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in the Reasonable, and several ships of war, and reached their destination on the 10th of May, when the troops landed on the Glebe, on the western bank of Elizabeth. Having completed the object of the expedition, the whole were re-embarked, (having met with no casualties, except four wounded,) and returned to New York in good time for the opening of the campaign, which commenced by an expedition to Verplanks and Stony Point; the former a regular work, which commanded the communication, by King's Ferry, on the Hudson river, between the eastern and western States. This service being likewise accomplished without opposition or loss, the army fell back on the 4th of June to Kingsbridge, and there encamped. Another expedition was projected against New London; but while preparations were going forward for that purpose, an account was received, which evinced the increasing enterprise of the enemy, in the surprise and capture of Stony Point, a strong post garrisoned by 600 men, (among whom were two companies of Fraser's Highlanders,) the commander of which fell a sacrifice to too great confidence, and an unfortunate habit of despising his enemy,-a prejudice which has frequently brought discomfiture and disgrace on military men. On this occasion, success was followed by its natural consequences; the hopes and enterprise of the enemy were animated and emboldened. A proof of this was almost an immediate attack by General Wayne on the post of Verplanks, which was garrisoned by the 33d regiment under Colonel Webster. The garrison held out, till General Wayne, receiving accounts of the approach of Colonel Stirling, with the light infantry, and the 42d, retreated from Verplanks, and having also evacuated Stony Point, Colonel Stirling took possession, and assumed the command of the whole.

This officer being now appointed aide-de-camp to the King, and a brigadier-general, the command of the 42d devolved on Major Charles Graham, to whom also was entrusted the command of the posts of Stony Point and Verplanks, together with his own regiment, and a detachment

This

of Fraser's Highlanders under Major Ferguson. duty was the more important, as the enemy surrounded the posts in great numbers, and desertion had become so frequent among a corps of provincials, sent as a reinforcement, that they could not be trusted on any military duty, particularly on those duties which are most harassing the outposts fronting the enemy. In the month of October these posts were withdrawn, and the regiment fell back on Greenwich, in the neighbourhood of New York. During these various movements and transactions, General Washington remained in a strong position beyond Stony Point and Verplanks, and showed no disposition to quit a situation where he could not be attacked without great disadvantage to his

assailants.

The winter of 1779 was the coldest that had been known in that climate for forty years; and the troops, although now in quarters, suffered more from that circumstance than in the preceding winter when in huts. But the Highlanders met with a misfortune of a more grievous kind,-a misfortune from which it took several years to enable them to recover. In the autumn of this year a draft of 150 men, recruits raised principally from the refuse of the streets of London and Dublin, was embarked for the regiment by orders of the Inspector-General at Chatham. These men, as might have been expected, were of the most depraved characters, and of such dissolute habits, that one-half of them were unfit for service; 15 died in the passage, and 75 were sent to the hospital from the transports as soon as they disembarked. By men so temperate and regular in their habits as the Highlanders, both officers and men, the contamination of the dregs of large cities could not fail to be regarded as a great calamity. On this subject General Stirling made strong representations to the Commander-inChief; and in consequence, these men were removed to the

In the year 1776 the three battalions of the 42d and of Fraser's Highlanders embarked 3248 soldiers: after a stormy passage of more than three months, none died: they had only a few sick, and these not dangerously,

26th regiment, in exchange for the same number of ScotchWhen it is considered that the ranks of the 42d regiment might easily have been filled from the country where it was originally raised, chiefly because the young Highlanders believed that they would meet with countrymen only, it is not easy to account for this arrangement of the Inspector-General, which, if persevered in, would have been productive of much evil, without any apparent good to counterbalance it. The feelings of an honourable old soldier were outraged, when he saw himself associated with men collected from the police offices and streets of London. By such society the moral principles of the young soldiers were not only endangered, but it dissolved that charm and expectation of companionship, which had hitherto so greatly favoured recruiting, and it destroyed that national feeling which influenced the men, who believed, that, while they were all Scotsmen, they were bound to support the honour of Scotland. In the honour of their new comrades of St Giles's and Tothil Fields, Westminster, they could hardly be expected to take the same lively interest. This measure will appear the more remarkable when it is recollected, that a desperate mutiny, by which many lives were lost, occurred this year at Leith, in consequence of two detachments of recruits belonging to the 42d and Fraser's Highlanders being ordered to join other corps, instead of those for which they were originally enlisted. Thus while, on the one hand, the good name of the regiment was in danger of being tarnished by the depravity of those men who were forced upon them, the lives of several spirited youths fell a sacrifice to their desire to join this regiment; and the whole became amenable to the laws for the mutinous manner in which they in their ignorance and despair endeavoured to prevent their original engagements from being violated. †

*

I have noticed, that, at the conclusion of the seven years'

* See article on the Mutiny of Highland Regiments.

† A more mischievous and unnecessary measure than this could not well have been devised: it exposed the corps to almost certain degradation, besides the danger of the young and virtuous soldier becoming fa

War, the officers of the regiment were highly respectable, and many of them both accomplished gentlemen and able officers. At the present period also the regiment was fortunate in this respect. How much the authority and example of such officers will influence the conduct of the soldiers is evident. The regiment was now in its fifth campaign; but the men preserved so completely their original habits of temperance and moderation, that, while rum and all spiritous liquors were served out daily to the other troops, the Highlanders received their allowance every third or fourth day, in the same manner as the officers. This was continued till it was found inconvenient for the soldiers to carry more than one day's allowance on long marches. At that period all the soldiers were natives of the country from which the regiment took its denomination; and, consequently, they carried with them to the military ranks those habits of temperance and sobriety which, as I have noticed in the preliminary sketch of the manners and customs of the Highlanders, formed a marked trait in their character. That they did not abuse this honourable confidence is evident from the circumstance of its never having been withdrawn, except for the convenience of the soldiers. These five campaigns embraced many movements, and, from affinity of language, and from the promises and allurements which the Americans held out, there were, of course, many inducements to desertion. Desertions from other corps were, indeed, very frequent; but in this regiment it was

miliar with the view of vice, which he might at first abhor, but would in the end, perhaps, learn to imitate. Every delinquency of their new comrades would necessarily lower the whole regiment in the estimation of the public, who could not distinguish between the innocent and the guilty. Of this we have many instances in Highland corps, where the guilt and depravity of a few (and these few aliens and strangers to the country whose name is borne, and whose character is represented by the regiment) have brought discredit upon an honourable body of men. It is said, that, in some Highland corps, who have a considerable mixture of strangers, the same firmness in the field, and the same urbanity and regular habits in quarters, are evinced. While this statement scems perfectly correct, it would still be desirable to ascertain the share of this praise due to the strangers.

otherwise; not a man deserted; and of more than 1000 men of whom the corps consisted, there was only one punished during the whole of these five years. This man had asked leave of absence, stating that he had business of consequence to transact; but, as there was a general order against granting leave, Colonel Stirling was obliged to refuse him. However, the man was determined, and went away without leave, and having, as he said, settled his business, returned to his regiment. This defiance of orders could not be passed over. He was tried and punished. But the unfortunate man endured a double punishment. The soldiers considered the honour and character of the corps implicated and tarnished when they saw one of their number thus publicly brought to shame; and such was their horror of the castigation, and of the disgrace attached to it, that not a soldier in the regiment would mess with him. The second punishment was, in some respects, more severe than the first, and, in every way, more efficient in preserving correct principles and conduct.

Such was the Royal Highland regiment, while it was preserved as a national and unmixed body. The InspectorGeneral dissolved the charm. Punishments being found indispensable for the men newly introduced, and others becoming more habituated to the sight, much of the sense of disgrace was necessarily lost. While Captain Peebles* commanded his company, there was not a complaint made to the commanding officer. His successor was constantly preferring complaints, and calling for punishment. The reason is plain. He misunderstood the character of his men, and knew not how to manage them. When he saw them looking sour and discontented at the suspicion and reproach thrown on their conduct by his harshness, his threatenings, and complaints, he called them mutinous; and, if he had

Captain Peebles was a volunteer serving with Montgomery's Highlanders, and was promoted to the 42d for his gallant conduct at Bushy Run in 1763. He retired from the service at the conclusion of the war in 1783, and is now the last surviving officer of those who served with Montgomery's and with the Royal Highlanders in the Seven Years' War.

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