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Footsoldiers of Empire: The Highland Regiments |
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© Scran |
The success of this regiment led to the formation of others in the Highlands, with the 73rd Highlanders raised by John MacKenzie, Lord Macleod, as the first clan Regiment in 1777, to be followed by the likes of the Gordons, the Seaforths and the Camerons among others. So why did Highlanders enlist so enthusiastically? Undoubtedly the after effects of the Jacobite rebellions played a major part, as, with the break-up of the clan system rents became prohibitive and landowners were keen to move their tenants of fertile land to make way for sheep. Faced with little opportunities at home, the choice for many young men in the Highlands of the Clearances must have been stark – the only alternative to emigration would be to “take the King’s shilling” and enlist. In an ironic situation, the very group of people who had but half a century before risen up against the government were now volunteering in droves to fight and in many cases die for it. Landowners themselves saw the new regiments as a way of emptying their estates of tenants while at the same time pocketing a recruiting fee from the government. A clan regiment also had the effect of displaying the loyalty of the chief to the Hanoverian order in London.
The first major campaign the Highland Regiments were involved in was with the Black Watch fighting in the Seven Years War of the 1750s – then the American Revolution, and it was during this campaign that the effects of the clearances can be seen to have an effect on recruitment for the army. Lord John Murray is quoted as saying – “The present ardour of the Highland Gentlemen, is great to be employed in His Majesty's Service."
Throughout the American Revolution, Scotland continued to be the most fertile field for recruits. "The present ardor of the Highland Gentlemen," wrote Lord John Murray, "is great to be employed in His Majesty's Service." In the rush to recruit troops to enlarge the army for the American campaign Scotland was to provide over two thirds of the 15,000 troops recruited in 1778. Indeed during the period 1756 to 1815 some estimate that 75,000 Highlanders enlisted.
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