Companies of the 78th Regiment, 1763

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Scottish Highlanders in Battle






In the frozen silence of a snow-laced forest, four Highland soldiers press forward, their breath sharp in the biting air. A Union Jack unfurls defiantly above the scene, gripped by a screaming officer whose coat flutters like a banner of vengeance. Behind them, a log cabin erupts in flame—its blaze a shocking defiance against the cold, mirrored in the icy stream that slices through the snow. Rifles are raised, kilts stiffened by frost, their eyes locked on unseen foes. Fire and frost converge in this charged moment—an unyielding clash of loyalty, destruction, and survival at the edge of an empire’s wilderness. (Jeffrey Campbell, Echoes of Fire and Frost, 2025)

Companies of the 78th Regiment, 1763

As early as March 1759, Colonel Fraser’s 78th Highlanders numbered over 1,500 men and women, organized into 14 companies, each led by a commissioned officer. By 1763, that figure had decreased significantly, with the regiment reduced to just under 900 personnel. While comprehensive muster rolls from the early years—including full lists of soldier names—are no longer available, it is during the later stages of the war that we finally begin to see documentation identifying the individuals who served in what is now regarded as one of the most pivotal military campaigns in early North American history.

For centuries, muster rolls have played a central role in military administration. Beyond simply listing names within a company, battalion, or regiment, they often included a “record of events” summarizing a unit’s activities. Their primary purpose was to capture key information such as personnel identity, numbers, condition, equipment status, and pay eligibility—critical data used for effective oversight of the British Army. Rolls were typically generated at the time of a regiment’s formation and updated on a monthly, bimonthly, or semiannual basis until the unit was disbanded. There are even accounts of officers “padding the rolls”—reporting more men than were actually present—in order to draw additional rations at month’s end.

The earliest surviving subsistence rolls for the 78th Highlanders, which recorded discharge dates and rations allocated to each soldier, are dated 19 July 1763, followed by a second set in August. Though not without errors—hardly surprising when accounting for nearly 900 names—these documents represent the official discharge roster at the time of the regiment’s disbandment and remain a vital resource for researchers today.

Colonel Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 1763

Works Cited:

“Revolutionary War Rolls, 1894-1913.” National Archives Catalog, War Department, National Archives, Washington, D.C., 1947, catalog.archives.gov/id/602384.

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

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