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HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS.

MILITARY SERVICE OF THE HIGHLAND REGIMENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Military character-Embodying of the independent companies, known by the name of the Black Watch-Formed into a regular regiment (the 43d) in 1740-List of officers -March for England-Review-Desertion-Flanders-Battle of Fontenoy, 1745— Conduct of the regiment on that occasion-Returns to England-Embarks for the French coast-Failure of that expedition-The regiment lands in Ireland-Re-embarks for Flanders-Battle of Lafeldt, 1747-Return of the regiment to Ireland— Number changed from the 43d to the 42d-Exemplary conduct of the regiment in Ireland-Embarks for New York, 1756-Louisbourg, 1757-Ticonderoga, 1753Seven new companies raised, 1758-Embark for the West Indies, 1759-Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 1759-Surrender of Montreal, 1760-Martinique, 1760-Havannah, 1762-Bushy Run, 1763-Fort Pitt, 1763-Ireland, 1767-Return of the 42d to Scotland, 1775.

HITHERTO the account of the military exploits of the Highlanders has been limited to the exertions which, for a century, they made in behalf of the unfortunate Stuarts. We are now to notice their operations on a more extended field of action, by giving a condensed sketch of their services in the cause of the country and of the government; services which, by more fully developing their military character, have acquired for them a reputation as deserving as it has been unexampled. From moral as well as from physical causes, the Highlanders were well fitted to attain this pre-eminence.

"In forming his military character, the Highlander was not more favoured by nature than by the social system under which he lived. Nursed in poverty, he acquired a hardihood which enabled him to sustain severe privations. As the simplicity of his life gave vigour to his body, so it fortified his mind. Possessing a frame and constitution thus hardened, he was taught to consider courage as the most honourable virtue, cowardice the most disgraceful failing; to venerate and obey his chief, and to devote himself for his native country and clan; and thus prepared to be a soldier, he was ready to follow wherever honour and duty called him. With such principles, and regarding any disgrace he might bring on his clan and district as the most cruel misfortune, the Highland private soldier had a peculiar motive to exertion. The common soldier of many other countries has scarcely any other stimulus to the performance of his duty than the fear of chastisement, or the habit

of mechanical obedience to command, produced by the discipline in which he has been trained. With a Highland soldier it is otherwise. When in a national or district corps, he is surrounded by the companions of his youth and the rivals of his early achievements; he feels the impulse of emulation strengthened by the consciousness that every proof which he displays, either of bravery or cowardice, will find its way to his native home. He thus learns to appreciate the value of a good name; and it is thus, that in a Highland regiment, consisting of men from the same country, whose kindred and connexions are mutually known, every individual feels that his conduct is the subject of observation, and that, independently of his duty as a member of a systematic whole, he has to sustain a separate and individual reputation, which will be reflected on his family, and district or glen. Hence he requires no artificial excitements. He acts from motives within himself; his point is fixed, and his aim must terminate either in victory or death. The German soldier considers himself as a part of the military machine, and duly marked out in the orders of the day. He moves onward to his destination with a well-trained pace, and with as phlegmatic indifference to the result, as a labourer who works for his daily hire. The courage

of the French soldier is supported in the hour of trial, by his high notions of the point of honour; but this display of spirit is not always steady: neither French nor German is confident in himself if an enemy gain his flank or rear. A Highland soldier faces his enemy, whether in front, rear, or flank; and if he has confidence in his commander, it may be predicted with certainty that he will be victorious, or die on the ground which he maintains. He goes into the field resolved not to disgrace his name. A striking characteristic of the Highlander is, that all his actions seem to flow from sentiment. His endurance of privation and fatigue,-his resistance of hostile opposition,-his solici tude for the good opinion of his superiors,-all originate in this source, whence also proceeds his obedience, which is always most conspicuous when exhibited under kind treatment. Hence arises the difference observable between the conduct of one regiment of Highlanders and that of another, and frequently even of the same regiment at different times, and under different management. A Highland regiment, to be órderly and well disciplined, ought to be commanded by men who are capable of appreciating their character, directing their passions and prejudices, and acquiring their entire confidence and affection. The officer to whom the command of Highlanders is intrusted, must endeavour to acquire their confidence and good opinion. With this view, he must watch over the propriety of his own conduct. He must observe the strictest justice and fidelity in his promises to his men, conciliate them by an attention to their dispositions and prejudices, and, at the same time, by preserving a firm and steady authority, without which he will not be respected.

"Officers who are accustomed to command Highland soldiers find it easy to guide and control them when their full confidence has been

obtamed; but when distrust prevails severity ensues, with a consequent neglect of duty, and by a continuance of this unhappy misunderstanding, the men become stubborn, disobedient, and in the end mutinous. The spirit of a Highland soldier revolts at any unnecessary severity; though he may be led to the mouth of a cannon if properly directed, will rather die than be unfaithful to his trust. But if, instead of leading, his officers attempt to drive him, he may fail in the discharge of the most common duties. A learned and ingenious author, who, though himself a lowlander, had ample opportunity, while serving in many campaigns with Highland regiments, of becoming intimately acquainted with their character, thus develops their conduct in the field: 'The character of ardour belongs to the Highlander; he acts from an internal sentiment, and possesses a pride of honour which does not permit him to retire from danger with a confession of inferiority. This is a property of his nature, and as it is so, it becomes the business of officers, who command Highland troops, to estimate the national character correctly, that they may not through ignorance misapply their means, and thereby concert their own ruin.

"If ardour be the characteristic of the Highlanders, it is eviden that they are not calculated for mechanical manœuvres, nor for demonstrations and encounters with a view to diversion; for unless the purpose be previously explained and understood in its full extent, the Highlander darts on the enemy with impetuosity, rushing into close action, where it was only intended to amuse. He does not brook disappointment, sustain a galling distant fire with coolness, or retire from an enterprise with temper. He may be trusted to cover the most dangerous retreat assigned to him as a duty; a retreat in consequence of his own failure is likely to degenerate into a rout. In action the Highlander requires to see his object fully: he then feels the impression of his duty, nd acts animately and consistently, more from impression and sentiment than from external impulse of command; for when an enemy is before the Highlander, the authority of the officer may be said to cease. Different nations have different excellencies or defects in war. Some excel in the use of missile weapons: the power of the Highlander lies in close combat. Close charge was his ancient mode of attack; and it is probably from impression ingrafted in his nature in consequence of the national mode of war, that he still sustains the approaching point of a naked weapon with a steadier eye than any other man in Europe. Some nations turn with fear from the countenance of an enraged enemy: the Highlander rushes towards it with ardour; and if he can grasp his foe as man with man, his courage is secure.'"

The author here quoted by General Stewart, after describing the social meetings of the Highlanders at which their warlike exploits were the theme of conversation, thus proceeds: The Highlanders, in this

Stewart's Sketches.