Captain Alexander McLeod's Company

The following is a list of the officers and men of the 78th Regiment [Fraser's Highlanders] attached to Captain Alexander McLeod's Company when the regiment was discharged in 1763. Of the approximately 865 enlisted men and NCOs of the regiment, only 170 men are documented as discharged in America. The other soldiers that stayed were transferred to different regiments in the area.

It should be noted that in these subsistence rolls there are female names appearing in italicised script type. And the more interesting question of what part they played in the regiment can be found in the following notes:

1. In "Louisbourg, Key to a Continent" by Fairfax Downey, p. 160: "--- yet more draft had to be manpower, no animals being available, and it proved to be womanpower as well. Among the parties who tugged on the drag ropes, one thousand strong with frequent shift changes, were several hundred laundresses, a number being allowed to each British regiment by regulation, and carried as 'married and on the strength'. Heavy fire from [the guns of] Louisbourg disconcerted them no more than it did the men."

2. In "The Great Fortress" by William Wood, p. 112: "The practice of assigning laundresses, usually the wives of NCOs to military units was frequently followed. In the U.S. Army, where four were allowed each company, it persisted through the Indian Wars."

3. In "The Fraser Highlanders" by J.R. Harper, p. 73, appears: Included in Wolfe's final orders for embarkation to Quebec from Louisbourg, May 17, 1759: "The regiments are to receive provisions for no more than three women per company of 70, and four per company of 100 men."

These rolls should prove to be of great historic value to those who claim ancestry to soldiers who fought at Louisbourg and Quebec with the 78th Regiment. Many of the soldiers who chose to enlist in Fraser’s Highlanders, did so for the money, and those who stayed when the regiment was discharged in 1763, likely felt that their chances of land ownership were better in the New World than they would have been had they returned to Scotland.

Captain Alexander McLeod's Company
Time of Entry: Aug. 30, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 14

1. Captain Alexander McLeod
2. Lieutenant Alexander Fraser
3. Lieutenant Donald Cameron
4. Ensign Kenneth Stuart
5. Sergeant Alexander McNaughton
6. Sergeant James Gordon
7. Sergeant James Sinclair
8. Corporal James Carmichael
9. Corporal Malcolm McNaughton
10. Corporal Duncan McArthur
11. Drummer Ranald Monro
12. Private Rory McDonald
13. Private Niel Brown
14. Private Finlay Campbell
15. Private Duncan Campbell
16. Private Malcolm Cameron
17. Private John Davidson
18. Private Donald Fraser
19. Private James Fraser
20. Private John Fletcher
21. Private John Guillis
22. Private Angus McDonald
23. Private Angus McDonald
24. Private Alexander McDonald
25. Private Allen McDonald
26. Private Allen McDonald
27. Private Allen McDonald
28. Private Allen McDonald
29. Private John McDonald
30. Private John McDonald
31. Private John McDonald
32. Private Donald McDonald
33. Private Donald McDonald
34. Private Evan McDonald
35. Private William McDonald
36. Private Archibald McDonald
37. Private John Eachhorn
38. Private John Eachhorn
39. Private Angus Eachhorn
40. Private Donald McGillivrae
41. Private Donald McIntyre
42. Private John McIntyre
43. Private John McIver
44. Private Finley McKenzie
45. Private Donald Kay [McKay?]
46. Private Evan McKinon
47. Private Dougal McLachlan
48. Private Andrew McLeod
49. Private Alexander McLeod
50. Private Alexander McLeod
51. Private John McLean
52. Private Rory McLellan
53. Private John McMillan
54. Private Donald McMillan
55. Private Donald McNiel
56. Private Donald McNiel
57. Private Charles McPherson
58. Private Malcolm McPherson
59. Private John McPhie
60. Private John McTavish
61. Private William McKirdy
62. Private Robert Ross
63. Private John Robertson
64. Private John Stuart
65. Private Donald Smith
66. Mary Sinclair
67. Catharine Kerdy
68. Private John Stuart

Time of Entry: Sep. 6, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 7

69. Private Nicholas McLean

Time of Entry: Sep. 6, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 14

70. Jennet McKay

Sources:

Treasury Board Papers, "Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders (the 78th), 1763." LAC, T.1, vol. 422.

Ibid., "Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders (the 78th), 1763." TNA, T.1, vol. 422.

Marie Fraser, "Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders (the 78th), 1763." Clan Fraser Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2001.

McIntosh, Walter H. 78th or Colonel Simon Fraser's Regiment [Topsfield, Massachusetts, n.d.].

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2018.