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and Captain Lord Saltoun was removed to the Foot Guards.

The two battalions remained together in Lieutenant-General Hope's brigade till September 1805, when General Fox, Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar, requiring a reinforcement in consequence of the removal from that garrison of the Queen's, 13th, and 54th regiments, the 1st battalion of the Royal Highlanders from Weeley, and the 2d battalion of the 78th or Seaforth's Highlanders from Shorncliff, were marched to Portsmouth and embarked there early in October, whence they sailed for Gibraltar; and, after being driven into Lisbon by stress of weather, reached that fortress in November.

A very considerable, and certainly a very desirable alteration had taken place in the garrison since the 42d had been quartered there in 1797 and 1798. The moral habits of the troops had undergone a marked improvement; and although it is not easy to prevent soldiers from drinking, when wine may be had at threepence the quart, and they have money to pay for it, yet what was now consumed did not materially affect their discipline, and in no degree their

• At this period a circumstance occurred of an unpleasant nature. A soldier of the name of Munro, irritated to a degree of madness by a supposed or real affront he had received from his officer, struck him in the ranks. A detail of the circumstances of this unfortunate case would tend to give strength to the opinions I have frequently presumed to give, on the propriety of selecting officers to regiments, composed of men with a turn of mind and disposition differing from what is commonly met with. In this instance, a man who had, in the course of several years' service, showed himself a good man and a brave soldier, found his feelings so outraged and tormented by what he supposed indignities, trifling, perhaps, in themselves, but to a high-spirited soldier so extremely irritating, that his reason was overcome, and the loss of his officer's life and the forfeiture of his own had nearly been the consequence. Had the officer a proper knowledge of or penetration to discover the soldier's true character, he would not have pursued a line of conduct so unsuitable to the men he commanded. It would appear that this was known at the proper place, and the circumstances understood; for his Majesty granted a pardon to the soldier from the sentence to be shot, to which he had been condemned by the court martial before which he had been tried.

health. This is evident from the number of deaths, which, in the three years of 1805, 1806, and 1807, amounted only to 31 men, in this regiment of 850 men. Judging from this and other circumstances, Gibraltar may be considered as one of the most salubrious stations in the British dominions abroad. As to the violent inflammatory fevers which have been so destructive since their first appearance in 1804, they were infectious diseases brought in from other places, and in no instance endemic.

I know not whether it is from reliance on the goodness of the climate, or from a principle of economy, that in a garrison of such magnitude and importance, requiring so many men for its defence, and which has been upwards of 100 years in the possession of Britain, there is no general hospital, nor any receptacle for sick soldiers, except some small rooms attached to the barracks. In Minorca, which was for nearly 80 years a British garrison, the case is the same; but in both places there are excellent and complete naval hospitals.

Nothing worthy of notice occurred while the regiments were in Gibraltar. Great cordiality subsisted between the officers of the garrison and those of the Spanish troops at St Roque and Algesiras, and the asperities of war were softened by a frequent and friendly interchange of visits and civility. In the different attacks made by the Spanish gun-boats on our fleets and ships, sailing out of, or entering the bay, the opposing officers would afterwards meet at the tables of General Fox or General Castanos, the governor of Algesiras, fight their battles o'er again, and discuss their respective merits and manoeuvres. This amicable disposition was in a great measure to be ascribed to the character of the two commanders. Liberal, candid, and sincere, their mutual confidence descended to those under them; the gates of the hostile line of defence were opened to give a free passage to the officers of the garrison, on producing a few lines of a passport, and permission was even given them to form a race-ground on the Spanish territories.

These indulgences contributed to the health of the officers, and rendered the garrison in every way more agreeable. They also seemed to influence the conduct of the soldiers, who appeared satisfied and contented with their confinement within the garrison. At least there were no desertions, nor any unruly conduct; and indeed, altogether, their behaviour was very different from, and much superior to what it had been in 1797 and 1798.

In the winter of 1805 and 1806, two flank battalions were formed in the garrison: the command of the grenadier battalions was given to Major John Farquharson of the 42d regiment, and that of the light infantry battalion to Major David Stewart of the 78th Highlanders. These battalions were broken up when the flank companies of the 78th embarked with the regiment for Sicily in the month of May 1806.

The colonel, Sir Hector Munro, died this year. He was a brave officer, and possessed of a firm mind, of which he exhibited an instance before the battle of Buxar in 1764. He did not interest himself much about his regiment, nor seemed to regard them with that feeling which might have been expected from a countryman of their own, who, with an affluent fortune, and the influence it commanded, might have materially contributed to the welfare and good name of his regiment. Although the first and second battalions were a considerable time quartered at Fort George, in the neighbourhood of his country-seat, he never came near them, except once, when he stopped to change horses in the garrison on his way to London. He was succeeded by Major-General the Marquis of Huntly. The son of the greatest chief of the North, the Marquis derives from his personal character an influence over men's minds and ac tions, which even his high rank and great fortune could never give; and, of all men in his Majesty's service, he combines in the greatest proportion the necessary qualifications to make him the most proper commander of a Highland corps. Although, as I have said, in speaking of Lord John Murray, the army is now under such happy auspices that a corps has less occasion for a zealous and friendly colonel to see that proper officers be appointed, and justice distributed, with less regard to political influence, and more regard to talent, zeal, and length of service, yet a regiment is most fortunate in having a man at their head who has their honour and • See the account of the 89th Highland regiment.

Having, in this manner, recorded the preceding services of the regiment, we have now arrived at the period when it was to be employed on a field such as had not for ages been presented to the British army, and to partici pate in the military operations which commenced in the Spanish peninsula in 1808, and continued till the conclusion of the war in 1814. Within these six years, a career was open for talent, courage, enterprise, and all the most eminent qualities necessary for a commander and an army, as splendid as that in the reign of Queen Anne, when the transcendent genius of the Duke of Marlborough, with the great force entrusted to his command, raised the military character of the British nation to a pre-eminence which it has not since that period been able to uphold, on an equally extended scale of operations. Insulated examples of military talent and undaunted firmness were sufficiently numerous to prove that there was no deficiency in any respect, and that those opportunities and that experience were only wanting which are so indispensably necessary in the profession of a soldier.

For many years the strength and energy of the country had been so much directed to the conquest and defence of colonies, that little else had been attempted. The force supposed necessary was generally so strictly calculated, that little was left for contingencies; and frequently, after any successful enterprise had been accomplished, the force was so diminished by warfare, disease, and climate, as to be unequal to the defence of the conquest. The same troops were sometimes compelled to surrender on the spot where they had previously triumphed. This produced an unfa

welfare at heart, and is the friend of all who are deserving. He will at once do justice to the memory of the honourable and brave men who originally formed the character of this corps, and exert himself to fill the ranks with officers and soldiers likely to maintain this honourable character. Since the above was written, the Marquis of Huntly was removed to the Royal Scots, and the Earl of Hopetoun, who had frequently commanded the 42d in the field, was appointed to the regiment.

vourable impression, which their former triumph could not always efface. Such results bore hard on the officers, to whose want of ability and professional ignorance they were not unfrequently, and often unjustly, ascribed. The preservation and protection of the island of St Lucia, in the year 1796 and 1797, occasioned the death of more than six times the number of men killed in the capture of it under Sir Ralph Abercromby; and there is little doubt that, if the duty had been entrusted to an officer of less unwearied zeal and persevering exertion than General Moore, it would not have been preserved.

But a new and noble field was now opened, and although, in many cases, there was a scarcity of troops, and a want of some very efficient arms, arising from the difficulty of transporting artillery and cavalry, still there was scope for the display of mental resources; and sometimes a skilful retreat proved as honourable to the talents of the commander as a victory. In colonial warfare, on the contrary, the theatre of action was so often circumscribed, as to afford no room for the display of military talent, and leave no hope of adequate and timely support.

When the usurpation of the crown of Spain by Bonaparte had roused the patriotism of the Spanish people, the British government, anxious to take advantage of this spirit, immediately ordered a large proportion of its disposable force to embark for the Peninsula.

In the month of July 1808, Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley sailed from Cork with 10,000 men, with the intention of landing at Corunna; but the Spaniards rejecting his offered assistance, he proceeded to the coast of Portugal. But at Oporto, as at Corunna, the offered assistance was declined, although nearly two-thirds of the Portuguese peasantry were calling for arms, and ready to rise against the French, who had invaded and taken possession of the country with a force of nearly 40,000 men. In these circumstances, he continued his voyage to Mondego Bay, where, after a farther delay, he landed on the 2d of August. Ma

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