The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-21 00:00:00

HIGHLANDERS.

(From the Edinburgh Observer.)
On Friday last the first division of the reserve
companies of this gallant regiment, under Cap-
tain Macgregor, and on Saturday, the 2d divi-
sion under Major Mill, marched into the Castle,
from Paisley. As we are in the habit of giving
a brief history of the services of such regiments
as are from time to quartered in our garrison, we
have been at some trouble to glean the following
particulars relative to the several battalions which
have been numbered the '7Bth British regiment,
from authentic sources.

The first 78th regiment was embodied in
1757, under the name of the Fraser High-
landers, and the ranks were chiefly recruited from
that clan,--the command being given to the
Hon. Simon Fraser, son of the notorious Lord
Lovat, whg,suffered on the scaffold for his share
in the rebMbn of 1745. Without estate, money,
or influence, beyond that which flowed from at-
tachment, to his family, young Lovat, in a few
weeks after receiving authority from t:!;e Crown,
raised the greater half of his battalion, which
consisted of nearly 1500 men. The commis-
sioned officers were all men of considerable in-
fluence in the north ; in proof of which we need
only state, that the families of Dunoon, Clunie,
Baltimore, Inverallochy, Clanronald, Locligarry,
Dungallon, Culrossie, Strui, Culduthel, Cul-
begs, Belladrum, Keppoch, Glengarry, Barra,
Glenlyon, Balnain, Boisdale, Innernaheil, Baris-
dale, Arms, Kilravock, Leeks, Glonnevis, Loup,
Fassifern, and Errogie had each a representative
in its ranks. The uniform was the flail High-
land dress with musket and broad sword. The
same year the regiment embarked at Greenock
for Halifax in Nova Scotia : and on its arrival
there, joined the expedition against Louisbourg,
and subsequently assisted in the conquest of
Canada ; where, on the heights of Abraham—
the memorable field on which General Wolfe
fell,—it lost four officers, viz. Captains Fraser of
Inverallochy, and Rose of Culrossie, and Lieuts.
Macneil of Barra, and Macdonell of Barisdale.
It remained in Canada and Nova Scotia till the
conclusion of the war, when such of the privates
as did not choose to take grants of land in Ame-
rica were sent home and discharged.
In the year 1778, the Earl of Seaforth re-
cruited a battalion, chiefly of his own clan, which
was also numbered the 78th British regiment.
It consisted of upwards of 1100 men, 500 of
whom were from Seaforth's own estates, and the
remainder from the estates of the Mackenzies of
Kilcoy, Scatwell, Applecross, and Redcastle,—
all of whom had sons or brothers officers in the
regiment. The name of Macrae,—a clan long
faithful followers of the family of Seaforth,—was
so general in the battalion, that it was better
known by the name of " The Macraes" than by
any other. It was ordered to the East Indies
shortly after its formation ; but previous to em-
barking at Leith for that distant country, the men,
conceiving that their engagementshad been infriug-
ed in respect to some pay and bounty, broke out
into open mutiny. They refused to embark, and
marching out of Leith, with pipes playing, mad
two plaids fixed on poles instead of colours, took
a position on Arthur's Seat, of which they kept
possession for several days, during which time
the inhabitants of Edinburgh amply supplied
them with provisions and ammunition. After
much negotiation, their grievances were re-
dressed. They then marched down the hill as
proudly as they ascended -it, with pipes playing,
and Seaforth at their head, and went on board
the transports with the utmost cheerfulness.
This incident is still remembered in Edinburgh
as " The affair of' the Macraes." It was not
till 1781 that the regiment finally sailed for
India. Its commander, Seaforth, died on the
voyage, much to the dismay of his faithful fol-
lowers, many of whom were. also cut off by dis-
ease. On arriving at Madras such as were fit
for service were instantly ordered to join the
army under Sir Eyre Coote. They were first
actively employed against the enemy at the at-
tack on Cuddalore ; and subsequently, along with
other corps under Col. Fullarton, they assisted
in keeping down some refractory chiefs and cap-
turing some insignificant forts. In 1784, in
consequence of the peace, the 78th was broken
up ; and several corps being reduced, it was re-
cruited anew by volunteers from their ranks,
and the number of the battalion changed to the
7'2d, under which designation we formerly re-
corded its subsequent services, when we noticed
the Duke of York and Albany Highlanders,
one of the finest and best disciplined corps the
British army now enumerates.
The 78th, or Ross-shire Highlanders, were
embodied at Fort George, in the year 1793.
:which ti[sicisolitidaurreatt,ivielai:
o
"desertion was unknown and
oSfc omt
ea dt ntehvee r,
Britishperhaps
a
furnished
rmy.
A: ,
ma r body
et h
coin-
man says General David Stewart in his history of the
chiefly Highland
co regiments
mc oarnplriallg-
o ffi e punisher:mhel ta
stet nonfe caensys
only to remonstrate, or threaten to transmit to
their kindred a report of their misbehaviour. In
1794, a second battalion was raised, and the
first joined the expedition under Lord Mulgrave,
destined to occupy Zealand, and afterwards the
Duke of York's army on the Waal: It was sent
to reinforce the garrison of Nimegnen, and in a
successful sortie there displayed the greatest
gallantry. When Nimeguen was evacuated, the
78th rejoined the Duke on the Waal, and shared
in all the subsequent movements, and of course
in the terrible privations the army sustained in
•
that campaign. Next spring it returned to
England, and in the following autumn sailed with
the expedition under the Earl of Moira to sup-
port the French Royalists in La Vendee. Be-
fore it reached the coast of France, however, the
omoen.e,l'ainid79tlGme
the troops, after maintaining for some time a
bpootsiiition
Royalists had been annihilated at Quiberon ; and
battalionso lsie
consolidated carps sailed for Bengal.
though not employed m the field sustained a
It'if:hletiehorie men were even charged with,
wDeireet ,
exemplary, Their sobriety was
character Dur formedretur returned d
intoi)
giving away the usual al
time there were
such, that it was rs.episary to restrict them rof
During six years'iy sojourn in Bengal, tivi.
selling (,),r
n soldiers.nea rly At tLia I,Q,wance of
ewis. Several
3PP: Ingli from Se tl 1 S
years lapsed be-
an..., in the coilsrse of twenty-five years,
fuel
os(;:et leatr' iti?en
?ir:,,,,etibyoi; battalion
;

,I*,,
'not one- native Highlander degerted,—a fact,
perhaps, unparalleled in the -military annals of
Britain. This high tone of moral feeling in the
78th, was greatly to be ascribed to the judicious
conduct of the three officers who successively
commanded it, viz., Lieut.-Colonel Mackenzie
Fraser, Colonel J. Randoll Mackenzie of Sud-
die, and Lieut.-Colonel Adams. In 1803, the
regiment was removed from Bengal to Bombay,
and afterwards joined the army under Major-
General Wellesley, and assisted in the capture of
Ahmednaggur, where it lost three officers. Soon
afterwards the great battle of Assaye was fought,
in which the bravery of the Ross-shire High-
landers was signally conspicuous—the brunt of
the action falling chiefly on them and the 74th.
This was the most brilliant victory the British
arms ever achieved in the East. Ninety-eight
pieces of cannon, and military, stores in propor-
tion, were taken on the field, and the enemy left
behind them 1200 dead. The British had 21
(Akers killed,
,and 30 wounded. The next en-
counter of the Ross-shire Highlanders with the
enemy was at Argaum. Along with their old
companions in glory, the 74th, they were opposed
to a strong body of native infantry,—fanatie
who fought from a religious principle,—who, on
being forced to retire, left 500 dead bodies on
the ground they bad occupied in the action. The
enemy were defeated at every point, and the
pursuit continued till long after nightfall. The
loss fell principally on the 78th. After many
fatiguing marches and counter-marches, the
Highlanders arrived at Bombay in July, 1804-,
and in 1807 they were sent to Goa, from whence,
in 1811, they were despatched to Madras to join
the force under Sir Samuel Achmuty, intended
for the conquest of Java On reaching ihat
island the army debarked near Batavia, which
was soon after occupied by the advance under
Colonel Rollo Gillespie, who also carried the
strong position in front of Cornelis at the point
of p a
ntil bayonet..
ei
se
oftle7B In
th;i h
under
dteri s
Captain affair the flank
i)a
Forbesviacon-
t
and Thomas Cameron, acquired great distinction,
Lieutenant John Munro was killed. Cornelis
itself was next assailed, when the flank coin-
' panies of the 78th, under Captains David Forbes
and Donald Macleod, again distinguished them-
selves, as indeed did the whole regiment. Lieut.
Colonel William Campbell, who commanded it,
was mortally wounded in the advance to the
I ardour
a wan h
,h
itche t fencesitthe
enearecarriedn-eycould
withd
n
resist.ot a spirit
Thisatid
victory was followed by the surrender of the
whole colony.
The 78th remained in Java 6111816, when it
embarked for Calcutta, terribly thinned by the
climate. On the voyage, one of the transports,
with six companies on board, ran on a rock 12
miles from the small island of Prepares, and stuck
fast. The Highlanders, to a inan, displayed the
greatest subordination and magnanimity. Al-
though the ship filled rapidly, and was.imomen-
tarily expected to go down, there was no tumult
nor clamour among them. The women, chil-
dren, and sick, were first carried to the island,
which was so rocky, and the surf so heavy, that
they had great difficulty in landing. One hun-
dred and forty men remained on the rock, fixed
to the points of it by ropes, and partly immersed
in the water. It was not till the fourth day after
the disaster, that the last of these resolute fellows
were
without removed,
sleep,oved, daunrdi n g
received
simcaerctehl ye ye rneymsatit'slteed-
nance. On the fourth day two vessels hove in
sight, and removed the last of the cast-aways from
the rock : but scarcely had they done so, when
the weather, which had hitherto been serene, be-
came tempestuous, and the ships were forced out
to sea, and, in consequence of a scarcity of pro-
visions, obliged to bear away for Calcutta. The
shipwrecked men on the island of Prepares rea
mauled there a whole month unsuccoured ; and
when two fast-sailing vessels, which had been
dispatched from Calcutta to take them off, ar-
rived, they were reduced to the last extremity by
famine. By one casualty or another, 14 soldiers
perished. Soon after the arrival of the regiment.
at Calcutta, it was ordered home, where it re-
mained inactive for several years.
We must now retrograde a few years, and no-
tice the equally important sacrifices of the second
battalion, which was embodied in 1804,—being
the fourth battalion recruited under the influence
of the family of Seaforth, in the course of thirty
years. Two hundred men of this battalion were
from the
,island of Lewis :clone. This young
corps was trained under the immediate direction
of Sir John Moore. In 180.5, it embarked for
Gibraltar, from whence it proceeded to Italy,
and formed part of the force under General Sir
John Stuart, which, on the following year, made
a dtheesmeeeinaltooranbtlleie
bcaotats of Ca
iet
of
i‘ilahr
aidai:.
in 'this led
l'‘,hiiciltitlue
Ross-shire Highlanders, though nearly six hun-
dred of them were under age, and thought the
General in command had unequivocally expresea
ed the little reliance he had on so raw a body,
deported themselves with the steadiness and bra-
vely of veterans, Though confronted with the
French, under singularly intimidating circmun-
stances, they advanced to the attack at a firm
soldierly pace, heedless of the gaps momentarily
,nade in their line, by the enemy's cannon. At
the distance of three hundred yards, they halted,
shockatid
bloodyof bayonet,
conflict,
but Gild theretired. e n y
threw in two deadly vales, and then charged ;
Atlef;.eirinacallotil;
the French gave way at all points. The victory
was complete,
after traversing,
and achieved with very small loss.
The 78th had seven officers wounded, among:.
whom were its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel
Patrick Macleod of Geanies, and Major David
teh,otl,,),:hen they
Stewart of Garth, the spirit-stirring historisab of
ls'olulethaerrnnlp'eninsula of Ca-
ionurtrlitaintilopnhalthceorwpisi.o—le
labria, returned to Sicily. . ,
In 1807, Government conceived it prudent to
despatch a considerable force. to Egypt, and the
78th regiment formed part of the expedition. Irt
stehtetss:veurailfarsktitri ishea which took place imme-
diately subsequent to the debarkation of the
troops, the Highlanders behaved with great gal—
lantry, especially in the movements against hos-
:I-lately Lieut.-Colonel Macleod,
who had been detached with five companies of
the regiment to El Hamet, a place at suet; a dis,:-
tanee from the army as to render immediate sup-
assailed,
rpootlilinilme ti°l ossible,
bysiblael'i woayse'r N'i‘v•liitehl mtiin' ea
Turkish grenadiers,iLl farce,
b
when nearly all of them, including the Colonel
himself, were cut to pieces. A mere remnant,
the only officer of
headed by Captain Mackay,
the parley who survival,
junction
wdiththrooleuglioutlleler
'enemy and effected a
riaaners to Cairo. During these
proceeding.. aGeneral Stewart, aware of the criti-
. cal situation of the detachment, advanced to its
avinedr
e posts.
c a ultimatelyr rTi
eh le a partiestorcea in taro
c ai! were
itu lcapitulate,
seen sc.-lathe wrecks of the fight, and lie had to
but on reaching El Hamet nothing was
1
support ;
retire on Alexandria, harrassed by the enemy,
who were, however, kept at bay by the fire of the
35th and remaiuder of the rigth, who amply

'avenged their slaughtered comrades. This was
the last hostile operation. The prisoners were
restored by capitulation, and the army returned
to Sicily, from whence the Highlanders soon after
sail for England.
A detachment of the 78th, of upwards of 300
men, joined the expedition to Walcheren under
the Earl of Chatham in 1809, from whence they
returned much debilitated by the fever that there
prevailed In 1813 the whole battalion em-
harked at Aberdeen for Holland, to augment the
army under Sir 'l'. Graham. In the attack on
Merexem, the '7Bth,
beaded by Lieut.-Colonel
Lindsay,led the action, and by a bold and prompt
charge, put the enemy to route. At this time,
only 43 soldiers in the corps exceeded 22 years
of age. In this affair, Lieut. W. Mackenzie and
Ensign Ormsby were killed, and Lieut.-Colonel
Macleod and Lietits. Bath and Chisholin
wounded. This was the last engagement in
which the 78th had a share—for though sta-
tioned in Holland at the time of the assault on
Bergen-op-Zoom and the battle of Waterloo, it
was not present at either of these conflicts. In
1816, the 2d battalion returned to Scotland and
was reduced. The service companies of the ex-
isting battalion are at present stationed in Ceylon.
The regiment hears on its colours and appoint-
ments, in commemoration of its services, the
words " Maids," " Java," and " Assaye."

Thus have we brought to a conclusion, our
memoir of this distinguished regiment. We fully
agree with its old commander General Stewart—
whose narrative of its services, if published in a
separate pamphlet, ought to be in every RoSs-
shire Highlander's knapsack,—that all who value
the character of a brae and virtuous race, may
look with confidence to the 78th, as one of the.
best representatives of the military and moral
character of the peasantry of the mountains.

political clubs, Parliamentary minoritiirs, have always,
found him faithful to his principles; but perhaps it
would be with some alarm that people would see the
Regency pass to the hands of a Prince who more
than once has supported, by his vote, e.adical Par-
liamentary Reform.
The Duke of Cambridge governs 11 anover with
honour; and the high functions which he exercises
there have long rendered him a stra tiger to the
parties which divide England. But he is only the
third in order of birth ;
.and if the written law does
not irrevocably give the Regency to the Pres:ounptive
Heir, it has not hitherto passed three degrees at
once. We do not mention among the candidates for
this Mike, the uncle of the young Princess, the
Prince of Saxe Coburg, who was ts? have shared the
Throne, but who will never pass the threshol►l of the
Chamber of Peers. _ _

We carefully avoid weighing the rights of these
august rivals. If the mournful hour for putting
them into effect is deferred for England, we shall
await the decision of the British Parliament with
the liveliest solicitude; and till then we shall content
ourselves with praying that it may be long before it
will have to decide so weighty a question.
F►[ENCH FUN DS.-Rentes, Five per Cent. 1061. 35c. ;
Four per Cent. 991. 95e. ; Three per Cent., 741. 95c.
90e. ; Bank Actions, 18501.

FOREIGN FUNDS-Neapolitan Rentes, Cert. Fal. 80f.
80c. 15c. ; Spanish Rentes, 7 ; Royal Spanish Loan, 79
791 ; Interminable Spanish Annuities, 53A 504 ; Haytian
Loan, 635 f.