The following is a list of the officers and men of the 78th Regiment [Fraser's Highlanders] attached to Captain John Fraser'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."
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 John Fraser's Company
Time of Entry: Aug. 16, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 28
1. Captain John Fraser
2. Lieutenant Alexander Cameron
3. Lieutenant Alexander Fraser
4. Corporal James McDonald
Time of Entry: Aug. 29, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 14
5. Corporal Alexander Kennedy
Time of Entry: Aug. 16, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 28
6. Corporal James Sutherland
7. Drummer Thomas Fraser
8. Private Benjamin Allen
9. Private Alexander Cameron
10. Private Alexander Cameron
11. Private William Cameron
12. Private Murdoch Cameron
13. Private Hector Cameron
14. Private John Chisholm
15. Private John Chisholm
16. Private William Chisholm
17. Private William Chisholm
18. Private Keneth Chisholm
19. Private John Fraser
20. Private John Fraser
21. Private John Fraser
22. Private John Fraser
23. Private John Fraser
24. Private William Fraser
25. Private William Fraser
26. Private Alexander Fraser
27. Private Donald Fraser
28. Private Simon Fraser
29. Private Hugh Fraser
30. Private John Forbes
31. Private James Forsythe
32. Private John Innes
33. Private James Lawson
34. Private Hugh McTormet
35. Private Alexander McBain
36. Private Alexander McTavish
37. Private Duncan McTavish
38. Private Hugh McTavish
39. Private Tavish McTavish
40. Private Niel McDonald
41. Private John McDonell
42. Private Donald McDonell
43. Private Hugh McDonell
44. Private Dougal McDonell
45. Private James McIntosh
46. Private John McIntosh
47. Private Donald McGregor
48. Private Donald McGruer
49. Private Farquhar McGillivrae
50. Private John McKay
51. Private Donald McKay
52. Private Duncan McCraw
53. Private John McKenzie
54. Private John McKenzie
55. Private Donald McLean
56. Private John McLean
57. Private John McPherson
58. Private William McNabb
59. Private James Reoch
60. Private Donald Monro
61. Private William Stewert
62. Private John Waters
63. Private Murdoch McLean
64. Catharine Noble
65. Private William Noble
Soldiers' notes.
8. Most likely Corporal Benjamin Allen.
55. Donald Mclean serving duties as company tailor in November 1762. [Captain John Nairne, "Order Books, 1762." LAC, R5991-0-3-E, MG23-GIII 23].
61. Ibid., "A regimental Court martial is scheduled 19 October 1762 to try William Stewart in Captain John Fraser's Company."
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.
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.
Last updated 24 November 2022.
