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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 obtained. But, when distrust prevails, severity ensues as its necessary consequence, 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; but he may be led to the mouth of a cannon if properly directed, and 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 him. self 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

• In some instances, when the misconduct of officers, particularly in the field, was not publicly censured, the soldiers who served under them made regular representations that they could not and would not remain longer under their command, and that, if they were not relieved from the disgrace of being so commanded, they would lay their complaints before the highest authority. In like manner, when any of the soldiers showed a backwardness in facing an enemy, their comrades brought them forward, calling for punishment on the poltroons, who were a disgrace to their country, their name, and their kindred.

See Appendix, GG.

238

they may not, through ignorance, misapply their means, and thereby concert their own ruin.

"If ardour be the characteristic of Highlanders, it is evident 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, and 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.'

I shall subjoin one other quotation from the same author. After describing their social meetings, at which the enterprises of war were the frequent and usual themes of conversation, he proceeds:-" The Highlanders, in this manner, looking daily on war, and the enterprise of war, with interest and animation, acquire radical ideas of the military art. Without design, or formal intention, this

germ of military education, planted in the first years of life, assumes a fair growth among these northern Scots; for, as objects of war, and warlike enterprise, command more than other objects the exertions of the thinking faculty, the Highlanders, formed with sound minds, and susceptible of good impressions, discover more natural sagacity than any other class of people in the kingdom, perhaps than any other people in Europe. The Highlanders, in relation with their southern neighbours, were considered as freebooters, barbarians, given to spoil and plunder. In former times, the charge had some appearance of truth; for the Lowlanders were considered as a hostile or strange people. But though they drove the cattle of a hostile tribe, or ravaged a Lowland district, with which they had no connection or bond of amity, their conduct in the year 1745 proves that they are neither a ferocious nor a cruel people; for no troops probably ever traversed a country which might be esteemed hostile with fewer traces of outrage. They are now better known: their character is conspicuous for honesty and fidelity. They possess the most exalted notions of honour, the warmest friendships, and the highest portion of mental pride of any people perhaps in Europe. Their ideas are few, but their sentiments are strong; their virtues principles in their nature."

Having thus briefly described the military character of the Highlander, and his disposition and aptitude for war, † and noticed the line of conduct necessary on the part of his superior officer to render his courage and capacity effective, I now proceed to give an account of the first corps of Highlanders embodied for the service of Government, and afterwards formed into a regiment of the regular army.

• Jackson's Systematic View of the Formation, Discipline, and Economy of European Armies.

† See Appendix HH.

SECTION I.

Black Watch-Independent companies-Embodied into a regular regiment at Taybridge, 1740-Ordered to march for EnglandReview-Desertion.

THIS Corps, which has been so well known for nearly eighty years under the appellation of the 42d Highland Regiment, and which, at different periods, has been designated by the titles of its successive commanders, as Lord Crawford's, Lord Sempill's, and Lord John Murray's Highlanders, was originally known by the name of the Freicudan Du, or Black Watch.

This was an appellation given to the independent Companies of which the regiment was formed. It arose from the colour of their dress, and was applied to them in contradistinction to the regular troops, who were called Red Soldiers, or Seidaran Dearag. From the time they were first embodied, till they were regimented, the Highlanders continued to wear the dress of their country. This, as it consisted so much of the black, green, and blue tartan, gave them a dark and sombre appearance in comparison with the bright uniform of the regulars, who at that time had coats, waistcoats, and breeches, of scarlet cloth. Hence the term Du, or Black, as applied to this corps.

The companies were six in number: three distinguished by the name of large companies, consisted of one hundred men each; and three smaller companies, of seventy men each. The former were commanded by captains, and the latter by captain-lieutenants, each commanding officer being, as the name implies, independent of the others. To each company, great and small, was attached the same

number of subalterns, viz. two lieutenants and one ensign. These companies were first formed about the year 1729 or 1730; and Lord Lovat, Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell, and Colonel Grant of Ballindalloch, were appointed to the command of the larger; and Colonel Alexander Campbell of Finab, John Campbell of Carrick, and George Munro of Culcairn, to that of the smaller.

Some Highlanders had been armed so early as 1725, when Marshal Wade was appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland, but it was not till the year above mentioned that they were formed into regular companies receiving pay. Many of the men who composed these companies were of a higher station in society than that from which soldiers in general are raised; cadets of gentlemen's families, sons of gentlemen farmers, and tacksmen, either immediately or distantly descended from gentlemen's families ;-men who felt themselves responsible for their conduct to high-minded and honourable families, as well as to a country for which they cherished a devoted affection. In addition to the advantages derived from their superior rank in life, they possessed, in an eminent degree, that of a commanding external deportment, special care being taken in selecting men of full height, well proportioned, and of handsome appearance.* In such a range of country, without commerce, or any profession for young men but that of arms, no difficulty was found in persuading individuals to engage in a corps which was to be stationary within the mountains, and of which the duties were such as to afford them merely an agreeable pastime. The Highlanders had also another

• In confirmation of this, I may notice a friend and grand-uncle by marriage, the late Mr Stewart of Bohallie, who was one of the gentlemen soldiers in Carrick's company. This gentleman, a man of family and education, was five feet eleven inches in height, remarkable for his personal strength and activity, and one of the best swordsmen of his time, in an age when good swordsmanship was common, and considered an indispensable and graceful accomplishment of a gentleman; and yet, with all these qualifications, he was only a centre man of the centre rank of his company. After serving seven years in the companies and in this corps, he retired some time before the march to England.

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