the american war of independence

(1775-1782).

thy spirit, independence, let me share,

lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye,

thy steps i follow with my bosom bare,

nor heed the storm that howls along the sky.

smollett.

in the earlier chapters we have dealt with the actions in which the black watch, fraser’s, and montgomery’s highlanders were engaged. it is now time that mention was made of the other highland regiments that were formed about this period, and that were, to some extent, recruited from the troops disbanded shortly before the american war of independence. it would take too long and be too confusing to enter into any detail concerning the various false starts that many highland regiments made. the actual date of their respective foundations will be found in the list of regimental battle honours, or in the chapters devoted on occasions to the exploit of a particular battalion.

the various highland regiments that were raised after the black watch were largely the outcome of personal enterprise. the chief of the macleods, for instance, raised the battalion that afterwards became the 1st highland light infantry. the principal cities in scotland each contributed towards a regiment, and the great families of seaforth, gordon, argyll, and macdonald did much in the time succeeding and preceding the american war to foster the military spirit. the regiment created by the earl of seaforth ultimately became the 1st seaforth highlanders.

there is, i think, only one particular point to note before we continue this narrative. in times of major warfare, such as in the great campaigning of the napoleonic wars, the crimea, and south africa, several highland regiments, not necessarily all, were banded together under the control of a commander, and called the highland brigade. a brigade may consist of three or four or more battalions, each battalion roughly a thousand odd men, and naturally comes into severe fighting.

in the crimea the highland brigade was composed of three regiments, the black watch, the camerons, and the 93rd sutherlands. it was commanded by the famous sir colin campbell. in the indian mutiny no regular brigade was formed. in the egyptian war in 1882 the highland brigade was under the command of sir archibald alison, and included the black watch, the highland light infantry, the gordons, and the camerons. in the boer war of 1889-1902 the highland brigade was under the command of general wauchope, and included the 2nd battalion of the black watch, the 2nd seaforth highlanders, the 1st argyll and sutherlands, and the 1st highland light infantry. it was these four regiments that met with the severe reverse at magersfontein.

at the time when the american war of independence broke out george iii. was upon the throne. he was an englishman born and bred, and, after the earlier georges, that in itself made a great appeal to the imagination of the english people. he was a man possessed of a great sincerity and a greater obstinacy, who lived as much as possible amongst his tenants in the country or within his own domestic circle. he evidenced, in brief, most of the virtues with many of the weaknesses of the english character. though he displayed to a large degree the genial spirit that made men call him ‘farmer george,’ there was also rather too much john bull in his personality. his were the virtues of an honest, determined, rather stupid englishman. it might be said that such a nature as this, particularly in the riotous eighteenth century, could achieve nothing but good. unfortunately he not only ruled his family so harshly that they all turned out extremely badly, but he also tried to carry out the same attitude towards america. he scolded the colonists as though they were naughty children, and the colonists, many of whom had no acquaintance with england, and whose forebears had left the mother-country for the very good reason that they were happier out of it, met this intolerance with a bold and determined front. they naturally resented the autocratic demands of the government; they could not tolerate the attitude of the english officers, while although they had outgrown jacobite sympathies, they cherished no loyalty to a hanoverian king.

in 1761 the importation act was passed, an attempt to enforce payment of duty, in consequence of which english ships went far to ruin trade with the west indies. the end of the french and indian wars had brought with it a great increase to the national debt, and it seemed only fair to the government that, as the conflict had been undertaken principally to guard the interests of the settlers, the cost should be shared by them. to this the colonists retorted that they too had fought, and that canada was ample compensation to the british for any loss of capital.

in 1765 the stamp act was passed, ordering that all documents of every description must be printed on paper purchased from the government.

on october 1, 1768, seven hundred soldiers marched into boston and attempted to overawe the residents. to use a familiar catch-phrase, ‘the government was asking for trouble.’ but the colonists still displayed great patience, and though disaffection simmered, it was not until 1773 that any sign of rebellion was visible. it was then that fifty men, dressed up as red indians, flung a cargo of tea into boston harbour, and on march 31, 1774, the port was ordered to be closed by the government. once started, deeds followed fast upon words, while incident hurried upon incident. little things acquire an indescribable importance at such times, just as a spark will blow up a magazine. finally, on july 4, 1776, the declaration of independence was signed, and the war commenced.

in england the effect of the declaration was provocative of hardly more alarm than the outbreak of war in south africa in 1899. in both cases it was exceedingly difficult to estimate the power of the enemy, and hard to believe he could resist a disciplined army. take, for instance, a typical blusterer of the period. major james grant stated in the house of commons that he knew the americans very well, and was certain they would not fight,—“that they were not soldiers, and never could be made so, being naturally pusillanimous and incapable of discipline; that a very slight force would be more than sufficient for their complete reduction; and he fortified his statement by repeating their peculiar expressions and ridiculing their religious enthusiasm, manners, and ways of living, greatly to the entertainment of the house.”[6]

pitt replied in memorable words. “the spirit,” he said, “which resists your taxation in america is the same that formerly opposed loans, benevolences, and ship-money in england.... this glorious spirit of whiggism animates three millions in america, who prefer poverty with liberty to gilded chains and sordid affluence, and who will die in defence of their rights as freemen.”

throughout england there was the bitterest resentment against the war, with the widest sympathy for the americans. many officers handed in their papers, and meetings were held to express the indignation that such a step should have been forced upon a loyal and long-suffering people. only scotland, tory at home and abroad, supported the king against america, while, with pathetic loyalty, the highlanders, some of whom had fought for prince charlie against george ii., risked their lives and lost their homes in america for the cause of george iii.

the black watch and fraser’s highlanders sailed from greenock on april 14, 1776, and disembarked at staten, where the main body was stationed. here the highlanders were drilled in a new form of warfare, to enable them to overcome the resistance of the colonists. broad-swords and pistols were laid aside, and greater reliance was placed upon marksmanship. after some preliminary fighting at long island the americans, under washington, secured a masterly retreat. in the month following the british troops took possession of the heights commanding new york. so far england had swept everything before her.

during the cessation that followed this engagement washington devoted every moment to strengthening his forces. the american troops were no more trained than the boers in south africa, but like the latter they could claim in their favour a thorough knowledge of the country with practised marksmanship, derived from years of fighting with the indians. their hatred for the english, which burned deeper day by day, was in no degree cooled when they saw amongst the english troops both german mercenaries and redskins. it is difficult for us to realise how bitterly the americans abhorred the very sight of an indian, while on the other hand, an unwritten page in history is the strange alliance that bound many royalists to their merciless allies, and the brutal instincts such a fellowship aroused in some of the highlanders, particularly those of the older, wilder generation, the scourings of the ‘45. on one occasion, for instance, a highlander with the honest name of donald m’donald, led a party of redskins against a block-house called shell’s bush. after the siege, which most fortunately ended in favour of the settler, it was discovered that “m’donald wore a silver-mounted tomahawk, which was taken from him by shell. it was marked by thirty scalp-notches, showing that few indians could have been more industrious than himself in gathering that description of military trophies.”[7]

it is also worth mentioning, for few histories have dealt with this point, that the unfortunate highlanders who had settled in america in the years succeeding culloden, and who, in their loyalty to the throne, fought against the american settlers, were eventually left in the lurch at the conclusion of hostilities, and forced to trek into canada. amongst these hapless people who lost their homes were flora macdonald and her husband. her family divided and her future in jeopardy, she set sail again for scotland, and there she died at the end of the eighteenth century, in the land where she had befriended prince charlie.

the capture of fort washington by general howe was an important achievement, in which the highland regiment played an honourable part. the fort was well stationed upon the summit of a high plateau, as difficult of access upon at least one side as, let us say, the flank of edinburgh or stirling castles. but where difficulties are so obvious, caution should always be exercised the more. we have seen how the heights of quebec were scaled simply by challenging the apparently impossible. in much the same manner the highlanders cleared the precipice beneath fort washington, and last, but certainly not least of them, major murray, whose stoutness and valour can only be compared to that of sir robert munro at fontenoy, was carried to the summit.

“this hill,” says an authority, “was so perpendicular that the ball which wounded lieutenant macleod entered the posterior part of his neck, ran down on the middle of his ribs, and lodged in the lower part of his back. one of the pipers who began to play when he reached the point of a rock on the summit, was immediately shot, and tumbled from one piece of rock to another till he reached the bottom. major murray, being a large corpulent man, could not attempt this steep ascent without assistance. the soldiers, eager to get to the point of their duty, scrambled up, forgetting the situation of major murray, when he, in a melancholy, supplicating tone cried, ‘oh, soldiers, will you leave me?’ a party leaped down instantly, and brought him up, supporting him from one ledge to another until they got him to the top”—a spectacle not without humour.

the americans, flying before the black watch, were brought face to face with the hessians, and were compelled to lay down their arms. it is unquestionable that half the success of a victory lies in the manner that the pursuit is carried out, and unfortunately general howe, instead of pressing hard upon the demoralised americans, was content to go into winter quarters, thus permitting washington to employ the succeeding weeks in strengthening his army. the time lost was never recovered. on january 22 the hessians at trenton were completely surprised and defeated. it had been touch-and-go for the americans. defeat at that moment would have ended the war. immediately the whole situation was changed, and the future grew dark for the british arms.

shortly after, the highlanders in their turn were nearly overcome by a sudden attack while they were seeking some rest after long night-watching. a force of 2000 americans attempted to rush and take them by surprise. happily for the black watch their outposts were resolved to die rather than retreat, and the delay saved the situation.

about the middle of june general howe perceiving that washington was strongly entrenched at middlebrook, resolved to change the theatre of war. when it is difficult to take a position there are two actions that are open to a commander—one is to mask it, as we have seen fortresses masked in the german war, and the other is simply to go elsewhere. the british forces marched away and sailed for elk ferry, from thence advancing on philadelphia. washington, hurriedly abandoning middlebrook, pushed across country to oppose the crossing of the english at brandy wine river. now the fording of a river under the shield of heavy battery fire is no light matter, but in those days, when the protection of artillery was not so adequate as it is to-day, it could only be carried with a terrible loss of life. instead of a frontal attack cornwallis determined to carry out a flanking movement upon the american position, so, marching up-stream, he forded the river without opposition and drove back general sullivan. this enabled general knyphausen to cross with his division, and at the falling of night the americans were in retreat. washington was beaten. on the 26th, philadelphia fell into the hands of the british. then followed the greatest blow of the war, and the decisive moment was come. general burgoyne, marching victorious from canada to co-operate with general howe at saratoga springs, met with a disaster the importance of which can be estimated by the memorable words of lord mahon.

“even of those great conflicts, in which hundreds of thousands have been engaged and tens of thousands have fallen, none has been more fruitful of results than this surrender of thirty-five hundred fighting men at saratoga. it not merely changed the relations of england and the feelings of europe towards these insurgent colonists, but it has modified, for all times to come, the connexion between every colony and every parent state.”

with general burgoyne was general simon fraser, a highlander of great distinction, who had served on the continent, in the expedition against louisburg, and with wolfe at quebec, where he was the officer who, deceiving the french sentry, enabled the highlanders to land unsuspected. it is difficult to say whether the defeat at saratoga springs could have been averted, but it is probable that the despatches summoning howe miscarried. undoubtedly burgoyne made a blunder in forcing fraser to retreat when he was driving the troops of colonel morgan back. however that may be, what followed was dismal enough. burgoyne took up his last position on the heights of saratoga, holding on till famine made further resistance impossible.

saratoga was the turning-point of the war. france no longer hesitated, but threw in her lot with america. the whole character of the struggle was changed, and its wider issues lie outside our story. in 1780 the black watch took part in the siege of charlestown, which surrendered on may 12. in the further history of the 42nd in america there is little more that is worth recording. the capitulation of cornwallis (with whom were fraser’s highlanders) at yorktown in 1781 practically ended hostilities.

in the american war of independence there was little honour or glory for the british name or the highland regiments. where the cause is unworthy of a great nation success can carry with it nothing but dishonour.