Private Donald Gunn, 78th Regiment, 1757-1763

The quaint town of Stratford, Connecticut, nestled along the banks of the Housatonic River during the 18th century, as the sun descends beneath the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the tranquil scene. The river reflects the fiery oranges and deep purples of the sunset, while a handful of wooden sailboats are moored at the docks. The town itself is a charming assortment of colonial-style buildings, with their shingled roofs and white-washed clapboard facades, many of which are adorned with candlelit windows, hinting at the lives unfolding within. (Jeffrey Campbell, Stratford Sunset, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator.)

Private Donald Gunn, 78th Regiment, 1757-1763

Donald Gunn was originally a soldier in Colonel Simon Fraser's Second Highland Battalion (of Scotland), later renumbered the 63rd Regiment of Foot, and finally the 78th Regiment of Foot. His regiment embarked at Cork, Ireland, in June 1757 for passage to North America to participate in the Seven Years' War in Quebec, Canada.

30 November 1757. The regiment arrived in Connecticut, and the ten companies were quickly divided into two companies per city, garrisoned in civilian homes at Stratford, Fairfield, Norwalk, Milford, and Stanford.

29 January 1758. In the Congressional Church records at Stratford, Connecticut, Reverend Izahiah Wetmore recorded a baptism of "bettee daughter of Daniel Gunn Drum major in Colonel Fraziers Regiment." [1] Unfortunately, the name of the mother is not recorded in the document, and she is not listed on the final muster roll taken in the summer of 1763. 

Daniel Gunn may have been assigned to Captain Baillie's Grenadier company at Stratford when his daughter was born. [2]

1762-63. Private Donald Gun,  a drummer in Captain Hugh Cameron's Company, is listed as an "invalid" soldier in 1762, and is also carried on the final subsistence rolls taken in September 1763. Invalids were typically soldiers no longer able to enter the battlefield for any number of reasons, but more often than not it was due to sickness or disability. They were then considered unfit for duty. [3, 4, 5]

6 January 1764. Daniel Gunn, aged 50, 24 years of service, from Caithness, Scotland, is recorded as admitted to Royal Chelsea Hospital, London, and listed as "worn out." Considering the 78th Regiment returned to Scotland in December 1763, his admittance to the hospital one month later is consistent with being an invalid soldier returning home. [6, 7]

Donald & Daniel are sometimes, but not always, interchangeable in Scotland, because Domhnall, the Gaelic version of Donald, may be Anglicized as Daniel.

Sources:

1. Wilcoxson, Wm. Howard, "History of Stratford, Connecticut, 1639-1939", Connecticut, 1939, p. 310; First Congressional Church Records, Stratford Connecticut, 1688-1927. FHL, Microfilm 7883792.

2. "Report of the Quarters of His Majesty’s 63d or Second Highland Battalion as Cantoned in the Government of Connecticut in New England, 1758." NAS, GD42/2/41/1-7.

3. Captain Cameron may have assumed command of the Grenadier Company upon the death of Captain Baillie, at Louisbourg.

4. LAC, W.O. 34, vol. 2.

5. Although Donald Gunn appears in Captain Cameron's Company on the final subsistence rolls (soldier #65), his spouse is not listed with him. As only a certain number of women per company were permitted to be carried on the regimental establishment, she could have returned home to Scotland with her husband, but not "on the list." Or, she may have died in childbirth.  

6. While no actual evidence has surfaced, with 24 years of military experience he was a prime candidate for potential service in the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) or the Battle of Culloden, 1746.

7. TNA, W.O. 116/5-3. 

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2021.

Four Soldiers Named William Ross

An idyllic 18th-century countryside in Quebec, Canada, as the first light of dawn breaks over the horizon. The sun, a warm orb of burnt gold, rises above the distant Laurentian Mountains, casting a soft glow across the rolling hills and valleys that stretch as far as the eye can see. A serene river, reflecting the fiery hues of the early morning sky, snakes through the landscape, flanked by a tapestry of autumnal foliage. (Jeffrey Campbell, Quebec Countryside, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Four Soldiers Named William Ross

Of the original 1600 soldiers that served with Colonel Fraser during the Seven Years' War in North America, we have identified birth locales for about 250 of the nearly 900 men that officially discharged from the Regiment in the fall of 1763. William Ross was a common name found among the troops, and four men from the Regiment found on the surviving muster rolls at the conclusion of the war shared that same name. Albeit there is a limited amount of surviving paperwork available for the soldiers, the birthplace of Corporal William Ross has been positively identified. Further known details and the post-war disposition of each of these soldiers bearing the same name are as follows.

Corporal William Ross
Discharged from Captain John Nairn's Company on 23 August 1763, he was part of a larger group of 170 soldiers that discharged from the regiment at the conclusion of the war and remained in Canada. He had follow-on service and bore arms in the late rebellion and was wounded in 1779 in Nova Scotia on an expedition with Lord Harvey. He had a wife by the name of Mary, and six sons, to wit: Alexander, William, John, Donald, Hector, and Lauchlan. He and his family settled in the Parish of Rimouskie, he was a merchant by trade, and was originally from the city of Tane [sic, Tain], in the shire of Ross, North Britain (Scotland). [LAC, Lower Canada Land Papers, RG1 L3, vol. 157].

Note: An article published in 2005 by Alain Ross suggests the following regarding the ancestry of Corporal Ross: William Ross was born in Scotland at Tain, in the township of Geanies, located in Ross County, six miles from Eastern Fern, on the strait of Dornoch in the northeast corner of Scotland. William was the son of Alexander Ross and Helen Bayne (Baine) from Tulloch. [Je Me Souviens, A Publication of the American-French Genealogical Society, Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 2005].

Private William Ross
Discharged from the 78th Regiment in August of 1763, he re-entered service that same month with the 2d Bn, 60th Regiment of Foot, where he continued to provide guard over Quebec for a number of years.  He is located on the following muster roll with the 60th Regiment.

Captain Samuel Holland's Company

Reporting at Fort William Augustus, 25 July 1765 

His disposition beyond 1765 remains unknown. [TNA, W.O. 12/6935].

Private William Ross
Discharged from the 78th Regiment in August of 1763, he reentered service that same month with the 15th Regiment of Foot, where he continued to provide guard over Quebec for a number of years.  He is located on the following muster rolls with the 15th Regiment.

Captain James Cuthbert's Company:

Reporting at Quebec, 24 October 1763

Reporting at Quebec, 24 August 1764

Captain Andrew Cathcart's Company:

Reporting at La Prairie, 8 August 1765

Reporting at St. John's, 9 October 1766

Reporting at Quebec, 18 July 1767

As the 15th Regiment returned to England in August 1768, his disposition beyond 1767 remains unknown. [LAC, W.O. 12, vol. 3228; film C-9202].

Private William Ross
Returned home to Scotland at the conclusion of the war in the fall of 1763, and his further disposition is currently unknown.

It's worth mentioning, as with all Colonel Fraser's soldiers, considering less than 900 men of the original regiment remained at the conclusion of the war, we must be observant of the other approximately 700 men who share the same names. There is a distinct possibility other William Ross' were once present at some point during the conflict.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2020.

Private Duncan Cumming, 60th & 78th Regiment

Born in Scotland [date/town unknown], Private Duncan Cumming enlisted in the army and initially served six years with the 78th Foot in various campaigns in North America. At the conclusion of the war in the summer of 1763, his name appears on two separate muster reports as having received seven days of subsistence pay: 78th Foot: A Detachment of Invalids, dated August 16, and in Colonel Fraser's Company on the Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders, dated August 23. At this time, it is uncertain as to why the two separate musters. On August 25, 1763, he transferred to the 2d Battalion, 60th Foot, and selected to remain in North America (along with the 15th Foot and 27th Foot) to continue to provide a guard for the government in Montreal, where he served an additional 19 months in Captain Robert Brigstock's Company and was discharged on March 29, 1765.

Discharge Certificate
[front page]

By Captain Robert Bayard Esq.

Commanding the Second Battn of the Royal American Regiment

These are to certify that the Bearer hereof Duncan Cumming having Served Honestly and faithfully for the space of Eight years, part of which in the Late 78th & part in the above said Regiment and in Captn Robert Brigstocks Compy, but having found a good man in his place, he is hereby Discharged, Having first Received a just account of all his pay & appears of pay cloathing of all Sort, and all other of his just Demands from the time of his Entering in the said Regiment to this day, being the Day of his Discharge as appears by his Receipt on the other side.

Given under my Hand at Montreal this 29th day of March 1765.

[signed]
Robt Bayard

To all whom it may concern

[back page]

I do hereby acknowledge to have Received a just account of all My pay arrears of pay cloathing of all Sorts, and all other Demands from the time of My Entering in the Regiment to this day, being the day of My Discharge.

Witness My hand this 29th day of March 1765

[signed]

Duncan Cumming

Personal Affidavit
Province of
Lower Canada
to wit:

Personally appeared before me - 

James Hughes, Esquire, one of His Majesty's Commissioners of the Peace for the District of Montreal, Duncan Cumming, who being sworn on the Holy Evangelists, made Oath and with that he has not as yet received His Majesty's bounty of Lands for his past services in this Province or in any other of His Majesty's Colonies in America, nor any gratuity whatever in lieu thereof, and to which he is entitled agreeable to the Royal Instructions for himself, his Wife, and seven Children namely, Margaritte, aged 25, Flora 19, Janet 18, Duncan 17, Isabel 15, Alexander 12, & John 6 years 1.

[signed]
Duncan Cuming

Sworn Before me at

Montreal this 29th Day

of March, 1800.

[signed]
James Hughes: J.P.

Certificate of Claims

Certificate of Claims for part of the waste Lands of the Crown by Duncan Cumming, on behalf of himself, his Wife & seven Children.

That he served in the 78th Regiment at the Reduction of Louisburgh and Quebec ~ 

That he also served in the 60th Regiment, and at all times in the Militia particularly at the taking of Colonel Allen prisoner in the year 1775. ~

That he had been settled in Canada upwards of thirty two years, is now far advanced in years and in low circumstances. ~

That he is well known to us and worthy of His Majesty's Bounty. ~ 

Montreal, 29th March 1800.

Except as to the first article

I know the rest ~

[signed]
James McGill

Richd. Dobie
Edw. Wm. Gray

Note: His official discharge paperwork from Colonel Fraser's 78th Regiment has never been located, and the claim of militia service in 1775 remains unsubstantiated.

Census Returns
January 1785, Montreal, Duncan Cummings. [Names only].

Vital Records
Marriages:
Listed as Duncan Cummings, he is most likely the same man who married Agathe Charpentier on 18 November 1771 as recorded in the parish register of the Anglican, Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal, Quebec.

Note: No additional Cummings marriages located in this parish between 1766-1784

Christenings [Parish of Montreal]:
Margaret Cummins
Birth: 8 August 1773
Baptized: 12 September 1773

George Cummins
Birth: 24 May 1777
Baptized: 29 May 1777

Florence Cummins
Birth: 18 December 1778
Baptized: 24 December 1778

Jane Cummins
Birth: 5 April 1781
Baptized: 8 April 1781

Isabel Cumming [Montreal]
Baptized: 12 March 1786
Listed as daughter of Duncan Cumming of Montreal.

Note: Due diligence should be performed to confirm these are the children of Duncan and Agathe.

Notarial Records
Name: Duncan Cummings & Agathe Charpentier
Type: Autres
Record Date: 31 May 1806
Record Place: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Notary: Guy, Louis
Record Description: Compe et partage
Source Citation:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec; Montréal, Quebec, Canada; District: Montréal; Title: Guy, Louis (1801-1842).

Name: Duncan Cummings & Agathe Charpentier
Type: Inventaire
Record Date: 6 Feb. 1806
Record Place: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Notary: Guy, Louis
Record Description: Inventaire
Source Citation:
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec; Montréal, Quebec, Canada; District: Montréal; Title: Guy, Louis (1801-1842).

Sources:

"Schedule of certificates and discharges of non-commissioned officers and soldiers reduced in America." Lower Canada Land Papers, RG 1 L 3, vol. 157, No. 52. Public Archives Canada.

Treasury Board Papers, "Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders (the 78th), 1763." LAC, T.1, vol. 422.

“Marriage record of Duncan Cummings and Agathe Charpentier, Nov. 1771.” Genealogie Quebec, Drouin Institute, Sept. 2018, www.genealogiequebec.com.

“List of English inhabitants in the City of Montreal in January 1785.” Civil and Provincial Secretary Lower Canada ["S" Series], 1760-1840 [RG 4, A 1, vol. 27], Microfilm C-3000, Public Archives Canada.

"Births, marriages, and deaths recorded in the register of the parish of Montreal, 1766-1787." [M.G. 8, G 19, vol. 22], Microfilm C-3023, Public Archives Canada.

Bethune, Reverend John. "Baptism of Isabel Cumming." Omissions of marriages and baptisms in the 84th Regiment. LDS FHL, SLC, UT, Microfilm: 004507724, image: 191.

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

Lieutenant Alexander Gregorson, 78th Regiment

Lieutenant Alexander Gregorson, of Ardtornish [1730-1789] - s/o James Macgregor & Marjorie Campbell [dau. of Alexander Campbell of Airds] - a gentleman volunteer gazetted an ensign on June 10, 1758 after the death of Lieutenant John Cuthbert created a vacancy. 

Colonel Simon Fraser recommended him for the promotion before the regiment sailed for Halifax and Louisbourg in a letter, 23 April 1758, to Lord Loudoun, describing Mr. Gregorson as "very strongly recommended by Colonel Campbell & to whose friends I am so much indebted that I should take his being provided for as a very great favour." And while the real identity of Colonel Campbell is not known, the introduction of Gregorson as a civilian suggests no earlier military service. The recording of his commission in the British Army Lists advocates his assignment with Colonel Fraser as his first post.

Gregorson, a descendant from Clan Macgregor, and whose kinsman, John, also served in Quebec with the 2nd Battalion of the 60th Royal American Regiment, was listed among the officers who sailed for Louisbourg in 1758; fought at Plains of Abraham on September 13, 1759 where he, along with Ensign McKenzie and Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, was described in the journal kept by Malcolm Fraser as "slightly wounded." Additionally, he sustained injuries at the Battle of Sainte-Foy on April 28, 1760, where he was taken a prisoner and almost killed by Indians, but erroneously documented as "dead" in Governor Murray’s Return of Prisoners of War.

List of Officers Sent in Governor Murray’s Return not Included in the List of English Prisoners returned from Canada, June 14, 1760

Fraser’s: Ens. Alexr. Gregorson: Prisoner on Parole at Quebec. Dead.

                Ens. Malcolm Fraser: Prisoner on Parole at Quebec. Dead.

Otway’s: Capt. Ince: Dead

Lascelle’s: Capt. Archbold: Dead

Amherst’s: Ens. Montgomery: Dead

Lawrence’s: Lt. Forbes mentioned in Govr. Murray’s is Dead.

A contemporary newspaper account from the period captured the death of Captain Ince and the four other officers correctly.

The Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1760

That Captain Ince, of Otway's, and four other Officers, wounded and taken Prisoners the 28th of April, died of their Wounds at Montreal.

The ensign was promoted to lieutenant on April 29, 1760 in room of Lt. Cosmo Gordon, killed.

Alexander's kinsman, John, having knowledge his regiment were to remain and provide the guard to Quebec after the war, joined the 78th in the summer of 1763 in order to return to Europe.  The Highlanders' sailed home in October and "broke" at Glasgow on December 14, 1763, where both men were exchanged to half-pay.

Gregorson returned to active service on January 23, 1788 as a then-58-year-old lieutenant in the Landguard Fort Invalid Company, and was discharged dead the following year.

The Edinburgh Evening Courant, October 16, 1789
INVALIDS. Lieut. Robert Thomas, from  Capt. James Malcolm's Independent Company at Sheerness, to be Lieutenant in Captain William Pemble's Independent Company at Landguard Fort, vice Alexander Gregorson, deceased.

Note: Since the publishing of this post, new evidence has surfaced suggesting John Gregorson transferred from the 78th Regiment to the 2nd Battalion, 60th Royal Americans prior to September 1761.

Sources:

Fraser, Malcolm. Extract from a Manuscript Journal Relating to the Siege of Quebec [Quebec, 1886].

Marie Fraser, “Officers of the 78th Regiment.” Clan Fraser Society, Canada, 2001.

Macgregor, Amelia Georgiana Murray. History of the Clan Gregor: from public records and private collections. Vol. 2 [William Brown, 1901].

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017. 

This article last update 18 October 2021.

Private Donald McKinnon, 78th Regiment of Foot

The personal affidavit of Donald McKinnon, 78th Regiment of Foot, 21 March 1800.

City & District of Quebec

Before me Peter Stuart, Esquire, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said District, personally appeared Donald McKinnon, formerly a private Soldier in the late Seventy Eighth or Royal Highland Regiment of Foot, who being Duly Sworn upon the Holy Evangelists deposeth and faith, that he was a private Soldier in Captain Alexander Campbell's Company, in the said 78th Regiment, and was discharged therefrom at the general reduction which took place shortly after the conquest of Canada, when he became an Inhabitant of this Province and hath ever since remained therein ~ That he had the Misfortune to be plundered, many years ago when on the coast of Labradore by some Indians, of his Chest & effects and at that time lost his Discharge or certificate from said Regiment. ~ That he is a Married man and has had Twenty Children, ten of whom are living, and that he has never received any part of His Majesty's Bounty in Lands in virtue of the Royal Proclamation of October 1763 either in this or any other of His Majesty's Colonies or Goverments in America - in his own right or in behalf of his wife Angelique, or children by name Joseph, Louis, Lacerte, Etienne, Charles, Angelique, Magdalene, Marguerite, Rose and Elizabeth - And that he the Deponent is about Seventy eight years of Age and is settled in the Parish of Berthier on the South Shore.

Sworn before me at

Quebec this 21st of March 1800

Peter Stuart, J.P.                                                                        

Donald  X  McKinnon

[his mark]

Note: Donald McKinnon appears with Captain Alexander Campbell during the regiment's reduction in Quebec in the summer of 1763, but his name does not appear as one of 170 soldiers discharged in America.' The names Donald McKinven and Donald McKinvan appear on muster rolls as entering the 15th Foot on 25 August 1763 in the companies of Captain Maxwell and Major Irving respectively.

Source:

"Schedule of certificates and discharges of non-commissioned officers and soldiers reduced in America." LAC, Lower Canada Land Papers, RG1 L3L, vol. 157.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.

Private James Forbes, 78th Regiment of Foot

Born in the Nairn, Scotland in 1723, Private James Forbes enlisted in the army in 1757 and served about seven years with the 78th Foot in various campaigns in North America. At the conclusion of the war in the summer of 1763, his name appears in Captain John Nairn's Company on the Subsistence rolls of Fraser's Highlanders, dated 23 August, as having received 21 days subsistence pay, and also on the official roster of 78th Foot: Soldiers Discharged in America. His official discharged date is listed as 10 September 1763, and there is no indication of continued service.

Private Forbes' name is included in a land petition with 22 former soldiers of the 78th Foot, dated 19 May 1765 at Quebec, for lands "at or near the Bay of Gaspe or Chaleurs."

Discharge Certificate

His Majesty's 78th Regiment of foot whereof Simon Fraser is Colonel, 

These are to certify, That the Bearer hereof, James Forbes, Soldier in Captain John Nairns Comp of the aforesaid Regiment, Born in the Parish of Ardclach in or near the Market-Town of ..... in the County of Nairn, Aged 40 years and by Trade a Labourer Hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment Seven years: But by Reason that the Regiment is to be Reduced is hereby Discharged, and humbly recommended as a proper Object of His Majesty's Royal Bounty of CHELSEA HOSPITAL. He having first received all just Demands of Pay, Clothing, &c. from his entry into the said Regiment, to the Date of this Discharge, as appears by his Receipt on the Back hereof.

Given under my Hand, and the Seal of the Regiment at Quebec in Canada this tenth Day of September 1763.

N.B. When a Soldier is discharged, his Wounds and Disorders must be particularly mentioned, when, where, and how they were contracted, and the Surgeon must sign the Certificates as well as the Field Officer.

The Bearer James Forbes being one of the Reduced Soldiers of the 78th Regiment in which he has served faithfully for the space of seven years is Hereby recommended to any of the Kings Governors of North America authorized to grant lands to the reduced Officers & Soldiers for a share therein according to His Majesty's most gracious intentions signified for the Commander in Chief of his Forces in this country.

[signed]

James Abercrombie
Major 78th Regt.

Sources:

"Schedule of certificates and discharges of non-commissioned officers and soldiers reduced in America." LAC, Lower Canada Land Papers, RG1 L3L, vol. 157. #77081-71.

Treasury Board Papers, "An Account of His Majesty's Royal Bounty of Fourteen Days Subsistence, also the Sword Money paid the following Men of the 78th Regiment Discharged in America." LAC, Series RG4, C2, vol. 1, Microfilm 10462.

Treasury Board Papers, "Subsistence Rolls of Fraser's Highlanders (the 78th), 1763." LAC, T.1, vol. 422.

"Land Petitions of Lower Canada, 1764-1841." Library Archives Canada. http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca [Oct. 2015].

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.  

Private Donald Kennedy, 15th & 78th Regiments

District of Quebec

Personally appeared before me Peter Stuart Esquire, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said District, Donald Kennedy of the parish of St. Charles - who being duly sworn on the HOLY EVANGELISTS, deposeth that he has served as a private soldier during the French War for the space of Twelve years, as appears by the annexed Certificate of Discharge, dated 24th August 1769 ~ Six years of which period he served in the late 78th Regt. & was reduced therein at Quebec in 1763 - and was re-inlisted in the 15th whom he accompanied to England, and after obtaining his Discharge therefrom he returned to Canada where he has settled ever since and has a Wife & four Sons, that he was born in North Britain near the Market Town of Killmany - that he is a Labourer by trade and has never received His Majesty's Bounty in Lands as a reward for his said Services - and further the Deponent saith not

Sworn before me this Twenty Ninth day of

March - in the year 1800.

                                                                                                        

               Peter Stuart J.P                                                    Donald  X  Kennedy
                                                                                                        [his mark]

Certificate of Discharge

HIS Majesty's XVth Regiment of Foot, whereof

Charles Hotham is Colonel,

These are to Certify that the Bearer of Dond. Kennedy Soldier in Capt. Henry Hamilton's Company of the aforesaid Regiment, born in N. Britain in or near the market Town of Killmany in the County of Inverness, Aged Thirty Eight Years, 5 Feet 3 1/2 Inches high, Brown Complexion, by Profession a Labourer hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment the Space of Six Years, and Six in the late 78th Regiment of Foot; But at his own Request

He is hereby disgharg'd, and humbly recommended as a proper Object of his Majesty's royal Bounty of Chelsea Hospital, having first received a full and true Account of his Cloathing, Pay, and Arrears of Pay, and all just Demands whatever, from the Time of his Entry in the said Regiment to the Date hereof, as appears by his Receipt on the other side.

Given under my Hand and Seal of the Regiment at Glenc--- this 24th Day of August 1769

                                                                                  P. AEmils. Irving 

                                                                                  Major of the 15th Regt. Foot

NB - Donald Kennedy was reduced in the 78th at Quebec in 1763 and drafted into the Fifteenth, which he accompanied to England where he was discharged in 1769.

Note: Donald Kennedy appears with Captain John Nairn during the regiment's reduction in Quebec in the summer of 1763.

Source:

"Schedule of certificates and discharges of non-commissioned officers and soldiers reduced in America." LAC, Lower Canada Land Papers, RG1 L3L, vol. 157.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.  

Memorial of Lieutenant James Babbidge, 78th Regiment of Foot

The Memorial of James Babbidge, a reduced lieutenant of the late 78th regiment, stating his services at Louisbourg &c. and praying for employment. [Undated.]

To The Right Honourable The Earl of Dartmouth &c. &c.

The Memorial of James Babbidge a Reduced Lieutenant in the late 78th Regiment of Foot

                                                                                                                                  Shewith

"That he had the Honour of Serving in the 15th Regiment of Foot as Lieutenant and Quartermaster and was at the Reduction of Louisbourg Quebec Montreal & Martinico &c. where he was sevearly wounded & otherwise suffer'd very much in the Service, which brought upon him a Complication of Disorders. That on the Commencement of the Race He was in such a State of Health that it was the advice of the Physicians that returning to His native air was the only chance he had to save His Life, which laid Him under the disagreeable necessity of exchanging into a young Regiment that was Returning to Britain and embracing the only alternative that offer'd. That after languishing several years of the above Disorders, He is now thank God perfectly recovered. That with His health his desire of serving is return'd therefore prays His Lordship will bepleased to recommend Him to some employment either Civil or Military in America."

Background

James Babbidge: (c1730-c1791) - Began his military career as an English NCO and experienced QM of the 15th Regiment of Foot, who exchanged officership with John Macdonell of the 78th Regiment, as of November 14, 1763, so that the latter could serve in an older regiment and continue his military career. Babbidge went on half-pay with most other 78th officers the following month and returned to England. He returned briefly to full pay as a lieutenant in the Plymouth Invalid Company on December 30, 1789.

Military Assignments

Date:  

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Company:  Jeffrey Amherst's Company

Grade:  Sergeant

Date: 1758-12-21

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Quartermaster

Date:  1762-09-10

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1763-11-14

Regiment:  78th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1763-12-24

Date:  1789-12-30

Regiment:  Captain John Hatfield's Invalid Company - Plymouth

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1794-04-20

Sources:

Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, "Memorial of James Babbidge." LAC, MG23, A1, vol. 2.

Marie Fraser, “Officers of the 78th Regiment.” Clan Fraser Society, 2001.

Plains of Abraham, "Military Assignments of James Babbidge." The National Battlefields Commission, Government of Canada. July, 2017. Web.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.