Proposal to Transport Deserters to North America, 1757

A majestic 18th-century British transport ship cutting through tumultuous ocean waves under a brooding sky. The ship, with its towering masts and tattered sails, is heavily laden with a grim cargo—deserters of the British Army. These men were a motley crew, their uniforms in disarray, representing a...

Desertion in the Ranks

An early 18th-century streetscape of Perth, Scotland, enveloped in the soft, ethereal light of dawn. The focal point is the ancient Perth Tolbooth, a formidable Gothic structure with its square tower and steeply-pitched rooflines casting long shadows onto the cobblestone street. The air is crisp and...

Court-martial of Corporal Angus McDonald, 78th Regiment of Foot, 1761

In his Sketches, Stewart of Garth maintained that the high moral code of the early Highlanders meant that misconduct was virtually unknown within their regiments. Although it is true that Highlanders feature far less frequently in the General Courts-martial records than miscreants from other battalions, it would be wrong to go to the other extreme and suggest that their ranks were filled with plaster...