72nd Highlanders

“ The Highland regiments took part in the retreat from Mons, the most terrible in history, and throughout that awful action, when officers could not ride their horses for fear of sleeping and falling to the ground, when fighting never ceased for days on end, and our soldiers held at bay a German force many times their superior in numbers—the Highlanders fought sternly, heroically, giving way with an utter disdain for their own safety, and a longing for the day when the retreat would end. ”

“ After all that has been said of the force and terrour of the Highland sword, I could not find that the art of defence was any part of common education. The gentlemen were perhaps sometimes skilful gladiators, but the common men had no other powers than those of violence and courage. Yet it is well known, that the onset of the Highlanders was very formidable. As an army cannot consist of philosophers, a panick is easily excited by any unwonted mode of annoyance. New dangers are naturally magnified ”

“ At the sight of the grim faces of the Black Watch the French fell back for the time being, while the Highlanders advanced, at which Marshal Ney ordered a regiment of Lancers to break upon their flank. They came with such rapidity that they almost took the Highlanders off their guard. “We instantly formed ‘rally-square,’” says Anton. “Every man’s piece was loaded, and our enemies approached at full charge, the feet of their horses seemed to tear up the ground. ”

“ The gallant deeds of the Highland regiments in every quarter of the globe added to the general enthusiasm for Caledonians. It was long, indeed, before the English government would believe that they could be trusted. To have armed the Highlanders about the beginning of the last century, would have been deemed as much an act of insanity as to arm at the present hour the New Zealand Maoris. Scottish men were known to be under the control of their chiefs, and their chiefs, almost to a man, were devoted to the Pretender. ”

“ The army now went into winter quarters. The Royal Highlanders were stationed at Brunswick, and Fraser's Highlanders quartered at Amboy. Afterwards the Royal Highlanders were ordered to the advanced posts, being the only British regiment in the front, and forming the line of defence at Mt. Holly. After the disaster to the Hessians at Trenton, the Royal Highlanders were ordered to fall back on the light infantry at Princeton. ”

“ In 1780 the Black Watch took part in the siege of Charlestown, which surrendered on May 12. In the further history of the 42nd in America there is little more that is worth recording. The capitulation of Cornwallis (with whom were Fraser’s Highlanders) at Yorktown in 1781 practically ended hostilities.
In the American War of Independence there was little honour or glory for the British name or the Highland regiments. Where the cause is unworthy of a great nation success can carry with it nothing but dishonour. ”

“ It was impossible for the Highlanders to withstand much longer such repeated attacks, particularly as they were reduced to the necessity of fighting every man on his own ground, and unless supported they must soon have been destroyed. The fortunate arrival of the brigade of Brigadier-General Stuart, which advanced from the second line, and formed on the left of the Highlanders, probably saved them from destruction. At this time the enemy were advancing in great force, both in cavalry and infantry, apparently determined to overwhelm the handful of men who had hitherto baffled all their efforts. ”

“ It is a pity, they say, that the Highlander, possessing so many noble qualities, and so strongly attached to his native soil, should be compelled to seek a home in a foreign land, and bestow upon it the services which might be profitably employed by his mother country. By permitting, they say, these loyal and brave Highlanders to leave the country, Britain is throwing away some of the finest recruiting material in the world, for—and it is quite true—the Highland soldier has not his match for bravery, moral character, and patriotism. ”

“ It seemed like a voice from their home, from the tongues of those they had left behind, and served to stimulate them to fresh exertions in honour of the land of the rock and the eagle.
"Cheer, my blue bonnets!" cried Campbell, leaping in his saddle in perfect ecstasy. "Oh! the gallant fellows! how bravely they ride. God and victory be with them this day!"
"Scotland for ever!" echoed the Highlanders, as they waved their black plumage on the gale. The Royals, the 42nd, the Cameron Highlanders, and every Scots regiment within hearing took up the battle-cry and tossed it to the wind ”

“ Soldiers are apt to look upon themselves as a distinct class, and to assume a certain haughty bearing in their dealings with civilians, who, of course, are prone to retaliate. The Highlanders seem never to have forgotten that they were only civilians in arms, bound by the laws of courtesy as well as by the rules of military discipline. During the years 1743-44 the 42nd Regiment was stationed in different parts of Flanders, under the command of Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, where, if they had been so disposed, they might have levied contributions on the powerless inhabitants. ”

“ The enemy having made two desperate attempts to penetrate the right wing, the 35th regiment was called up from the reserve, to its support. Meanwhile the British left was struggling with the enemy, who succeeded so far, from their superior numbers, in their attempt to turn that flank, that they obtained possession of two redoubts, but were driven out from both by the Highlanders, sword in hand. By pushing forward fresh numbers, however, the enemy at last succeeded in forcing the left wing to retire, the right giving way about the same time. ”

“ In their own country the Highlanders possessed many natural advantages over an invading foe, which gave them almost an absolute assurance of success in any contest even with forces greatly superior in numbers; and, in the adjoining Lowlands, they could, if worsted, easily retreat to their fastnesses; but their situation was very different on the south of the Forth, where they were more particularly exposed to be attacked by cavalry,—a species of force which they greatly dreaded, and from which they could, if routed, scarcely expect to escape. ”

“ This alone would make a very unfavorable impression on the minds of Americans. But when to this is added the efforts of British officers to organize the emigrants from the Highlands into a special regiment, as early as November, 1775, the rising of the Highlanders both in North Carolina and on the Mohawk, the enlisting of emigrants on board vessels before landing and sailing by Boston to join their regiments at Halifax, and on the passage listening to the booming of the cannon at Bunker Hill ”

“ But the truth of the matter is that Napoleon was beaten here as his troops had been beaten in the Peninsular simply by the dogged front of the British infantry. We have seen how the Highlanders withstood the cavalry at Quatre Bras, how they stormed the French position at Toulouse, how they were the better men at Fuentes de Oñoro. They were not alone in that quality of endurance and nerve. Throughout the whole British Army there was a confidence in itself that has remained till this day, and which is possessed by no other soldiers in the world. ”

“ No troops ever, perhaps, traversed a country which might be deemed hostile leaving so few traces of outrage behind them as were left by the Highlanders in the year 1745. They are better known at the present time than they were then, and they are known to be eminent for honesty and fidelity, where confidence is given them. They possess exalted notions of honour, warm friendships, and much national pride. ”

“ Although the Highlanders were surprised, they held their position until the reserve pickets came to their assistance, when they retired disputing every foot, to afford the regiment time to form, and come to their relief. Then the Americans were driven back with precipitation, leaving upwards of two hundred men, in killed and wounded. The Highlanders, pursuing with eagerness, were recalled with great difficulty. On this occasion the Royal Highlanders had three sergeants and nine privates killed ”

“ The officers, non-commissioned officers, drummers, and privates of the Seventy-first Highlanders are under orders for Europe, to embark to-morrow morning at six. The President in Council has much satisfaction in expressing the great sense entertained by the Government of the active, zealous, and important services of the Seventy-first Highlanders during the eighteen years they have been stationed in India, by which they have contributed so largely to the reputation of the British Army, and so essentially promoted the interests of the East India Company. ”

“ The Russian advance was continued without halt, and their guns soon opened on the 93rd. To prevent unnecessary loss, Sir Colin drew back the regiment behind the slope of the hill, and from there awaited the next move. Presently the enemy’s cavalry, leaving the main body, galloped straight for his position. The moment of trial had come. Instantly he drew up the Highlanders in a line only two deep, shouting to them, “Now, men, remember there is no retreat from here. You must die where you stand!” ”

“ Ladysmith was a place of considerable military importance, and it would have been a signal disaster if it had fallen into the Boer hands with so large a number of men. At the same time it was a very difficult position to hold, being commanded from every side by kopjes, and lying, as it were, in a saucer. The Gordon Highlanders, who were the only representatives of the Highland Brigade to serve in the siege, were old comrades-in-arms to White. He had led them in the advance upon Kabul and Kandahar. With him was Sir Ian Hamilton, who had been with the 92nd at Majuba. ”

“ Their dash carried them right into the midst of the Prussian batteries. Shooting the gunners at their posts, they rendered the guns unserviceable, and having completed their daring mission, prepared to retire.”
The French Nord de la France is no less emphatic in its praise. “The British soldier,” it says, speaking of an advance of the Highlanders under a murderous fire, “is wonderful. He is a slave to duty. For him to retreat he must be ordered to do so, and these Scotsmen were prepared to give their lives to the last man.” ”

“ When about half way to the summit, they came in sight of the enemy, who poured down upon them a destructive volley of musketry. Redoubling their exertions, they gained the height before the enemy could reload their pieces; and, though exhausted with fatigue, and almost breathless, they drove the enemy from their position at the point of the bayonet. A squadron of cavalry then advanced and attacked the Highlanders, but they were instantly repulsed, with the loss of their commander. ”

“ The British fought doggedly, watching their regiments rent to tatters, calling up every man, even the cooks, to take a hand. Cavalry and infantry, officers and men fought till they could fight no more. But the tide was turning, and when night fell upon the 31st of October the grand attack was beaten off. Of the losses of our soldiers and our brave Highlanders some estimate may be made by the casualties of individual regiments, one of which entered the battle with 1100 men and came out with only 73, and another which numbered 1350 returned only 300 strong. ”

“ It is difficult for us to realise how bitterly the Americans abhorred the very sight of an Indian, while on the other hand, an unwritten page in history is the strange alliance that bound many Royalists to their merciless allies, and the brutal instincts such a fellowship aroused in some of the Highlanders, particularly those of the older, wilder generation, the scourings of the ‘45. On one occasion, for instance, a Highlander with the honest name of Donald M’Donald, led a party of Redskins against a block-house called Shell’s Bush. ”

“ The old traditions of clanship subsist, each company is grouped round an illustrious name, and all and every man is sure to be the captain's cousin. The Highlanders have a strange sort of bravery, which partakes of French fire and English phlegm. They rush with impetuosity, they charge with vigour, but are not hurried away by anger. In the very hottest of an attack, a simple order suffices to stop them. ”

“ The Highland army did not exceed 5,000 fighting men; and when it is considered that the men had been two days without sleep, were exhausted by the march of the preceding night, and had scarcely tasted food for forty-eight hours, the wonder is that they fought so well as they did, against an army almost double in point of numbers, and which laboured under none of the disadvantages to which, in a more especial manner, the overthrow of the Highlanders is to be ascribed. ”

“ Vast lakes and rivers, mountains and cañons, not unlike to the glens the Highlanders had left in Scotland, confronted them. In the deep stillness of the woods wild animals slipped into the darkness, and savages were a sleepless menace. In the dead of a summer night the long-drawn cry of an Indian brave would chill the blood of some straggling soldier, or from the thicket would fly the arrows of death. It was a country where one force could not hope to keep in touch with another nor guard its lines of communication: an army was swallowed up in a wilderness of forests and rivers. ”

“ The place was now almost wholly in possession of the British forces; at no one point did the enemy attempt to make a stand, but fled in every direction.
By the 20th the rebels had been everywhere put down, and peace partially restored. On the 22d the 42d Royal Highlanders were moved to the Observatory Mess-house and old Presidency, where they remained doing duty until the 2d April. During this time the men suffered greatly from fever, brought on by hardship and exposure to the sun. They had now been a whole month constantly on duty, their uniform and accoutrements never off their backs ”