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Sons of the
Mountains: A History of the Highland regiments in North America
during the French & Indian War, 1756-1767,
Three proud Highland regiments
fought in North America during the Seven Year's War - the 77th
Foot (Montgomery's Highlanders), the 78th Foot
(Fraser's Highlanders), and the famous Black Watch, more
correctly known at the time as the Royal Highland Regiment.
Undoubtedly, the exploits of the 42nd, 77th
and 78th Highlanders in some of the most bloody and
desperate battles on the North American continent were a
critical factor in transforming the overall image of Highlanders
from Jacobite rebels to Imperial heroes in the latter half of
the 18th century. But the everyday story of these
regiments - how they trained, worked, played, fought and died
from their own point of view - has never been seriously told.
Sons of the
Mountains: A History of the Highland regiments in North America
during the French & Indian War, 1756-1767,
is a two-volume set due to be co-published Spring 2006 by Purple
Mountain Press and the Fort Ticonderoga Museum. It chronicles
the Highland regiments' fighting performance and experiences
from the time they were raised in the Highlands and stepped
ashore in North America, to their disbandment in 1763; or, as in
the case of the 42nd, reduced in establishment and
left on lonely garrison duty in the American wilderness until
their recall and return to Ireland in 1767.
Volume
One of
Sons of the Mountains
follows all three regiments on their various campaigns in the
different theatres of war. As they range from the wilderness of
the Ohio Forks to the wind-swept crags of Signal Hill in
Newfoundland, and from the waters of the Great Lakes to the
torrid swamps and cane fields of the "Sugar Islands", the reader
will be exposed to all the major conflicts and actions of the
"Great War for Empire" as seen though the eyes of the Highland
soldier.
Cluny,
the 27th Hereditary Chief of Clan Macpherson, writes from
Blairgowrie, Scotland:
As a direct
descendant of a Clansman who was present on the Heights of
Carillon and at Fort Ticonderoga in July 1758 I feel that I
understand now far better how my forebear and his fellow
Highlanders must have felt and lived and fought, and relate
much more closely to those "Sons of the Mountains" of long
ago. I warmly commend Lt Colonel McCulloch's book to
readers across the Atlantic and here in Scotland. He has
done a great service to the memory of those who fought and
died with these distinguished Regiments.
Volume
Two of
Sons of the Mountains
will appeal to all families of Scottish descent and serious
genealogists. It features comprehensive biographical histories
of every regimental officer from all the major clans (over 350
entries) who served in North America. For example,
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John Sinclair* (1729-1787)
Ensign: Dutch-Scots
Brigade;
Lieut: Dutch-Scots
Brigade;
Capt: 2 June 1747,
Drumlanrig's, Dutch-Scots Brigade; 4 January 1757, 77th
Foot; half-pay, 24 December 1763; exchanged 7th Foot,
13 December 1765; retired, 3 June 1774.
Born in 1729, John was the
3rd son of John Sinclair of Ulbster, the hereditary
Sheriff of Caithness. He came to the 77th as an
experienced half-pay officer of the Dutch Scots Brigade.
The Scots Magazine
in 1747 listing officers of Lord Drumlanrig's Regiment, then
raising in Scotland, shows him as "brother
to Ulbster"
(his father had been succeeded by his older brother George) and
a captain. Commissioned in Montgomery's Highlanders as the
senior captain on 4 January 1757, and according to recruiting
documents, raised his men in Sutherland and Caithness.
He
fought in all the major campaigns of the 77th (Fort
Duquesne, 1758; Ticonderoga, 1759; Crown Point, 1759; and, the
1761 Cherokee Expedition) with the exceptions of the capture of
Montreal and the subsequent Caribbean campaigns. >From late
1760 until the regiment's disbandment in 1763, he and his
company garrisoned Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. He commanded
one of the two composite companies drawn from the five Nova
Scotia companies that were sent to recapture St John's,
Newfoundland in September 1762 under Colonel William Amherst.
Sinclair was passed over for promotion five times. On the
departure of the 77th's two original majors on
promotion in 1761, Captain John Maunsell (in room of Grant) came
in from the 35th and Alexander Monypenny (in room of
Campbell), an aide of Amherst, came in from the 55th
Foot. Monypenny was almost immediately transferred to the
majority of the 22nd Foot and his place taken by
Captain Patrick Sutherland, 45th Foot, who was
actually already serving in NS. Sinclair was passed over for
command a fourth time when Captain Robert Mirrie, the senior
captain of the 2nd/1st Foot in Halifax, NS
was promoted 2nd Major of the 77th in
order to take eight companies of the regiment to the Caribbean.
For Sinclair, it was a blessing in disguise, for Mirrie died of
fever at Havana, as did many of the 77th officers,
Mirrie being replaced by Captain Samuel Zobel, the senior
captain of the 22nd Foot then at Havana. Thus John
Sinclair was the senior captain of Montgomery's Highlanders for
the entire war and went out on half-pay in December 1763. In
1765, his old comrade-in-arms, Lt-Colonel Alex Campbell, son of
Barcaldine, married his 18 year-old niece, Helen Sinclair, after
which he returned to active service, exchanging from half
pay to captain in the 7th Foot in December 1765. He
retired 3 June 1774 at the age of 45. During the American
Revolution, he joined the Sutherland
Fencibles commanded by his old regimental comrade, Lt. Colonel
Nicholas Sutherland (See below) as its senior captain. On the
latter's death in 1781, he was made the Sutherland Fencible's
major and died himself in 1787.
************************************************************************************
General Return,
1757; Officers List, 1756; CBs;
SBs;
BALs;
Stewart,
Sketches,
I-II,
in passim;
DSB,
389, 425;
WO/1/974:
f. 139;
Caithness
Records,
1767
************************************************************************************
Also
included in the glossaries are regimental muster rolls and land
petitions of discharged Highlanders. Marie Fraser editor of Canadian Explorer,
newsletter of the Clan
Fraser Society of Canada
writes:
Besides being
compelling Highland history, SOTM is a valuable genealogical
resource for all of Scottish heritage. With over 350
officers' biographies, career details and genealogical notes
in the annexes, McCulloch has identified the complex ties of
kinship, marriage and friendship that bound the most
prominent Scottish families of the day together during the
Seven Years War between Britain and France fought in North
America, known to some as the French & Indian War.
Lavishly illustrated with artwork
by Robert Griffing, Steve Noon, Peter Rindisbacher, Gary Zaboly,
Charles Stolz and John Buxton, as well as with contemporary
prints, maps and portraits from the collections of the Black
Watch Museums of Scotland and Canada, the Fort Ticonderoga
Museum, the Fort Ligonier Museum, the William L. Clements
Library, the National Army Museum, Chelsea, the David M. Stewart
Museum, Montreal, the National Archives of Canada and the
Library of Congress, Sons of the
Mountains is a visual
delight.
Without
a doubt,
Sons of the Mountains is
the most complete and informative work on the history of early
Highland regiments of the British army in North America to date
and will be published in Spring 2006. To learn more about the
author and for a sneak preview of the Introduction and excerpts
from both volumes of Sons of the Mountains go to
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/mcculloch/index.htm
Further
details on pre-ordering and prices will be posted soon at Purple
Mountain Press website at
http://www.catskill.net/purple/order.htm
or write for details at:
Purple Mountain Press,
Ltd., PO Box 309, Fleischmann's, NY, 12430-0309. Phone:
1-845-254-4062.
Beaumont Hamel
Location
Beaumont Hamel was the objective of the Newfoundland Regiment on
1st July 1916 who sustained very heavy losses. It was
finally taken by the Highland Division in November. The
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial was opened in 1925.
 Caribou
 
 
 
     
Vimy Memorial
Location
 
 
 
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