Captain Ranald McDonell's Company

The following is a list of the officers and men of the 78th Regiment [Fraser's Highlanders] attached to Captain Ranald McDonell'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 Ranald McDonell's Company
Time of Entry: Aug. 30, 1763
Number of Days Victualled: 14

1. Captain Ranald McDonell
2. Lieutenant Charles Stuart
3. Ensign Norman McLeod
4. Sergeant Donald Stuart
5. Sergeant William Fraser
6. Sergeant John Ross
7. Corporal Donald McPherson
8. Corporal Alexander McDonald
9. Corporal Gregor McGregor
10. Private Angus Burke
11. Private Donald Burke
12. Private Evan Black
13. Private John Carmichael
14. Private Miles Carmichael
15. Private Donald Clarke
16. Private Edward Davison
17. Private John Dunbar
18. Private John Ferguson
19. Private Alexander Fraser
20. Private Alexander Fraser
21. Private Hugh Fraser
22. Private John Grassett
23. Private Alexander Grant
24. Private Peter Grubb
25. Private John Gunn
26. Private Donald Irving
27. Private Duncan Kennedy
28. Private Robert Keith
29. Private John Kerr
30. Private John Livingston
31. Private Donald McBean
32. Private Donald McColl
33. Private Evan McColl
34. Private Angus McDonell
35. Private Alexander McDonnell
36. Private Archibald McDonell
37. Private Archibald McDonell
38. Private Angus McDonell
39. Private Angus McDonell
40. Private Donald McDonell
41. Private William Monro
42. Private Lachlin Mitchell
43. Private Duncan McGregor
44. Private John McGregor
45. Private Donald McIntosh
46. Private Donald McKinvin
47. Private Duncan McKinvin
48. Private Duncan McKenzie
49. Private Alexander McKenzie
50. Private Alexander McKay
51. Private William McLeod
52. Private John McNabb
53. Private Angus McNabb
54. Private John McNair
55. Private Donald McCrae
56. Private James Ross
57. Private John Ross
58. Private Alexander Stuart
59. Private Norman Stuart
60. Private Donald Sutherland
61. Private Donald Sutherland
62. Private Alexander Sutherland
63. Private Duncan Smith
64. Private James Tavish
65. Private James McLeod
66. Ann Stuart
67. Margaret McGregor

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

68. Private John Fraser
69. Private Duncan McGregor

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.