Scottish Highland Regiments in the Mohawk Valley 1758-1760

Men in the uniforms of the Mohawk Valley highland regiments.

NPS/M. Hutchko

Up until 1757, there was only one Highland Scots regiment in the entire British Army. This was the 43^rd Regiment (later renumbered the 42^nd) raised from the six Highland Watch companies in existence in 1739. This unit was made the Royal Highland Regiment in 1758 and became popularly known as “The Black Watch.” With the coming of the French and Indian War, they were sent to North America in 1756. Knowing that they would need to increase the size of their army to fight the French both in Europe and North America, the British government reluctantly authorized the recruitment of two additional regiments of Scots Highlanders for service during the war. The reason for their reluctance was this: many highland clans had participated in an attempted overthrow of British King George II in 1745. When the rebellion was put down, the British government disarmed the highlanders, outlawed the wearing of the kilt, and systematically attempted to destroy their culture. 13 years later, the British government still had no great love, or trust of the highlanders. At first, many British officers considered these new highland troops as savages who were best used as cannon fodder. As a junior officer, General James Wolf had written to a friend in 1751 that he thought highland soldiers would be useful in part because it would be “no great mischief if they fall.” While the highlanders themselves initially might have been reluctant to fight for the British, the promise of once again being able to wear the kilt and carry their traditional weapons was a strong incentive for joining these regiments. It is rather ironic that one of the first clan chiefs authorized to raise a regiment of highlanders for British service was Simon Fraser, whose father had been executed for his part in attempting to overthrow the king. Raising the regiment help demonstrate to the British government that the Fraser’s now fully supported the king. Fraser and his officers quickly raised over 1000 men for the regiment which was officially designated the 78^th Regiment of Foot but would become more popularly known as “Fraser’s Highlanders.” This regiment would see the most service in the Mohawk Valley during the war.

Lieutenant Colonel Fraser’s regiment landed in Canada in late August of 1757 and spent the winter in Connecticut. In June of 1758, the 78^th Highlanders became part of the British army under General Jeffery Amherst that attacked the French fortified town of Louisbourg. The troops landed in large flat-bottomed boats under heavy French fire and Sergeant James Thompson of the regiment remembered “One 24 pound shot did a great deal of mischief. It passed under my hams and killed Sergent McKenzie,…and it carried away the basket of his broadsword which, along with the shot, passed through Lieutenant Cuthbert,…tore his body into shivers and cut off both legs of one of the two fellows that held the tiller of the boat…Although this shot did not touch me, the thighs and calves of my legs were affected and became as black as my hat, and for several weeks I suffered a great deal of pain.” Thompson also recounts that the only reason their boat didn’t sink is because the men were stuffing their plaids (the extra cloth of the kilt) in all of the holes in the boat. Despite this bloody start, the British successfully besieged the town and on July 27, Louisbourg surrendered to the British. The 78^th had been part of General James Wolf brigade during the siege, and their service seems to have changed his mind about the true usefulness of highland soldiers. Sgt. Thompson recorded that “…while before Louisbourg…the Camp where our Regiment lay, was three miles distant from the General’s, yet he almost everyday came to see Us, when our men would “turn-out” to him with the greatest alacrity…” The Fraser’s dubbed Wolf “the red-haired Corporal” due to his hair color and his preferred general’s insignia looking like a corporal’s epaulette.

National Park Service

The British army that took Louisbourg landed in Boston in September of 1758 and began a westward March towards Albany. As they neared Albany at the beginning of October, the 78^th regiment received new orders. The regimental Chaplin, Reverend Robert Macpherson wrote a friend “…in two days Express upon Express arrived hurrying our Regt. to go to the Oneida Station or Great Carrying Place, a 150 miles further through an unpopulated and a good part of it Desert country. We were to assist in building a fort …And our destination was to Continue at Fort Stanwix [with] as many of our men as that place can hold all winter, the next inhabited house to this 60 miles from it. The Rest of the Regt. to be in little Forts up & down this [Mohawk] River.” Initial work on Fort Stanwix ended in November and on the 22^nd, one of the regimental orderly books recorded that the parole (password) for the day was “GOOD WINTER QUARTERS TO THE FIRST GARRISON OF FORT STANWIX’ and that “…The Officers are to march the Company’s Regularly into the Fort, and take Possession of the different Barracks Drawn for the Company’s.” In all, four companies (around 400 men) of Fraser’s regiment, under the command of Major James Clephane, would garrison Fort Stanwix for the winter. Rounding out the garrison was a detachment of the Royal Artillery Regiment and a company of Roger’s Rangers.

One of the garrison’s biggest winter enemies was the snow that could potentially block up the fortifications and fill up the yet unfinished ditch. On December 5^th, Major Clephane ordered: “When the men are ordered to Clear the Bastions [corners] and the curtains [walls] of Snow they are to make it up in great Balls and Therewith fill up the Hollows without the Gate near the Fort…” and on December 26^th, he ordered “All the Men off Duty are to turn out at ten of the Clock to Clear the Ditch of Snow four feet from the outside of the Picquets [the fence outside the main walls of the fort]…How soon that is done they are to Clear the Breastwork of Snow…” Sickness was the greatest danger the men faced and in a letter to General Stanwix, Maj. Clephane reported that “…now that our men are quite reduced to Salt pork and Flower (no pease, roots or greens) great symptoms of the scurvy begin to appear among them,…I’m much afraid that distemper is spreading among us.” The major himself would suffer for a time from scurvy. Sickness also resulted from manmade sources, however. Om March 30^th, it was recorded in the orderly book that “Dr. McLean being Convinced that The great Number of Fluxes which has lately been Amongst the men is in a Great measure Owing to that Small beer Sold by the Baker. Therefore it is hoped when they Know this they will forebear tasting it.”

"An Officer & Serjeant of a Highland Regiment". c.1740

Francis Grose (1801). Military Antiquities Respecting a History of the English Army, from the Conquest to the Present Time. Volume 1. London: T. Egerton. p. 164.

March would also mark the only time any of the garrison was lost due to enemy activity. The orderly book entry for March 1^st included “This day betwixt 11, & 12 of the Clock a Corpl. (Corporal) And four Men who had the Care of Some Cattle were Attacked about 300 Paces from the fort by a Party of the enemy’s Indians, the Number of whom we judge to be about 28 or 30. The Corpl. Being at a small distance from his Men…, he Escaped the first fire of the Enemy by which the four men were Killed…He then made towards the Fort…As soon as Our Sentry’s upon the Wall Observed the fireing they Alarmed the Garrison…they (the Indians) Scalped the 4 Men & Carried off five firelock’s & a Plaid…” The 4 men were buried in a common grave with the honors of war. Despite the harsh winter, sickness, and the threat of enemy attack, only 10 men of the regiment would die while at the fort. Along with the four men killed in action, the other 6 probably died due to the scurvy that ran through the garrison. The four companies of the 78^th Highlanders were finally relived on April 10^th of 1759 and rejoined the rest of the regiment. The 78^th (once again under Gen. Wolf) would go on to be part of the British army that took Quebec from the French in September of 1759, and as part of the British garrison of Quebec, would help defend the city when the French attacked Quebec in April of 1760.

The other highland regiment raised for service during the French and Indian War was the 77^th Highland Regiment or Montgomery’s Highlanders (after their Lt. Col. Archibald Montgomery). While most of its time would be spent in the northwest frontiers and the south, a detachment of the regiment would also see limited service in the Mohawk Valley in 1760. They first marched from the upper Hudson Valley area to garrison Forts Johnson, Hunter, Herkimer and Hendrick. They then converged on Fort Stanwix in July with other British regiments to form the army under Gen. Amherst that would ultimately attack Montreal. Being at the Oneida Carry in the height of summer, Wood Creek was extremely low and Private Robert Kirkwood of the 77^th recollected that they “had great trouble in bringing up provisions, the wood-creek being very low, and having to drag their battoes (boats) in four inches water….” They were joined at Ft. Stanwix by the 1^st Battalion of the Royal Highland Regiment. So it was that all three highland regiments serving during the French and Indian War would see service in the Mohawk Valley and at Fort Stanwix. Fraser’s 78^th Regiment and Montgomery’s 77^th Regiment were disbanded in 1763. Many of the men chose to stay and start a new life in the 13 colonies or in Canada.

Duration:

1 minute, 15 seconds

A typical day at the British Fort Stanwix during the French & Indian War. All excerpts have been taken from the accounts of the soldiers who lived there.

Duration:

1 minute, 24 seconds

A typical day at the British Fort Stanwix during the French & Indian War. All excerpts have been taken from the accounts of the soldiers who lived there.