to 200 yards. Men to fire standing and kneeling, and may use a rest; always to bring the piece up to the object. Men to learn to load without halting, and lying on the ground. Marksmen's station in battalion to be on flanks of subdivisions. When battalion is three deep, they are to be on flank of front and rear ranks only. 5th December 1810.-A committee consisting of one sergeant, one corporal, and one private will assemble tomorrow at twelve o'clock to report on the quality and goodness of beer delivered to the troops. 24th December 1810.-At a meeting of pay-sergeants held this day by order of the commanding officer, they appear unanimously of opinion that the battalion can be served with beef and mutton cheaper than was offered by contract, viz., 4d. per lb. The commanding officer is, therefore, induced to give it a trial this month. Officers commanding companies are most minutely to inspect the meat purchased for their respective companies. The troops regularly attended divine service. 9th March 1811.-The men to wear their humble bonnets till the new bonnets are put up. 28th March 1811.-At morning parades, garrison parades excepted, officers and men will appear in their undressed bonnets, and at evening parades in their feathered bonnets. 3rd April 1811.-Sergeant-major Bryce is appointed quartermaster-sergeant vice Gordon, who has given in his resignation. Sergeant M'Kenzie of the Light Company is appointed sergeant-major. Recruiting was carried on principally in the north of Scotland, and always with care as to the class of men taken. The following is a recruiting placard, date about 1811-12 THE GALLANT OR GORDON HIGHLANDERS who have so often distinguished themselves at Copenhagen, Spain, on the plains of Holland and sands of Egypt, and who are now with Lord Wellington in Portugal, want to get a few spirited young men, lads, and boys, to whom the greatest encouragement and Highest Bounty will be given. From the character of the officers of the regiment who are from this part of the Highlands, they can depend that the interest and advantage of high-spirited and well-conducted soldiers from this part of the country will be particularly considered. Printed at the Journal Office, Inverness. It was a long tramp to bring recruits to the west of Ireland from districts north of Inverness, from which at this period the regiment got a great many men of the best class, who filled the vacancies in the 1st Battalion. In 1811, the 2nd Battalion was moved to Scotland, and landed at Irvine on the 11th October. There are no records to show where it was quartered on arrival in its native land, but in 1813 it was in Glasgow,* from which city it marched on the 1st of August 1814, and occupied Edinburgh Castle on the 3rd. Here it remained till the peace of 1814, when it was reduced on the 24th October, having existed exactly eleven years, for though placed on the establishment from the 9th of July 1803, it was only formed at Weely on the 24th of October of that year. The officers were placed on half-pay; many of the N.-C. officers and men were discharged to pension, the remainder were transferred to the 1st Battalion, taking with them the colours. The N.-C. officers were borne as supernumeraries on the strength of 1st Battalion till vacancies. occurred. Since the formation of the 2nd Battalion, it had never been necessary to receive volunteers from other regiments of the line as had been the case on several previous occasions, and notwithstanding the great drain of constant campaigning, the regiment had been kept complete with men in whose keeping its character was safe, both in quarters and in the field. On the 26th and 27th of May 1815, the regiment, now consisting of one battalion, marched to Cork. "The colours of the 2nd Battalion will march with the left wing." At Cork great attention was paid to putting the barracks into a thorough state of cleanliness. The commanding officer * The battalion seems to have been at Ayr before Glasgow. A letter from Lieutenant Hector Innes, dated Ayr, 20th September 1813, says that he with eight other officers are under orders "to join our brave friends, I may say the remains of the Ninety-twa." They were twenty days from England to Santander ! warns the officers against the "shocking practice" of signing without examining papers put before them by their N.-C. officers. All copies of muster rolls, etc., to be in the officer's own writing. There were still one drummer and twenty-four privates sick in the Peninsula; six sergeants, six corporals, twenty-six privates were recruiting at Inverness, Elgin, etc.* It appears that a quarrel in a ball-room, resulting in a duel, had taken place between two officers. "It is with a feeling of deeper regret than he can express that Colonel Cameron has heard of an occurrence which, as it is the first of its kind in the 92nd Regiment he has heard of since he has been in command, he sincerely hopes it may be the last." "He has been accustomed to feel proudly conscious of the high sense of propriety of conduct, together with the unanimity and harmony which prevailed among the officers of the 92nd." It is some palliation that this interruption had proceeded from very young men, of but very short service in the regiment, though by no means a sufficient excuse;" and the Order continues "that while he has the honour to command the 92nd, he will use his power to rid it of parties concerned in such transactions either as principals or accessories, the latter being frequently more to blame than the former." In April the 92nd was inspected, and made "that soldierlike appearance under arms which has ever marked the regiment." The Orders show that the women were employed to cook the men's dinners. * On the 5th February the establishment is :-Sergeants, 65; corporals, 60; drummers, 22; privates, 1140; wanting to complete 243 privates. Reduced 20th February to 55 sergeants, 50 corporals, 22 drummers, 950 privates, wanting to complete 60 privates; but more N.-C. officers and drummers than the establishment were in the total effective, being supernumeraries from 2nd Battalion. CHAPTER XXIII. MEANWHILE a thunderbolt had fallen, causing consternation throughout Europe. Napoleon had secretly left Elba on the 26th of February. He was accompanied by about 1100 of his guard, whom he had been allowed to retain in his island kingdom, and with these, under Drouet d'Erlon, he landed in France near Cannes on the 1st of March. On the 20th he entered Paris at the head of an army which had joined him as he advanced. Louis XVIII. was compelled by the defection of his troops to withdraw from Paris to Ghent; and Napoleon, supported by the army, though not generally by the people of France, assumed his former title of Emperor of the French. The allied Powers refused, however, to acknowledge his sovereignty; Great Britain agreed to replenish the exhausted treasuries of the Continental nations; preparations for war were at once begun, and the Gordon Highlanders were ordered on active service. The regiment embarked at the Cove of Cork, Headquarters on the Atlas transport. The embarkation strength was-Field-officers, 3; captains, 6; lieutenants, 19; ensigns, 8; staff, 4; sergeants, 47; drummers, 16; rank and file, 621. 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 8 sergeants, and 8 corporals, with the men left, were shortly after formed into a recruiting company, and sent to Scotland. The regiment landed in boats near Ostend on the 10th of May, proceeded by canal to Bruges and next day to Ghent, where it was quartered. They disembarked in the marketplace on the market-day, and the novelty of the scene made as great an impression on the Highlanders as their garb did on the country people, who treated them very civilly. At Ghent they were joined by the Royal Scots, 42nd, and 79th, and, says the sergeant, "a happier meeting could not have taken place, so many Scotchmen who had fought side by side in Egypt, Denmark, Spain, and France." The British regiments furnished a guard at the residence of King Louis; the officers were admitted to the royal presence, and dined at one of the tables. In Orders the commanding officer compliments the men on their good conduct, and lessens the patrol duty on that account. The Peninsular Regimental Orders as to the line of march are repeated. The two field-officers are to be alternately riding along the flanks of the column to see that the proper order of march is attended to; no man on any pretence to be allowed to fall out without taking off his knapsack, which is to be carried by two of his comrades till he rejoins his company; officers paying companies to ride; officers to provide themselves with baggage animals; batmen with baggage to be regimentally dressed, with arms and accoutrements; the women at all times to move along with the baggage. "From the present weak state of the regiment, the commanding officer hopes they (the officers) will see the propriety of his requesting them not to take their servants to the rear when they go on duty or otherwise." * The regiment marched at four in the morning of the 27th of May to Alost, along with the 28th, 32nd, 42nd, 79th, and 3rd Battalion 95th, all under the command of Colonel Cameron.† On the 28th they entered Brussels, where the 92nd was placed in the Ninth Brigade commanded by Sir Denis Pack, K.C.B., along with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Royal (Scots), the 42nd, and 2nd Battalion 44th. The Ninth Brigade belonged to the Fifth Division, which was under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, K.C.B. The regiment was inspected by Sir Denis Pack on the 1st of June, and with the Fifth Division on the 3rd by FieldMarshal the Duke of Wellington, accompanied by FieldMarshal Prince Blucher. The Duke expressed his approbation of their appearance "He was happy again to see some regiments that had served with great reputation in the Peninsula." + + A letter from Colonel Cameron shows that the regiment was not only weak in numbers, but that some of the young soldiers were not such strong men as he was accustomed to. + General Orders. 27th May. Many of the Peninsular regiments were in America, and some battalions employed in the present campaign had no experience of war, and were com |