Captain John Nairn's Company

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

1. Sergeant John McKay
2. Sergeant Allan McDonell
3. Sergeant Alexander McDonell
4. Corporal Donald McKenon
5. Corporal William Ross
6. Corporal William Bruce
7. Drummer Donald Burke
8. Private William Anderson
9. Private Duncan Campbell
10. Private Peter Dunbar
11. Private James Forbes
12. Private John Fraser
13. Private Thomas Fraser
14. Private Collin Grant
15. Private Hugh Grant
16. Private Hugh Graham
17. Private William Ganson
18. Private James Henderson
19. Private James Hackney
20. Private Donald Kennedy
21. Private William Moore
22. Private Alexander Monro
23. Private William Monro
24. Private John McColl
25. Private John Mustard
26. Private Roderick Morrison
27. Private Alexander McLeod
28. Private John McLeod
29. Private James McIntosh
30. Private James McIntosh
31. Private Donald McIntosh
32. Private John McGilleray
33. Private Robert McFarlane
34. Private James McKenzie
35. Private Alexander McNabb
36. Private Angus McDonell
37. Private Collin McDonell
38. Private Donald McDonell
39. Private Angus McDonell
40. Private Archibald McDonell
41. Private Angus McDonell
42. Private James McDonell
43. Private John McDonell
44. Private Charles McDonell
45. Private John McDonell
46. Private Malcolm Nicholson
47. Private John Ross
48. Private Alexander Ross
49. Private Alexander Ross
50. Private William Ross
51. Private Archibald Robinson
52. Private George Strachan
53. Private George Sutherland
54. Private Archibald Stuart
55. Private Donald Walker
56. Elizabeth McIntosh
57. Mary McIntosh
58. Jane Monro

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

59. Lieutenant Allen Stuart
60. Lieutenant Henry Monro
61. Ensign Charles Burnett

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

62. Private John Turnbull
63. Private John Fraser
64. Private William Grant
65. Private John Monro
66. Private Alexander 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.