OF THE
SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT;
OR THE
DUKE OF ALBANY’S OWN HIGHLANDERS.
ORIGINALLY NUMBERED AS THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH HIGHLAND
REGIMENT ON ITS FORMATION IN 1778,
AND AFTERWARDS NUMBERED THE SEVENTY-SECOND
HIGHLAND REGIMENT IN 1786.
The Highlanders of Scotland have long been celebrated for the possession of every military virtue, and the services of the warlike natives of North Britain have been consequently sought by foreign potentates on many and important occasions, when the less martial spirit of the people of other states would not enable them to contend against their oppressors. The achievements of the Scots regiments, which fought in the armies of France and Sweden, and of the celebrated Scots Brigade in the service of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, are recorded in the military histories of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and the annals of the last hundred years abound in instances in which the Scots troops in the British army have displayed, in every quarter of the globe, the qualities of intrepidity, valour, and temperance, which adorn the national character of the natives of North Britain. The Seventy-second regiment, or The Duke of Albany’s own Highlanders, is one of the corps which has performed valuable services to the crown and kingdom; its formation took place in 1778, under the following circumstances:—
William, fifth Earl of Seaforth, having engaged in the rebellion of 1715, was afterwards included in the acts of attainder, and forfeited his title and estate. His eldest son, however, became a zealous advocate for the Protestant succession, and supported the government during the rebellion in 1745; his grandson, Kenneth Mackenzie, was permitted to re-purchase the estate from the Crown,—and was created an Irish peer, in 1766, by the title of Baron Ardeloe, in the county of Wicklow, and Viscount Fortrose, in Scotland,—and in 1771, he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Seaforth, which had been long enjoyed by his ancestors. The American war commenced in 1775, and the Earl of Seaforth, in gratitude for the favours he had received, made an offer to His Majesty, to raise a regiment of foot on his estate, which, in former times, had been able to furnish a thousand men in arms. This offer was accepted in December, 1777; the Earl of Seaforth received a letter of service to raise a regiment of foot, of which he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, and in January, 1778, the following officers received commissions:—
Lieut.-Col. Commandant, Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth.
Major, James Stuart, (from Capt. 64th Regt.).
Captains.
Captain Lieutenant, Thomas Frazer.
Lieutenants.
Ensigns.
Staff.
The establishment was to consist of fifty serjeants, two pipers, twenty drummers and fifers, and a thousand and ten rank and file.
The men were principally raised from the clan of “Caber Fey,” as the Mackenzies were called from the stag’s horns on the armorial bearings of Seaforth. Five hundred men were from the Earl of Seaforth’s own estates, and about four hundred from the estates of the Mackenzies of Scatwell, Kilcoy, Applecross, and Redcastle, all of whom had sons or brothers holding commissions in the regiment: the officers from the Lowlands brought upwards of two hundred, of whom seventy-four were English and Irish. The clan Macrae had long been faithful followers of the Seaforth family, and on this occasion the name was so general in the regiment, that it was frequently designated the regiment of “the Macraes.”
On the 15th of May the Earl of Seaforth’s regiment assembled at Elgin, in Moray, amounting to one thousand and forty-one rank and file; it was inspected by Major-General Robert Skene, adjutant-general in North Britain, and the men were found so remarkably effective and fit for His Majesty’s service, that nearly every one was accepted: the corps was placed on the establishment of the regular army under the designation of “Seaforth’s Highlanders;” the supernumerary men were formed into a recruiting company, and the regiment received orders to march southward, for the purpose of embarking for the East Indies. It soon afterwards obtained the numerical title of the “Seventy-eighth Regiment.”
Towards the end of July, the regiment was ordered to Edinburgh Castle; and on its arrival there, the men began to show symptoms of dissatisfaction; the result of investigation proved that some of them had not received their bounty, and that others had contrived to obtain it twice, which was the more easily accomplished in consequence of so many men being of the same name. Full attention being paid to their claims, they embarked at Leith shortly afterwards, with much cheerfulness, being highly gratified in consequence of their commander, the Earl of Seaforth, being about to accompany them on service.
The departure of the regiment was however delayed. The king of France had taken part with the revolted British provinces in North America, and had commenced hostilities against Great Britain; when the French settlements in Bengal were seized by detachments of troops from Calcutta, and Pondicherry was besieged and captured with so little loss, that it did not appear necessary to send additional troops to India at that time. The regiment was ordered to Jersey and Guernsey, where it arrived towards the end of November, five companies being stationed at each island.
On the 1st of May, 1779, a French naval force approached the island of Jersey, and made preparations for landing a body of troops in St. Owen’s bay; when the five companies of Seaforth’s regiment, with some of the militia of the island, hastened to the spot, dragging some artillery with them through the heavy sands, and opened so well-directed a fire, that the French soldiers returned to their ships, and quitted the coast, followed by several British vessels of war, which inflicted a severe loss on the enemy. The defeat of the enemy’s designs on this occasion was in a great measure owing to the zeal and efforts of Major Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston of Seaforth’s regiment, who had been promoted from captain to second major, on the 22nd of March, 1779.
The regiment remained at Jersey and Guernsey during 1780, and the early part of the following year, in which time, circumstances had occurred in India, which occasioned its removal to that part of the British dominions.
Hyder Ali, a soldier of fortune, had risen to the chief command of the army of the ruler of Mysore, and when the rajah died, leaving his eldest son a minor, the commander-in-chief assumed the title of guardian of the young prince, whom he placed under restraint, and seized on the reins of government. Having a considerable territory under his control, he maintained a formidable military establishment, which he endeavoured to bring into a high state of discipline and efficiency, and he proved a man possessed of activity, courage, and talent. He soon evinced decided hostility to the British interests in India, and formed a league with the French. Hostilities had also commenced between Great Britain and Holland, and the British troops were employed in dispossessing the Dutch of their settlements in Bengal, and on the coast of Coromandel. Thus three powers were opposed to the British interests in India, and Seaforth’s Highlanders were ordered to reinforce the British army in that country.
Towards the end of April, 1781, the regiment was removed from Jersey and Guernsey, to Portsmouth, where it embarked on the 1st of June, for the East Indies, mustering nine-hundred and seventy-five rank and file, all in excellent health.
During the passage the Earl of Seaforth died suddenly in August, and was succeeded in the commission of lieut.-colonel commandant, by Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston, from lieut.-colonel commandant of the one hundredth regiment, by commission dated the 13th of February, 1782.
At that period the passage to India occupied about ten months; the accommodation in the ships was very limited, and the provision issued to the troops not of good quality; this was attended with serious results, and the regiment lost two hundred and forty-seven men, of scurvy and other diseases, during the passage to India; which is now frequently performed in less than half the time, and under superior regulations, without the loss of a man.
On arriving at Madras in the beginning of April, 1782, the regiment only mustered three hundred and sixty-nine men fit for duty; the pressure of the service did not, however, admit of delay, and all who were able to march, advanced up the country under the command of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart, and joined the army commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., at Chincleput, a town and fortress on the north-east bank of the Palar river, thirty miles from Madras. Chincleput served as a place of arms, and a refuge for the natives, during the war with Hyder Ali. The soldiers of the regiment suffered from having been so long on salt provision; they were also sinewy and robust men, and were more susceptible of the sun’s violence than men of slender habits. Sir Eyre Coote ordered them into quarters, leaving the few, who were healthy, attached to Mc Leod’s Highlanders (now seventy-first regiment) the only European corps then with the army. The men gradually recovered, and in October six hundred rank and file were fit for duty; their constitutions became accustomed to the climate, and their health and efficiency were afterwards preserved under fatigues and privations calculated to exhaust the physical powers of Europeans when endured under an Indian sun.
Six hundred gallant Highlanders appeared in the field, arrayed under the colours of the regiment, to engage in Indian warfare, and on the 10th of April, 1783, when they joined the army assembling under Major-General Stuart, their appearance excited great interest. This force consisted of the seventy-third, and SEVENTY-EIGHTH Highlanders, the hundred and first regiment, a considerable body of native troops and a detachment of Hanoverians, under Colonel Wangenheim; it was destined for the attack of the fortress of Cudalore in the Carnatic, situate on the western shore of the bay of Bengal, which had been taken by the French in 1782. On the 6th of June, 1783, the army took up a position two miles from the town, having its right on the sea, and its left on the Bandipollum hills; the enemy under General Bussy occupied a position half a mile in front of the fort.
On the 13th of June a general attack was made on the French line, on which occasion the gallant bearing of the Highlanders was conspicuous, and the ardour and intrepidity they evinced, gave presage of that renown which the two corps (now seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND) afterwards acquired. The action commenced about four o’clock in the morning, and was continued until near two in the afternoon, during which time the French were driven from the principal defences on their right. Major-General Stuart designed to renew the attack on the following morning; but the French retreated into the fortress during the night.
The regiment had Captain George Mackenzie and nine rank and file killed; Lieutenants Patrick Grant and Malcomb Mc Pherson, two serjeants, and twenty-eight rank and file wounded; two men missing.
Major-General Stuart stated in his public despatch—“Nothing, I believe, in history, ever exceeded the heroism and coolness of this army in general, which was visible to every one, for the action lasted from four in the morning to two in the afternoon.” The Major-General also stated in Orders:—“The Commander-in-chief, having taken time minutely to investigate the conduct and execution of the orders and plan in attacking the enemy’s posts, lines, and redoubts, on the 13th instant, with the comparative strength in numbers and position of the enemy, composed almost entirely of the best regular troops of France, takes this occasion to give it as his opinion to this brave army in general, that it is not to be equalled by anything he knows, or has heard of, in modern history.” The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart of the regiment was commended in the Major-General’s despatch and in Orders.
On the morning of the 25th of June the French made a sally from the fortress; but were repulsed with severe loss; Colonel the Chevalier de Damas was among the prisoners taken on this occasion.[8]
The siege of Cudalore was soon afterwards terminated by the arrival of news from Europe of a treaty of peace having been concluded between England and France.
In the meantime Hyder Ali had died, in December, 1782, and was succeeded, in the government of the Mysore, by his son, Tippoo Saib; who, being deprived of his French allies by the peace, entered into negociations for terminating the war between Mysore and the British, and an armistice took place.
Colonel Humberston was wounded in an action at sea, on the coast of India, and died, in his twenty-eighth year, universally lamented, as a young man of superior accomplishments, and of great promise in his profession. He was succeeded, as lieut.-colonel commandant of the regiment, by Major-General James Murray, by commission dated the 1st of November, 1783.
The regiment was detached from Cudalore, with other troops amounting to about fifteen thousand men, under the command of Colonel Fullerton, and, marching southward, was employed in reducing to obedience several refractory chiefs. The colonel afterwards purposed penetrating the country of Mysore, and advancing upon Seringapatam; but he halted during the armistice with Tippoo Saib. Negociations for peace having been broken off, and hostilities resumed, Colonel Fullerton pursued his original design of penetrating into the Mysore, and he resolved to take the fortress of Palacatcherry, which commanded a pass between the coasts, and secured a communication with a great extent of fertile country. This place he designed to occupy as an intermediate magazine, and a stronghold upon which to retreat in case of a repulse. During the march the army encountered much difficulty from woods and heavy rains, and a detachment under Captain Hon. Thomas Maitland of the SEVENTY-EIGHTH (now SEVENTY-SECOND) Highlanders performed valuable service by acting on the flanks, and preserving a communication through thick woods and a broken country. After taking several small forts, the army arrived, on the 4th of November, before Palacatcherry, and on the 13th two batteries opened their fire against the works. At night a heavy storm of wind and rain occasioned the Mysoreans to take shelter, and leave the covered way exposed, when Captain Hon. Thomas Maitland of the regiment dashed forward with his flanking corps, surprised and overpowered the Mysoreans, who fled into the fortress, leaving the first gateway open. Captain Maitland pursued, but was stopped at the second gateway; but he defended the post he had captured until additional troops arrived; and the garrison, becoming alarmed at the apprehension of a general assault, surrendered a fortress capable of a long defence under more resolute troops.
After this success the army marched to Coimbetore, where it arrived on the 26th of November, and the garrison surrendered before a breach was made. Preparations were then commenced for further conquests, and the capture of Seringapatam, with the subversion of Tippoo’s power, was in full view; but at the moment when arrangements were made for an advance, the commissioners appointed to treat with Tippoo, sent orders for a retrograde movement.
Peace was concluded with the ruler of the Mysore in March, 1784. Seaforth’s Highlanders having been raised on condition of serving three years, or during the war, four hundred and twenty-five men claimed their discharge at the peace, and returned to Scotland; the remainder volunteered to remain in India, receiving a bounty of ten guineas; the regiment received many volunteers from the ninety-eighth, one hundredth, and one hundred and second foot, which corps were ordered to return to England for reduction (among whom was a considerable number of Highlanders who had enlisted into the hundredth regiment with Colonel Humberston), and the effective strength was seven hundred men; which was augmented, in 1785, by volunteers from different corps, and by recruits from Scotland, to nearly eleven hundred non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
Many senior corps having been disbanded, the regiment was numbered, in 1786, the SEVENTY-SECOND foot; at the same time the commission of lieut.-colonel commandant was changed to that of colonel; and in December, 1787, the establishment was fixed at forty-four officers, and eight hundred and four non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Success continued to attend the recruiting of the regiment, and the arrival of strong healthy young men from Scotland, preserved it in a high state of efficiency, and its discipline and moral conduct were particularly exemplary.
The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Sultan, the powerful ruler of the Mysore, soon involved the British government in India in another war; he appeared near the confines of the country of Travancore, at the head of a powerful army, made unreasonable demands on the rajah, a British ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of December, 1789.
The SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, mustering nearly a thousand officers and soldiers, healthy and acclimated, pitched their tents on the plain of Trichinopoly, where an army was assembled, in the early part of 1790, to exact full reparation of Tippoo Sultan for his wanton and unprovoked violation of treaty in attacking the rajah of Travancore. Major-General Medows assumed the command, and the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded by Captain Frazer, with the seventy-first, and first East India Company’s European battalion, formed the second European brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel Clarke; Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the SEVENTY-SECOND commanded the left wing of the army.
Advancing from Trichinopoly plain, on the 26th of May, and penetrating the country of the enemy, the army arrived, on the 15th of June, at the fort of Caroor, where the troops encamped eighteen days, while provisions were being collected, and a magazine formed. Leaving this place on the 3rd of July, the army marched to Daraporam, which was abandoned by the enemy; a garrison was left at this place, and the army marched through a beautiful country in a high state of cultivation, to the city of Coimbetore, which was found evacuated, and some valuable stores left behind by the enemy. On the 23rd of July, Lieut.-Colonel Stuart was detached, with the fourth brigade of native infantry, a number of pioneers, &c. against Palacatcherry, leaving the SEVENTY-SECOND at the camp at Coimbetore; he was impeded by heavy rains, and, his force proving insufficient for the capture of the place, he rejoined the army. He was afterwards detached, with another body of troops, against Dindigal, a strong fortress on a rock, which surrendered on the 22nd of August. He was subsequently directed to proceed a second time against Palacatcherry; and the flank companies of the seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments were ordered to traverse the country and take part in the siege, when Captain Frazer of the SEVENTY-SECOND resigned the command of the regiment, for that of the flank companies detached on this service.[9] These companies left Coimbetore on the 6th of September, were joined by Lieut.-Colonel Stuart’s division, at Podoor,[10] on the following day, and arrived on the 10th, before the fortress of Palacatcherry, which had been strengthened and improved since its capture in 1783: the siege was immediately commenced. The regiment remained at Coimbetore.
At that time the army was separated in three divisions;—one at Coimbetore, one at Sattimungal, sixty miles in advance, and one besieging Palacatcherry, thirty miles in the rear; and Tippoo resolved to attack, and if possible destroy, the division in advance before the main body could arrive to its support; but its commander, Colonel Floyd, fell back and took up his positions in retreat, with so much ability, that the Sultan failed in his object. The SEVENTY-SECOND, and other corps, advanced from Coimbetore to support Colonel Floyd’s division, and a junction was formed at Velladi, on the 15th of September, when Tippoo retired. On that day the flank companies, commanded by Captain Frazer, were suddenly ordered to make a forced march to Coimbetore: if the enemy had taken the place, to endeavour to re-capture it by surprise; if it was invested, to force their way into it, and to defend it to the last extremity. The march was commenced at four o’clock in the afternoon, and the flank companies arrived at the gates of Coimbetore at half past two o’clock on the following morning; the enemy had not approached the place, and the companies took possession of the fort, Captain Frazer assuming the command of all the troops at that place.
The army returned to Coimbetore on the 23rd of September, when the flank companies rejoined the regiment; and Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, having captured and garrisoned Palacatcherry, arrived on the 26th of that month.
Disappointed in his object of destroying the divisions of the British army in detail, the Sultan resolved to attack the chain of depôts; he gained possession of Erroad, and the stores at that place, and afterwards marched southwards. The English army advanced from Coimbetore on the 29th of September, and, arriving at Erroad on the 4th of October, found the place abandoned, and Tippoo’s army gone. He had marched in the direction of Coimbetore, but, hearing that the garrison was augmented, he advanced rapidly upon Daraporam, of which he gained possession on the 2nd of October.
The British army marched in search of the Sultan, traversing extensive tracts of country, and undergoing much fatigue under an Indian sun. In these services the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders preserved a high state of discipline and efficiency. Lieut. Campbell of the regiment stated in his journal, “We perform our journeys with ease and comfort; marching is become familiar and agreeable to us.” In the middle of November the army traversed the difficult pass of Tapoor, winding through deep valleys, and dragging the guns over precipices. On emerging from the pass, Tippoo’s camp was seen at a distance; it was supposed to be that of the Bengal division, under Colonel Maxwell, and three guns were fired as a signal, when the Sultan struck his tents and made a precipitate retreat. Colonel Maxwell’s division joined two days afterwards, and the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and seventy-fourth regiments were formed in brigade under Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, with six twelve-pounder and six six-pounder guns attached to them.
The Sultan resolved to leave the British army in his own country, and to invade the Carnatic, which would bring the English back for the defence of Trichinopoly. Major-General Medows was about to carry offensive plans into execution, when the movements of Tippoo rendered it necessary to return to the Carnatic, and the army arrived at the vicinity of Trichinopoly in the middle of December. The Sultan’s success was limited to devastations and the capture of a few posts; he was pursued as far as Trincomalee; the British army afterwards turned off to Arnee, where the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment arrived on the 12th January, 1791, and was encamped several days.
General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., assumed the command of the army, and some alteration was made in the disposition of the troops; the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders, commanded by Captain Frazer, continued to form, with the seventy-first and seventy-fourth regiments, the second European brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, in the left wing of the army: Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, of the SEVENTY-SECOND, commanded the right wing. The army advanced to Vellore, where it arrived on the 11th of February, 1791. Tippoo was ready to oppose any attempt to penetrate into the country under his dominion by the easiest passes; but Earl Cornwallis contrived the appearance of a march towards Amboor, which completely imposed upon the Sultan, and then turning suddenly to the north, traversed the difficult pass of Mooglee, without the enemy having power to offer the least obstruction, and arrived on the 20th of February on the table-land of the Mysore. On the 22nd of February the troops commenced their march towards the strong fortress of Bangalore, where Tippoo had built a splendid palace, with extensive gardens; and the safety of his harem, &c., so engrossed his attention, that he marched with his army to accomplish the removal of his women and valuables from the palace, and left the English at liberty to continue their march unmolested, until they arrived within ten miles of the town. He made an attempt on the baggage on the 5th of March, but was frustrated, on which occasion the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had a few men wounded: in the evening the army took up a position before the town.
On the 7th of March the pettah was stormed by the thirty-sixth regiment, supported by the third brigade of sepoys; and the siege of Bangalore was immediately commenced. During the night, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were posted under the outer pettah wall, close to the gate. “The enemy kept up a sharp fire; their shots, which were many of them thirty-two pounders, came very close to the regiment, making a great rattling in the trees and bamboo hedge, near the line; but no casualties occurred.”[11]
On the evening of the 10th of March, the regiment was on duty in the trenches, the grenadier company taking the advance post, and many of the men of the other companies working at the batteries; it was relieved on the evening of the 12th.
During the night of the 15th of March, the troops were ordered under arms, in consequence of circumstances indicating the approach of Tippoo’s army; a flight of rockets came into the camp, and the grenadiers of the SEVENTY-SECOND rushed towards the spot from whence the rockets came; but the Mysoreans fled without waiting the attack. At five o’clock on the following evening the regiment marched into the pettah, and relieved the thirty-sixth on duty in the trenches. Soon after midnight a crowd of Mysorean musketeers entered the thick jungle near the pettah, and commenced a sharp fire; the SEVENTY-SECOND formed behind a mud wall expecting their post to be stormed every moment by thousands of enemies, whom they were prepared to receive with fixed bayonets: but the Mysoreans did not venture on so desperate an enterprise; many of the soldiers’ bayonets were hit by bullets, but not one man injured. On the evening of the 18th the regiment was relieved and returned to camp.
At four o’clock on the afternoon of the 20th of March six companies of the regiment marched into the trenches; and on the evening of the following day the regiment was ordered to prepare to take part in storming the fortress; the grenadier company was to join the storming party appointed to advance by the left approach; the light company that by the right approach, and the battalion companies were formed on the right of the parallel, to support the grenadiers: three of the SEVENTY-SECOND grenadiers joined the forlorn hope under Serjeant Williams of the seventy-sixth regiment. Lieutenant Campbell of the regiment states in his Journal,—“The storming party primed and loaded, and sat down on their arms; our batteries, both gun and mortar, kept firing frequently during the evening. At a quarter before eleven we got into motion; an opening was made in the centre of the second parallel; the signal for storming was given (three guns in quick succession), and out we rushed. The covered way instantly appeared as a sheet of fire, seconded from the fort, but with no aim or effect; our batteries answered with blank cartridge; and we were in the covered way in a moment, and on the breach as quick as thought. I pushed on, carried forward by a powerful impulse, and found myself at the top of the breach with the front files. The grenadiers immediately turned off to the right with a huzza; their progress was suddenly stopped by an opening; the fort was hung with blue lights, a heavy fire was opened upon us, but with little effect: the difficulty was overcome, and our troops ascended the ladders with every possible expedition. The grandest, and most striking sight I ever beheld, was the rushing up of the troops to the top of the breach, and the ascent of the grenadiers in crowds by the scaling-ladders. We now heard the grenadiers’ march beating in every quarter; our soldiers shouted with joy, and we swept round the ramparts with scarce anything to oppose us: every enemy that appeared had a bayonet in him instantly; the regiments that supported us came in by the gateway, and cleared the town below, where numbers were killed; in two hours we were in thorough possession of the fort, and Lieutenant Duncan, of the seventy-first regiment, pulled down the flag and put his own sash in its place. The union-flag was afterwards hoisted, and the troops gave three cheers.” Very extensive stores were found in the place, particularly of ammunition. The kiledar, or governor, was killed while fighting with three grenadiers; he was dressed in a white gown, over which he wore a jacket of quilted purple satin.
The regiment had six rank and file killed; one serjeant and twenty-three rank and file wounded, on this occasion.
In the Orders issued on the following day, it was stated—“Lord Cornwallis feels the most sensible gratification in congratulating the officers and soldiers of the army on the honorable issue of the fatigues and dangers they have undergone during the late arduous siege. Their alacrity and firmness in the execution of their various duties has, perhaps, never been exceeded, and he shall not only think it incumbent on him to represent their meritorious conduct in the strongest colours, but he shall ever remember it with the sincerest esteem and admiration.
“The conduct of all the regiments, which happened, in their tour, to be on duty that evening, did credit in every respect to their spirit and discipline; but his Lordship desires to offer the tribute of his particular and warmest praise to the European grenadiers and light infantry of the army, and to the thirty-sixth, SEVENTY-SECOND, and seventy-sixth regiments, who led the attack and carried the fortress, and who, by their behaviour on that occasion, furnished a conspicuous proof, that discipline and valour in soldiers, when directed by zeal and capacity in officers, are irresistible.
“Lieut.-colonel Stuart (SEVENTY-SECOND regiment) maybe assured that Lord Cornwallis will ever retain the most grateful remembrance of the valuable and steady support which that officer afforded him, by his military experience and constant exertions to promote the public service.”
After the capture of the fort, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were posted at the breach; they were relieved on the morning of the 23rd of March, by the fifty-second regiment, and returned to the camp.
On the 28th of March, the army quitted Bangalore, to join the forces of the Nizam, sent to co-operate with the English in this war; and, as the troops approached the ground they purposed encamping upon after the first march, they saw the forces of Tippoo striking their tents, and commencing a precipitate retreat; when the seventy-first, SEVENTY-SECOND, and seventy-fourth regiments formed line, and advanced, supported by the native infantry of the first line, but were unable to come up with the enemy. “The nature of the country at this place, which presents continual ridges at almost equal distances, made the pursuit particularly interesting; for every new view we gained of the enemy, enlivened the soldiers afresh, and occasioned them to push on with infinite eagerness and ardour.”[12] A fine new brass nine-pounder gun was captured, with a great quantity of cattle and forage; but the Sultan’s army could not be overtaken.
The Nizam’s troops joined on the 13th of April, amounting to about fifteen thousand horsemen, some of them, from Affghanistan, being celebrated for valour. The army afterwards returned to Bangalore, where preparations were made for the siege of Seringapatam, and the army advanced upon the capital of the Mysore, on the 4th of May. The troops marched through a difficult country destitute of forage, and the cattle employed in conveying stores and baggage died in great numbers; provision for the troops also became scarce.
As the army approached Seringapatam, the Sultan resolved to hazard an engagement, and his formidable position was attacked on the 15th of May, when the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had another opportunity of distinguishing themselves. The Mysoreans stood the fire of artillery with steadiness, and kept up a cannonade with much effect, but the instant an attempt was made to charge them with bayonets, they made a precipitate retreat. They were driven from every post; and towards the close of the action the SEVENTY-SECOND ascended an eminence and captured a round redoubt. The army was thanked in Orders for its gallant conduct. The regiment had about twenty men killed and wounded: Captain Braithwaite and Lieutenant Whitlie wounded.
On the following day, some sharp firing was heard at the advance-posts, when Major Frazer obtained permission to proceed to their support with the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders; he afterwards sent the adjutant to Earl Cornwallis to request his Lordship’s authority to storm a fortified pagoda, but permission was not granted. On the 18th of May, when the army moved towards the fords of the river, Major Frazer obtained the post of honour for the regiment, in covering the rear, expecting Tippoo would hazard an attack, but no such event occurred.
When the army had arrived at the extreme point of its operations, it had sustained the loss of nearly all its cattle from the want of forage; the supply of provisions for the men was nearly exhausted; the camp-followers were without food, and the rainy season had set in earlier than had been expected. Under these circumstances further success was become impracticable; the battering train and stores were destroyed, and on the 26th of May the troops commenced their march back towards Bangalore. Before commencing the retreat, the soldiers were thanked in Orders for their conduct throughout these services, and it was added,—“So long as there were any hopes of reducing Seringapatam before the commencement of the heavy rains, the Commander-in-chief thought himself happy in availing himself of their willing services; but the unexpected bad weather, for some time experienced, having rendered the attack of the enemy’s capital impracticable, until the conclusion of the ensuing monsoons, Lord Cornwallis thought he should make an ill return for the zeal and alacrity exhibited by the soldiers, if he desired them to draw the guns and stores back to a magazine, where there remains an ample supply of both, which was captured by their valour; he did not, therefore, hesitate to order the guns and stores which were not wanted for field service to be destroyed.”
The army retreated to the vicinity of Bangalore, being joined by the Mahratta forces on the march; and detachments were afterwards sent out to reduce several strong hill-forts, which were very numerous.
On the morning of the 9th of December, the fifty-second and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments, with the fourteenth and twenty-sixth Bengal sepoys, were detached, under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart of the SEVENTY-SECOND, against the fortress of Savendroog, situate on the side of a mountain, environed by almost inaccessible rocks;[13] the troops arrived before the place on the 10th, and during the night the grenadiers of the fifty-second and SEVENTY-SECOND, with a battalion company from each regiment, supported by the twenty-sixth sepoys, climbed a steep hill; traversed sheets of rock; descended into a valley by a path so rugged and steep that the soldiers let themselves down in many places by the branches of trees growing on the side of the rock; traversed the valley; ascended a rock nearly three hundred feet high, crawling on their hands and feet, and helping themselves up by tufts of grass, until they attained the summit, where they established themselves on a spot which overlooked the whole of the fortress, about three hundred yards from the wall. The batteries were speedily constructed; the flank companies of the seventy-first and seventy-sixth regiments arrived to take part in the siege; and practicable breaches having been effected, storming-parties paraded on the morning of the 21st of December. The right attack was made by the light companies of the seventy-first and SEVENTY-SECOND, supported by a battalion company of the SEVENTY-SECOND; the left attack by the two flank companies of the seventy-sixth and grenadier company of the fifty-second; the centre attack under Major Frazer of the SEVENTY-SECOND, by the grenadiers and two battalion companies of the SEVENTY-SECOND, two companies of the fifty-second, the grenadiers of the seventy-first, and four companies of sepoys, supported by the sixth battalion of sepoys; the whole under Lieut.-colonel Nisbitt, of the fifty-second regiment. The storming-parties proceeded to their stations; the band of the fifty-second took post near them, and suddenly striking up the tune Britons strike home, the whole rushed forward with the most heroic ardour. The Mysoreans made a feeble defence, and in less than two hours the British were in possession of the fort, with the trifling loss of five men wounded. The troops were thanked in General Orders, for their very gallant conduct, in which it was stated,—“Lord Cornwallis thinks himself fortunate, almost beyond example, in having acquired by assault, a fortress of so much strength and reputation, and of such inestimable value to the public interest, as Savendroog, without having to regret the loss of a single soldier.”
Two days after the capture of Savendroog, the troops advanced against Outra-Durgum: they arrived within three miles of the place that night, and, on the following day, summoned the garrison to surrender. Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, observing the people flying from the pettah to the fortress on the rock, directed the guns to open upon them, and two battalion companies of the fifty-second and SEVENTY-SECOND regiments, supported by the twenty-sixth sepoys, to attack the pettah by escalade, which was executed with so much spirit, that the soldiers were speedily in possession of the town.
“Lieutenant Mc Innes, senior officer of the two SEVENTY-SECOND companies, applied to Captain Scott for liberty to follow the fugitives up the rock, saying he should be in time to enter the first gateway with them. The captain thought the enterprise impracticable. The soldiers of Mc Innes’s company heard the request made, and not doubting of consent being given, had rushed towards the first wall, and were followed by Mc Innes. The gate was shut: but Lieutenant Mc Pherson arrived with the pioneers and ladders, which were instantly applied, and our people were within the wall, as quick as thought, when the gate was unbolted and the two companies entered. The enemy, astonished at so unexpected an attempt, retreated with precipitation. Mc Innes advanced to the second wall, the men forced open the gate with their shoulders, and not a moment was lost in pushing forward for the third wall; but the road leading between two rocks, was so narrow that only two could advance abreast; the pathway was, in consequence, soon choked up, and those who carried the ladders were unable to proceed; at the same time, the enemy commenced throwing huge stones in numbers upon the assailants, who commenced a sharp fire of musketry, and Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, who had observed from a distance this astonishing enterprise, sent orders for the grenadiers not to attempt anything further. Lieutenant Mc Pherson forced his way through the crowd, causing the ladders to be handed over the soldiers’ heads, from one to another, and before the colonel’s orders could be delivered, the gallant Highlanders were crowding over the third gateway. The enemy fled on all hands; the foremost of our men pursued them closely, and gained the two last walls without opposition (there were five walls to escalade). The garrison escaped by the south-east side of the fort, over rocks and precipices of immense depth and ruggedness, where many must have lost their lives. By one o’clock, our two companies were in possession of every part of the fort, and Mc Innes had planted the colours on the highest pinnacle, without the loss of a single man. The Kiledar and two of his people were taken alive. Colonel Stuart declared the business to be brilliant and successful, beyond his most sanguine hopes.”[14]
Thus was the important fortress of Outra-Durgum captured by two companies of Highlanders (Major Petrie’s, and Captain Hon. William M. Maitland’s) of the SEVENTY-SECOND regiment; the officers with the two companies were Lieutenants Mc Innes, Robert Gordon, —— Getty, and Ensign Andrew Coghlan: Lieutenant Mc Pherson conducted the pioneers. The whole were thanked in General Orders by Earl Cornwallis, who expressed his admiration of the gallantry and steadiness of the officers and soldiers engaged in this service.
The regiment rejoined the army on the 26th of December. Its establishment had been augmented in March of this year to forty serjeants and a thousand rank and file, and so many recruits had arrived from Scotland that it was nearly complete. It was considered the most effective corps in the army.