Bydand Forever

News & Info

Feature of the Quarter

Photo Gallery

Our Favorite
Web Sites

The Market

What does 'Bydand' mean?

The Gallimaufry

The Gordon Highlanders

Comments Page

Though the 92nd did not fight at the chateau Hougoumount, the courtyard of which is pictured here, its importance cannot be overlooked.  In trying to pull resources from the British centre, Napoleon ultimately succeded only in entangling himself in a quagmire that sapped his own strength.

Chapter Twenty-Five

When we left our heroes at the end of chapter 24, The Little Corporal, Napoleon Bonaparte, had been compelled to retire from the field at Waterloo (18 June 1815) thanks in no small part to the 92nd.

Having passed through the crucible of Waterloo, the time came to clear the field and the morning of the 19th was spent helping the wounded to roadsides where wagons would collect them to be taken to field hospitals.  The 92nd was ordered from the field to advance toward Nivelles, where the Duke of Wellington met and thanked them.  On 24th June a Court of Inquiry was held to determine why several men had been absent from Quatre Bras and Waterloo (these turned out to have been either left at Brussels or had been wounded and left the field), and why some of the bandsmen had lost their instruments.  The battalion carried on the advance and was at St Denis (near Paris) on 4 July when hostilities formally ended.  In recognition of their participation in the key engagements of the campaign, the 92nd was permitted 'Waterloo' on their Colours, and for the first time a commemorative silver medal was struck and issued to all ranks.  On 7 July, the 92nd paraded through Paris as Louis XVIII was reinstated to the throne; the battalion camped at Clichy where they received new knapsacks and other kit, and uniforms were mended.  Napoleon had hoped to escape to America, but British cruisers had him cornered and he finally surrendered himself to Captain Maitland (HMS Bellerophon); he was sent to Plymouth and eventually to exile on St Helena.

Since the battalion had the opportunity to reorganise itself, a regimental order of 18 July called for officers to wear a black crape on their left arm in respect for their departed commander, Fassifern.  The Russian czar arrived in Paris not long afterwards, and, having seen Highland battalions parading through town, asked to see a sergeant piper and a private from each of the 42nd, 79th, and 92nd.  He closely inspected the men (to the point of checking Sgt Campbell (79th) to determine in any undergarments were worn under the kilt!),  and had them perform drill exercises.  The pipers played 'Cogadh na Sith' (War or Peace, a common duty tune at the time).  The transition from hard campaigning to parade square and public performances was not easy and due attention had to be given to the battalion's appearance.  On 22 September, there was a grand review of British and Hanoverian troops during which the Duke of Wellington received the Austrian and Russian emperors as well as the King of Prussia.  There are signs from Brigade and Division orders that discipline was not perhaps what one could have hoped for, but very few such difficulties within the Highland regiments.  An anonymous benefactor donated a pair of shoes for each man in the battalion.  At the end of October, the 92nd moved to St Germains, the town in which James VII and II had died.  The men were mistaken in understanding that it was where Charles Edward Stuart breathed his last, and became the scene of emotional outpourings despite the fact that they were bearing arms on behalf of George III.  Over the next two months, the battalion made its way slowly to Calais.  The town governor refused entry, demanding that companies march through with 100 yards between each with no music, the Colours cased, and weapons at the reverse.  This demand was rejected with a rather unsubtle threat to open the gates within a quarter hour.  The threat was not lost on the governor, and the battalion marched through bayonets fixed, Colours flying, and the band playing 'Downfall of Paris.' [Note: Bayonets fixed, drums beating, and Colours flying are the symbols of a regiment that has the Freedom of a particular city.]  The 92nd arrived at Ramsgate on 19 December.  Orders were issued to ensure that the men were well fed on Christmas Day 1815.

New clothing was issued out in February 1816 as the regiment marched northwards.  In April, new orders were received that muskets, which had been kept brightly polished, were to be henceforth browned.  In mid-August, the regiment had progressed as far as Edinburgh where it was very warmly received.  Perhaps not unusually, discipline became something of an issue for Colonel Mitchell (who had assumed command after Colonel Cameron's death).  The author here inserts a number of personal remembrances, stories, and recollections from men who were serving the battalion throughout the Peninsular War.  He concludes the chapter discussing the uniform worn throughout the campaigns, underscoring the fact the the men marched and fought in Highland attire.  He describes the tunic as being 'brick red' in colour rather than the scarlet that most associate with British regiments.

This concludes the first volume of The Life of a Regiment

Appendices

The last pages of Volume One, as with Volume Two, are given over to various additional information that would have been too cumbersome to include in the main narrative.  These records include various returns, action reports, and poetry (typically in Gaelic with English translations).