HISTORY

OF THE

71^ST HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY,

Formerly numbered the 73rd Regiment, and
called McLeod’s Highlanders.

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Towards the end of the year 1777 every effort was made by the British Ministry to encourage the country to raise troops voluntarily for the prosecution of the war then being waged between Great Britain and her American Colonies. Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, each raised a regiment of a thousand men at its own expense, and several independent companies were formed in Wales. In this manner 15,000 men were raised and presented to the State, of which upwards of two-thirds were obtained from Scotland, and principally from the Highland clans.

At this time Lord McLeod, the eldest son of the Earl of Cromarty, whose title had been attainted and his estates forfeited for his participation in the Rebellion of 1745, returned to England from Sweden, having attained in its service the rank of Lieutenant-General. Being well received by His Majesty King George II, and finding his influence in the Highlands still considerable, although destitute of property, he offered his services to raise a regiment. The offer was accepted, and such was the respect entertained for his family and name, that in a short time 840 Highlanders were recruited and marched to Elgin. Here they were joined by 236 Lowlanders, raised by Captains the Honorable John Lindsay, David Baird, James Fowlis, and other officers, and by 34 English and Irish, who had been recruited in Glasgow. They amounted in all to 1,100 men, and were embodied at Elgin under the name of McLeod’s Highlanders in April 1778, where they were inspected by General Skene, and approved by him as an excellent hardy body of men, fitted for any service. Immediately after the completion of this battalion, letters of service were granted for the creation of a second battalion, which was raised in like manner, with nearly the same expedition and in equal numbers. There is no record extant to show the different nationalities of which this battalion was formed, but it is probable that its composition was very similar to that of the first battalion when raised. Thus in the course of a few months Lord McLeod from being an exile without fortune or British military rank, found himself at the head of upwards of 2,200 of his countrymen, of whom nearly 1,800 were from that district and neighbourhood in which his family had once possessed so much influence.

Each battalion consisted of 50 sergeants, 50 corporals, 20 drummers and fifers, 2 pipers, and 1,000 privates, and was officered as under.

Colonel, John Lord McLeod.
First Battalion.
Lieut.-Colonel, Duncan McPherson.
Majors.
John Elphinston.	James Mackenzie.
Captains.
George Mackenzie.	Hugh Lamont.
Alexander Gilchrist.	Hon. James Lindsay.
John Shaw.	David Baird.
Charles Dalrymple.
Captain Lieutenant and Captain, David Campbell.
Lieutenants.
A. Geddes Mackenzie.	Simon Mackenzie.
Hon. John Lindsay.	Philip Melvill.
Abraham Mackenzie, Adjt.	John Mackenzie.
Alexander Mackenzie.	John Borthwick.
James Robertson.	William Gunn.
John Hamilton.	William Charles Gorrie.
John Hamilton.	Hugh Sibbald.
Lewis Urquhart.	David Rainnie.
George Ogilvie.	Charles Munro.
Innes Munro.
Ensigns.
James Duncan.	George Sutherland.
Simon Mackenzie.	James Thrail.
Alexander Mackenzie.	Hugh Dalrymple.
John Sinclair.
Chaplain, Colin Mackenzie.
Adjutant, Abraham Mackenzie.
Quartermaster, John Lytrott.
Surgeon, Alexander M‘Dougall.

Second Battalion.
Lieut.-Colonel, The Hon. George Mackenzie.
Majors.
Hamilton Maxwell.	Norman McLeod.
Captains.
Hon. Colin Lindsay.	Mackay Hugh Baillie.
John McIntosh.	Stair Park Dalrymple.
James Fowlis.	David Ross.
Robert Sinclair.	Adam Colt.
Lieutenants.
Norman Maclean.	Alexander Mackenzie.
John Irving.	Phipps Wharton.
Rod. Mackenzie, senior.	Laughlan M‘Laughlan.
Charles Douglas.	Kenneth Mackenzie.
Angus McIntosh.	Murdoch Mackenzie.
John Fraser.	George Fraser.
Robert Arbuthnot.	John Mackenzie, junior.
David M‘Cullock.	Martin Eccles Lindsay.
Rod. Mackenzie, junior.	John Dallas.
Phineas M‘Intosh.	David Ross.
John Mackenzie, senior.	William Erskine.
Ensigns.
John Fraser.	John Forbes.
John M‘Dougal.	Æneas Fraser.
Hugh Gray.	William Rose.
John Mackenzie.	Simon Fraser, Adjt.
Chaplain, Æneas Macleod.
Adjutant, Simon Fraser.
Quartermaster, Charles Clark.
Surgeon, Andrew Cairncross.

The uniform of the regiment was red, with the regular Highland equipments.

It is worthy of remark that, when first raised, there were no less than 19 officers in the regiment named Mackenzie. It is probable that the proportion of non-commissioned officers and privates of that name was equally large, owing to the fact of the regiment having, as already stated, been principally raised on the estates of the Earl of Cromarty, the father of Lord McLeod. These estates are now in the possession of the present Duchess of Sutherland, who is Countess of Cromarty in her own right.

After being embodied at Elgin, the first battalion remained there some weeks, and then marched to Fort George, where it was formed into ten companies. It embarked on the 8th of May, 1,100 strong, under Lord McLeod, for Portsmouth, where it was to be transhipped and accompany the East India Fleet. The passage, however, having occupied fifteen days, the fleet sailed before the arrival of the transports, which were then ordered to proceed to Guernsey and Jersey. Here the battalion disembarked, and remained until relieved by the Seventy-eighth Regiment on the 27th November. Embarking on board the transports which brought the latter, it was conveyed to Portsmouth, where it disembarked on the 10th December and marched to Petersfield, where it was quartered until the close of the year. Orders having been received for its embarkation for the East Indies, a mutiny occurred in one of the companies, owing to a rumour gaining ground that the men had been sold to the East India Company by the British Government. This was happily checked, by the prompt and resolute spirit displayed by the officers, and the assurance of their Colonel that this report was entirely groundless. In January the battalion, about 1,100 strong, embarked on board Indiamen, under the command of Colonel Lord McLeod. Three vessels formed part of a fleet, escorted by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, which in its passage touched at Goree, on the Coast of Africa, and captured that settlement from the French. After leaving Goree the fleet proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, at that time in possession of the Dutch, where it landed its sick. It remained there three months, anchored in Table Bay, and then continued its course to India. The voyage, though tedious, was on the whole prosperous, and was brought to a close by anchor being dropped in Madras Roads on the 20th January,1780. 1780, just twelve months subsequent to embarkation. The battalion was landed without delay at Fort St. George, where it remained about a month in barracks, after which it was removed to Poonamallee.

Before following the proceedings of the first battalion any further, it will be as well to return to the second battalion, which, as already mentioned, was embodied in September, 1778. In March of the following year, this battalion, 1,000 strong, and commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. George Mackenzie (brother of Lord McLeod), embarked at Fort George, and was conveyed to Plymouth. There it remained encamped upon Maker Heights until the 27th November, when it embarked for Gibraltar in transports under convoy of Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney. In the Bay of Biscay the Spanish Caraccas Fleet was encountered, and captured, and the Admiral being compelled to employ a number of the men of his ships of war to man the prizes, called upon Lieut.-Colonel Mackenzie for the services of the battalion as Marines. A few days after the men had been distributed in this manner, the fleet fell in with the Spanish Admiral Don Juan de Langara, with a fleet consisting of eleven sail of the line, the whole of whose ships were either taken or dispersed. On the 18th January, 1780, the second battalion1780. disembarked at Gibraltar, then closely blockaded by the Spaniards, landing at the New Mole and occupying the Casemates in the King’s Bastion, the marching in strength being as follows:—

30	Officers,	22	Drummers,
6	Staff ditto,	944	Rank and file,
50	Sergeants.

Here it remained during the whole of the siege of that fortress by the French and Spaniards, sustaining a high character as steady and trustworthy soldiers.

In the grand sortie in which the Spanish batteries before the garrison were destroyed, all the grenadier and light infantry companies in garrison were made up to their establishment previous to the sortie. The grenadier and light companies in this regiment consisted of four officers, five sergeants, and 101 rank and file each. They were stationed with the companies of the Thirty-ninth and Fifty-sixth Regiments, and a proportion of artillery and engineers, amounting in all to 668 men, in the centre, or reserve column, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Dachenhausen and Major Maxwell. The orders they received were to march through Bayside barrier, towards the mortar batteries. The moon shone brightly as the soldiers assembled on the sands at midnight. Between two and three o’clock darkness overspread the country, and the troops issued silently from the fortress. They were challenged and fired upon by the enemy’s sentries, but the British soldiers rushed forward, overpowered the Spanish guards, and captured the batteries. The enemy’s soldiers, instead of defending the works, fled in dismay and communicated the panic to the troops in their rear. Within an hour the object of the sortie was effected, trains were laid to the enemy’s magazines, and the soldiers withdrew. As they entered the fortress, tremendous explosions shook the ground, and rising columns of smoke, flame, and burning timber proclaimed the destruction of the enemy’s immense stores of gunpowder. General Elliot stated in orders:—

“The bearing and conduct of the whole detachment, officers, seamen and soldiers on this glorious occasion, surpass my utmost acknowledgements.” The casualties in the three columns of attack were only 4 killed, 24 wounded, and 1 missing. The grenadier company, commanded by Captain Sinclair on this occasion, drove the enemy from their centre guard-house, and the light infantry, commanded by Captain Dalrymple, obliged them to evacuate Parchal’s battery.

The casualties of the battalion during the three years that the siege lasted were 1 sergeant, 41 privates killed; 6 officers, 7 sergeants, and 108 rank and file wounded, and 58 privates died from sickness. Although application has frequently been made to the authorities, for permission to have Gibraltar inscribed on the colours, yet for some inexplicable reason, this has always been refused, though granted to other regiments that served during the siege with the Seventy-third.

In May, 1783, it embarked on board transports, and sailed for Portsmouth, where it landed in July, and occupied Hilsea Barracks. The following month it marched to Stirling, where it was disbanded on the 3rd October after a service of five years, during the whole of which period it was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. George Mackenzie.

In 1784 the officers belonging to the late second battalion who were regimentally senior to those serving with the first were given the option of joining that battalion in the East Indies at their own expense, of which some availed themselves.

We shall now return to the first battalion which we left in quarters at Poonamallee in February, 1780. At the commencement of 1780 a new war had broken out in India, the causes of which it is not easy to unravel, owing to the depth to which the several Presidencies of the East India Company had entered into the intrigues and quarrels of the Native rulers. On the 5th April, the Mahratta Chiefs, Holkar and Scindia, were defeated in their camp whilst advancing on Surat, and this victory was followed by numerous less important successes. In Bengal, military movements were taking place under the direction of Sir Eyre Coote, who had now succeeded to the chief command in India, and the strong fortress of Gwalior, hitherto regarded as impregnable, was taken by escalade on the 3rd August.

On the side of Madras the forces on the establishment did not exceed 30,000 men, dispersed in very distant quarters, and the Presidency had unfortunately been engrossed in internal disputes rather than in active measures of preparation to oppose the enemy. Such was the state of affairs at Madras when on the 10th of June information was received that a large army was assembling at Bangalore under Hyder Ali, the son of a petty chief in Mysore, who had risen to the chief command of the army of that State. On the death of the Rajah, Hyder Ali assumed the guardianship of his eldest son, who was left a minor, placing him under restraint, and seizing upon 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. Standing now in the position of Sultan of Mysore, he formed a league with the French, and entered into a confederacy with the Nizam of the Deccan, the Mahrattas, and other native powers, for the purpose of expelling the British from India.

In July, 1780, Hyder Ali, having passed the Ghauts, burst like a torrent into the Carnatic, whilst his son, Tippoo Saïb, advanced with a large body of cavalry against the Northern Circars, and even the villages near Madras were attacked by parties of the enemy’s horse. In consequence of these events the first battalion Seventy-third Regiment was ordered to join the army being assembled at St. Thomas’s Mount under the command of Major-General Sir Hector Munro, K.B. This army amounted to upwards of 4,000 men, consisting entirely of the Honourable East India Company’s troops, with the exception of the Seventy-third Highlanders, then about 800 strong. It was composed as follows:—

	{ Infantry	1,000
European	{ Artillery	300
	{ Dragoons	30
Native	{ Infantry	3,250
	{ Dragoons	30
	Total	4,610

Attached to these were 30 field pieces and howitzers, and four battering 24-pounders.

On the 25th August this corps marched to Conjeveram, about 50 miles west of Madras on the Arcot road, where it was to be met by a body of men under Colonel Baillie, from the Gunton Circar, the joint force proceeding to raise the siege of Arcot, invested by Hyder Ali on the 21st August. Sir Hector Munro’s army arrived at Conjeveram on the 29th August, being followed the whole way by the enemy’s horse. The country here was found to be entirely under water, so that no provisions of any kind were to be procured, and the force was consequently dependent upon the four day’s provisions in its possession.

Hyder Ali now raised the siege of Arcot, and detached Tippoo Saïb with a force of 40,000 horse and foot and 12 guns to intercept Colonel Baillie and prevent his junction with the main army. This junction had been expected to take place on the 30th August, but Baillie being delayed some days by the sudden rising of a small river, this time was utilised by the enemy to intercept him.

Colonel Baillie reached Perambaucum, 15 miles from General Munro’s position, on the 6th September, where he was attacked by Tippoo Saïb, whom after a contest of several hours he repulsed. Strange to say, however, the forces of Munro and Baillie, though within a few hours’ march of each other, made no effort to unite. Two days after the battle, Colonel Baillie sent notice to General Munro to push forward with the main body, as, from the loss he had lately sustained and from want of provisions, he was unable to advance in the face of an enemy so superior in numbers. After this unaccountable delay, the General sent forward a detachment under Colonel Fletcher consisting of the flank companies Seventy-third (now Seventy-first), two companies of European grenadiers, and 11 companies of Sepoys, in all 1,000 men. Of the flank companies, Seventy-third, the grenadier company was commanded by Lieutenant the Hon. John Lindsay, and the light company by Captain, afterwards General the Right Hon. Sir David Baird, G.C.B. Colonel Fletcher joined Colonel Baillie’s force on the 9th September.

Reinforced by this detachment, Colonel Baillie set out to join Munro on the same evening, but had not proceeded beyond a mile when he fell in with the pickets of Hyder Ali’s army. An irregular fire commenced, which was kept up by both parties for several miles, until Colonel Baillie halted about midnight, when he lay on his arms all night without being disturbed by the enemy.

He continued his march next morning without opposition, and after proceeding two miles entered a jungle. The Sultan had concentrated his army about this spot, and on the preceding day had thrown up three batteries, one in the centre of the grove and one on each flank. No sooner had Colonel Baillie entered the jungle than a heavy and destructive fire was opened upon him from 57 pieces of cannon. The march was continued in the form of a square, with the sick, baggage, and ammunition in the centre; and though the detachment was assailed on all sides by an immense force, the enemy after a desperate conflict of three hours’ duration, was driven back at every point.

Thus repulsed, Hyder Ali determined to retreat, and orders had been given to Colonel Lally, a French officer in the service of the Sultan, to draw off his men, and to the cavalry to cover the retreat, when two explosions were seen to take place in the British line. These laid open one entire face of their column, destroyed their artillery, and threw the whole into irreparable confusion. This occurrence revived Hyder’s hopes, his cavalry charged in successive squadrons, and his infantry poured volleys of musketry upon the devoted band. Reduced at length to little more than 400 men, Colonel Baillie formed these into a square upon a small eminence. Here, after two-thirds of the number had been killed or disabled, the officers with their swords, and the soldiers with their bayonets, repulsed thirteen charges. At length, borne down by fresh bodies of horse, Colonel Baillie, to save the lives of the few brave men who survived, displayed a flag of truce. Quarter was promised, but no sooner had the men laid down their arms, than they were savagely attacked, and only by the humane interference of the French officers were any lives saved.

One of these officers,[1] speaking of this action says:—

In this action, known by the name of the battle of Perambaucum, Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher and 29 European officers, with 155 rank and file were killed; Lieut.-Colonel Baillie with 34 officers, and almost all the European privates, were wounded; 16 officers and privates remained unhurt, who, with the rest, were made prisoners. The whole of the sepoys were either killed, taken, or dispersed.

From the report of an eye-witness, it is stated that the grenadiers of this regiment under Captain Baird fought with such determination and heroism, that many of them were seen loading their muskets after their legs had been shot away; almost all disdained to accept of quarter.

The flank companies were almost annihilated. Lieut. Geddes Mackenzie and William Gunn, Volunteer Forbes, 3 sergeants, and 82 rank and file were killed. Captain Baird received seven wounds, and Lieutenant the Hon. John Lindsay nine. Lieutenants Philip Melville and Hugh Cuthbert, 4 sergeants, 4 drummers, and 92 rank and file were also wounded. All these, with 23 who escaped without wounds, were thrown into a dungeon by Hyder Ali, where they were treated with such barbarity that only 30 of the soldiers survived, and of these few were afterwards fit for service.

Mrs. Grant, in her “Superstitions of the Highlanders,” referring to this in allusion to the inflexible integrity of the Highlanders under the most trying circumstances, says of the prisoners:—

Of the two entire companies but two men rejoined the battalion, and these were found in the jungle desperately wounded. In consequence of this, two new flank companies were formed from the battalion by Lord McLeod.

After Colonel Baillie’s defeat, Sir Hector Munro retired with the army to Chingleput, being much pressed by the enemy during his march. The sick and wounded being left there, the army went into quarters on Choultry Plain for the rainy season, which had now set in.

During the retreat the troops suffered severely from fatigue and want of provisions. Captain Gilchrist, of the grenadiers, whose ill health had prevented his being with his company, died, and Lieutenant Alexander Mackenzie, with a great many privates, was wounded in skirmishes with the enemy.

Upon the 17th January the army, being reassembled, took the field under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote. At this time the strength of the regiment did not exceed 500 men, and was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Craufurd, this officer having succeeded Lord McLeod, who relinquished his command, and returned to England, having, it is said, differed in opinion with General Munro on the subject of his movements. Hyder Ali was in the Tanjore country committing every species of outrage and devastation.

On the 1st June, 1781, Colonel Lord McLeod received the local rank of Major-General in the East Indies. In June Sir Eyre Coote moved his force southwards along the coast towards Cuddalore, where his outposts were attacked by Tippoo Saïb, who was repulsed. He afterwards moved to Chillumborem, upon the Coleroon, where the enemy had a large magazine of grain. The Pagoda was attacked by the pickets under Major John Shaw, Seventy-third Highlanders, but they were repulsed and that officer wounded.

Hyder Ali, apprehensive for the safety of Chillumborem, moved his army in that direction from Tanjore and Trichinopoly, whilst Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, with the view of obtaining supplies from the shipping, proceeded towards Cuddalore. By forced marches and manœuvres, however, Hyder Ali succeeded in nearly surrounding the latter on the plains of Porto Novo, about two days’ march south of Cuddalore.

About 4 a.m. on the 1st of July, the enemy, whose force was computed at 25 battalions of infantry, 400 Europeans, 45,000 horse, and above 100,000 matchlock-men, peons, and polygars, with 47 pieces of cannon, was seen to draw up in line-of-battle. The British force did not exceed 8,000 men, of which the Seventy-third was the only European regiment. Notwithstanding this immense disparity of force, Sir Eyre Coote determined to attack the enemy, and drew up his army in two lines, the first, of which the Seventy-third Highlanders formed a part, being commanded by Major-General Sir Hector Munro, the second by Major-General James Stuart. A plain divided the two armies, beyond which the enemy was drawn up on ground strengthened by front and flanking redoubts and batteries. The action commenced by an advanced movement of the English troops, and after eight hours’ hard fighting the enemy was forced from all his intrenchments and compelled to retire. The Seventy-third was on the right of the first line, and led all the attacks to the full approbation of the general commanding. His attention was particularly attracted by one of the pipers, who always blew up more heartily the heavier the fire became. This so pleased the general that he cried out “Well done my brave fellow, you shall have a pair of silver pipes for this!” The promise was not forgotten, for a handsome pair of pipes was presented to the regiment, with an appropriate inscription bearing testimony to the general’s esteem for its conduct and character. Meer Saïb, Hyder Ali’s favourite general, was mortally wounded in this action, and amongst the 4,000 killed were many of his principal officers.

The results of this battle enabled Sir Eyre Coote to reach Cuddalore, his point of destination, on the 4th July, and soon afterwards the army was moved to St. Thomas’s Mount. On the 3rd August the force from Bengal under the orders of Colonel Pearse, arrived and formed a junction with Sir Eyre Coote’s army at Pulicat, to which place the army had moved to facilitate that object. The British force now amounted to 12,000 men; the 1st Brigade, composed entirely of Europeans, was commanded by Colonel Craufurd, Seventy-third Highlanders, and had its station generally in the centre of the line. Major-General Sir Hector Munro commanded the right wing, and Colonel Pearse the left. About this period died Major James Mackenzie, universally regretted by the regiment. His exertions in the early part of the campaign had brought on an illness, which terminated his valuable life.

On the 16th August the preparations which had been actively carried on for the siege of Arcot and the relief of Vellore being completed, the army was put in motion. On the 20th Tripassoor was retaken, and a large supply of grain found there. Hyder Ali’s camp was now at Conjeveram, and every exertion was made by his detachments to check the progress of the troops. On the 27th August, the enemy was found drawn up in order of battle upon the very ground which had witnessed Colonel Baillie’s defeat, a position which Hyder Ali’s religious notions induced him to consider fortunate. Here he had determined to try the issue of a second general action, the result of which will be best told by the following extract from General Meadows’ despatch:—

There was one circumstance peculiar to this field of battle, which stamped it with aggravated horrors. It is described by Captain Munro in his narrative as follows:—

Upon this spot the army halted two days, and it then retired to Tripassoor, to secure provisions. At this period the health of Major-General Sir Hector Munro compelled him to leave the army, which led to Colonel Craufurd becoming second in command, the charge of the regiment devolving upon Major John Shaw.

On the 27th September, near Sholingar, Colonel Craufurd received the Commander-in-Chief’s orders to move the British Army to the front. Hyder Ali, confident of success, made a forward movement to meet it, when a general action ensued. A detachment commanded by Colonel Edmonstone, and of which the flank companies Seventy-third formed a part, succeeded in turning the enemy’s left flank, and falling upon his camp and rear. The day closed with the total defeat of Hyder Ali’s troops, who were pursued by the cavalry until sunset.

On the 1st October, under circumstances the most distressing and unpromising, but with a hope of obtaining provisions, of which the army was quite destitute, and for which no previous arrangement had been made by the Government, Sir Eyre Coote pushed boldly through the Sholingar Pass, and after a march of two days encamped at Altamancherry, in the Polygar country. Here, by the friendly aid and kindness of Bum Raze, one of the Polygar princes, the troops were well supplied with every requisite. The British camp was moved to Pollipat on the 26th October, and the sick and wounded sent to Tripassoor. Vellore was also relieved, after which the army, reinforced by Colonel Laing with 100 Europeans from Vellore, proceeded to the attack of Chittoor, which, after a gallant resistance, capitulated. With a view to draw his opponents from so inaccessible a country, Hyder Ali proceeded to the attack of Tripassoor, and on the 20th November Sir Eyre Coote retired out of the Pollamo, through the Naggary Pass, which obliged the enemy to raise the siege of Tripassoor and retire on Arcot. The campaign closed with the recapture of Chittoor by the enemy. On the 2nd December, the monsoon having set in, the army broke up its camp on the Koilatoor Plain, and the different corps marched into cantonments in the neighbourhood of Madras.

At the opening of the succeeding campaign at the beginning of 1782, the army did not muster a larger force than at the commencement of the former year. The first and most important object in view was the relief of Vellore, kept in strict blockade by the enemy. The safety of this fortress was of paramount consequence, being the only key possessed by the British to the passes of the Ghauts, through which an invasion of the enemy’s country could alone be accomplished. The army pushed through the Sholingar Pass, and by the 11th January Vellore was relieved and supplied with rice for six months. After this was effected the army retired, and on the 20th January arrived at Poonamallee, having lost upon this expedition 6 officers and about 30 Europeans, with 100 Sepoys killed and wounded.

The following account of the death of John Mackay, a corporal of the battalion, in a skirmish with the enemy on the march to Vellore, is given by Captain Munro:—“For the satisfaction of my Highland friends, I take this opportunity of commemorating the fall of John Mackay, alias Donn, a corporal in the Seventy-third, son of Robert Donn, the famous Highland bard, whose singular talent for the beautiful and extemporaneous composition of Gaelic poetry was held in such esteem by the Highland Society. This son of the bard has frequently revived the drooping spirits of his countrymen upon the march by singing in a pleasant manner the humorous and lively productions of his father. He was killed by a cannon ball on the 13th of January, and on the same evening was interred by his disconsolate comrades with all the honours of war.”

For the first three months of the year 1782 the army of Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote was retained inactive at St. Thomas’ Mount, the government of the presidency being apprehensive for its own safety, whereas a judicious movement on Porto Novo might have prevented Tippoo Saïb’s junction with the strong reinforcement of French troops that had arrived from Europe in Admiral Suffrein’s fleet, or at least averted the loss of Permacoil and Cuddalore. At length Sir Eyre Coote, having been reinforced by the Seventy-eighth (afterwards the Seventy-second) Regiment from England, was allowed to commence operations.

At the beginning of April he marched in a southerly direction by Corangooly and Wandewash towards the enemy, encamped upon the Red Hills of Pondicherry. The object of the Commander-in-Chief appeared to be to separate the French from the Mysore troops, for which purpose he manœuvred between Chitaput and Arnee, where he had established magazines. Hyder Ali made a rapid movement, on the 2nd of June overtaking and attacking the British rear guard, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Elphinston,[2] Seventy-third Highlanders, who maintained his ground with great spirit and intrepidity until the line had completed its formation. The troops were then ordered to advance immediately upon the enemy’s guns, and the foe was soon forced across the River Arnee, and in pursuit several tumbrils were taken by Captain the Honourable James Lindsay. This officer, perceiving a battalion of the enemy extricating the tumbrils from the bed of the river, dashed forward at the head of his grenadier company, supported by the remainder of the corps under Major-General Mackenzie, and succeeded in dispersing the enemy and seizing the tumbrils. The conduct of Captain Lindsay, although he had acted without orders, received the commendation of the Commander-in-Chief. At the action of Arnee the staff of the regimental colour was shattered by a cannon ball, and the ensign carrying it was severely wounded.

The army encamped for the night on the field of battle, and on the following morning took up a position before Arnee; but a scarcity of grain compelled the General to retrace his steps towards Madras, and on the 20th of June he arrived at St. Thomas’s Mount.

In the months of July and August the army made two expeditions, one to Wandewash, in which it was foiled by the activity of Hyder Ali, the other for the relief of Vellore, which was more fortunate, as it succeeded in throwing a large quantity of grain into the fortress. The siege of Cuddalore being determined on, the army moved on the 26th August in a southerly direction, and on the 4th September halted on the Red Hills of Pondicherry. Deserters reported the garrison of Cuddalore to consist of 800 Europeans, 300 Africans, and 600 Sepoys, who having expelled the inhabitants, and covered the walls with cannon were resolved to defend the place to the last extremity. The failure of the supplies which Sir Eyre Coote had been led to expect from Madras by the fleet, excited so much anxiety and disappointment in the veteran’s mind, that a severe illness ensued, which obliged him to quit the army. The command devolved upon Major-General James Stuart, who commenced his retreat on the evening of the 10th October. On the 15th October, the monsoon set in with unusual severity, and the army went into cantonments in the vicinity of Madras. Hyder Ali at the same time resumed his old position near Arcot. Shortly after this, Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, with a large fleet from England, arrived in Madras Roads. Considerable reinforcements were on board, consisting of the Twenty-third Light Dragoons, One hundred and first and One hundred and second Regiments, and the Fifteenth Regiment of Hanoverian Infantry, which joined the army in its cantonments.

In December occurred the death of Hyder Ali, who was, however, succeeded without commotion by his son Tippoo Saïb, to whom he left a kingdom of his own acquisition, which made him one of the most powerful princes in India. Notwithstanding that by private information overland news was received of a peace having been concluded between England and the other belligerent powers in Europe, still the Madras Government determined to persevere in its original plans for the attack of Cuddalore. With this view Major-General Stuart put his army in motion on the 21st April, marching by brigades in a1783. southerly direction. It consisted of the Seventy-third and Seventy-eighth, and One hundred and first regiments, a considerable body of native troops, and a detachment of Hanoverians under Colonel Wangenheim. Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Elphinston, Seventy-third Highlanders, took the lead with the Fifth brigade, to the command of which he had been appointed, in consideration of his distinguished conduct and important services in the field. Lieut.-Colonel James Stuart, Seventy-eighth Highlanders, commanded the First or European Brigade, of which the Seventy-third formed a part, and which amounted to 1,600 men. Colonel Elphinston in his advance possessed himself of the Permacoil ruins, from whence the enemy’s advanced parties could be plainly seen upon the Red Hills. The remainder of the army joined him there on the 2nd May. About this time accounts were received of the death of Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, and Major-General Stuart temporarily succeeded to the command of the forces in India.

After leaving Permacoil, the army advanced to Killinoor, and from thence towards the Red Hills. On the 4th June, Major-General Stuart encamped close to the Pannar river, about five miles west of Cuddalore, behind which the French army was descried in an intrenched camp. The British passed the Pannar river on the 6th June without opposition, passed the Bandipollam Hills, and took up a strong position not more than two miles from the south face of the fortress of Cuddalore, having the right flank covered by the sea and the left by the Bandipollam Hills. The enemy, commanded by General de Bussy, had in the meantime thrown up works along his front. On the 12th June Major-General Stuart determined to attack General de Bussy in the position he occupied, and issued preparatory orders accordingly. At 4 o’clock on the morning of the 13th June the action commenced by a movement from the British left against the enemy’s right flank. A very obstinate and sanguinary contest ensued, continuing without intermission until the evening, when, both armies remaining upon the field of battle, each claimed the victory. In this action the Seventy-third Highlanders highly distinguished itself, having wrested from the enemy in the course of the conflict seven different redoubts. The loss it sustained was very severe, amounting in killed and wounded to 13 officers and 272 men, being one-half of the number in the field. The regiment was commanded by Captain Hugh Lamont. Captain the Honourable James Lindsay, commanding the Grenadier Company, Captain Alexander McKenzie, Lieuts. Simon Mackenzie and James Trail, 4 sergeants and 80 rank and file were killed. Captain John Hamilton, Lieuts. Charles Gorrie, David Rannie, John Sinclair, James Duncan, and George Sutherland, 5 sergeants and 107 rank and file were wounded. The enemy’s loss was estimated at 62 officers, 961 men killed, wounded, and missing.

The following flattering compliment formed part of the General Orders issued by the Commander-in-Chief at the conclusion of the action:—