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Chapter II

HE French Revolution was at its height when, in February 1793, the Republic declared war against Great Britain and Holland. It became necessary to in crease the British army, and again the patriotism of the Duke of Gordon induced him to come to the aid of the Government, by offering to raise a fourth regiment ; this time, as in the case of the 89th Highlanders, for general service.

He received authority to do so on the 10th of February 1794, and the command was given to his son, the Marquis of Huntly, who had served as captain in the 42nd Royal Highlanders, and was then a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd Guards.[1]  The Duke himself, and his son, took a personal interest in the recruiting, and the celebrated Duchess Jean, still a beautiful woman, lent to it all the prestige of her high position, and all the grace and charm of manner for which she was famed alike in Court and cottage.

She rode to the country fairs in Highland bonnet[2] and regimental jacket (it was not unusual, in those days of military enthusiasm, for ladies to wear the uniform of their husbands’ or brothers’ regiments ).[3]  It is told how she gave a kiss to the men she enlisted—a fee more valued than the coin by which it was accompanied, as in the case of a smart young farmer at Huntly market, who took the shilling and the kiss, and then paid “smart,”[4] saying, “A kiss from your Grace is well worth a pound note.”

Sometimes she is said to have placed a guinea between her lips.[5]  There was in a Highland village a young blacksmith, remarkable for his strength and good looks. Recruiters for the Guards and Line had in vain tried to enlist him, but he could not resist her Grace!  He took the kiss and the guinea; but to show it was not the gold that tempted him, he tossed the guinea among the crowd.[6]

Commissions were given to gentlemen in the north for raising a certain number of men, the field officers and generally the captains having previous army service.  But so great had been the drain on the Highland population for some years, that it was no longer easy to recruit a battalion quickly from them alone. In the present [12] instance it was rendered the more difficult because, as we have seen, a Fencible Regiment had been raised by the Duke of Gordon in the preceding year, and the 79^th, or Cameron Highlanders, had just been raised by Mr Allan Cameron, son of the tacksman of Erracht, largely in the same districts where the Duke of Gordon’s influence lay.  This regiment has had a similar glorious career to the Gordon Highlanders, and a lively feeling of friendship has always existed between the two corps.  Lochiel, Chief of the Cameron Clan, however, had not approved the venture of his kinsman of Erracht, but used all his influence in favour of the Gordon regiment, [7] the Duke being to a certain extent his feudal superior, his Inverness-shire lands being held from the latter, and also his personal friend.  In this Lochiel was greatly assisted by his uncle, Mr Cameron, tacksman of Fassiefern, whose son John received a captain’s commission in the Gordons, and afterwards became its most distinguished commander.  He was closely connected with such Highland chiefs and gentlemen as Cluny MacPherson, MacNeil of Barra, MacDonald of Glencoe, Campbel of Barcaldine, and others, who helped him in raising his quota of men.[8]

It is not surprising, therefore, to find that, such strong influence being exerted in its favour, the Gordon regiment obtained more recruits in the Highlands than the 79^th had done in 1793,[9] but still some of the officers had to complete their quotas from other parts of the country.

When a new regiment was raised, the custom was to embody it, not in the country districts wehre the men were enlisted but in some garrison town where they could conveniently be inspected by a general officer, and passed as fit for service.  In this instance, Aberdeen was the rendezvous.

One can imagine the difficulty of bringing lads from the distant islands of Barra, Uist, and Skye in open boats to the mainland, to join those from the “rough bounds” of Arisaig, Ardnamurchan, and Lochiel; the long marches, cheered by song or pipe, through Highlands and Lowlands, ere their tired feet trod the “plainstanes” of the Granite City.  How they would gaze with astonished admiration at the buildings and the shops of a great town!

 

Click on the photo to see a larger version

[13] Here the embryo soldiers probably had their first experience of the tented field, as there was at this time a considerable encampment near Aberdeen.[10]

The regiment was embodied on the 24th of June 1794,[11] and was inspected the following day by Lieutenant-General Sir Hector Munro, the same officer who served as major in the first regiment raised by the inflence of the Duke of Gordon at the battle of Buxar, thirty years before.  At this inspection, Sergeant D. Nicol[12] mentions in his journal that each man passed the General separately, running 50 paces, and that only one man was rejected for age.”

This first parade must have presented an appearance more picturesque than military, for, except some of the officers and sergeants, they had no uniform.  There were the lads from the Highlands in their tartan coats and kilts, with “cuarans,” i.e. brogues of home-dressed skin, on their feet; the Lowland loons in grey breeches, ribbed stockings, and low-heeled shoes ; and all with the round blue bonnet, then universally worn in the north of Scotland, while here and there an Irishman’s “caubeen” would give variety to the headgear.  There was something of the same feeJ ing that was exhibited when the Gordon Fencible Regimen was embodied in the preceding year.  The men who had come from Highland districts with a captain they knew and confided in, objected to be removed from his immediate command, and these officers had to explain the necessity of the flank companies being selected from the whole, promising still to look after their interests.[13]

When their Centenary was celebrated by the Gordon Highlanders in Glasgow in 1894, a newspaper much read in the Highlands commented upon the small number of Gordons among it members, and inferred that when raised the regiment was to a large extent composed of men of that name.  This is an entire mistake.  It was called the “Gordon Highlanders,” not because it was a regiment of Gordons, but because it was a regiment of Highlanders raised by the Duke of Gordon.  Among the non-commissioned officers and soldiers there were, in 1794, just twenty Gordons. [14] MacDonald was the name most largely represented in the ranks.  Cameron the next;[14] there were several Andersons and other similar cognomens, and the names of all the Highland Clans are to be found on the first muster-roll.

I have been unable to find any parade state or muster-roll during the few days the regiment remained in Aberdeen; but I counted the recruits of 1794 from the Description Roll, and I found that out of 749 whose places of birth or enlistment are given, 241 were from Inverness-shire, 92 from Aberdeenshire, 58 from Banffshire, 33 from Argyll, with considerable contingents from Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Moray, Nairn, Perth, and Stirling shires.  Kircardine, though now part of the new “territorial” district, produce only four men, while nearly every county in Scotland had one or two recruits to its credit.  There were 15 Englishmen, 1 Welshman, 45 from Ireland, 26 from Edinburgh, and 54 from Glasgow;[15] but many of those from the last two places appear from their names t have been Highlanders in search of employment, and a few of those from Ireland, bearing such names as M’MilIan, Grant, Balfour, may have really been from the Scottish Fencibles quartered there.  There were besides the above-mentioned recruits, 23 whose places of birth or enlistment are not given.  Their names are Cash, Cameron (2), Connacher, Connan, Christie, Campbell, Gordon (2), Grant (2), Gunn, Kenedy, Kincaid, M’Nicol, M’Kay, M’Arthur, Mackie, Mark, Munro, Murray—making altogether 772, which, if not absolutely correct, is as nearly so as possible.  Inverness-shire, therefore, can boast of having supplied nearly a third of the whole.

Indeed, the number of soldiers furnished by this county during 1793-4 seems perfectly wonderful; for not only did it supply nearly the whole of the “Gordon Fencibles,” a large number to the Cameron Highlanders, and nearly one-third of the Gordon Highlanders, but also the majority of the “Fraser Fencibles,” and a considerable part of the “Inverness Fencibles,” and of the 97^th or “Strathspey” Regiment, and, besides all these, gave recruits to the 42^nd and other regiments.  At the present day, though the county possesses one excellent and thoroughly Highland battalion of militia it gives but very few recruits to the army,[16] the reason for this falling

[15]

[16] off being not a diminished population,[17] but is to be looked for in the changed circumstances and ideas of the people.  General David Stewart, in his “Highlanders of Scotland” (which was written about 1820, while many of the original officers and soldiers were living, who was himself in garrison at Gibraltar along with the Gordons in 1796, and who had, therefore, good information), puts the proportion of Highlanders among the original recruits at three-fourths of the whole.  It is difficult from the Description Roll to decide exactly, because, though the place of birth is generally given, it seems to have been often taken for granted that the recruit was born where he was enlisted, especially in such towns as Glasgow or Edinburgh.  For instance, a man named Colin M’Kenzie is entered as a native of Minorca, Spain!  But I afterwards discovered him to be a transfer from a regiment quartered there.  A proportion of those enlisted in the south were, from their names, evidently Highlanders; while, as there was at that time no attraction for strangers in the Highlands, those enlisted there were no doubt natives.  Still, judging from the roll, I would put the proportion of Highlanders at rather less than three-fourths.

The first recruits of the Gordon Highlanders were not tall men on the average.  They were aged from eighteen to thirty-five years; but I find several younger, and one man of forty.

They were generally of respectable families[18] and excellent character.  General David Stewart describes them as “Moral, well-principled, and brave; they have never failed in any duty entrusted to them”—a character which, with rare exceptions, has always been kept up by their successors.  Many of them were the sons of those who had been out with Prince Charlie, and were filled with the traditions of that chivalrous period.  Most of them were unaccustomed to what would now be called ordinary comfort, much less to luxury, and were accordingly well fitted to bear the hardships of a European campaign.

The bounty[19] appears to have been three guineas to ordinary recruits, and five guineas to men who had served in Fencible Regiments.

The following is a list of the original officers who were, with [17] perhaps one exception, Scotsmen, the majority of them being Highlanders:

Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant
George, Marquis of Huntly, had served in the, 42^nd Royal Highlanders and 3^rd Guards in Flanders, and at the siege of Valenciennes; afterward general;
and colonel successively of the 92^nd, 42^nd, 1^st Royal Scots, and 3^rd Guards; died, 5th Duke of Gordon, 1836.

Majors
Charles Erskine of Cardross, had served in the 25th, 16th, and 77th Regiment in the war against Tippoo Sahib in India, and against the French Martinique;
killed in Egypt, 180l.
Donald MacDonald of Boisdale, had served in the 76th Regiment (or Mac Donald’s Highlanders) ; died 1795.

Captains
Alexander Napier of Blackstone, from lieutenant 7th Fusiliers; killed at Corunna, 1809.
John Cameron, son of Fassiefern, had been ensign in the 26th Regiment, and lieutenant in Captain Campbell of Ardchattan’s Independent Highland Company;
killed at Quatre-Bras, 1815.
Honourable John Ramsay, son of the Earl of Dalhousie, from lieutenant 57^th Regiment; died 1842, lieutenant-general, and colonel of the 79 Highlanders.
Andrew Paton, from lieutenant 10th Regiment; retired.
Alexander Gordon, son of Lord Rockville,[20] killed at Talavera, 1809, when lieutenant-colonel 83rd Regiment.
Simon MacDonald[21] of Morar, had served in the American War in MacDonald’s Highlanders (then the 76^th Regiment); retired as major, 92^nd.

Captain-Lieutenant [22]
John Gordon, came from 81^st Regiment; retired as major.

Lieutenants
Peter Grant, came from a Fusilier regiment; died at Keith, major half-pay, 1817.
Archibald MacDonell, Inch, Lochaber, came from 79th Highlanders; died in Lochaber, lieutenant-colonel of Veterans, 1813.
Alexander Stewart of Achnacone, afterwards in 67th Regiment and 95th Rifles; died in Appin, 1854, lieutenant-colonel.
[18] John MacLean of Dochgarroch, promoated from 1^st Royals, lieutenant-colonel 27^th Regiment, 1808; died, lieutenant-general, K.C.B., 1825.
Peter Gordon; died 1806.
Thomas Forbes, Newe; killed at Toulouse when lieutenant-colonel 45^th Regiment, 1814.
George Gordon (son of 4^th Duke of Gordon), came from 6^th Dragoons, retired colonel; died at Glentromie, Badenoch.

Ensigns
Charles Dowle; killed in Egypt, 1801.
George Davidson; killed at Quatre-Bras, when captain 42^nd, 1815.
Archibald MacDonald, Garvabeg, Badenoch, retired lieutenant; died in Canada.
Alexander Fraser; killed in Holland, 1799.
William Todd, son of the factor at Fochabers, retired.
James Mitchell, Auchindaul, Lochaber, lieutenant-colonel 92^nd Gordon Highlanders, C. B., retired 1819; died in Lochaber, 1847.

Chaplain
William Gordon.

Adjutant[23]
James Henderson, came from an Independent Company; died 1796.

Quartermaster
Peter Wilkie; died 1806.

Surgeon
William Findlay; died in Egypt, 1801.

N.B.—Several of the officers were not actually gazetted till later.

The men having received a few necessaries at Aberdeen, where they lived well, boarding out for two shillings or half a crown per week, the regiment marched on June 27^th to Fort-George, where it embarked on July 9^th, and landed at Southampton on the 16^th of August, after a voyage of five weeks!  Considerably longer than would be now occupied by a vouage to India.  Sergeant Nichol in his journal mentions that Lord Kintore and the Duke of Gordon entertained the regiment on the march to Fort-George.  It crossed the Spey on a raft at Fochabers and was reviewed at Nairn by Sir Robert Sinclair, Governor of the Fort, whose wife, Lady Madelina, Lord Huntly’s sister, was present in regimental bonnet, jacket and dirk.  She gave each man a present of money.  She and her sisters had helped in recruiting.  The regiment was eventually [19] encamped on Netley Common, and brigaded with the 78th, 90th and 97th Regiments.[24]  Here the men were instructed in the first principles of discipline and drill, and received their arms, clothing and appointments, which were as follows: They wore the full Highland dress or “breacan an-fhéilidh” that is, plaid and kilt in one, called in Regimental Orders “the belted plaid.”[25]  The officers had twelve yards, or rather six yards double-width, of Gordon tartan, but of rather a smaller sett than was afterwards used.  The rank and file had a smaller quantity.  The officers’ purse was badger-skin, having a silver rim round the top and six silver-mounted white tassels.[26]   The purses of the rank and file were of grey goat-skin, with six white tasse1s.[27]  The hose of al ranks were cut out of the strong red and white tartan cloth known in the Highlands as “cathdath” or “battle colour,” which worn by all Highland corps, and by the better class of civilians when in Highland dress.  The rosettes and garters were scarlet; the sash was crimson, and was worn over the left shoulder by both officers and sergeants.  The officers wore a gilt gorget.  All ranks had long hair, tied behind with a black ribbon, and powdered on Sundays and special occasions, and on guard.  Neither moustache nor whisker was worn.

The head-dress consisted of the round bonnet then commonly worn in Scotland, but cocked and ornamented with ostrich feathers, and having a diced border of red, white, and green, said to represent the “fess cheque” in the arms of the Stuart kings.  It had a hackle fastened over the left ear by a black cockade, with regimental button on it.  This hackle was white for the Grenadier Company, green [20] for the Light Company, and for the battalion companies the lower half was red and the upper white.

The jacket was scarlet for officers and sergeants, and red for the rank and file, with lapels turned back with yellow, showing the waistcoat, and laced two and two; lace silver with blue thread in the centre; silver or plated buttons, with the number of the regiment in the centre.  Epaulettes—two for all ranks of officers,[28] of silver bullion, having two stripes of yellow silk in the centre of the strap, with a gold-embroidered thistle and a binding of blue round the edge.  The n.c. officers and men had white tufts for battalion companies and wings for flank companies.  The officers’ waistcoat was scarlet, laced with silver, the n.c. officers’ and men’s white, these being the origin of the mess-waistcoat and white jacket worn now by officers and men respectively.[29]

The officers were armed with the Highland claymore, worn at the back, in a buff belt, fastened by an oval breast-plate of silver, having a crown and thistle, surrounded by the words “Gordon Highlanders”; they had also a silver-mounted dirk.  The sergeants with claymore and pike.  The rank and file carried flint-lock muskets, the barrels brightly polished, and bayonets.  All musicians were armed with the claymore.  The knapsacks were of goat-skin.

Perhaps some extracts from Garrison and Regimental Orders may show better than words of mine the condition and development of the corps.

The first Regimental Orders I find are dated August 17th, 1794.  They are about a captain and subaltern of the day being appointed in future, and as to their duties, and that each officer is to supply himself with a book, in which he is to insert in his own handwriting all Regimental Orders, and so not plead the neglect of the orderly sergeant for being ignorant of them.  These books to be inspected by the commanding officer every Sunday.

The men to dine at one o’clock, till the regiment gets into a regular way of messing.  An officer of a company to attend to see the dinners are well cooked.  Lord Huntly is sorry that the present undisciplined state of the regiment makes it necessary for him to order the officers to attend strictly to everything concerning their companies, but hopes that by their own attention he will soon be able to relieve them of a great part of their trouble.

[21] Minute directions as to telling off and sizing a company[30] “as some officers may be unacquainted with the method of sizing them.”

Officers commanding companies to let the quartermaster know how much hose tartan they require to complete every man to three pairs.

At this time they were numbered the Hundredth Regiment.  The title “Gordon Highlanders” was continued along with the number in all Regimental Orders and Returns, but in Horse Guard or General Orders and in the Army List it was not used—simply 100^th Regiment.  The first use of the number was in G.O., August 20th, 1794—”The 100^th Regiment gives the guards and orderlies to-morrow.”  No doubt a certain number of n.c. officers and men who had served before were capable of this duty.

All the officers were drilled every day by the adjutant, and the recommended to get some person to instruct them in marching and giving the word of command.

A sickness among the men is attributed to want of salt, and “companies that have already cleared with the paymaster are to supply themselves with that article,” while officers of companies in a less solvent position are to advance 6d. each to their men, which they will stop when their settlement takes place.

Orders as to squad drills and sergeants’ duties explained.

The cost of the men’s rations was—meat (3/4 lb.), 1/9 a week; bread, 8 1/2d; meal or vegetables, 4d.; and 8 1/2d. for for washing, hair-powder, etc.

G.O. August 23^rd, 1794.—”Officers commanding corps will see that divine worship is not omitted to-morrow.  Infantry to wear powder on Sundays.  Recruits unclothed not excepted.”

R.O. of same date, as to officers being properly dressed by the 31^st, and their “hair cut agreeable to Lord Huntly’s order.”  Officers commanding companies to supply immediately men that want them with regimental kilt and hose.  “Those who have at present breeches or trousers to be first provided.”—evidently most of the men had their own kilts.

At this time the first court-martial sat, a Sergeant Munro being reduced to the rank and pay of a private sentinel.

On the 24th they were supplied with “nabsacks” (sic) and leather stocks.  “No velvet stocks nor any that are tied in front are to be allowed.”

They had “small horses” placed by commanders of companies for the men to dry their belts on, “and they are not to hang belts on the horses for the arms.”

There seems to have been great difficulty in enforcing cleanliness [22] in the camp.  By the Orders of the 25th August, it appears there were married men enlisted, and the ladies seem to have required instruction as much as their lords.

At this time, while Lord Hunt1y was in London, an evil-disposed person made the men believe that he had sold the regiment to the East India Company.  The Highlanders assembled apart from the officers, and some proposed marching to Scotland, as the 42^nd had tried to do fifty years before under somewhat similar circumstances.  On Hunt1y’s return, however, they were at once reassured and returned to their duty.  In Orders of September 3rd he refers to this “misunderstanding” and offers a reward of twenty guineas to any man, soldier or civilian, who can discover the giver of the bad advice which occasioned it.