The 78th Regiment of Foot

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide our readers with the most accurate information available.

OUR VISION

Every idea begins with a vision. Ours was simple: there was very little, if any, anecdotal historical material published about these famed men and women of Colonel Fraser's 78th Highlanders. And while there are a plethora of historians who have captured the North American campaigns of the Seven Years' War with great success, it turns out there was another opportunity with a very simple solution. People crave knowledge, and we've amassed a large collection of regimental material. It was time to bring the two together.

We hope to offer a unique and varying menu for anyone interested and who wishes to study more about an era we deem to be one of the most fascinating times in the history of military conflict.

BIOGRAPHIES

Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, was a Scottish nobleman, politician, and soldier. He was the principle lobbyist for the creation of two new Highland battalions in 1757, requested as reinforcements to serve in North America by Lord Loudoun (Colonel John Campbell), Commander in Chief of forces at the time in that arena.

On 2 January 1757, with the greatest of influence, he delivered two separate lists of officer nominations to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, for the raising of the battalions. Although Colonel Simon Fraser was not his first pick for the colonelcy position in the then-Second Highland Battalion (the initial nod went to Major John Mackay, Fifth Regiment Foot, who declined to due poor health), Argyll's instincts proved to be a formidable force in the taking of Quebec in 1759.

Hugh Rose, 17th Baron of Kilravock, [1] 17th of Kilravock, was born on 12 July 1705, the son of Hugh Rose, 16th of Kilravock and Elizabeth Grant. He studied Law and practiced both in Scotland and in Holland, and admitted Advocate 15 January 1729. He was fluent in Greek, Latin, and French, in addition to English.

He married Elizabeth Clephane (known as ‘Betty’), daughter of Colonel William Clephane, on 3 January 1739. They were both instrumental in the raising of Colonel Fraser’s Regiment, lending support to Betty’s brother Major James Clephane, second in command. When Hugh decided to remain in Scotland, his father resigned the lands of Kilravock in his favor. 

He died on 26 November 1772 at age 67 and was buried at the family burial grounds at Geddes.

James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) [3] was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec as a major general. The son of a distinguished general, Edward Wolfe, he received his first commission at a young age and saw extensive service in Europe during the War of the Austrian Succession. His service in Flanders and in Scotland, where he took part in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion, brought him to the attention of his superiors. The advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years on garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a brigade major at the age of 18, he was a lieutenant-colonel by 23.

Commanding British forces on the Plains of Abraham on the morning of 13 September 1759, Wolfe then led 4,400 men in small boats on a very bold and risky amphibious landing at the base of the cliffs west of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. His army, with two small cannons, scaled the 200-metre cliff from the river below and surprising the French under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, who thought the cliff would be un-climbable, and had set his defenses accordingly. Faced with the possibility that the British would haul more cannons up the cliffs and knock down the city's remaining walls, the French fought the British just outside Quebec City. They were defeated after fifteen minutes of battle, but when Wolfe began to move forward, he was shot thrice, once in the arm, once in the shoulder, and finally in the chest. He perished in the arms of his loyal comrades and was later returned home to Britain for burial.

Regards,

Jeffrey A. Campbell

Founder & Historian

Sources:

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rose-5522

2. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG148160

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolfe