Introduction
78th Regiment Disbandment Sparks Shift in British Strategy
In the wake of the Seven Years’ War, the British Empire faced the immense task of recalibrating its global military footprint. Central to this transition was the restructuring of garrisons in North America and the planned disbandment of several regiments, including the renowned 78th Regiment of Foot (Fraser’s Highlanders). Raised in 1757 under Simon Fraser of Lovat, the regiment had distinguished itself in major campaigns at Louisbourg, Quebec, and Montreal. Though celebrated for its combat record, the regiment was no longer deemed necessary in peacetime service and was officially disbanded in Scotland in December 1763, following its return from North America earlier that year.
Instructions issued to Governor James Murray in August 1763 outlined a broader reorganization. The 15th Regiment and 27th Regiment were to be reinforced using able-bodied drafts from the 47th Regiment and 78th Regiment, prior to the latter regiments' return to Europe. Murray was directed to ensure these men completed understrength battalions and maintained troop levels in Quebec, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal. The 78th Regiment, though being sent home, was expected to contribute manpower before final disbandment. This process typified Britain’s shift from wartime mobilization to strategic postwar stabilization, particularly in contested colonial territories.
These instructions also reflected an emerging dual-purpose strategy: reduce expenses while incentivizing veterans to remain in North America. Officers and men eligible for discharge were given the option to settle in Canada, with promises of future land grants. This approach married imperial defense with population-building in newly acquired French territories, revealing a key turning point in British military planning and colonial administration.
Crown Instructions on North American Garrison Reform
The following letter, written by General Jeffrey Amherst to Governor James Murray on August 1, 1763, outlines the British Crown’s postwar directives for military restructuring in North America following the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War. Amherst provides detailed instructions for the redistribution and drafting of troops—particularly from the 47th Regiment and 78th Regiment—to reinforce understrength battalions remaining in Canada. The letter also addresses the disbandment of regiments, transportation logistics, officer reductions, and the Crown’s approval for discharged soldiers to remain in North America and receive land. This correspondence reflects a significant transition from wartime mobilization to peacetime consolidation and settlement.
GENERAL JEFFREY AMHERST TO GOVERNOR JAMES MURRAY
New York, 1st Aug 1763
Sir,
As the 15th Regiment are now embarked, ready to sail for Albany, and that the 27th [Regiment] will soon follow, from whence they are to proceed to your Government, agreeable to what I wrote you in my last, I think proper to transmit you full instructions, relative to the formation of the overall Corps, that are to remain in ye Governments of Quebec and Trois Rivieres, according to the new Establishments, as well as what regards the sending home of the 47th and 78th Regiments, after they are drafted to compleat the other Corps.
I enclose you and abstract of the King's Instructions to me for reducing and disbanding the several Corps in North America are likewise a copy of an additional order, authorizing me to cause as many drafts to be made, from the Corps so to be reduced or disbanded, as may be necessary to compleat the several regim`ts destined for the service of this country, to their respective establishments, according to the new plan.
By the above abstract and orders, you will be fully informed of his Majesty's intentions, regarding this matter, and you will please to observe the directions concerning the men that may be discharged of the Battalion of the Royal Americans which is the only Corps in your Government, that I have orders to reduce the 15th & 27th which are now going to join you, being already form'd according to the new Establishment as to officers, but very incompleat with regard to men, which must be made up from the 47th & 78th Regiment.
As the 47th Regiment & 78th Regiment are to proceed to Europe and that I intend the 15th, 27th and your own Battalion of the 60th for the Government of Quebec, detaching five compleat companys of either of the above Corps, you shall judge best to relieve, the two companys of the 4th Battalion, 60th, and the three companys of the 78th Regiment at present stationed at Trois Rivieres.
I would have the 15th Regiment immediately on its arrival, compleated by good able bodied men from the 47th Regiment and 78th Regiment. The particular establishment of this as well as the 27th Regiment being put down at the end of the abstract, after those of the Royal American Battalions, and when you have form'd the three Corps, agreeable to the new plan.
I should be glad the five companys, intended for the Government of Trois Rivieres were immediately sent thither, that the three companys of the 78th Regiment may come to Quebec and the two companys of the 4th Batt., 60th may proceed to join the Battalion at Montreal, under Governor Gage's Command, who has my orders for the disposal of them.
It is pretty certain your Battalion will have men sufficient to compleat it to the New Establishment, but if there should not, Drafts must be taken from the 47th Regiment or 78th Regiment to compleat you.
I enclose you lists of the officers of the 15th & 27th, as have been already fixed, since the reduction was given in orders by Mr. Keppel at sea, and I have likewise transmit you a list of the officers of the 1st & 2d Battalion of the 60th Regt. form'd from the four battalions, agreeable to the following paragraph of a letter I received from the Secretary at War, accompanying the King's Instructions for the reductions & the paragrah runs thus.
As the Royal American Regiment, tho divided into four Battalions, has always been considered as one Corps, it is his Majesty's pleasure that the youngest officers of each rank shall be reduced, and therefore if there are any officer of equal rank, in the first and second Battalion, who are younger than those in the same rank, in the third and fourth Battalions, you will be pleased to take care, that the youngest be reduced.
Such of the officers as are now in the 1st & 2d Battalions and that are not to be reduced, I would have them remain in the Battalion they now serve with, you will therefore please to observe I have followed this rule, with regard to the officers in your Batt. filling up the vacancies with the next eldest of the other three Battalions alternately.
The reading the Instructions at the head of each company must be complied with, as it is His Majesty's pleasure, altho it becomes unnecessary in this country, where the regiments are so greatly reduced already by service, as to want many men to compleat them.
In compleating the companys of the 15th, 27th & Second Battalion 60th you will not reckon any absent of recommended men who may be in England, prisoners with the enemy, or in any situation as to leave it doubtful of their joining their Corps, for each company must consist of 45 real effectives (two contingent men being allowed which makes up the Establishment of forty seven) and some other method, I hope will be fallen upon at home, for paying any recommended or absent men, than by charging them to the regiments; the allowance for the drafts, and in what manner to be paid must likewise be submitted to the Secretary at War for his consideration hereafter.
I have ordered three transport to proceed to Quebec, with the baggage and belongings to the 15th, 27th & 28th regiments (the latter being intended for the Government of Montreal) which transports will serve to carry home the officers and remaining men of the 47th & 78th Regiments, as well as any of the 60th that may be reduced or discharged.
Also, I enclose you a list of the transports, with their tonnage &c and two months provisions have been put on Board each, for the number of men they can carry, reckoning one man to a ton, so that you will please to dispose of them (as you may see occasion, ordering the 47th to proceed to Ireland and the 78th Regiment are destined for Britain.
The consumption of the provisions by the detachment that go on Board from hence, may require a fresh supply for the troops you embark to carry them to Ireland & Britain, and you will order a sufficiency for them for their passage, and you will also direct the commanding officer on his arrival in Britain to send immediate advise thereof to his Majesty's Secretary at War transmitting to him a particular state of his respective Corps, and wait his directions for his further proceedings.
The officer who commands the Corps to Ireland, will in the like manner send to the Commander in Chief there, from the first port he may make previous to the embarkation you will be pleased to discharge any men of the above Corps, or of the 2d Battalion, 60th that are really entitled thereto, by the times for which they enlisted being expired, if they are willing to accept of their discharges in this country, which I would much rather they should, as I think they can get their livelyhood in America, by working, easier, than they can at home.
Should there be any of the men of you Battalion that are Invalids, or are entitled to be discharged and will not accept thereof in this country, His Majesty's orders are to be obeyed in sending them to England, which you will accordingly do, in sending them in the above transports, putting them under the care of the commanding officer of the 78th, who will report them to the Secretary at War, when he send them the state of that Regiment.
If any opportunity should happen for any of the officers of the 47th & 78th, or the reduced officers of your Battalion whose private affairs may require their presence at home, and may chuse to go before the transports arrive, you will please to permit them to go accordingly, as you may judge proper.
I have had the pleasure of receiving a letter from the Secretary of State, signifying to me the King's gracious inclination, to give every possible preference, and encouragement to such officers, as shoudl desire to settle in North America, for which a plan is actually under consideration, and as the adjusting that, may require further time.
The Secretary of State has informed me, that in the mean time if any of the officers or soldiers, who are to be reduced, shall agree to take up lands, that the Governors in North America, are already authorized to grant, or shall desire to remain in N. America in order to avail themselves of such future settlements, as may be proposed, the King is pleased to leave it to all the officers and soldiers abovemention'd, either to return home or remain in North America, as they themselves shall chuse; this therefore you will be pleased to make known, to such of the reduced officers and soldiers, as may belong to the Regts. in your Government.
Governor Burton will dispose of the five companys in his Government as he may judge best, and you will make such a disposition of the rest of the three Corps in the Government of Quebec, as you shall see best for the service, transmitting to me a particular state thereof, including a list of the officers of the 2d Battalion of the 60th who are reduced, with the dates of their commissions.
I have directed Lieutenant Colonel Godwin the send the necessary orders to the Commanding Officer of Artillery at Quebec for forming one compleat company of that Corps, agreeably to the new Establishment, of a Battalion intended for the service of North America; and I shall enclose the said orders herewith, open for your perusal, this company is all I can spare for your Government, and you will likewise dispose of them as you shall judge best.
I am further to acquaint you that I have received directions from the Lords commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury as well as from the Secretary at War, in consequence of their Lordships application to him, for making stoppages from the pay of the troops, that shall be stationed at such places where provisions are supplied them by the Crown, of four pence sterling p diem, from each non-commissioned officer and private man towards defraying the expence of provisions, that shall be found for them by the publick, this being agreable to what was practised during the last peace.
You will therefore take care that the said stoppages are made from the troops under your command for every portion that is received in kind (as by this the men are not obliged to draw provisions if they can subsist them selves at a cheaper rate) and to commence the day after the New Establishment takes place; Altho I could have wish'd the stoppage had not been so great at first.
I must own, on considering several advantages a soldier may now have in this country, by cultivating some ground where he may happen to be quartered, or providing himself with fish, game &c the hardship does not appear so great at first view, for by the above advantage, the men may for the most part, do very well. With four rations for eight days, which they may receive in the species that will best answer to them, as that instead of four pence p diem, they will only be subject to a stoppage of two pence.
By this regulation you will observe that no officer can be intitled to more than one ration for which, if he draws it, a stoppage must likewise be made of four pence sterling, this of course strike off all women and the Detachment of the Royal Artillery, must be subject to the same regulation.
I am,
Sir,
&c
His Excellency Governor Murray./
Legacy of the 78th Regiment: Settlement, Service, and Strategy
The withdrawal and disbandment of the 78th Regiment, although administratively routine, symbolized a profound change in British imperial priorities. No longer was the Highland soldier merely a wartime instrument; he became a potential colonial settler, an asset for imperial permanence in North America. Officers such as Malcolm Fraser accepted land grants and remained in Canada, eventually becoming figures of local authority and influence. The Crown’s encouragement of this transition illustrated a subtle but important integration of military policy with colonial development.
The redeployment of remaining troops, as laid out in the 1763 orders, reinforced garrisons at Quebec and Trois-Rivières, while allowing for the return of veteran units like the 47th and 78th to Europe. Men deemed “real effectives” were prioritized for active service, while others were offered local discharge—a pragmatic solution given the scarcity of transport and the economic opportunity available in North America.
Ultimately, the 78th Regiment, their final administrative actions—drafting, settlement options, and disbandment—marked more than a bureaucratic shift. They represented a strategic recalibration: one where Britain leveraged its military apparatus to establish demographic and political control over newly conquered territories. This policy would echo into subsequent decades, influencing Highland recruitment patterns, garrison policy, and the broader shape of the British Empire in North America.
Research at The National Archives (UK)
The original 1763 letter involving the 78th Regiment is preserved in the Amherst Papers at Library and Archives Canada.
Access millions of digital records, military documents, and government records held at The National Archives in Kew, London. Ideal for researchers exploring Britain's imperial, military and colonial history.
Works Consulted
- Amherst, Jeffrey. Letters from General Amherst to Governor James Murray, 1763. British National Archives, WO 34/26.
- Amherst, Jeffrey. The Jeffrey Amherst Papers. MG23 A1, Library and Archives Canada.
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- Chartrand, René. Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s First Siege. Osprey Publishing, 2001.
- Cubbison, Douglas R. All Canada in the Hands of the British: General Jeffery Amherst and the 1760 Campaign to Conquer New France. University of Oklahoma Press, 2014.
- Fraser, Malcolm. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1983.
- Fraser, William. The Chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. Vol. 2, privately printed, 1878.
- Murray, James. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1979.
- Stanley, George F. G. Canada’s Soldiers: The Military History of an Unmilitary People. Macmillan of Canada, 1974.
- Stewart, John. The Settlers of the 78th Fraser Highlanders in Canada After the Conquest. Montreal Historical Society Pamphlet Series, 1904.
- Winsor, Justin. Narrative and Critical History of America: The English and French in North America, 1689–1763. Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1888.
- Jeffery Amherst, “47th and 78th Regiments to Join the 15th Regiment, Aug. 1763.” LAC, War Office Records: Amherst Papers. Letters from the Commander-in-Chief, New York to the Governor of Quebec, 1760-1763. W.O. 34, vol.3.
