Captain Archibald Campbell's Company

The following is a list of the officers and men of the 78th Regiment [Fraser's Highlanders] attached to Captain Archibald Campbell'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 Archibald Campbell's Company
Time of Entry: Aug. 23, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 21

1. Sergeant John Watson
2. Sergeant James Robertson
3. Sergeant Daniel McAlpin
4. Corporal James Gow
5. Corporal John Campbell
6. Corporal Hector Ross
7. Drummer Simon Fraser
8. Drummer Donald McGillivray
9. Private John Buchanan
10. Private Roderick Baine
11. Private John Browne
12. Private Donald Black
13. Private William Campbell
14. Private Angus Campbell
15. Private William Campbell
16. Private Duncan Campbell
17. Private Donald Campbell
18. Private Donald Campbell
19. Private Evan Cameron
20. Private John Cameron
21. Private John Chisholm
22. Private John Fraser
23. Private John Fraser
24. Private Alexander Fraser
25. Private James Fraser
26. Private Simon Fraser
27. Private Angus Fletcher
28. Private John Gordon
29. Private David Gallahan
30. Private Alexander Johnston
31. Private James Knight
32. Private John McCallum
33. Private John McKenzie
34. Private Roderick McKenzie
35. Private Duncan McCraw
36. Private John McPherson
37. Private John McPherson
38. Private Alexander McPherson
39. Private Donald McPherson
40. Private Donald Gibbon
41. Private Alexander McDonell
42. Private Donald McDonell
43. Private Evan McDonell
44. Private Donald McLeod
45. Private John McIntosh
46. Private John McIntosh
47. Private Peter McGregor
48. Private Duncan McNicol
49. Private Donald Cuthbert
50. Private Lachlin McIntosh
51. Private Alexander McArthur
52. Private John McDougal
53. Private William Rose
54. Private Arthur Rose
55. Private William Ross
56. Private John Robertson
57. Private Alexander Smith
58. Catharine McNicol
59. Catharine Noble
60. Catharine Ross
61. Private James Black

Time of Entry: Aug. 30, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 14

62. Captain Archibald Campbell
63. Lieutenant Arthur Rose
64. Ensign Alexander Campbell
65. Private Lachlin McPherson
66. Private James Campbell
67. Private Duncan McNicoll
68. Private Duncan McDougal
69. Private John McBain
70. Private John McCarter
71. Private Finlay Monro
72. Private Hugh Monro
73. Private George Noble

Time of Entry: Sep. 5, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 7

74. Private James Smith
75. Private James Wright
76. Private John McLeod

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.