or
misconception, of the merits and services of corps which, although
bearing the same numerical title, have been totally distinct and
unconnected.
1.--In April, 1758, the _Second Battalions_ of fifteen regiments of
infantry, from the 3rd to the 37th, were directed to be formed into
distinct regiments, and to be numbered from the 61st to the 75th
successively, as shown in the following list, viz.:--
2nd Batt. 3rd Foot, constituted
as 61st Regiment.
” 4th as 62nd ”
” 8th as 63rd ”
” 11th as 64th ”
” 12th as 65th ”
2nd Batt. 19th Foot, constituted
as 66th Regiment.
” 20th as 67th ”
” 23rd as 68th ”
” 24th as 69th ”
” 31st as 70th ”
The Second Battalion of the 32nd was constituted the 71st Regiment.
” ” 33rd ” ” the 72nd ”
” ” 34th ” ” the 73rd ”
” ” 36th ” ” the 74th ”
” ” 37th ” ” the 75th ”
The above 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments were disbanded
in the year 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau.
The _Seventy-second_ Regiment, formed in 1758, was constituted,
as above shown, from the Second Battalion of the Thirty-third
regiment, and Major-General the Duke of Richmond was appointed the
colonel. It was disbanded on the 29th of August, 1763.
2.--On the commencement of the American war in 1775, additional
forces were raised, and the number of the regular regiments
of infantry, which had been reduced in 1763 to _Seventy_, was
increased to _One Hundred and Five_, exclusive of 11 unnumbered
regiments, and 36 independent companies of invalids.
In the year 1777, a corps was authorised to be raised at the
expense of the town of Manchester, consisting of ten companies of
one hundred men per company; it was numbered the _Seventy-second_
Regiment, or Royal Manchester Volunteers, commanded by Colonel
Charles Mawhood, and was placed on the establishment of the army in
December, 1777. The Regiment embarked at Portsmouth for Gibraltar
on the 28th April, 1778, and was employed in the memorable siege
of that fortress from 1779 to 1782, and continued on duty in that
garrison until the early part of the year 1783, when the Spaniards
abandoned their attempts to regain possession either by force or
stratagem. The regiments at Gibraltar were relieved in the spring
of 1783, and the _Seventy-second_ Regiment, to which Major-General
Charles Ross had been appointed, in October, 1780, in succession to
Colonel Mawhood, deceased, returned to England in 1783.
The number of infantry regiments was again reduced in 1783, after
the termination of hostilities with America, by the treaty of
peace concluded at Paris on the 30th of November, 1782, and when
peace had also been concluded with France, Spain, and Holland; the
_Seventy-second_, or _Royal Manchester Volunteers_, was disbanded
on the 9th of September, 1783.
3.--The disbandment of certain regiments after the conclusion
of the general peace in 1783, occasioned an alteration in the
numerical titles of certain regiments, which were retained on
the reduced establishment of the army: the _Seventy-third_
was directed to be numbered the _Seventy-first_ Regiment; the
_Seventy-eighth_ to be numbered the _Seventy-second_ Regiment; and
the _Second Battalion_ of the _Forty-second_ to be constituted the
_Seventy-third_ Regiment. These corps had been raised in Scotland,
in 1777, and denominated _Highland_ Regiments.
They embarked for India in 1779 and 1781; the alterations took
place in 1786 in their numerical titles, which were regulated by
the dates at which they were placed on the establishment of the
Army, viz.:--
71st late 73rd Highland Regiment on 19th December, 1777
72nd late 78th ” on 29th December, 1777
73rd late Second Battalion of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment
raised in 1779, and constituted the 73rd Regiment on the 18th
April, 1786.
The details of the services of the present _Seventy-second
Regiment_, or _The Duke of Albany’s own Highlanders_, are contained
in the following pages; the histories of the 71st and 73rd
Regiments are given in distinct numbers.
1848.
GENERAL ORDERS.
_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836_.
His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the view of
doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals
who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with
the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the
British Army shall be published under the superintendence and
direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall
contain the following particulars, viz.:--
---- The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of
the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations
in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any
Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies,
&c., it may have captured from the Enemy.
---- The Names of the Officers, and the number of
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the
Enemy, specifying the place and Date of the Action.
---- The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other
Marks of His Majesty’s gracious favour.
---- The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in
Action.
And,
---- The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honorable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.
JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant-General_.
PREFACE.
The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend
upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service
are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that
any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which
alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.
Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable
object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the
Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright
examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to
incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have
preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that
have given rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the
“London Gazette,” from whence they are transferred into the public
prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the
time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and
admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions,
the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on
the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their
orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill
and bravery; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour
of their Sovereign’s approbation, constitute the reward which the
soldier most highly prizes.
It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which
appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies)
for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services
and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic
account of their origin and subsequent services.
This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty
having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in
future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and
abroad.
From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth
derive information as to the difficulties and privations which
chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In
Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to
the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and
where these pursuits have, for so long a period, being undisturbed
by the _presence of war_, which few other countries have escaped,
comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service
and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the
British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little
or no interval of repose.
In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country
derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist
and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to
reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,--on
their sufferings,--and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which
so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.
The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance,
have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and
their character has been established in Continental warfare by the
irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in
spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and
steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against
superior numbers.
In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample
justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the
Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of
individual bravery can only be fully given in the Annals of the
various Regiments.
These Records are now preparing for publication, under his
Majesty’s special authority, by Mr. RICHARD CANNON, Principal Clerk
of the Adjutant General’s Office; and while the perusal of them
cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every
rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and
information to the general reader, particularly to those who may
have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.
There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or
are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_--an attachment
to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a
narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove
interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the
valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with
a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race
of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood “firm
as the rocks of their native shore:” and when half the world has
been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their
Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of
achievements in war,--victories so complete and surprising, gained
by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow citizens in arms,--a
record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their
gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the
public.
Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished
Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to
time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value
and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment
will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall
be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE INFANTRY.
The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for
innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority
of the British troops over those of other countries has been
evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains
so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can
be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be
admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is
INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England
when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army,
on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to
attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and,
although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their
adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated
the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth
legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other
weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of
which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades,
and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted
and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat,
sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry.
These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s
legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline
and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being
thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full
development of the national character followed, and it shone forth
in all its native brilliancy.
The military force of the Anglo Saxons consisted principally of
infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on
horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The
former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords
and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only.
They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and
javelins.
The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted
(as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost
entirely of horse; but when the warlike barons and knights, with
their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion
of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior
degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When
stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a
considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has
since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never
exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.
The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns
succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances,
halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour
was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice
became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel,
that it was almost impossible to slay them.
The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive
purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth
century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the
infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of
fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries;
and owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of
the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained
in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable
acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.
During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company
of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in
every hundred men forty were “_men-at-arms_,” and sixty “_shot_;”
the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and
thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty
musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides
his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150
to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of
formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John
Smithe) in 1590 was:--the colour in the centre of the company
guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on
each flank of the halberdiers: half the musketeers on each flank
of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers,
and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the
muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the
company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number
of companies into one body, called a Regiment, which frequently
amounted to three thousand men: but each company continued to carry
a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the
construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to
make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried
a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier,
armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth
century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry
were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with
matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with
pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.
In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men; he
caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks,
or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be
made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed
each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division
of pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments
into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to
three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his
infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen
and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of
other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English,
French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice
in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not
adopted until near a century afterwards.
In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled
the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually
consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light
firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with
hand-grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was
designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to
fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets similar to those
at present in use were adopted about twenty years afterwards.
An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James
II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers
(now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did
not carry pikes.
King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second
Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service.
During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting
the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46
musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans;
ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in
1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on
the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]
During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every
infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the
grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand-grenades;
and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour:
the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this
reign.
About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry
ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light
companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of
General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside
their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the seven
years’ war. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have
been limited to the musket and bayonet.
The arms and equipment of the British troops have seldom differed
materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European
states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods,
been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they
have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and
superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many
and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained
over very superior numbers.
Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have
dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves
valiant with any arms. At _Crecy_ King Edward III., at the head of
about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip
King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000
men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:--the
King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles
were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten
years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the
Black Prince, defeated, at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French
army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of
France, and his son Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October,
1415, King Henry V., with an army of about 13,000 men, although
greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated,
at _Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower
of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men,
and gained a complete victory.
During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the
Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and
terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the
States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and
firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant
Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British troops in the
service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of
heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British
army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world;
and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory
of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons
of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the
qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of
the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in
Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French
army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that
country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous
campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and
the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great
Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means
he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to
their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British
Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates in the
distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy
which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers,
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons
of the nineteenth century.
The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular
frame,--intrepidity which no danger can appal,--unconquerable
spirit and resolution,--patience in fatigue and privation, and
cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities,--united with
an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give
a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of
the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to
command, whose presence inspires confidence,--have been the leading
causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5]
The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the
various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought
and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory;
these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of
time.
The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a
detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the
hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in
the various parts of the world, where the calls of their Country
and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed
in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental
operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and
unfavourable climes.
The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set
forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest
commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements
of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted
to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations and
circumstances of service, are well suited to show forth the
brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and
scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have
been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements
have from time to time been introduced, to ensure that simplicity
and celerity by which the superiority of the national military
character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain
has attained among the nations of the world have in a great measure
been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons who have
the welfare of their country at heart the records of the several
regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.
[Illustration:
SEVENTY-SECOND
OR
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN
HIGHLANDERS.
_For Cannon’s Military Records_
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand._]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:--
__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
|
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.
The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the
harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.
[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps
in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign
of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under
Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and
in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at
the siege of Barcelona in 1705.
[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed
in 1590, observes:--“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation
would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the
field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the
Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe.
For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during
the Seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third
Foot, or Buffs.
[4] Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of
Foot.
[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes
the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in
Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but
His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed
on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a
strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which
has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and
has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national
military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”--_General Orders in 1801._
In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope
(afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the
successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January,
1809, it is stated:--“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of
British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a
severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority
which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired
the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be
encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the
troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that, whatever
advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is
inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows
not how to yield,--that no circumstances can appal,--and that will
ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any
human means.”
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT;
OR THE
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.
ORIGINALLY NUMBERED AS THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH HIGHLAND
REGIMENT ON ITS FORMATION IN 1778,
AND AFTERWARDS NUMBERED THE SEVENTY-SECOND
HIGHLAND REGIMENT IN 1786.
[Sidenote: 1778]
The Highlanders of Scotland have long been celebrated for the
possession of every military virtue, and the services of the
warlike natives of North Britain have been consequently sought
by foreign potentates on many and important occasions, when the
less martial spirit of the people of other states would not enable
them to contend against their oppressors. The achievements of the
Scots regiments, which fought in the armies of France and Sweden,
and of the celebrated _Scots Brigade_ in the service of the
United Provinces of the Netherlands, are recorded in the military
histories of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and the
annals of the last hundred years abound in instances in which the
Scots troops in the British army have displayed, in every quarter
of the globe, the qualities of intrepidity, valour, and temperance,
which adorn the national character of the natives of North
Britain. The SEVENTY-SECOND regiment, or THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S
OWN HIGHLANDERS, is one of the corps which has performed valuable
services to the crown and kingdom; its formation took place in
1778, under the following circumstances:--
WILLIAM, fifth EARL OF SEAFORTH, having engaged in the rebellion
of 1715, was afterwards included in the acts of attainder, and
forfeited his title and estate. His eldest son, however, became a
zealous advocate for the Protestant succession, and supported the
government during the rebellion in 1745; his grandson, KENNETH
MACKENZIE, was permitted to re-purchase the estate from the
Crown,--and was created an Irish peer, in 1766, by the title of
Baron Ardeloe, in the county of Wicklow, and Viscount Fortrose,
in Scotland,--and in 1771, he was advanced to the dignity of
EARL OF SEAFORTH, which had been long enjoyed by his ancestors.
The American war commenced in 1775, and the EARL OF SEAFORTH, in
gratitude for the favours he had received, made an offer to His
Majesty, to raise a regiment of foot on his estate, which, in
former times, had been able to furnish a thousand men in arms. This
offer was accepted in December, 1777; the EARL OF SEAFORTH received
a letter of service to raise a regiment of foot, of which he was
appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, and in January, 1778, the
following officers received commissions:--
_Lieut.-Col. Commandant_, KENNETH, EARL OF SEAFORTH.
_Major_, James Stuart, (from Capt. 64th Regt.).
_Captains._
Thos. F. Mackenzie Humberston
Robert Lumsdaine
Peter Agnew
Kenneth Mackenzie[6]
George Mackenzie
Hugh Frazer
Hon. Thomas Maitland
Charles Halkett[7]
_Captain Lieutenant_, Thomas Frazer.
_Lieutenants._
Donald Moody
William Sutherland
Colin Mackenzie
Kenneth Mackenzie
Patrick Haggard
Thomas Mackenzie
George Innes
Charles M^c Gregor
David Melville
George Gordon
James Gualie
George Mackenzie
Charles Gladoning
William Sinclair
Charles Mackenzie
John Campbell
James Stewart
Robert Marshall
Philip Anstruther
Kenneth Macrae
John M^c Innes
_Ensigns._
James Stewart
James Finney
Aulay M^c Aulay
Malcomb M^c Pherson
Robert Gordon
John Mitchell
Ewen M^c Linnan
George Gordon
_Staff._
_Chaplain_, Wm. Mackenzie
_Surgeon_, ---- Walters
_Adjutant_, James Finney
_Quar.-Mr._ George Gunn
The establishment was to consist of fifty serjeants, two pipers,
twenty drummers and fifers, and a thousand and ten rank and file.
The men were principally raised from the clan of “_Caber Fey_,” as
the Mackenzies were called from the stag’s horns on the armorial
bearings of Seaforth. Five hundred men were from the EARL OF
SEAFORTH’S own estates, and about four hundred from the estates of
the Mackenzies of Scatwell, Kilcoy, Applecross, and Redcastle, all
of whom had sons or brothers holding commissions in the regiment:
the officers from the Lowlands brought upwards of two hundred,
of whom seventy-four were English and Irish. The clan Macrae had
long been faithful followers of the Seaforth family, and on this
occasion the name was so general in the regiment, that it was
frequently designated the regiment of “the _Macraes_.”
On the 15th of May the EARL OF SEAFORTH’S regiment assembled
at Elgin, in Moray, amounting to one thousand and forty-one
rank and file; it was inspected by Major-General Robert Skene,
adjutant-general in North Britain, and the men were found so
remarkably effective and fit for His Majesty’s service, that nearly
every one was accepted: the corps was placed on the establishment
of the regular army under the designation of “SEAFORTH’S
HIGHLANDERS;” the supernumerary men were formed into a recruiting
company, and the regiment received orders to march southward, for
the purpose of embarking for the East Indies. It soon afterwards
obtained the numerical title of the “SEVENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.”
Towards the end of July, the regiment was ordered to Edinburgh
Castle; and on its arrival there, the men began to show symptoms of
dissatisfaction; the result of investigation proved that some of
them had not received their bounty, and that others had contrived
to obtain it twice, which was the more easily accomplished in
consequence of so many men being of the same name. Full attention
being paid to their claims, they embarked at Leith shortly
afterwards, with much cheerfulness, being highly gratified in
consequence of their commander, the EARL OF SEAFORTH, being about
to accompany them on service.
The departure of the regiment was however delayed. The king of
France had taken part with the revolted British provinces in North
America, and had commenced hostilities against Great Britain; when
the French settlements in Bengal were seized by detachments of
troops from Calcutta, and Pondicherry was besieged and captured
with so little loss, that it did not appear necessary to send
additional troops to India at that time. The regiment was ordered
to Jersey and Guernsey, where it arrived towards the end of
November, five companies being stationed at each island.
[Sidenote: 1779]
On the 1st of May, 1779, a French naval force approached the island
of _Jersey_, and made preparations for landing a body of troops in
St. Owen’s bay; when the five companies of SEAFORTH’S regiment,
with some of the militia of the island, hastened to the spot,
dragging some artillery with them through the heavy sands, and
opened so well-directed a fire, that the French soldiers returned
to their ships, and quitted the coast, followed by several British
vessels of war, which inflicted a severe loss on the enemy. The
defeat of the enemy’s designs on this occasion was in a great
measure owing to the zeal and efforts of Major Thomas Frederick
Mackenzie Humberston of SEAFORTH’S regiment, who had been promoted
from captain to second major, on the 22nd of March, 1779.
[Sidenote: 1781]
The regiment remained at Jersey and Guernsey during 1780, and the
early part of the following year, in which time, circumstances had
occurred in India, which occasioned its removal to that part of the
British dominions.
HYDER ALI, a soldier of fortune, had risen to the chief command of
the army of the ruler of Mysore, and when the rajah died, leaving
his eldest son a minor, the commander-in-chief assumed the title
of guardian of the young prince, whom he placed under restraint,
and seized on the reins of government. Having a considerable
territory under his control, he maintained a formidable military
establishment, which he endeavoured to bring into a high state
of discipline and efficiency, and he proved a man possessed of
activity, courage, and talent. He soon evinced decided hostility
to the British interests in India, and formed a league with the
French. Hostilities had also commenced between Great Britain and
Holland, and the British troops were employed in dispossessing
the Dutch of their settlements in Bengal, and on the coast of
Coromandel. Thus three powers were opposed to the British interests
in India, and SEAFORTH’S HIGHLANDERS were ordered to reinforce the
British army in that country.
Towards the end of April, 1781, the regiment was removed from
Jersey and Guernsey, to Portsmouth, where it embarked on the 1st of
June, for the East Indies, mustering nine-hundred and seventy-five
rank and file, all in excellent health.
During the passage the Earl of Seaforth died suddenly in August,
and was succeeded in the commission of lieut.-colonel commandant,
by Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston, from lieut.-colonel
commandant of the one hundredth regiment, by commission dated the
13th of February, 1782.
[Sidenote: 1782.]
At that period the passage to India occupied about ten months; the
accommodation in the ships was very limited, and the provision
issued to the troops not of good quality; this was attended with
serious results, and the regiment lost two hundred and forty-seven
men, of scurvy and other diseases, during the passage to India;
which is now frequently performed in less than half the time, and
under superior regulations, without the loss of a man.
On arriving at Madras in the beginning of April, 1782, the regiment
only mustered three hundred and sixty-nine men fit for duty; the
pressure of the service did not, however, admit of delay, and all
who were able to march, advanced up the country under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart, and joined the army commanded by
Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., at Chincleput, a town and
fortress on the north-east bank of the Palar river, thirty miles
from Madras. Chincleput served as a place of arms, and a refuge for
the natives, during the war with Hyder Ali. The soldiers of the
regiment suffered from having been so long on salt provision; they
were also sinewy and robust men, and were more susceptible of the
sun’s violence than men of slender habits. Sir Eyre Coote ordered
them into quarters, leaving the few, who were healthy, attached
to M^c Leod’s Highlanders (now seventy-first regiment) the only
European corps then with the army. The men gradually recovered,
and in October six hundred rank and file were fit for duty; their
constitutions became accustomed to the climate, and their health
and efficiency were afterwards preserved under fatigues and
privations calculated to exhaust the physical powers of Europeans
when endured under an Indian sun.
[Sidenote: 1783]
Six hundred gallant Highlanders appeared in the field, arrayed
under the colours of the regiment, to engage in Indian warfare,
and on the 10th of April, 1783, when they joined the army
assembling under Major-General Stuart, their appearance excited
great interest. This force consisted of the seventy-third, and
SEVENTY-EIGHTH Highlanders, the hundred and first regiment, a
considerable body of native troops and a detachment of Hanoverians,
under Colonel Wangenheim; it was destined for the attack of the
fortress of _Cudalore_ in the Carnatic, situate on the western
shore of the bay of Bengal, which had been taken by the French in
1782. On the 6th of June, 1783, the army took up a position two
miles from the town, having its right on the sea, and its left on
the Bandipollum hills; the enemy under General Bussy occupied a
position half a mile in front of the fort.
On the 13th of June a general attack was made on the French line,
on which occasion the gallant bearing of the Highlanders was
conspicuous, and the ardour and intrepidity they evinced, gave
presage of that renown which the two corps (now seventy-first and
SEVENTY-SECOND) afterwards acquired. The action commenced about
four o’clock in the morning, and was continued until near two in
the afternoon, during which time the French were driven from the
principal defences on their right. Major-General Stuart designed to
renew the attack on the following morning; but the French retreated
into the fortress during the night.
The regiment had Captain George Mackenzie and nine rank and file
killed; Lieutenants Patrick Grant and Malcomb M^c Pherson, two
serjeants, and twenty-eight rank and file wounded; two men missing.
Major-General Stuart stated in his public despatch--“Nothing, I
believe, in history, ever exceeded the heroism and coolness of
this army in general, which was visible to every one, for the
action lasted from four in the morning to two in the afternoon.”
The Major-General also stated in Orders:--“The Commander-in-chief,
having taken time minutely to investigate the conduct and execution
of the orders and plan in attacking the enemy’s posts, lines, and
redoubts, on the 13th instant, with the comparative strength in
numbers and position of the enemy, composed almost entirely of the
best regular troops of France, takes this occasion to give it as
his opinion to this brave army in general, that it is not to be
equalled by anything he knows, or has heard of, in modern history.”
The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart of the regiment was
commended in the Major-General’s despatch and in Orders.
On the morning of the 25th of June the French made a sally from the
fortress; but were repulsed with severe loss; Colonel the Chevalier
de Damas was among the prisoners taken on this occasion.[8]
The siege of Cudalore was soon afterwards terminated by the arrival
of news from Europe of a treaty of peace having been concluded
between England and France.
In the meantime Hyder Ali had died, in December, 1782, and was
succeeded, in the government of the Mysore, by his son, Tippoo
Saib; who, being deprived of his French allies by the peace,
entered into negociations for terminating the war between Mysore
and the British, and an armistice took place.
Colonel Humberston was wounded in an action at sea, on the coast of
India, and died, in his twenty-eighth year, universally lamented,
as a young man of superior accomplishments, and of great promise in
his profession. He was succeeded, as lieut.-colonel commandant of
the regiment, by Major-General James Murray, by commission dated
the 1st of November, 1783.
The regiment was detached from Cudalore, with other troops
amounting to about fifteen thousand men, under the command of
Colonel Fullerton, and, marching southward, was employed in
reducing to obedience several refractory chiefs. The colonel
afterwards purposed penetrating the country of Mysore, and
advancing upon Seringapatam; but he halted during the armistice
with Tippoo Saib. Negociations for peace having been broken off,
and hostilities resumed, Colonel Fullerton pursued his original
design of penetrating into the Mysore, and he resolved to take the
fortress of _Palacatcherry_, which commanded a pass between the
coasts, and secured a communication with a great extent of fertile
country. This place he designed to occupy as an intermediate
magazine, and a stronghold upon which to retreat in case of a
repulse. During the march the army encountered much difficulty from
woods and heavy rains, and a detachment under Captain Hon. Thomas
Maitland of the SEVENTY-EIGHTH (now SEVENTY-SECOND) Highlanders
performed valuable service by acting on the flanks, and preserving
a communication through thick woods and a broken country. After
taking several small forts, the army arrived, on the 4th of
November, before Palacatcherry, and on the 13th two batteries
opened their fire against the works. At night a heavy storm of
wind and rain occasioned the Mysoreans to take shelter, and leave
the covered way exposed, when Captain Hon. Thomas Maitland of the
regiment dashed forward with his flanking corps, surprised and
overpowered the Mysoreans, who fled into the fortress, leaving
the first gateway open. Captain Maitland pursued, but was stopped
at the second gateway; but he defended the post he had captured
until additional troops arrived; and the garrison, becoming alarmed
at the apprehension of a general assault, surrendered a fortress
capable of a long defence under more resolute troops.
After this success the army marched to _Coimbetore_, where it
arrived on the 26th of November, and the garrison surrendered
before a breach was made. Preparations were then commenced for
further conquests, and the capture of Seringapatam, with the
subversion of Tippoo’s power, was in full view; but at the moment
when arrangements were made for an advance, the commissioners
appointed to treat with Tippoo, sent orders for a retrograde
movement.
[Sidenote: 1784]
[Sidenote: 1785]
Peace was concluded with the ruler of the Mysore in March, 1784.
SEAFORTH’S Highlanders having been raised on condition of serving
three years, or during the war, four hundred and twenty-five men
claimed their discharge at the peace, and returned to Scotland;
the remainder volunteered to remain in India, receiving a bounty
of ten guineas; the regiment received many volunteers from the
ninety-eighth, one hundredth, and one hundred and second foot,
which corps were ordered to return to England for reduction (among
whom was a considerable number of Highlanders who had enlisted into
the hundredth regiment with Colonel Humberston), and the effective
strength was seven hundred men; which was augmented, in 1785, by
volunteers from different corps, and by recruits from Scotland, to
nearly eleven hundred non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1786]
[Sidenote: 1787]
[Sidenote: 1788]
Many senior corps having been disbanded, the regiment was numbered,
in 1786, the SEVENTY-SECOND foot; at the same time the commission
of lieut.-colonel commandant was changed to that of colonel; and in
December, 1787, the establishment was fixed at forty-four officers,
and eight hundred and four non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
Success continued to attend the recruiting of the regiment, and the
arrival of strong healthy young men from Scotland, preserved it in
a high state of efficiency, and its discipline and moral conduct
were particularly exemplary.
[Sidenote: 1789]
The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Sultan, the powerful ruler of the
Mysore, soon involved the British government in India in another
war; he appeared near the confines of the country of Travancore,
at the head of a powerful army, made unreasonable demands on the
rajah, a British ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of
December, 1789.
[Sidenote: 1790]
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, mustering nearly a thousand
officers and soldiers, healthy and acclimated, pitched their tents
on the plain of Trichinopoly, where an army was assembled, in the
early part of 1790, to exact full reparation of Tippoo Sultan for
his wanton and unprovoked violation of treaty in attacking the
rajah of Travancore. Major-General Medows assumed the command,
and the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded by Captain Frazer, with the
seventy-first, and first East India Company’s European battalion,
formed the second European brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel Clarke;
Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the SEVENTY-SECOND commanded the left wing
of the army.
Advancing from Trichinopoly plain, on the 26th of May, and
penetrating the country of the enemy, the army arrived, on the 15th
of June, at the fort of Caroor, where the troops encamped eighteen
days, while provisions were being collected, and a magazine
formed. Leaving this place on the 3rd of July, the army marched to
Daraporam, which was abandoned by the enemy; a garrison was left
at this place, and the army marched through a beautiful country
in a high state of cultivation, to the city of Coimbetore, which
was found evacuated, and some valuable stores left behind by the
enemy. On the 23rd of July, Lieut.-Colonel Stuart was detached,
with the fourth brigade of native infantry, a number of pioneers,
&c. against Palacatcherry, leaving the SEVENTY-SECOND at the camp
at Coimbetore; he was impeded by heavy rains, and, his force
proving insufficient for the capture of the place, he rejoined the
army. He was afterwards detached, with another body of troops,
against Dindigal, a strong fortress on a rock, which surrendered
on the 22nd of August. He was subsequently directed to proceed
a second time against _Palacatcherry_; and the flank companies
of the seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments were ordered
to traverse the country and take part in the siege, when Captain
FRAZER of the SEVENTY-SECOND resigned the command of the regiment,
for that of the flank companies detached on this service.[9]
These companies left Coimbetore on the 6th of September, were
joined by Lieut.-Colonel Stuart’s division, at Podoor,[10] on the
following day, and arrived on the 10th, before the fortress of
Palacatcherry, which had been strengthened and improved since its
capture in 1783: the siege was immediately commenced. The regiment
remained at Coimbetore.
At that time the army was separated in three divisions;--one at
Coimbetore, one at Sattimungal, sixty miles in advance, and one
besieging Palacatcherry, thirty miles in the rear; and Tippoo
resolved to attack, and if possible destroy, the division in
advance before the main body could arrive to its support; but its
commander, Colonel Floyd, fell back and took up his positions
in retreat, with so much ability, that the Sultan failed in
his object. The SEVENTY-SECOND, and other corps, advanced from
Coimbetore to support Colonel Floyd’s division, and a junction was
formed at Velladi, on the 15th of September, when Tippoo retired.
On that day the flank companies, commanded by Captain Frazer, were
suddenly ordered to make a forced march to Coimbetore: if the enemy
had taken the place, to endeavour to re-capture it by surprise;
if it was invested, to force their way into it, and to defend it
to the last extremity. The march was commenced at four o’clock in
the afternoon, and the flank companies arrived at the gates of
Coimbetore at half past two o’clock on the following morning;
the enemy had not approached the place, and the companies took
possession of the fort, Captain Frazer assuming the command of all
the troops at that place.
The army returned to Coimbetore on the 23rd of September, when the
flank companies rejoined the regiment; and Lieut.-Colonel Stuart,
having captured and garrisoned Palacatcherry, arrived on the 26th
of that month.
Disappointed in his object of destroying the divisions of the
British army in detail, the Sultan resolved to attack the chain
of depôts; he gained possession of Erroad, and the stores at that
place, and afterwards marched southwards. The English army advanced
from Coimbetore on the 29th of September, and, arriving at Erroad
on the 4th of October, found the place abandoned, and Tippoo’s
army gone. He had marched in the direction of Coimbetore, but,
hearing that the garrison was augmented, he advanced rapidly upon
Daraporam, of which he gained possession on the 2nd of October.
The British army marched in search of the Sultan, traversing
extensive tracts of country, and undergoing much fatigue under
an Indian sun. In these services the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders
preserved a high state of discipline and efficiency. Lieut.
Campbell of the regiment stated in his journal, “We perform our
journeys with ease and comfort; marching is become familiar and
agreeable to us.” In the middle of November the army traversed
the difficult pass of Tapoor, winding through deep valleys, and
dragging the guns over precipices. On emerging from the pass,
Tippoo’s camp was seen at a distance; it was supposed to be that
of the Bengal division, under Colonel Maxwell, and three guns
were fired as a signal, when the Sultan struck his tents and
made a precipitate retreat. Colonel Maxwell’s division joined
two days afterwards, and the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND,
and seventy-fourth regiments were formed in brigade under
Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, with six twelve-pounder and six six-pounder
guns attached to them.
The Sultan resolved to leave the British army in his own country,
and to invade the Carnatic, which would bring the English back for
the defence of Trichinopoly. Major-General Medows was about to
carry offensive plans into execution, when the movements of Tippoo
rendered it necessary to return to the Carnatic, and the army
arrived at the vicinity of Trichinopoly in the middle of December.
The Sultan’s success was limited to devastations and the capture of
a few posts; he was pursued as far as Trincomalee; the British army
afterwards turned off to Arnee, where the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment
arrived on the 12th January, 1791, and was encamped several days.
[Sidenote: 1791]
General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., assumed the command
of the army, and some alteration was made in the disposition
of the troops; the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, commanded by
Captain Frazer, continued to form, with the seventy-first and
seventy-fourth regiments, the second European brigade, under
Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, in the left wing of the army: Lieut.-Colonel
Stuart, of the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded the right wing. The army
advanced to Vellore, where it arrived on the 11th of February,
1791. Tippoo was ready to oppose any attempt to penetrate into
the country under his dominion by the easiest passes; but Earl
Cornwallis contrived the appearance of a march towards Amboor,
which completely imposed upon the Sultan, and then turning
suddenly to the north, traversed the difficult pass of Mooglee,
without the enemy having power to offer the least obstruction, and
arrived on the 20th of February on the table-land of the Mysore. On
the 22nd of February the troops commenced their march towards the
strong fortress of _Bangalore_, where Tippoo had built a splendid
palace, with extensive gardens; and the safety of his harem, &c.,
so engrossed his attention, that he marched with his army to
accomplish the removal of his women and valuables from the palace,
and left the English at liberty to continue their march unmolested,
until they arrived within ten miles of the town. He made an attempt
on the baggage on the 5th of March, but was frustrated, on which
occasion the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had a few men wounded: in
the evening the army took up a position before the town.
On the 7th of March the pettah was stormed by the thirty-sixth
regiment, supported by the third brigade of sepoys; and the siege
of Bangalore was immediately commenced. During the night, the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were posted under the outer pettah wall,
close to the gate. “The enemy kept up a sharp fire; their shots,
which were many of them thirty-two pounders, came very close to the
regiment, making a great rattling in the trees and bamboo hedge,
near the line; but no casualties occurred.”[11]
On the evening of the 10th of March, the regiment was on duty in
the trenches, the grenadier company taking the advance post, and
many of the men of the other companies working at the batteries; it
was relieved on the evening of the 12th.
During the night of the 15th of March, the troops were ordered
under arms, in consequence of circumstances indicating the approach
of Tippoo’s army; a flight of rockets came into the camp, and the
grenadiers of the SEVENTY-SECOND rushed towards the spot from
whence the rockets came; but the Mysoreans fled without waiting
the attack. At five o’clock on the following evening the regiment
marched into the pettah, and relieved the thirty-sixth on duty in
the trenches. Soon after midnight a crowd of Mysorean musketeers
entered the thick jungle near the pettah, and commenced a sharp
fire; the SEVENTY-SECOND formed behind a mud wall expecting their
post to be stormed every moment by thousands of enemies, whom they
were prepared to receive with fixed bayonets: but the Mysoreans did
not venture on so desperate an enterprise; many of the soldiers’
bayonets were hit by bullets, but not one man injured. On the
evening of the 18th the regiment was relieved and returned to camp.
At four o’clock on the afternoon of the 20th of March six companies
of the regiment marched into the trenches; and on the evening of
the following day the regiment was ordered to prepare to take
part in storming the fortress; the grenadier company was to join
the storming party appointed to advance by the left approach;
the light company that by the right approach, and the battalion
companies were formed on the right of the parallel, to support
the grenadiers: three of the SEVENTY-SECOND grenadiers joined the
forlorn hope under Serjeant Williams of the seventy-sixth regiment.
Lieutenant Campbell of the regiment states in his Journal,--“The
storming party primed and loaded, and sat down on their arms; our
batteries, both gun and mortar, kept firing frequently during
the evening. At a quarter before eleven we got into motion; an
opening was made in the centre of the second parallel; the signal
for storming was given (three guns in quick succession), and out
we rushed. The covered way instantly appeared as a sheet of fire,
seconded from the fort, but with no aim or effect; our batteries
answered with blank cartridge; and we were in the covered way in a
moment, and on the breach as quick as thought. I pushed on, carried
forward by a powerful impulse, and found myself at the top of the
breach with the front files. The grenadiers immediately turned off
to the right with a huzza; their progress was suddenly stopped
by an opening; the fort was hung with blue lights, a heavy fire
was opened upon us, but with little effect: the difficulty was
overcome, and our troops ascended the ladders with every possible
expedition. The grandest, and most striking sight I ever beheld,
was the rushing up of the troops to the top of the breach, and
the ascent of the grenadiers in crowds by the scaling-ladders.
We now heard the grenadiers’ march beating in every quarter; our
soldiers shouted with joy, and we swept round the ramparts with
scarce anything to oppose us: every enemy that appeared had a
bayonet in him instantly; the regiments that supported us came in
by the gateway, and cleared the town below, where numbers were
killed; in two hours we were in thorough possession of the fort,
and Lieutenant Duncan, of the seventy-first regiment, pulled
down the flag and put his own sash in its place. The union-flag
was afterwards hoisted, and the troops gave three cheers.”
Very extensive stores were found in the place, particularly of
ammunition. The kiledar, or governor, was killed while fighting
with three grenadiers; he was dressed in a white gown, over which
he wore a jacket of quilted purple satin.
The regiment had six rank and file killed; one serjeant and
twenty-three rank and file wounded, on this occasion.
In the Orders issued on the following day, it was stated--“LORD
CORNWALLIS feels the most sensible gratification in congratulating
the officers and soldiers of the army on the honorable issue of the
fatigues and dangers they have undergone during the late arduous
siege. Their alacrity and firmness in the execution of their
various duties has, perhaps, never been exceeded, and he shall
not only think it incumbent on him to represent their meritorious
conduct in the strongest colours, but he shall ever remember it
with the sincerest esteem and admiration.
“The conduct of all the regiments, which happened, in their
tour, to be on duty that evening, did credit in every respect
to their spirit and discipline; but _his Lordship desires to
offer the tribute of his particular and warmest praise to the
European grenadiers and light infantry of the army, and to the
thirty-sixth_, SEVENTY-SECOND, _and seventy-sixth regiments,
who led the attack and carried the fortress, and who, by their
behaviour on that occasion, furnished a conspicuous proof, that
discipline and valour in soldiers, when directed by zeal and
capacity in officers, are irresistible_.
“Lieut.-colonel Stuart (SEVENTY-SECOND regiment) maybe assured that
Lord Cornwallis will ever retain the most grateful remembrance of
the valuable and steady support which that officer afforded him,
by his military experience and constant exertions to promote the
public service.”
After the capture of the fort, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were
posted at the breach; they were relieved on the morning of the 23rd
of March, by the fifty-second regiment, and returned to the camp.
On the 28th of March, the army quitted Bangalore, to join the
forces of the Nizam, sent to co-operate with the English in this
war; and, as the troops approached the ground they purposed
encamping upon after the first march, they saw the forces of Tippoo
striking their tents, and commencing a precipitate retreat; when
the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and seventy-fourth regiments
formed line, and advanced, supported by the native infantry of the
first line, but were unable to come up with the enemy. “The nature
of the country at this place, which presents continual ridges at
almost equal distances, made the pursuit particularly interesting;
for every new view we gained of the enemy, enlivened the soldiers
afresh, and occasioned them to push on with infinite eagerness and
ardour.”[12] A fine new brass nine-pounder gun was captured, with
a great quantity of cattle and forage; but the Sultan’s army could
not be overtaken.
The Nizam’s troops joined on the 13th of April, amounting to about
fifteen thousand horsemen, some of them, from Affghanistan, being
celebrated for valour. The army afterwards returned to Bangalore,
where preparations were made for the siege of Seringapatam, and the
army advanced upon the capital of the Mysore, on the 4th of May.
The troops marched through a difficult country destitute of forage,
and the cattle employed in conveying stores and baggage died in
great numbers; provision for the troops also became scarce.
As the army approached _Seringapatam_, the Sultan resolved to
hazard an engagement, and his formidable position was attacked on
the 15th of May, when the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had another
opportunity of distinguishing themselves. The Mysoreans stood
the fire of artillery with steadiness, and kept up a cannonade
with much effect, but the instant an attempt was made to charge
them with bayonets, they made a precipitate retreat. They were
driven from every post; and towards the close of the action
the SEVENTY-SECOND ascended an eminence and captured a round
redoubt. The army was thanked in Orders for its gallant conduct.
The regiment had about twenty men killed and wounded: Captain
Braithwaite and Lieutenant Whitlie wounded.
On the following day, some sharp firing was heard at the
advance-posts, when Major Frazer obtained permission to proceed to
their support with the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders; he afterwards
sent the adjutant to Earl Cornwallis to request his Lordship’s
authority to storm a fortified pagoda, but permission was not
granted. On the 18th of May, when the army moved towards the fords
of the river, Major Frazer obtained the post of honour for the
regiment, in covering the rear, expecting Tippoo would hazard an
attack, but no such event occurred.
When the army had arrived at the extreme point of its operations,
it had sustained the loss of nearly all its cattle from the want of
forage; the supply of provisions for the men was nearly exhausted;
the camp-followers were without food, and the rainy season had
set in earlier than had been expected. Under these circumstances
further success was become impracticable; the battering train and
stores were destroyed, and on the 26th of May the troops commenced
their march back towards Bangalore. Before commencing the retreat,
the soldiers were thanked in Orders for their conduct throughout
these services, and it was added,--“So long as there were any hopes
of reducing Seringapatam before the commencement of the heavy
rains, the Commander-in-chief thought himself happy in availing
himself of their willing services; but the unexpected bad weather,
for some time experienced, having rendered the attack of the
enemy’s capital impracticable, until the conclusion of the ensuing
monsoons, Lord Cornwallis thought he should make an ill return for
the zeal and alacrity exhibited by the soldiers, if he desired them
to draw the guns and stores back to a magazine, where there remains
an ample supply of both, which was captured by their valour; he did
not, therefore, hesitate to order the guns and stores which were
not wanted for field service to be destroyed.”
The army retreated to the vicinity of Bangalore, being joined by
the Mahratta forces on the march; and detachments were afterwards
sent out to reduce several strong hill-forts, which were very
numerous.
On the morning of the 9th of December, the fifty-second and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments, with the fourteenth and twenty-sixth
Bengal sepoys, were detached, under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, against the fortress of _Savendroog_, situate on
the side of a mountain, environed by almost inaccessible rocks;[13]
the troops arrived before the place on the 10th, and during the
night the grenadiers of the fifty-second and SEVENTY-SECOND, with a
battalion company from each regiment, supported by the twenty-sixth
sepoys, climbed a steep hill; traversed sheets of rock; descended
into a valley by a path so rugged and steep that the soldiers let
themselves down in many places by the branches of trees growing
on the side of the rock; traversed the valley; ascended a rock
nearly three hundred feet high, crawling on their hands and feet,
and helping themselves up by tufts of grass, until they attained
the summit, where they established themselves on a spot which
overlooked the whole of the fortress, about three hundred yards
from the wall. The batteries were speedily constructed; the flank
companies of the seventy-first and seventy-sixth regiments arrived
to take part in the siege; and practicable breaches having been
effected, storming-parties paraded on the morning of the 21st of
December. The right attack was made by the light companies of the
seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND, supported by a battalion company
of the SEVENTY-SECOND; the left attack by the two flank companies
of the seventy-sixth and grenadier company of the fifty-second;
the centre attack under Major FRAZER of the SEVENTY-SECOND, by the
grenadiers and two battalion companies of the SEVENTY-SECOND, two
companies of the fifty-second, the grenadiers of the seventy-first,
and four companies of sepoys, supported by the sixth battalion of
sepoys; the whole under Lieut.-colonel Nisbitt, of the fifty-second
regiment. The storming-parties proceeded to their stations; the
band of the fifty-second took post near them, and suddenly striking
up the tune _Britons strike home_, the whole rushed forward with
the most heroic ardour. The Mysoreans made a feeble defence, and
in less than two hours the British were in possession of the fort,
with the trifling loss of five men wounded. The troops were thanked
in General Orders, for their very gallant conduct, in which it
was stated,--“LORD CORNWALLIS thinks himself fortunate, almost
beyond example, in having acquired by assault, a fortress of so
much strength and reputation, and of such inestimable value to the
public interest, as Savendroog, without having to regret the loss
of a single soldier.”
Two days after the capture of Savendroog, the troops advanced
against _Outra-Durgum_: they arrived within three miles of the
place that night, and, on the following day, summoned the garrison
to surrender. Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, observing the people flying
from the pettah to the fortress on the rock, directed the guns to
open upon them, and two battalion companies of the fifty-second and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments, supported by the twenty-sixth sepoys,
to attack the pettah by escalade, which was executed with so much
spirit, that the soldiers were speedily in possession of the town.
“Lieutenant M^c Innes, senior officer of the two SEVENTY-SECOND
companies, applied to Captain Scott for liberty to follow the
fugitives up the rock, saying he should be in time to enter the
first gateway with them. The captain thought the enterprise
impracticable. The soldiers of M^c Innes’s company heard the
request made, and not doubting of consent being given, had rushed
towards the first wall, and were followed by M^c Innes. The gate
was shut: but Lieutenant M^c Pherson arrived with the pioneers and
ladders, which were instantly applied, and our people were within
the wall, as quick as thought, when the gate was unbolted and the
two companies entered. The enemy, astonished at so unexpected an
attempt, retreated with precipitation. M^c Innes advanced to the
second wall, the men forced open the gate with their shoulders,
and not a moment was lost in pushing forward for the third wall;
but the road leading between two rocks, was so narrow that only
two could advance abreast; the pathway was, in consequence,
soon choked up, and those who carried the ladders were unable
to proceed; at the same time, the enemy commenced throwing huge
stones in numbers upon the assailants, who commenced a sharp
fire of musketry, and Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, who had observed
from a distance this astonishing enterprise, sent orders for the
grenadiers not to attempt anything further. Lieutenant M^c Pherson
forced his way through the crowd, causing the ladders to be handed
over the soldiers’ heads, from one to another, and before the
colonel’s orders could be delivered, the gallant Highlanders were
crowding over the third gateway. The enemy fled on all hands; the
foremost of our men pursued them closely, and gained the two last
walls without opposition (there were five walls to escalade). The
garrison escaped by the south-east side of the fort, over rocks
and precipices of immense depth and ruggedness, where many must
have lost their lives. By one o’clock, our two companies were in
possession of every part of the fort, and M^c Innes had planted the
colours on the highest pinnacle, without the loss of a single man.
The Kiledar and two of his people were taken alive. Colonel Stuart
declared the business to be brilliant and successful, beyond his
most sanguine hopes.”[14]
_Thus was the important fortress of Outra-Durgum captured by two
companies of Highlanders_ (Major Petrie’s, and Captain Hon. William
M. Maitland’s) _of the_ SEVENTY-SECOND _regiment_; the officers
with the two companies were Lieutenants M^c Innes, Robert Gordon,
---- Getty, and Ensign Andrew Coghlan: Lieutenant M^c Pherson
conducted the pioneers. The whole were thanked in General Orders by
Earl Cornwallis, who expressed his admiration of the gallantry and
steadiness of the officers and soldiers engaged in this service.
The regiment rejoined the army on the 26th of December. Its
establishment had been augmented in March of this year to forty
serjeants and a thousand rank and file, and so many recruits
had arrived from Scotland that it was nearly complete. It was
considered the most effective corps in the army.
[Sidenote: 1792]
The rainy season being over, the army reinforced, the lost
cattle replaced, and arrangements made for an abundant supply
of provision, the army commenced its march, on the first of
February, 1792, for _Seringapatam_. The Sultan took up a formidable
position to cover his capital, and was attacked during the night
of the 6th of February. The following statement of the share
the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had in this engagement, is from
Lieutenant Campbell’s Journal:--
The regiment formed part of the left division under Lieut.-Colonel
Maxwell, which advanced to the attack in the following
order--Grenadier Company, SEVENTY-SECOND; Light Company,
SEVENTY-SECOND, with scaling-ladders; Pioneers; Twenty-third Native
Infantry; SEVENTY-SECOND Regiment; First and Sixth Native Infantry.
“We (the SEVENTY-SECOND) moved from the left along the north side
of the ridge of hills extending from the Carriagat pagoda to the
Cappalair rocks; by ten at night we found ourselves near the base
of the hill, where the officers were directed to dismount. When
we were about two hundred yards from the lower entrenchment,
our grenadiers filed off from the right with trailed arms, a
serjeant and twelve forming the forlorn hope. When about fifty
yards from the works, the sentinel challenged us, and instantly
fired his piece, which was followed by a scattered fire from the
rest of their party. We rushed among them, and those who did not
save themselves by immediate flight, were shot or bayoneted. The
greatest number of them ran down to the Carriagat pagoda, where
they made a stand, and kept up a smart fire until we were almost
close to them; then retired under our fire to the foot of the hill,
where they were joined by a strong body from the plain, and made
a stand at a small choultry, from which a flight of steps led to
the bridge across the nulla. By this time the general attack on
the enemy’s lines had commenced, and there was an almost connected
sheet of fire from right to left; musketry, guns, and rockets
rending the air with their contending noise. We sat upon the brow
of the hill a few minutes, while our men were recovering their
breath, and had a commanding prospect of the whole attack, though
nearly three miles in extent, as we contemplated the scene before
us, the grandest, I suppose, that any person there had beheld.
Being rested a little, Colonel Maxwell led us down the hill under
a smart fire; we rushed forward and drove the enemy across the
nulla in great haste, although they stood our approach wonderfully.
We crossed the bridge under a constant fire, the enemy retreating
as we advanced; we crossed the Lokany river, the opposite bank
of which was well covered by a _bound-hedge_, and their fire did
execution: a serjeant of grenadiers was killed, Captain Mackenzie
mortally wounded, Major Frazer and Captain Maitland shot through
their right arms, besides other casualties. After we had penetrated
the _bound-hedge_, the enemy took post behind an extensive
choultry; but nothing could stop the ardour of our men,--we charged
without loss of time, and soon dislodged the enemy, who retreated
along the banks of the Cavery to a second choultry, where their
numbers were reinforced. We had now got into their camp, upon the
right flank of their lines; they retreated steadily before us, and
our fire and bayonets did great execution among them, the road
being strewed with their bodies. We charged and dislodged them from
the second choultry; here Lieutenant M^c Pherson of the grenadiers
was wounded; we pursued the enemy to a large pagoda; they attempted
to cross the river, but the place was so crowded with guns,
tumbrils, bullocks, elephants, camels, followers, and heaven knows
what, that we were in the midst of them before they could escape,
and for some minutes there was nothing but shooting and bayoneting.
Colonel Maxwell came up with the twenty-third native infantry; the
sepoys of the fourteenth native battalions advanced; they took us
for the enemy, and fired, but their officers suppressed the fire
before much injury was done: the seventy-first regiment also joined
us, and preparations were made to cross the river and force the
lines on the opposite side. Colonel Baird requested me to lead
with twenty men; I instantly rushed into the stream, followed by
twenty grenadiers of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment; we pushed on
through holes, over rocks and stones, falling and stumbling at
every step, the enemy’s shot reducing our numbers; and myself,
with about half a dozen grenadiers, arrived at a smooth part of
the stream which proved beyond our depth; five of us, however, got
over; but the regiments did not venture to follow, and we returned
with difficulty. An easy passage had been found out lower down;
the seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments had got into the
island; the flank companies of the fifty-second, seventy-first, and
seventy-fourth regiments forded higher up, and the enemy, seeing
our troops on all sides of them, betook themselves to flight.
“About one o’clock in the morning the seventy-first, and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments advanced to the pettah, from which the
inhabitants had fled, and we released a number of Europeans from
prison. About seven o’clock the SEVENTY-SECOND marched into the
famous _Llal Baugh_, or, as I heard it translated, ‘_garden of
pearls_,’ and were posted in one of the walks during the day.”
A decisive victory was gained on this occasion over the army
of Tippoo, and, perhaps, no regiment had performed a more
distinguished part on this occasion than the SEVENTY-SECOND
Highlanders; they had forced the passage of one nulla, and two
rivers, and had charged nine successive times, overpowering their
enemies on every occasion. Their loss was Captain Thomas Mackenzie
and fourteen rank and file killed; Major Hugh Frazer, Captain
Hon. William M. Maitland, Lieutenants M^c Pherson and Ward, one
serjeant, two drummers, and forty rank and file wounded, one man
missing.
In the General Orders issued on the 7th of February, it was
stated--“The conduct and valour of the officers and soldiers of
this army have often merited Lord Cornwallis’s encomiums; but the
zeal and gallantry which were so successfully displayed last
night, in the attack of the enemy’s whole army in a position
that had cost him much time and labour to fortify, can never
be sufficiently praised; and his lordship’s satisfaction on an
occasion which promises to be attended with the most substantial
advantages, has been greatly heightened by hearing from the
commanding officers of divisions, that the meritorious behaviour
was universal, through all ranks, to a degree that has rarely been
equalled.”
The power of the Sultan being greatly reduced, and the siege of
his capital about to commence, he solicited conditions of peace,
and hostilities were suspended. He afterwards ceded half of his
dominions to the allies, paid a large sum of money, and was
permitted to retain the other half of his territory.
The war being thus terminated, and a great accession of territory
made to the British dominions in India, the army quitted the island
of Seringapatam, towards the end of March, and the SEVENTY-SECOND
Highlanders proceeded to the cantonment of Wallajabad, where
they arrived on the 28th of May. The Governor in Council evinced
the high sense he entertained of the conduct of the troops, by
presenting them with a gratuity out of the money paid by Tippoo
Sultan, which was confirmed by the Court of Directors, and six
months’ batta, or field allowance, added thereto.
[Sidenote: 1793]
[Sidenote: 1794]
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders remained at Wallajabad, with two
companies detached to Arnee, upwards of twelve months, during
which period the French Revolution, which commenced a few years
previously, had assumed a character that called forth the efforts
of other countries to arrest the progress of its destructive
principles with the effects of its example in the world, and war
commenced between Great Britain and France. News of this event
arrived in India in May, 1793; in June the regiment was ordered
to prepare to take the field, and on the 26th of that month,
pitched its tents east of Shiveram Hill under the orders of Major
Frazer; it marched soon afterwards against the French settlement of
_Pondicherry_, on the coast of Coromandel, and arrived before the
fortress in July,--being formed in brigade with the seventy-third,
seventy-fourth, and third East India Company’s European regiment,
under Lieut.-Colonel Baird; the troops employed on this service
were commanded by Colonel John Brathwait. The siege of Pondicherry
was commenced in the early part of August, the army encamping in
a thick wood where tigers were so numerous that the natives durst
not travel in the night. On the 11th of August the SEVENTY-SECOND
Highlanders were on duty in the trenches, and had two men killed;
they also lost two men on the following day;[15] and several others
on the 22nd of that month, on which day a white flag was displayed
by the garrison, with a request for permission to surrender.
The French soldiers in the fortress had embraced democratical
principles and were particularly insubordinate; they insisted
that the governor should surrender, but after the white flag was
displayed, they fired two shells, which killed several men, and
wounded Major Frazer of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment. During the
night they were guilty of every species of outrage, breaking into
houses and becoming intoxicated. On the following morning, a number
of them environed the governor’s house, and threatened to hang
the governor, General Charmont, before the door, when application
was made for English protection. The British soldiers rushed into
the town, overpowered the insurgents, rescued the governor, and
preserved the inhabitants from the further effects of democratical
violence.
After the completion of this service, the regiment returned to
the cantonment at Wallajabad, where it arrived on the 11th of
September, and was stationed at that place during the year 1794.
On the decease of General Murray, the colonelcy was conferred on
Major-General Adam Williamson, from the forty-seventh regiment, by
commission dated the 19th of March, 1794.
[Sidenote: 1795]
While the regiment was reposing in cantonments at Wallajabad,
and the officers and soldiers were reflecting with exultation on
the reputation they had acquired in the Mysore, circumstances
occurred in Europe which occasioned them to be again called into
active service. The Dutch people had imbibed the democratical
doctrines of the French republic, and in the early part of 1795
Holland became united to France. When information of these events
arrived in India, an expedition was immediately fitted out against
the large and mountainous island of _Ceylon_, where the Dutch
had several settlements, and the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were
selected to take part in the enterprise; the troops employed on
this service were commanded by their Lieut.-Colonel, James Stuart,
who was promoted to the rank of major-general at this period. The
regiment embarked from Fort St. George on the 30th of July, and two
days afterwards the fleet arrived on the coast of Ceylon; on the
3rd of August the troops landed four miles north of the fort of
_Trincomalee_, and the siege of this place was commenced as soon as
the artillery and stores could be landed and removed sufficiently
near to the place. On the 26th of August a practicable breach was
effected, and the garrison surrendered the place. The regiment had
Ensign Benson, two serjeants, and seven rank and file wounded on
this service.
The commanding officer of the regiment, Major Frazer, who was
promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy on the 1st of September, was
detached against the fort of _Batticaloe_, which surrendered to him
on the 18th of September. The two flank companies of the regiment
were afterwards detached, with two companies of sepoys, under
Captain Barbutt, against the fort and island of _Manaar_, which
surrendered on the 5th of October.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The regiment continued to be actively employed until the whole
of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon were reduced, which was
accomplished in February, 1796, when the governor, John Gerand Van
Angelbeck, surrendered the fortress of _Colombo_ to the British
arms. The people in the interior of the island had not been
deprived of their independence by the Dutch, and they were not
interfered with by the British so long as they preserved a peaceful
demeanour.
[Sidenote: 1797]
As the island of Ceylon--which produces an astonishing diversity of
vegetables, with the finest fruits--is celebrated for the number of
cinnamon trees it produces--and abounds in most animals indigenous
to the East, particularly in wild elephants--the SEVENTY-SECOND
Highlanders remained until March, 1797, when they were removed to
Pondicherry, preparatory to their return to England.
[Sidenote: 1798]
The regiment transferred its men fit for service to the corps about
to remain in India, and embarked at Madras in February, 1798. On
arriving at Gravesend, it received orders to proceed to Perth,
where it landed in August, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Hugh
Frazer.
The services of the regiment in the East Indies were afterwards
rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word “HINDOOSTAN” on
its colours.
On the 23rd of October, Major-General James Stuart, who had long
commanded the regiment with reputation in India, was appointed
to the colonelcy, from the eighty-second foot, in succession to
General Adam Williamson deceased.
[Sidenote: 1799]
[Sidenote: 1800]
[Sidenote: 1801]
The regiment was stationed at Perth two years, and its recruiting
was not successful, not more than two hundred recruits having
joined: in 1801 the regiment was removed to Ireland;[16] and its
numbers were augmented by drafts from the Scots fencible regiments.
[Sidenote: 1802]
[Sidenote: 1803]
At the conclusion of the peace of Amiens in 1802, the establishment
was reduced; but on the re-commencement of hostilities in 1803,
it was again augmented: it was soon in a high state of efficiency
and discipline, two-thirds of the men being Scots Highlanders, and
about one-third English and Irish.
[Sidenote: 1804]
Great efforts were made to repel the threatened French invasion in
1803 and 1804, and a _second battalion_ was added to the regiment;
it was formed of men raised in Aberdeen, for limited service, under
the Additional Force Act, and was placed upon the establishment
of the army from the 25th of December, 1804. It was embodied at
Peterhead, and remained in Scotland some time.
[Sidenote: 1805]
While the French army was at Boulogne menacing England with
invasion, a coalition was forming in Germany to oppose the
domination of Bonaparte, whom the French had elevated to the
title of Emperor, and the first battalion of the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment was appointed to form part of a secret expedition under
Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B.; this enterprise was, however,
laid aside, and in August, 1805, the regiment, commanded by
Lieut.-Colonel Colquhoun Grant, embarked with a secret expedition
under Major-General Sir David Baird, which sailed at the end of the
month. At day-break on the 28th of September the fleet approached
the island of Madeira, and the soldiers were gratified by the sight
of its high mountains, covered on the lower slopes with vines, and
on the loftier summits with forests of pine and chesnut, gilded
with the rays of the rising sun; and about eight o’clock the
whole anchored in the spacious bay, in the centre of which stands
Funchal, the capital; the lofty black rocks adorned with brilliant
verdure rising behind the town, form a striking contrast with the
white houses, and present to the view a splendid landscape. At
this place the fleet remained six days, and afterwards sailed to
the Brazils, entering the harbour of St. Salvador on the 12th of
November. Captain Campbell of the SEVENTY-SECOND stated in his
Journal:--“The town was opening as we approached the inner part
of the bay, and displayed the most gay and romantic scenery. It
is built on the ridge of a hill, and some of the houses are showy
and extensive; they are generally white with red tiles; but those
in the lower part of the town consist of from five to seven flats,
or stories, each; and, the streets being narrow, the houses almost
meet above. The hills are enclosed as gardens, and whichever way
one turns, the eye is equally gratified with the variety and
luxuriance of the scenery.”
The regiments were landed in succession for a few hours; horses
were procured for the cavalry, and some supplies obtained for the
voyage. It was a remarkable circumstance that the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment had not one sick man.
On the 28th of November the fleet again put to sea, and directed
its course towards the Dutch colony of the _Cape of Good Hope_,
then in possession of the Batavian government, which was united
with France in hostility to Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1806]
On the 3rd of January, 1806, the lofty promontory which marks the
southern extremity of Africa was seen, with its summit in the
clouds, and at five o’clock on the afternoon of the following day,
the fleet anchored off the Cape of Good Hope. At four o’clock on
the morning of the 6th of January the signal was made for the
seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and ninety-third regiments, forming
the second or Highland brigade under Brigadier-General Ferguson, to
enter the boats; and, moving to the shore, it effected a landing
in Lospard’s Bay; the light companies of the seventy-first and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments driving the Dutch sharp-shooters from the
contiguous heights, killing and wounding thirteen of the enemy.[17]
After pursuing the enemy some distance, the troops halted near the
Blue Mountains.
Before daylight on the following morning the SEVENTY-SECOND
advanced, with one six-pounder, to surprise a body of the enemy,
encamped at a small village; but the Dutch made a precipitate
retreat, and the regiment returned to its camp, where it arrived
about eight o’clock.
At three o’clock on the morning of the 8th of January the Blue
Mountains echoed the sound of the British bugles summoning the
soldiers to arms, and when the troops had advanced to the summit
of the hills, the Batavian army was seen formed, with twenty-three
pieces of cannon, in order of battle, in the valley in front. The
grenadiers of the twenty-fourth regiment drove the Dutch mounted
riflemen and jaggars from the high grounds on the front and on
the flank, and the Highland brigade moved forward to engage
the opposing army. Nineteen Dutch guns sent forward showers of
bullets as the three British regiments advanced rapidly upon their
opponents; when within five hundred yards, the enemy commenced
with grape, and when at two hundred and fifty yards distance, the
fire of musketry was opened along his whole front; but the advance
of the brigade was too rapid for the enemy to take correct aim.
Arriving within one hundred and fifty yards of the opposing line,
the Highlanders levelled their muskets with steady aim, advancing
and firing, until within sixty yards of their adversaries, when
Brigadier-General Ferguson gave the word “CHARGE.” A loud British
shout instantly rent the air, and the heroic Highlanders closed
with bayonets upon their numerous adversaries, who instantly fled
in dismay, pursued across the deep sands by the victorious Highland
brigade. The Dutch marksmen on the right flank, with two guns,
keeping up a constant fire, Captain Campbell of the SEVENTY-SECOND
was detached against them with his grenadier company; he soon drove
the Dutch sharp-shooters from the bushes, and was about to charge
the guns, but they were removed with too much speed to be overtaken.
After gaining a complete victory, and pursuing the enemy three
miles under a burning sun, and along deep sands, the Highlanders
were ordered to halt, and the first brigade urged the pursuit.[18]
Major-General Sir David Baird stated in his public despatch:--
“The Highland brigade advanced steadily under a heavy fire
of round shot, grape, and musketry. Nothing could resist the
determined bravery of the troops, headed by their gallant leader,
Brigadier-General Ferguson; and the number of the enemy, who
swarmed the plain, served only to augment their ardour, and confirm
their discipline. The enemy received our fire and maintained his
position obstinately; but in the moment of charging, the valour
of British troops bore down all opposition, and forced him to a
precipitate retreat.”
“Your lordship will perceive the name of Lieut.-Colonel Grant among
the wounded; but the heroic spirit of this officer was not subdued
by his misfortune, and he continued to lead his men to glory,
as long as an enemy was opposed to His Majesty’s SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment.”
The loss of the regiment was limited to two rank and file killed;
Lieut.-Colonel Grant,[19] Lieutenant Chrisholme, two serjeants, one
drummer, and thirty-three rank and file wounded.
The word “CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,” borne by royal authority on the
colours of the regiment, commemorates its distinguished gallantry
on this occasion.
After the action, the army took up a position in the Reit Valley;
on the 9th of January, the troops advanced towards Cape Town,
taking post on the south of Salt River, and the town surrendered.
Lieut.-General Janssens had taken up a position in a pass leading
to the interior of the country. On the 10th of January, the
regiment marched to Wineberg barracks; and on the 11th, Lieutenant
M’Arthur of the SEVENTY-SECOND was detached, with thirty men
of the regiment, to take possession of _Hout’s Bay_. “After
Lieutenant M’Arthur’s departure, it was ascertained that the enemy
had a strong garrison at Hout’s Bay, and Major Tucker, of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, was sent after him on horseback, to detain him
until a reinforcement should arrive; but the lieutenant had reached
the vicinity of the place with much expedition, and finding how
matters stood, showed his men rank entire, and only partially,
but to the most advantage. Having procured pen, ink, and paper,
he summoned the garrison to unconditional surrender, otherwise
he would blow the place about their ears, assault the works, and
give no quarter. The Dutch immediately surrendered at discretion,
and when the major arrived, he found Lieutenant M’Arthur in full
possession of the works, consisting of a strong block-house and two
batteries.”-_See Captain Campbell’s Journal._
Wineberg-Camp, _12th January, 1806_.
BRIGADE ORDER.--“In consequence of Brigadier-General Ferguson
being ordered into Cape Town, he is under the necessity of taking
a short leave of the Highland brigade. Short as his absence
will be, he cannot go without returning his sincere thanks to
every individual of the brigade he has the honor to command,
for the zealous support he has received from the officers, and
the uniform good behaviour of the men. Their conduct on the
day of landing, the cheerfulness with which they have endured
every fatigue and privation, and their distinguished bravery
in the action of Blaw Berg, while it has gained them universal
admiration, lays him under an obligation, which no time can
obliterate from his memory.”
On the same day that this order was issued the regiment advanced up
the country to co-operate with the troops under Brigadier-General
Beresford, and in a few days the Batavian governor surrendered the
colony to the British arms. From this period the important colony
of the Cape of Good Hope has formed part of the possessions of the
British Crown.
After the surrender of the Cape, the head-quarters of the
SEVENTY-SECOND regiment were established at Simon’s Town, where the
Hottentots in the Dutch pay tendered their services to the British
government, and were afterwards formed into a corps, now the “Cape
Mounted Riflemen:” the regiment had also detachments at Muisenberg,
Hout’s Bay, and Oliphant’s Bay, and in September it took the
garrison duty at Cape Town.
[Sidenote: 1807]
[Sidenote: 1808]
[Sidenote: 1809]
The regiment was stationed at Cape Town during the years 1807,
1808, and 1809: in April of the latter year King George III.
approved of its _discontinuing the Highland Costume_.
In February of this year the second battalion proceeded from
Scotland to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1810]
In February, 1810, the first battalion marched from Cape Town to
Stellinbosch, and while stationed at this place it was selected to
form part of an expedition, designed to co-operate with troops from
India in the capture of the _Mauritius_. It embarked eight hundred
men, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, from Simon’s
Town, on the 22nd of September, 1810, but various circumstances
occasioned a delay of nearly five weeks before it commenced the
voyage, and a landing of the troops from India had taken place a
few days before the division from the Cape arrived. Its appearance
off the island was, however, particularly opportune, as the French
governor had previously resolved to defend his lines before
Port Louis, but when he saw the division from the Cape approach
the island, he lost all hope of being able to make effectual
resistance, and surrendered this valuable colony to the British
arms.
The regiment landed at Port Louis on the 7th of December, and was
selected to form part of the garrison of the island.
[Sidenote: 1811]
On the 25th of September, 1811, the establishment of the first
battalion was augmented to a thousand rank and file, and it was
completed by drafts from the second battalion, then in Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1812]
[Sidenote: 1814]
After performing duty at the Mauritius upwards of three years, the
regiment received orders to proceed to North America, war having
commenced between Great Britain and the United States; and it
embarked from Port Louis on the 27th of June, 1814, with orders
to proceed, in the first instance, to the Cape of Good Hope.
The following General Orders were issued on this occasion, by
Lieut.-General Sir Alexander Campbell:--
“In obeying the orders of His Royal Highness the
commander-in-chief, for the removal of the first battalion of
the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment from these islands to the Cape of
Good Hope, the Commander of the Forces is impelled, not less by
the calls of justice and public duty, than by his personal and
private feelings, to express to Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, and
all the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of
that excellent, respectable, and valuable corps, how sensible
he is of the loss this command sustains by their departure. The
Lieut.-General, however, derives some consolation from the ardent
hope he entertains that the regiment is proceeding to fields of
glory, where opportunities will be afforded for sustaining the high
character it has already established, and adding to its well-earned
fame, by fresh deeds of valour, emulating those of our most
distinguished battalions, whose prowess and discipline have rescued
Europe from the tyrant’s grasp. He requests their acceptance of
his best thanks for their most exemplary good conduct, during the
period he has had the honor to have them under his orders, and
which he shall not fail to communicate to His Royal Highness the
Commander-in-Chief, for our Sovereign’s information, and likewise
to His Excellency the Commander of the Forces at the Cape of Good
Hope, a station where their gallantry and orderly behaviour are so
well known and appreciated.”
The design of sending the regiment to America was afterwards
abandoned, in consequence of the termination of the war in Europe
having rendered several other corps disposable: the SEVENTY-SECOND
landed at the Cape of Good Hope, and was stationed At Cape
Town.[20]
[Sidenote: 1815]
[Sidenote: 1816]
On the 26th of April, 1815, Lieut.-General Rowland Lord Hill,
G.C.B., was appointed Colonel of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment, from
the ninety-fourth foot, in succession to General Stuart, deceased.
After remaining at the Cape of Good Hope ten months, the regiment
received orders to transfer its services to India, to take part
in the war with the Rajah of Napaul. Some delay occurred in
procuring transports; but on the 29th of June the head-quarters
embarked for Bengal, under Lieut.-Colonel Monckton, and landed at
Calcutta on the 5th of September; the remainder of the regiment
arrived soon afterwards. The war had in the meantime terminated,
and the regiment was ordered to return to the Cape of Good Hope,
proceeding, in the first instance, to the Mauritius; the annexation
of that island to Great Britain, by the treaty of peace which
was concluded after the removal of Bonaparte from the throne of
France, having been followed by circumstances which rendered the
augmentation of the garrison necessary. The regiment embarked
from Fort William in November, and arrived at Port Louis in the
early part of January 1816; but the garrison had previously been
reinforced by the fifty-sixth regiment from Madras, and the
detention of the SEVENTY-SECOND was not necessary.
From the Mauritius the regiment continued its voyage to the Cape
of Good Hope, and arrived in Table Bay on the 14th of February;
but having touched at the Mauritius, where an epidemic disease
prevailed, it was detained in quarantine until the 3rd of March,
when it landed at Cape Town.
The termination of the war in Europe and North America had been
followed by the reduction of the strength of the army, and the
second battalion of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment was disbanded at
Londonderry on the 3rd of January, 1816; the men were sent to the
Isle of Wight for the purpose of joining the first battalion. The
regiment had, however, returned from India, and its numbers being
above the establishment of a corps on the Cape station, they were
permitted either to volunteer to regiments not complete, or receive
their discharge. The establishment, at this period, was fifty-four
officers, one thousand and seventy-seven non-commissioned officers
and soldiers; but a reduction of thirteen officers and two hundred
and ten soldiers was soon afterwards made.
In October one company of the regiment was detached to the
frontiers of the colony, to relieve a company of the eighty-third
regiment, which had been detached a considerable period.
[Sidenote: 1817]
Lieut.-General Lord Hill was removed to the fifty-third regiment,
in February, 1817, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the
SEVENTY-SECOND, by Major-General Sir George Murray, G.C.B., G.C.H.
On the 10th of June four companies of the regiment embarked at
Simon’s Town, for Algoa Bay, where they arrived in fifty-four
hours, and marched from thence to Graham’s Town, the frontier
head-quarters, to relieve the twenty-first light dragoons, who
were ordered to proceed to India. These companies were distributed
in detachments along the bank of the Great Fish River, to occupy
posts established a short time previously, and to construct others,
in continuation of a chain, to protect the frontiers against the
depredations of the warlike tribes of Kafirs, who maintained a
constant state of preparation for aggression and acts of hostility,
and whose propensities appear more suited to plunder and warfare,
than the cultivation of their country. This proved an arduous
and toilsome duty, in a country nearly devoid of resources,
infested by savage animals and marauding Kafirs; the soldiers
lived under canvas, were frequently exposed to the inclemency of
the weather, especially while constructing new posts, and patrols
were constantly moving from station to station; yet the men were
preserved, by the care and attention of their officers, remarkably
healthy, and the eldest soldiers, who had been long accustomed to
the comparative ease and luxury of the service at the Mauritius and
Cape Town, performed this difficult duty with facility.
[Sidenote: 1819]
Notwithstanding every effort made to cover the country,
depredations were frequently committed, and a party of Kafirs
having succeeded in stealing a quantity of cattle from a Dutch
farmer, in the beginning of February, 1819, the circumstance was
reported to Captain Gethin, who was stationed at De Bruins Drift.
The captain instantly pursued the robbers, with a few soldiers,
accompanied by a number of Dutch farmers, mounted and armed; he
came up with the cattle in a country covered with thick underwood,
and trusting to the support of the armed farmers, in the event of
an attack, he entered the bush with a few men, and was proceeding
to drive out the cattle, when the party in advance was surrounded
and attacked by a number of Kafirs armed with spears and clubs. The
captain and his small party made a determined resistance; but the
farmers stood aloof, leaving the soldiers to perish. Captain Gethin
was overpowered, and fell pierced with thirty-two wounds; one
serjeant and one private soldier were also killed on this occasion.
Captain Gethin was a highly respected, brave, and intelligent
officer; he had distinguished himself in the Peninsular war,
particularly at the siege of St. Sebastian, and had been rewarded
with promotion; his death was much regretted.
[Sidenote: 1821]
A detachment of the regiment continued on the frontiers, and
took an active part in the border warfare with the Kafirs,
whose predatory habits it was found difficult to restrain; the
head-quarters remained at Cape Town, with detachments at Simon’s
Town and Robben Island, until December, 1821, when it was relieved
by the sixth regiment, and embarked for England. Two companies
remained behind three months for the want of transport, and
fifty soldiers of good character who had claims to pension, were
permitted to settle in the country.
On the departure of the regiment from the Cape, the Governor,
General Lord Charles Somerset, was pleased to express, in orders,
his approbation of the conduct of the corps during its stay at
that colony, and to add, that he should not fail to make known its
excellent behaviour to the Commander-in-Chief, and to recommend it
to His Royal Highness’s particular favour and protection.
[Sidenote: 1822]
In March, 1822, the regiment landed at Portsmouth, from whence
it proceeded to Fort Cumberland, and in May to Plymouth, where
the two companies left at the Cape, joined in June. In July the
regiment embarked for Woolwich, where it occupied part of the Horse
Artillery barracks.
[Sidenote: 1823]
The regiment was removed to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in
May, 1823.
Major-General Sir George Murray was removed to the forty-second,
the Royal Highland regiment, in September, 1823, and was succeeded
by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope from the ninety-second regiment.
The excellent conduct of the regiment on all occasions, which
had procured for it the commendations of the general officers
under whom it had served, had been repeatedly brought before the
Commander-in-Chief, His Royal Highness the Duke of York and Albany,
by the commanders of the colonies in which it had served, and
had been communicated to His Majesty, King George IV., who was
graciously pleased to authorise, on the 11th of December, 1823,
its resuming the HIGHLAND COSTUME, with this difference, that the
officers and men should wear _trews_ instead of _kilts_: at the
same time the King was pleased to approve of its assuming, as a
special mark of royal favour and approbation, the title of the
“SEVENTY-SECOND, OR THE DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.”
[Sidenote: 1824]
On quitting the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in April, 1824,
the regiment received a vote of thanks and approbation from the
principal inhabitants and public functionaries of the former, and
a similar document from the Royal Court of the latter, expressing
their high sense and admiration of its discipline, and of the
peaceful and orderly behaviour of the non-commissioned officers and
soldiers. The regiment embarked from Jersey and Guernsey in April,
and proceeded to Plymouth, to relieve the sixty-first foot.
In June His Majesty approved of the regiment assuming, as a
regimental badge, the DUKE OF ALBANY’S CIPHER AND CORONET, to be
borne on the regimental colour.
From Plymouth, the regiment embarked for Scotland on the 31st of
August: it landed at Newhaven on the 13th of September, and was
met on the beach by its Colonel, Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, who
marched into Edinburgh Castle at its head: the regiment afterwards
sent detachments to Stirling, Fort William, and Dumbarton.
[Sidenote: 1825]
New colours having been prepared for the DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN
HIGHLANDERS, the regiment was assembled at Bruntsfield Links, on
the 1st of August, 1825, under Lieut.-Colonel Calvert. The new
colours were presented to the Colonel, Lieut.-General Sir John
Hope, by Lady Hope, with a suitable address; they were afterwards
consecrated by the Chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Moon, in an eloquent
prayer, in which he implored the God of Battles ever to crown them
with honour and victory; Sir John Hope then presented them to the
regiment, which was formed in square to receive them, and said:--
“In delivering to your charge these colours, which have been
presented to the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment by Lady Hope, I am fully
aware that I am not addressing a newly-raised corps, whose name and
character have yet to be acquired. As it has pleased His Majesty
to confer so distinguished an honour on the regiment, as to permit
the SEVENTY-SECOND to assume the name of the DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN
HIGHLANDERS, I cannot omit congratulating the corps on having
received so flattering and honorable a mark of approbation, and
expressing my conviction, that this additional badge, which is now
placed on these colours, will afford a new and powerful inducement
for maintaining the high character which the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment has so long and so deservedly possessed. I feel
particularly gratified that the honour of delivering these colours
has devolved on me, and that their presentation should also have
taken place in the capital of the country where the regiment was
first raised, and after its return from a long period of honorable
and distinguished service. The country being now at peace, there
is no opportunity for the SEVENTY-SECOND to gain fresh honours by
victories in the field; but the regiment may deserve and obtain
almost equal honour and credit by setting an example of discipline
and good conduct on home service, which becomes now particularly
incumbent when so highly distinguished by being named after His
Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, to whom the whole army is
indebted for the present state of order and discipline to which
it has attained. That the SEVENTY-SECOND will ever continue to
deserve the approbation of His Royal Highness I make no doubt: and
I have now to offer my most sincere good wishes for the prosperity
of the corps collectively, and of every individual officer,
non-commissioned officer, and private soldier of the regiment.”
Towards the end of July, routes were received for marching to
Port Patrick, for embarkation for Ireland; and before quitting
Edinburgh, the regiment received the thanks of the Lord Provost
and Magistrates for its exemplary conduct; it landed at Donaghadee
on the 26th of August; and the head-quarters were established at
Belfast.
[Sidenote: 1826]
[Sidenote: 1827]
In September, 1826, the regiment marched to Londonderry, from
whence nineteen detachments were sent out; and in May, 1827, the
detachments were called in, and the whole proceeded to Dublin.
Orders were received in September to form _six service_ and _four
depôt_ companies; the service companies embarked for Liverpool,
from whence they proceeded to London, where they arrived on the 9th
of October, and took the duty at the Tower.
[Sidenote: 1828]
On the 5th of January, 1828, the first life guards, royal horse
guards, four battalions of foot guards, and the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment, were reviewed on the parade in St. James’s park, by
Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, in presence of Don Miguel,
Infant of Portugal.
In April the regiment marched to Canterbury, where it
was inspected on the 2nd of June by General Lord Hill,
commanding-in-chief, who was pleased to state,--“That although it
had been his lot to see and serve with most of the regiments in
the service, he felt he should not be doing full justice to the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, if he did not express his particular
approbation of every thing connected with them, and add, he
had never before seen a regiment their equal in movements, in
appearance, and in steadiness under arms.”
The regiment remained at Canterbury until the end of June, when
it marched to Gravesend, where it embarked, under the orders of
Lieut.-Colonel Arbuthnot, for the Cape of Good Hope--a colony where
the reputation of the corps was established, and it landed at Cape
Town in September and October following.
[Sidenote: 1830]
In May, 1830, the depôt companies were withdrawn from Ireland, and
landing at Glasgow, were stationed in Scotland during the five
following years.
[Sidenote: 1833]
While the service companies were stationed in Cape Town, the
aggressions of the Kafir tribes, which are divided into three
nations,--the Amapendas, the Tambookies, and the Amakosa, assumed
a formidable and an atrocious character previously unknown. The
colonial boundary extended, on one side, to the Keiskamma, but a
chief named Macoma, had been permitted to reside within the British
territory. Owing to some atrocities committed by him and his
followers on the Tambookies, which were attended with the shedding
of human blood within the colony, he was deprived of the lands he
held by sufferance in the British territory. His expulsion was,
however, not strictly enforced until 1833, when he was removed
beyond the boundary, and he became violently exasperated against
the British. The predatory habits of the Kafirs also led to
disputes, when the British were searching for stolen property, and
the lenity observed towards the aggressors emboldened them, and
occasioned them to become more audacious in their attacks.
[Sidenote: 1834]
Towards the end of 1834 thousands of Kafirs rushed into the colony,
and commenced the work of murder, rapine, and devastation by fire,
among the settlers.
[Sidenote: 1835]
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were stationed at Cape Town,
when the news of these alarming events arrived at the seat
of government, and they were immediately ordered towards the
frontiers. Three companies sailed for Algoa Bay, on the 2nd of
January, 1835, and arrived at that place on the 10th; the other
three companies advanced up the country by horse waggons; and as
the regiment approached Graham’s Town, it traversed the scenes of
outrage, and witnessed the ruins of once flourishing farms bearing
marks of savage vengeance; the town was found barricaded, and the
houses turned to fortifications. Ten thousand Kafirs had penetrated
the colony, and the smoke of ruined farms, with the cries of widows
and orphans, were seen and heard on every side.
Having advanced towards the frontiers, the head-quarters were
established at Graham’s Town, and detachments were employed in
chasing the vengeful marauders from the confines of the British
possessions.
Preparations were made to carry hostilities into the heart of
Kafirland, to visit with necessary chastisement the atrocious
aggressions of the tribes, and to enforce such measures as should
be calculated to prevent the recurrence of similar outrages. The
force assembled for this service was divided into four columns:
the first was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel JOHN PEDDIE, K.H.,
SEVENTY-SECOND regiment; it consisted of a detachment of the
royal artillery with two guns, a detachment of the Cape mounted
riflemen, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, a provisional battalion,
and the Swellendaham burghers; and in the middle of March it
advanced to the right bank of the Keiskamma, from whence it
penetrated into the interior of Kafirland. The predatory tribes
were incapable of offering serious opposition; they were chastised
for their atrocious conduct, subdued, deprived of a portion of
their territory bordering on the frontiers of the colony, and
such additional precautionary measures were adopted as appeared
necessary to ensure the safety of the British subjects.
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were employed in Kafirland during
the months of April and May: the head-quarters were afterwards
established at King William’s Town until October, when they were
removed to Graham’s Town.
In June of this year the depôt companies proceeded from Scotland to
Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1836]
On the death of Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, the colonelcy of the
regiment was conferred on Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, K.C.B.,
from the ninety-ninth foot, by commission dated the 15th of August,
1836.
[Sidenote: 1837]
[Sidenote: 1838]
The head-quarters of the service companies remained at Graham’s
Town three years, furnishing detachments along the frontiers,
occupying posts, and performing much trying and difficult service:
in October, 1838, they were relieved from this duty, and returned
to Cape Town.
In May, 1838, the depôt companies returned to Scotland.
[Sidenote: 1839]
During the year 1839 the service companies were stationed at Cape
Town, and the depôt companies at Paisley and Dundee.
[Sidenote: 1840]
After taking part in the important duty of protecting the
possessions of Great Britain at the Cape of Good Hope nearly
twelve years, the service companies were relieved in April, 1840,
and returned to England, and disembarked at Portsmouth on the 8th
of June following: the regiment was subsequently stationed at
Fort Cumberland: the depôt had proceeded from North Britain to
Portsmouth in May, 1840.
The following general order was issued by Major-General Sir George
Napier, K.C.B., commanding the forces at the Cape of Good Hope, on
the 10th of April, 1840, upon the embarkation of the SEVENTY-SECOND
for England:--
“His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief cannot permit the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders to embark for England, from the colony
of the Cape of Good Hope, in which they have been stationed for
the long period of twelve years, without his expressing his marked
approbation of the conduct of this highly disciplined and exemplary
corps while under his immediate command; and from the reports His
Excellency has received from Colonel Smith, the Deputy-Quarter
Master-General, under whose orders this regiment has been during
the greater part of the above period, including a very arduous
and active service in the Field, His Excellency is enabled to
record, which he does with great satisfaction, the very meritorious
services of the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, in whatever duty they
have been engaged, whether in the Field or in Quarters.
“His Excellency begs to assure Major Hope, the officers,
non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the SEVENTY-SECOND
regiment, that he will ever feel a lively interest in their
welfare.”
[Sidenote: 1841]
In July, 1841, the regiment proceeded from Portsmouth to Windsor.
[Sidenote: 1842]
On the 26th of January, 1842, new colours were presented to the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highland regiment by Field-Marshal His Grace
the Duke of Wellington, in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle,
the ceremony being honoured by the presence of Her Majesty
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, the King of Prussia, and other
distinguished personages. The following is the Duke of Wellington’s
address to the regiment on this interesting occasion:--
“Colonel ARBUTHNOT,[21] and you, Gentlemen, Officers, and you,
Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers, of the SEVENTY-SECOND
Highland regiment,--I have attended here this day, in compliance
with the wishes of your Commanding Officer, and by permission of
Her Majesty, to present to you your new colours. These colours have
been consecrated by one of the highest dignitaries of our Church,
and are presented to you in the presence of Her Majesty, and of
her Illustrious and Royal Guest the King of Prussia, of Prince
Albert, and a number of most distinguished personages. They are
composed of the colours of the three nations, and bear the cipher
of Her Majesty; and I have no doubt, from your previous character
and your present high state of discipline, that you will guard
them under every circumstance, to the utmost of your power. These
Colours you are henceforth to consider as your Head-Quarters, and
in every circumstance, in all times of privation and of distress,
you will look to them as your rallying point; and I would again
remind you, that their presentation is witnessed by the Monarch
of one of the most powerful nations in Europe--a nation which
boasts of an army which has heretofore been a pattern for all
modern troops,--and which has done so much towards contributing
to the general pacification of Europe. I have long known the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highland Regiment. Half a century has now nearly
elapsed since I had the pleasure of serving in the same Army
with them in the Plains of Hindoostan; since that period they
have been engaged in the conquest of some of the most valuable
colonies of the British Crown; and latterly, in performing most
distinguished services at the Cape of Good Hope. Fourteen years
out of the last sixteen they have spent on Foreign service; and
with only eighteen months at home for their re-formation and their
re-disciplining, appear in their present high state of regularity
and order. The best part of a long life has been spent by me in
Barracks, Camps, and Cantonments, and it has been my duty, as
well as my inclination, always to study how best to promote the
health and discipline of the troops; and I have always found it
only to be done by paying the strictest regard to regularity and
good order, and the greatest attention to the orders of their
Officers. I address myself now particularly to the older soldiers,
and wish them to understand that their strict attention to their
discipline, and respect to their superiors, will often have the
best effect on the younger soldiers; and it is, therefore, their
duty to set a good example to their juniors by so doing; and by
these means alone can they expect to command the respect and regard
of the community amongst whom they are employed. I have made it
my business to enquire particularly, and am rejoiced to find that
the SEVENTY-SECOND have always commanded that respect and regard,
wherever they have been stationed, to which their high state of
discipline and good order so justly entitle them. You will, I am
sure, always recollect the circumstances under which these Colours
are now given into your charge; having been consecrated by one
of the highest dignitaries of the Church, in the presence of Her
Majesty, who now looks down upon you, and of her Royal Visitor:
and I give them into your charge, confident that at all times,
under all circumstances, whether at home or abroad, and in all
privations, you will rally round them, and protect them to the
utmost of your power.”
Colonel Arbuthnot, in reply, said:--
“My Lord Duke,--It would be highly presumptuous in me, if I were
to make any reply to the address which your Grace has delivered
to us; but I cannot avoid stating that it is impossible for me,
and indeed, I may add, out of the power of any one to express,
how deeply I, my Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Men,
feel the high honour which has been conferred on us, by having had
our Colours presented to us by the greatest Soldier the world has
ever seen, and that in the presence of our Sovereign, His Majesty
the King of Prussia, and Field-Marshal His Royal Highness Prince
Albert.”
The regiment remained at Windsor until April, 1842, when it
proceeded to Salford Barracks, from thence to Blackburn, and in
September to Bolton, Lancashire.
[Sidenote: 1843]
In April, 1843, the seventy-second regiment proceeded to Dublin,
and in August to Templemore, marching from thence to Fermoy in
September.
[Sidenote: 1844]
Quitting Fermoy on the 2nd of July, 1844, the regiment proceeded to
Buttevant, and on the 28th of September to Cork, having been put
under orders for Foreign service. The six service companies, under
the command of Lieut.-Colonel Lord Arthur Lennox, embarked for
Gibraltar in Her Majesty’s troop-ship Resistance, from Cork, on the
27th of November, 1844, and disembarked at their destination on the
12th of December following.
[Sidenote: 1845]
[Sidenote: 1846]
[Sidenote: 1847]
The depôt companies marched from Cork to Templemore in April, 1845,
and to Nenagh in February, 1846. In September, 1847, they proceeded
to Charles Fort, near Kinsale, and in December were removed to
Scotland, and stationed at Paisley.
[Sidenote: 1848]
The regiment remained at Gibraltar until February, 1848, and on
the 15th of that month embarked for Barbadoes under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel Gascoyne, on board the Bombay transport. The
following letter was addressed by General Sir Robert Wilson,
Governor of Gibraltar, to the Adjutant-General reporting the
embarkation:--
Gibraltar, 15th of February, 1848.
“Sir,
“I have the honour to acquaint you that Her Majesty’s
SEVENTY-SECOND regiment embarked this morning on board the
transport Bombay, and I have the satisfaction to add, that up to
the last moment this distinguished corps conducted itself so
as to merit the highest approbation that could be bestowed on
the commanding officer, officers, non-commissioned officers, and
privates for military qualities, and general deportment towards
the community at large.
I have, &c.
R. T. WILSON,
General and Governor.”
The SEVENTY-SECOND arrived at Barbadoes on the 14th of March, 1848.
The depôt companies continued in North Britain, until the 18th of
May, when they embarked for England, under Lieut.-Colonel C. M.
Maclean, and arrived at Sheerness on the 24th of May, at which
period this Record is concluded.
1848.
[Illustration:
SEVENTY-SECOND
OR
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN
HIGHLANDERS.
_For Cannon’s Military Records._
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand._]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] From the Dutch service.
[7] From the Austrian service.
[8] Among the French prisoners was a wounded young serjeant of
very interesting appearance and manners, who was treated with much
kindness by Lieut.-Colonel Wangenheim, commanding the detachments
of Hanoverians. Many years afterwards, when the French army
entered Hanover, General Wangenheim attended the levée of General
Bernadotte, who referred to the circumstance at Cudalore in 1783,
and added,--“I am the individual who, when a young serjeant,
received kindness from you in India.”--_Colonel David Stewart on
the Scots Highlanders._
[9] “1790, 5th Sept. Camp at Coimbetore.--Dined with Captain
Frazer; he talked of nothing but the storm of Palacatcherry.
Captain Frazer has applied for, and obtained, the command of the
four flank companies; it is very spirited of him, leaving the
command of the regiment, and volunteering so dangerous a service;
but he was as great as Cæsar this evening, and nothing would serve
him but dying in the breach. He often appealed to me, when speaking
of what the grenadiers could do.”--_Journal of Lieutenant Ronald
Campbell, of the Grenadier Company, Seventy-second Regiment, 2
vols., fol. MS._
[10] LIEUTENANT CAMPBELL, of the SEVENTY-SECOND foot, appears to
have been delighted with this part of the Mysore: he states in his
journal:--“I have never seen any part of India comparable to the
valley on our right; it is truly beautiful beyond conception! The
hills that bound it form an amphitheatre, covered with wood, except
where a rugged precipice or stupendous rock shows itself, and
waterfalls enrich the scene. The valley is covered with delightful
verdure, and luxuriant crops, interspersed with clumps of the
stateliest trees in the world, bearing a charmingly variegated
foliage; and beneath their shade, small houses, built of cajan-leaf
and bamboo, afford shelter to the cow-herds who tend their flocks
and watch their fields. Numberless villages are strewed in the
valley, and everything bears the mark of peace and plenty. The
inhabitants are protected by us, and as we passed, we saw in every
field the busy husbandmen reaping the fruits of their labour. After
coming to our camp ground, I walked out with Captain Braithwaite,
and we found the untilled land covered with bringals, yams, and
other vegetables, growing spontaneously. On our left hand lie the
Animalli woods, famous for their extent and thickness, and for
the size, variety, and quality of their trees (teak-wood being
in the greatest abundance and perfection); also for the number
of wild animals viz.--elephants, tigers, bears, wolves, and the
wild-boar, with a numerous tribe of the rarest birds--peacocks in
great numbers. Wild elephants are so numerous, that when Tippoo was
here, about four months since, he caught, as we are told, seventy
of them. We are encamped on the ground he occupied; I can trace the
place where, they say, his own tents stood.”
[11] Journal of Lieutenant Ronald Campbell, of the Grenadier
Company Seventy-second regiment, 2 vols, fol. MS.
[12] Journal of Lieutenant R. Campbell.
[13] A drawing of this fortress is given in the Journal of
Lieutenant Campbell of the Seventy-second Highlanders.
[14] Lieutenant Campbell’s Journal.
[15] On the 12th of August, as the Grenadiers and Captain Gordon’s
company of the SEVENTY-SECOND were on duty in the trenches, exposed
to a burning sun, and a severe cannonade from the fortress, Colonel
Campbell, field officer of the trenches, sent his orderly to
Lieutenant Campbell of the Grenadiers, requesting that the piper of
the Grenadiers might be directed to play some _pibrachs_. This was
considered a strange request to be made at so unsuitable a time; it
was, however, immediately complied with: “but we were a good deal
surprised to perceive that the moment the piper began, the fire
from the enemy slackened, and soon after almost entirely ceased.
The French all got upon the works, and seemed more astonished at
hearing the bag-pipe, than we with Colonel Campbell’s request.”
_Lieutenant Campbell’s Journal._
[16] On the 5th of May, 1801, the regiment lost its distinguished
commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel HUGH FRAZER, who had always
evinced a lively interest in its reputation. He entered the army
in November, 1775, as lieutenant in the first battalion of the
seventy-first regiment, then raised under Major-General Simon
Frazer and Lieut.-Colonel Sir William Erskine, for service in
North America; and in 1778 he was promoted captain in Seaforth’s
Highlanders, now the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment, which corps he
accompanied to India. He served with his regiment at the attack
on Cudalore, and the capture of Palacatcherry, in 1783; and he
commanded the SEVENTY-SECOND during the campaigns in the Mysore
in 1790, 1791, and 1792, at the capture of Pondicherry in 1793,
and at the conquest of Ceylon in 1795, and was conspicuous for
personal bravery, ability, and a deep interest in the honour of his
corps. He was always foremost to volunteer his personal services,
and those of his regiment, at the post of honour and danger; and
some high ground near Seringapatam, the scene of his gallantry,
was named “Frazer’s Hill.” He was promoted to the majority of the
regiment on the 2nd of March, 1791, and to the lieut.-colonelcy on
the 1st of September, 1795. He bequeathed 500_l_ to the officers’
mess, to be appropriated in such manner as should best commemorate
his attachment to the corps, and his esteem for the officers.
[17] Number of men which landed at the Cape of Good Hope in
January, 1806, under Major-General Sir David Baird:--
+-------------------------+--------------------------+----------------+
| | | Number landed, |
| | | including |
| BRIGADES. | REGIMENTS. | Recruits |
| | | for India, |
| | | attached. |
+-------------------------+--------------------------+----------------+
| 1st. Commanded by { | Twenty-fourth | 600 |
| Brigadier-General { | Thirty-eighth | 900 |
| Beresford { | Eighty-third | 800 |
| | | |
| 2nd. Under Brigadier- { | Seventy-first | 800 |
| General Ferguson { | SEVENTY-SECOND | 600 |
| { | Ninety-third | 800 |
| | Fifty-ninth | 900 |
| | Company’s recruits | 200 |
| | Seamen and marines | 1100 |
| | Artillery | 200 |
| | Twentieth Light Dragoons | 300 |
| | +----------------+
| | Total. | 7200 |
+-------------------------+--------------------------+----------------+
[18] “The soldiers suffered excessively from the heat of the sun,
which was as intense as I ever felt it in India; though our fatigue
was extreme, yet, for the momentary halt we made, the grenadier
company (SEVENTY-SECOND) requested the pipers might play them
their regimental quick step, _Capper fiedth_, to which they danced
a Highland Reel, to the utter astonishment of the fifty-ninth
regiment, which was close in our rear.”--_Journal of Captain
Campbell, Grenadier Company_, SEVENTY-SECOND _regiment_.
[19] Afterwards Lieut.-General Sir Colquhoun Grant, K.C.B. and
G.C.H., Colonel of the Fifteenth, or King’s Hussars, who died in
December 1835.
[20] In December of this year the regiment lost a valuable officer,
Lieut.-Colonel RONALD CAMPBELL, extracts from whose Journal have
been given in the preceding pages. He performed duty in India with
the 36th regiment; and was appointed Ensign in the SEVENTY-SECOND,
by commission dated the 20th of November, 1788. He was attached
to the grenadier company during the war with Tippoo Sultan, and
signalized himself on several occasions, particularly at the
storming of Bangalore, and at the capture of Savendroog; he also
distinguished himself at both the engagements near Seringapatam.
His Journal, with the plans and drawings, contains a detailed
account of the leading events of the war with a description of
the country; they show the interest he took in his profession,
with a laudable desire to become well informed on military
subjects, and they prove him to have been an intelligent, brave,
and zealous officer. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
in May 1792; and served at the capture of Pondicherry in 1793;
also at the reduction of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon in
1795; in October, 1797, he obtained the command of a company. In
1805 he was brigade-major to Brigadier-General M^c Farlane, who
commanded a portion of the Western district in Ireland, and was
afterwards appointed brigade-major in Jamaica, but resigned his
situation on the staff of that island, to command his company (the
grenadiers) in the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, where he
had additional opportunities of distinguishing himself, and was
appointed Commissary of Prisoners. On the 22nd of November, 1807,
he was promoted major in his regiment, which he accompanied,
in 1810, with the expedition against the Mauritius, where many
valuable stores were captured, and he was nominated prize-agent to
the brigade from the Cape of Good Hope. In 1812 he was promoted
to the rank of Lieut.-colonel in the army, and appointed deputy
adjutant-general to the forces serving on the island of Jamaica. He
performed the duties of that situation two years, and fell a victim
to the climate, his decease taking place on the first night after
his arrival at Portsmouth, on the 14th of December, 1814. He had
the reputation of a virtuous, brave, intelligent, humane officer,
endowed with a strict sense of honor and distinguished as a polite
gentleman and scholar.
[21] Colonel Charles George James Arbuthnot was appointed from the
half-pay unattached to the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment on the 25th
of September, 1826, and on the 17th on May, 1831, was removed to
the ninetieth light infantry; on the 23rd of February, 1838, he
exchanged to his former regiment, the SEVENTY-SECOND; and on the
28th of June of that year, he was promoted colonel by brevet.
In November, 1841, he was appointed one of the Equerries to Her
Majesty, and on the 14th of April, 1843, was removed to the
half-pay unattached.
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE SEVENTY-SECOND,
OR THE
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.
KENNETH, EARL OF SEAFORTH.
_Appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant 29th Dec. 1777_.
Kenneth Mackenzie, grandson of William fifth Earl of Seaforth, who
was deprived of his title and estates by act of attainder, for
joining the rebellion headed by the Earl of Mar in 1715, adopted
a line of conduct more consistent with the best interests of his
country, than that pursued by his ancestors, and was a zealous
supporter of the house of Hanover. He was created Baron of Ardelve
in the county of Wicklow, and Viscount of Fortrose, in Scotland, in
1766, and advanced to the dignity of EARL OF SEAFORTH, in Ireland,
in 1771. Grateful for these marks of royal favour, and anxious
to promote the well-being of the kingdom, when Great Britain was
engaged in war with the United States, and menaced by France,
Spain, and Holland, he tendered his services to raise a regiment
of Highlanders, now the SEVENTY-SECOND, of which he was appointed
lieut.-colonel commandant by commission dated the 29th of December,
1777. His corps was soon fit for active service, and was admired
for its warlike appearance. He embarked with it for the East
Indies, and died on the passage in August, 1781, when his titles
became extinct.
THOMAS FREDERICK MACKENZIE HUMBERSTON.
_Appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, 13th Feb. 1782_.
Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston, grandson of Colonel the
Honorable Alexander Mackenzie, second son of Kenneth fourth Earl
of Seaforth, was appointed Cornet in the first dragoon guards in
June, 1771; in 1775 he was promoted to a Lieutenancy, and in 1777
to Captain of a troop in the same corps. He took great interest
in the formation of the Highland corps raised by his cousin, the
Earl of Seaforth, now the SEVENTY-SECOND, or the Duke of Albany’s
Own Highlanders, in which regiment he was appointed Captain in
January, 1778, and Major in March, 1779. He was quartered with
his regiment at Jersey, and took an active share in repulsing the
attempt made by a body of French troops to land on that island on
the 1st of May, 1779. He afterwards took an active part in the
formation of another corps of Highlanders, which was numbered the
100th regiment, of which he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant
on the 5th of August, 1780. Soon after its formation, the 100th
regiment was selected to form part of an expedition against the
Cape of Good Hope, and its commandant had the local rank of Colonel
in the expedition; the naval part of the enterprise was under the
direction of Commodore Johnstone. While the fleet was at Praya
Bay, in St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd Islands, it was suddenly
attacked by a French squadron; Colonel Humberston happened to be
on shore at the time; but so great was his ardour to share in the
enterprise, that he swam to one of the ships that was engaged with
the enemy, who was repulsed. In the meantime the Dutch garrison at
the Cape had been reinforced, the project of attacking that colony
was laid aside, and Colonel Humberston proceeded with the land
force to Bombay, where he arrived on the 22nd of January, 1782.
In the meantime the Earl of Seaforth had died on the passage,
without male issue, and Colonel Humberston purchased his
estates, and succeeded him in the command of the regiment, now
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders.
After a short stay at Bombay, Colonel Humberston sailed for Madras,
but receiving alarming news on the voyage, of the success of Hyder
Ali, he called a council of war, which decided, that a diversion on
the Malabar side of Hyder’s dominions would be likely to prove of
great advantage to the British interest; he accordingly landed at
Calicut on the 18th of February, with a thousand men, and joining
Major Abington’s Sepoys, assumed the command of the united force.
He took the field, drove Hyder’s troops before him, and captured
several forts. The monsoon approaching, he returned to Calicut, and
placed the troops in quarters; he afterwards concluded a treaty
with the sovereign of Travancore, who reinforced him with twelve
hundred men. In September he again advanced--obtained possession
of Ramjarree, and approached Palacatcherry, and had the misfortune
to lose a portion of his baggage, when an attack was made on his
rear. Hyder Ali detached his son Tippoo Saib against Colonel
Humberston, with twenty thousand men; this force approached the
British division and attacked its rear. After fighting every step
of a long march, the colonel arrived at the river Paniané, which
appeared impassable, but, after a painful search of two hours,
a deep ford was found, and the soldiers passed the river, up to
the chin in water, and only lost two black camp followers; they
afterwards gained the fort of Paniané. Tippoo expected to find
Colonel Humberston’s force an easy prey, and neglected to keep
strict watch; he was surprised to find the British had passed the
river. He afterwards attempted to carry the lines at Paniané by
assault; but was repulsed with severe loss on the 28th of November.
He blockaded the fort until he heard of his father’s death, when he
withdrew.
Colonel Humherston afterwards joined the troops under Major-General
Matthews, and was employed in several operations on the Malabar
coast. He subsequently accompanied Colonel Macleod to Bombay, to
make some representations to the council, and sailed from thence,
on the 5th of April, 1783, in the Ranger, to rejoin the army. Three
days afterwards that vessel was attacked by the Mahratta fleet, and
after a desperate resistance of five hours, was taken possession
of. Every officer on board was either killed or wounded, and among
them the gallant Colonel Humberston was shot through the body with
a four-pound ball, of which he died at Geriah on the 30th of April,
1783.
JAMES MURRAY.
_Appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, 1st November, 1783, and
Colonel in 1786._
James Murray, second son of Lord George Murray, who was
lieut.-general of the Pretender’s forces during the rebellion in
1745 and 1746, served many years in the Forty-second Highlanders,
in which corps he was appointed Captain on the 20th of July, 1757.
He served with his regiment in North America, under General Sir
Jeffery (afterwards Lord) Amherst, and after the conquest of Canada
in 1760 he returned to Europe, and served under Prince Ferdinand
of Brunswick in Germany, where he received a musket-ball in the
breast, which could never be extracted, and which prevented his
being able to lie in a recumbent posture during the remainder of
his life. In 1769 he was promoted to captain and lieut.-colonel
on the 18th of December, 1777. He took an active part in the
formation of the regiment of Highlanders raised by his uncle,
John fourth Duke of Athol, which was numbered the 77th regiment,
and he was appointed to the colonelcy by commission dated the
25th of December, 1777: in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of
major-general. At the peace in 1783, when the Athol Highlanders
were disbanded, he was nominated commandant of the Seventy-eighth,
now SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders. He was appointed governor of Fort
William, in Scotland; was many years a member of parliament for the
county of Perth, and was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in
1793. He died on the 19th of March, 1794. About eight weeks before
his death he was stopped by two footpads on Hounslow Heath, when he
jumped out of his carriage, drew a dirk, wounded one, and put both
to flight.
ADAM WILLIAMSON.
_Appointed 19th March, 1794._
Adam Williamson entered the army in the reign of King George
II., and on the 21st of April, 1760, he was promoted captain in
the fortieth regiment. He served in North America during the
seven years’ war, and in 1770 he was promoted to the majority of
the sixty-first foot, with which corps he served at the island
of Minorca; on the 9th of December, 1775, he was promoted to
the lieut.-colonelcy of the eighteenth regiment, which corps he
commanded many years with credit to himself, and advantage to the
service. On the 20th of April, 1790, he was rewarded with the rank
of major-general, and in July following with the colonelcy of the
forty-seventh regiment, from which he was removed in 1794 to the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders. In January, 1797, he was promoted to
the rank of lieut.-general; he was also honored with the dignity
of Knight of the Order of the Bath, and appointed governor of
Jamaica. His death took place on the 21st of October, 1798, and was
occasioned by a fall.
JAMES STUART.
_Appointed 23rd October, 1798._
James Stuart commenced his career of brilliant and honorable
service, as ensign in the sixty-fourth regiment, in October,
1761; in 1764 he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and in 1768 he
accompanied the regiment to North America, where he was advanced
to captain of the grenadier company in 1770. He was stationed
at Boston when hostilities commenced between Great Britain and
the colonies in North America. He shared in the severe duties at
Boston during the winter of 1775-6, when that town was blockaded
on the land side by the Americans, and subsequently proceeded to
Halifax, from whence he sailed with the expedition towards New
York, and was employed, under General Sir William Howe, in the
reduction of Long Island, in August, 1776, also in the movements
by which possession was gained of New York, and the Americans
forced from their positions at White Plains, which was followed
by the capture of Fort Washington and Fort Lee. In the summer of
1777 he was engaged in operations in the Jerseys, and afterwards
in the expedition to Pennsylvania; he was engaged at the battle
of Brandywine, and in repulsing the attack of the Americans on
the position at Germantown. In the winter he was selected, as an
officer of ability and experience, for the commission of major
in the regiment of Highlanders, raised by the Earl of Seaforth,
now the SEVENTY-SECOND, or Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders, to
which he was appointed by commission dated the 18th of December,
1777; but he did not arrive from America until August, 1778. He
accompanied his regiment to the East Indies in 1781, with the local
rank of lieut.-colonel in that country, and on the 2nd of June,
1782, he was at the action with the forces of Hyder Ali near Arnee,
under Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote. He commanded his regiment,
in which he had been appointed lieut.-colonel in February, 1782,
under Major-General Stuart, in the action near Cudalore, on the
13th of June, 1783, and was commended in the general’s public
despatch, and in orders. He served at the siege of Cudalore; and
subsequently penetrated into the Mysore under Colonel Fullerton,
and was at the capture of the fortresses of Palacatcherry and
Coimbetore. In 1788 he commanded a detachment sent against the
refractory Rajah of the little Murwar country, when he engaged his
opponents at Kallengoody, and captured Caliacoil, the capital. When
Tippoo Sultan attacked the Rajah of Travancore, a British ally,
Lieut.-Colonel Stuart commanded the left wing of the army assembled
on Trichinopoly plain under Major-General Medows, and penetrated
the Mysore. After the capture of Caroor, Daraporum, and Coimbetore,
he was detached on the 23rd of July, 1790, against Palacatcherry,
but his progress was impeded by heavy rains and mountain torrents,
and his force was too weak for the reduction of the fortress; he
therefore returned to Coimbetore. He was again detached, on the 2nd
of August, against the fortress of Dindigal, which he took after a
short siege. He afterwards traversed the country to Palacatcherry,
which he besieged, and, when a practicable breach was made in the
works, the garrison surrendered. He subsequently rejoined the army
with his detachment, and was commended in general orders; and
he took part in the operations of the campaign, evincing great
personal bravery and ability on all occasions.
Lieut.-Colonel Stuart commanded the right wing of the army under
General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., during the campaign of
1791; and after the capture of Bangalore the commander-in-chief
expressed in orders his “most grateful remembrance of the valuable
and steady support afforded him by Lieut.-Colonel Stuart.” The
lieut.-colonel also evinced personal gallantry and judgment at
the battle near Seringapatam on the 15th of May, 1791, and in the
other operations of this arduous campaign, including the retreat
to Bangalore. On the 9th of December he was detached against
Savendroog, which he captured by storm on the 21st of that month;
and three days afterwards he took the fortress of Outra-Durgum by a
_coup de main_, for both of which services he was highly commended
in general orders. He commanded the centre division, under Earl
Cornwallis, at the attack of the fortified lines at Seringapatam
on the 6th of February, 1792, when he again distinguished himself,
and also in the subsequent operations until the power of Tippoo was
subdued, and he solicited terms of peace. On the 8th of August,
1792, he was honored with the appointment of aide-de-camp to the
King, with the rank of colonel; and in February, 1795, he was
promoted to the rank of Major-General. He commanded the expedition
against the Dutch Settlements in the island of Ceylon, captured
Trincomalee after a short siege, took the forts and island of
Manaar, and completed the conquest of the Dutch colony at Ceylon
by the reduction of Colombo in February, 1796. On the 3rd of May
following he was promoted to the local rank of lieut.-general in
the East Indies, and appointed commander-in-chief of the army under
the Bombay presidency. On the 2nd of March, 1797, he was appointed
colonel of the eighty-second regiment, and in 1798 he was removed
to the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders.
When Tippoo Sultan sought union with the republican government
of France, for the purpose of waging war against the British
power in India, Lieut.-General Stuart commanded the forces from
Bombay, which co-operated from Malabar, in the invasion of the
Mysore. Having passed the eastern frontier, he was met by Tippoo
at the head of a numerous force, and he repulsed the attack of the
Mysorean army at Seedasere on the 6th of March, 1799. He afterwards
advanced to Seringapatam, where he arrived in the early part
of May, and took part in the siege of that fortress, which was
captured by storm on the 4th of May, 1799, when Tippoo Sultan was
killed, which terminated the war.
On the 24th of February, 1801, Lieut.-General Stuart was appointed
commander-in-chief of the forces on the coast of Coromandel; in
1802 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; and in 1805
he returned to England. He was advanced to the rank of general in
1812. The decease of the excellent and highly respected officer
occurred in 1815, after a distinguished service of fifty-four years.
ROWLAND LORD HILL, G.C.B.
_Appointed 26th April, 1815._
Removed to the fifty-third foot in 1817, and to the Royal Horse
Guards in 1830.
SIR GEORGE MURRAY, G.C.B., G.C.H.
_Appointed 24th February, 1817._
Removed to the forty-second, the Royal Highland regiment, in 1823.
SIR JOHN HOPE, G.C.H.
_Appointed 6th September, 1823._
John Hope entered the Dutch service, as a cadet, in one of the
Scots regiments (Houston’s) in the service of the United Provinces,
in 1778, and served at Bergen-op-zoom and Maestricht, going
through the subordinate ranks of corporal and serjeant. In 1779
he was appointed ensign, and in 1782 he was promoted captain of
a company; but, being called upon to renounce his allegiance to
the British monarch, he quitted the Dutch service, and in 1787
he was appointed captain in the sixtieth foot, but his company
was soon afterwards reduced. On the 30th of June, 1788, he was
appointed captain in the thirteenth light dragoons, and in 1792 he
was nominated aide-de-camp to Lieut.-General Sir William Erskine,
in which capacity he served the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, in
Holland, and returned to England in 1795, when he was promoted to
the majority of the twenty-eighth light dragoons, and in 1796 to
the lieut.-colonelcy of the same corps, with which he embarked
for the Cape of Good Hope in the same year. He served at the Cape
until 1799, when his regiment was incorporated in other corps, and
he returned to England. In April, 1799, he was appointed to the
thirty-seventh foot, which corps he joined in 1800, in the West
Indies, where he remained until 1804, when he returned to England,
and exchanged to the sixtieth regiment. In 1805 he was nominated
assistant adjutant-general in Scotland, and in 1807 he served as
deputy adjutant-general to the expedition to Copenhagen, under
Lieut.-General Lord Cathcart. He was appointed brigadier-general
on the staff of North Britain in 1808, and subsequently deputy
adjutant-general in that part of the United Kingdom. He was
promoted to the rank of major-general in 1810, and appointed to
the staff of the Severn district, from whence he was removed to
the staff of the Peninsula in 1812, and served with the army under
the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Salamanca, for which he
received a medal. He subsequently served on the staff of Ireland
and North Britain until 1819, when he was promoted to the rank of
lieut.-general. He was honored with the dignity of Knight Grand
Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. In 1820 he was
appointed colonel of the ninety-second regiment, from which he was
removed, in 1823, to the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders. He died in
August 1836.
SIR COLIN CAMPBELL, K.C.B.
_Appointed 15th August, 1836._
This officer commenced his military career, as an ensign in
the First West India regiment, his commission being dated 3rd
of October, 1799. On the 21st of August, 1801, he was promoted
lieutenant in the thirty-fifth regiment, and on the 12th of
February, 1802, he exchanged into the seventy-eighth regiment, from
which he was promoted to a company in the seventy-fifth foot on the
9th of January, 1805. He obtained the brevet rank of Major on the
2nd of September, 1808, and was promoted to the rank of major in
the seventieth regiment on the 15th of December following; he was
promoted to the brevet rank of lieut.-colonel in May, 1810, which
was subsequently ante-dated to the 15th of December, 1808. On the
13th of August, 1812, he exchanged to the sixty-third regiment; on
the 4th of June, 1814, was promoted to the rank of colonel, and
on the 25th of July, 1814, was appointed lieut.-colonel in the
Coldstream regiment of foot guards. He served during the Peninsular
war, and was for a considerable time upon the staff of the army
under the Duke of Wellington. The Prince Regent appointed him
a Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Military Order of the
Bath on the 2nd of January, 1815, and he also received a cross
and six clasps for Talavera, Busaco, Fuentes d’Onor, Badajoz,
Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, and Toulouse. Sir
Colin Campbell also greatly distinguished himself in the field at
the ever memorable Battle of Waterloo. He was advanced to the rank
of major-general on the 27th of May, 1825, and in March, 1828, was
appointed Lieut.-Governor of Portsmouth;--on the 15th of August,
1834, His Majesty King William IV. conferred upon him the colonelcy
of the ninety-ninth regiment, from which he was removed to the
SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders on the 15th of August, 1836. On the
28th of June, 1838, he obtained the rank of lieut.-general, and Her
Majesty, in July, 1839, was graciously pleased to appoint Sir Colin
Campbell to serve upon the staff of the army in Nova Scotia and
its dependencies; in November, 1840, he was appointed Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon, from which island he had returned but
a short period, when, after an illness of only two days, he expired
at his residence in King Street, St. James’s, on Sunday the 13th of
June, 1847.
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR NEIL DOUGLAS, K.C.B. AND K.C.H.
_Appointed from the Eighty-first regiment on the 12th of July,
1847._
London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street.
For Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg xxviii: Inserted ---- and -- for the date and page number, in
the entry ‘Proceeded to Algoa Bay...’.
Pg 34: Missing Sidenote ‘[Sidenote: 1797]’ inserted before the
paragraph ‘As the island ...’.
Pg 57: Missing Sidenote ‘[Sidenote: 1841]’ inserted before the
paragraph ‘In July, 1841, the ...’.
Pg 68: ‘which he besiged’ replaced by ‘which he besieged’.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Historical Record of the Seventy-Second Regiment, or the Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1778, and of its subsequent services to 1848" ***
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