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TO THE FIRST EDITION.

I AM unwilling to lay the following Sketches before the public, without offering a few observations explanatory of the circumstances under which the work was originally undertaken. This is the more necessary, as it will serve, in some measure, to account for imperfections of style and composition, and afford me an opportunity of apologizing for the freedom with which I have presumed to offer opinions, probably not always agreeable, nor suited to many preconceived notions respecting the character, capability, and condition of the Highlanders. Any literary inaccuracies or defects which the more learned reader may discover, proceed from the inexperience of a plain practical soldier, who passed twenty-five years of his life in barracks, in military quarters, and in camps; accustomed, perhaps, to notice passing events, and to exercise his memory, but without the least anticipation or intention of attempting to arrange his recollections in their present form. I have in fact been led on by circumstances to make the attempt, without any premeditated plan. My statements, however, are grounded on authentic documents; on communications from people in whose intelligence and correctness I place implicit confidence; on my own personal knowledge and observation; and on the mass of general information, of great credibility and consistency, preserved among the

Highlanders of the last century. From the confidence derived from these circumstances, I fear I have been led to attach more importance to the subject than will generally be admitted to belong to it, and to express myself with a freedom and warmth which many may consider reprehensible. If I am found to have erred in this respect, and to have expressed myself in language unsuitable to the subject, or unbecoming the character which I am ambitious to maintain, my only defence is an honest and perfect conviction of the truth of all I have advanced, and of the vital importance attached to several points touched upon both in the Sketches and in the Military History.

The origin of these Sketches and Military Details was simply this :-When the Forty-second regiment was removed from Dublin to Donaghadee in the year 1771, the baggage was sent round by sea. The vessel having it on board was unfortunately driven on shore by a gale of wind, and wrecked; the greater part of the cargo and baggage was lost, and the portion saved, especially the regimental books and records, was much injured. A misfortune somewhat similar occurred, when the army, under the Earl of Moira, landed at Ostend in June 1794. The transports were ordered round to Helvoetsluys, with orders to wait the further movements of the troops. But the vessels had not been long there, when the enemy invaded Holland in great force, and, entering Helvoetsluys, seized on the transports in the harbour. Among the number of vessels taken were those which had conveyed the Forty-second to Flanders, having on board every article of regimental baggage, except

the knapsacks with which the officers and soldiers had landed at Ostend in light marching order. Along with the baggage, a well-selected library, and, what was more to be regretted, all that remained of the historical records of the regiment, from the period of its formation till the year 1793, fell into the hands of the enemy.

After the conclusion of the late war, his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief directed that the Forty-second should draw up a record of its services, and enter it in the regimental books, for the information of those who should afterwards belong to the corps. As none of the officers who had served previously to the loss of the records in 1794 were then in the regiment, some difficulty arose in drawing up the required statement of service; indeed, to do so correctly was found impossible, as, for a period of fifty-four years previous to 1793, the materials were very defective. In this situation, the commanding officer, in the year 1817, requested me to supply him with a few notices on the subject. After some hesitation and delay, I commenced; but merely with the intention of noting down as much as would cover about thirty or forty pages of the record book. I did not, indeed, expect that my knowledge of the subject would enable me to extend my statement to greater length, especially as I had kept no journal, and had never even been in the habit of taking any notes or memorandums of what I had heard or seen: but as I proceeded, I found that I knew more, and had a better recollection of circumstances, than I was previously aware of, although, in the multiplicity of facts I

have had to state, some inaccuracies may afterwards be discovered. I had, indeed, possessed considerable advantages. Several old officers of great intelligence belonged to the regiment when I joined it. One of these had not been a week absent from the day he entered in the year 1755. His wife, too, who was a widow when he married her, had joined the regiment with her first husband in the year 1744, and had been equally close in her attendance, except in cases where the presence of females was not allowed. She had a clear recollection of much that she had seen and heard, and related many stories and anecdotes with the animated and distinct recitation of the Highland senachies. Another officer, of great judgment, and of a most accurate and retentive memory, had joined the regiment in the year 1766; and a third in 1769. I had also the advantage of being acquainted with several Highland gentlemen who had served as private soldiers in the regiment when first organized. The information I received from these different sources, together with that which I otherwise acquired, led me on almost insensibly till the narrative extended to such length, that I had some difficulty in compressing the materials into their present size. It then struck me, that I could, without much difficulty, give similar details of the service of the other Highland regiments. In the course of this second investigation, I met in all of them much of the same character and principles. The coincidence was indeed striking, and proved that this similarity of conduct and character must have had some common origin, to discover the nature of which appeared an ob

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