The Siege of Quebec: Week Ten

August 29th, 1759. We are informed at Point Levy camp that three Rangers have brought in three scalps from St Andre, and took a courier with letters, orders, and directions to the captains of militia and friers, desiring them to keep constant guards, and inform the inhabitants that we shall be soon obliged to leave the country.

30th. By order of his Excellency General Wolfe the three Brigadiers assembled in order to consul the measures most practicable for the good of the service. The result of the conference not known by us.

31st. By a deserter we are informed that the enemy are sickly, and discontented with their Indians. Meeting four Indians of the Mohawk tribe with an officer from General Amherst, treacherously deceived them by pretending friendship, and at the same time conducted to a party of French, who made them prisoners, and they are confined on board the frigates formerly mentioned. At nigh the Sea Horse man-of-war, three catts, and one schooner passed the town ; after receiving alarm, cannonading from the battery. None hurt.

September 1st. All the houses below Montmorency Falls, or to the eastward, sett on fire by our army. This forenoon some cannon carried from the Montmorency side to the camp at Point Levy. Our troops there expect an attack from the enemy this night, which is very desirable to all our gentlemen.

2nd. The remaining cannon carried from Montmorency this day.

The Assistant Qr-Master marked the encampments for the Brigade and Lt. Infantry from Montmorency to the left of our cantonments. We hear that the additional company of our regt. are in the river.

3rd. This morning the troops at Montmorency decamped, embarked in boats without the least molestation or advantages taken at that important time of their drawing off. Passing the Point of Orleans, the enemy fired from their batterys (to the westwd of the Falls) both shott and shells none of which made any execution. The enemy's generosity in the above particular and critical juncture is a plain proof that Monsieur Montcalm will make no other use of the Canadians than defend their capital. He must be concerned to see Montmorency abandoned, it not being safe for him to depend on part of his troops to give the least annoyance ; likewise permitting us to detach what numbers we please, to lay waste their country, and still remain in his entrenched camp at Beauport.

This day Captn Cameron of Colonel Fraser's regt. died, much and justly regretted, as he was a most agreeable, sensible, and benevolent man.

We hear the Sunderland man-of-war was attacked the night of the 29th ulto. by 75 bataves; the enemy were repulsed with the loss of 4 bataves taken. In orders, the Light Infantry commanded by Capt. Carden to return to the regt. and all the corps of Lt. Infantry to receive their orders from Colonel How.

4th. An officer and three Rangers arrived in camp with dispatches from General Amherst to General Wolfe, whom they left at Crown Point 8th of Aug. making all preparations necessary for pursuing his design and first the possession of Lake Champlain. We hear nothing of the contents in these dispatches further than a random shott carrying off Colonel Townshend, one ensign and three men of the Light Infantry.

This evening Capt. Cameron aforesaid buried, and Capt. Fraser of Culduthell with his additional company arrived in the harbour.

Source:

Anon. Journal of the particular transactions during the siege of Quebec: at anchor opposite the Island of Orleans, July 26th, 1759. London, Quebec, 1901.

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

The Siege of Quebec: Week Nine

August 22nd, 1759. Some of our men went to pull pease this forenoon, who discovered a party of the enemy and returned. At night the Admiral returned from his reconoitring cruise.

23rd. A few men on horseback made their appearance this morning, but on seeing a small party of our men make towards them they thought proper to retire. At 12 o'clock received orders to get under arms, the whole to march in three separate divisions, viz. the 3rd battalion Roy. Americans to the right of our camp the length of St. Croiz, the 15th regt. with Capt. Fraser's co. of Lt. Infantry the length of St. Nicholas to the left of our camp, under the command of the General, the former division by Major Dalling ; the 3rd division in boats, consisting of co. Light Infantry, commanded by Capt. Charters of the Royal Americans. The consequence of which scout ended in burning a battery, a sloop, and 2 saw mills. The real intention was that if any of the enemy made their appearance, and that we could not bring them to battle, Capt. Simon Fraser with his co. and 50 volunteers of the 15th regt. were to lay in ambush till next morning, when they were to retire. At night Major Dalling returned with his division, exchanged a few shott with the enemy, and made one prisoner.

24th. The General gave orders for the whole to prepare to embark to-morrow.

25th. This morning fell down the Squirel, a sloop-of-war, with the admiral, general, and the wounded officers.

In the evening the 15th regt. and 3rd battalion Roy. Americans embarked. Capt. Fraser's co. covered the retreat ; the enemy fired on us a few shot, only one sustained.

26th. An order from General Wolfe desiring Colonel Young with the 3rd Roy. Americans and 200 marines to land, and keep possession of one former ground at St. Anthony. The 15th regt. and Lt. Infantry to embark on board their flatt-bottomed boats, and return to Point Levy.

27th. Passed the batterys ; not one shott fired at us. Arrived at Point Levy at 4 o'clock, where we learnt that 1000 of the enemy in boats went up the river, who, they imagined, would fall in with us coming down the river. General Wolfe indisposed ; greatly regreted by the whole army.

We were ordered to take post in our former cantonments 3 miles from Point Levy camp, and to the westward of our battery.

28th. Remained in our cantonments all day ; nothing extraordinary happened. At night, by favour of the flood and an easterly wind gale the Lostoff frigate, Hunter sloop-of-war, two catts, and one schooner passed the town ; 200 shott fired at them ; one sailor killed, and two wounded.

The face of the camp at Point Levy entirely changed to the great encouragement given to venders of all kinds.

Source:

Anon. Journal of the particular transactions during the siege of Quebec: at anchor opposite the Island of Orleans, July 26th, 1759. London, Quebec, 1901.

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

Transport Vessels for the Highland Battalions

Whitehall March 10, 1757.

Ldrs of the Admty. 

My Lords

I am commanded to signify to your Lordships His Majesty's Pleasure that you do forthwith cause a sufficient number of the Transport Vessels, (ordered by my Letters of the 22d past) to be fitted up, victualled, & provided with Bedding, for receiving on board, and conveying to North America, at the rate of two tons for each person, Two Highland Battalions of Foot, commanded by Lt. Col. Montgomery & Lt. Col. Fraser, Each Battalion consisting of 44 commission & Staff officers, 80 Non Commissioned officers, 20 Drummers, & 1000 private Men, together with the usual allowance of 6 Women, & 3 Servant to Each Company. And it's the Kings' further Pleasure that the said Transport Vessels so fitted up, be directed to repair to Cork in Ireland, under such convoy as your Lordships shall judge sufficient, where the Two Battalions above mentioned are to be embarked; and from whence such of the Transport Vessels, as shall have on board the Battalion, commanded by Lieut. Colonel Montgomery are to proceed to Charles Town in South Carolina, and the remainder, with the Battalion, commanded by Lieut. Colonel Fraser are to proceed to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, at which place they are to be respectively disembarked; And your Lordships will accordingly give the necessary Orders for this purpose to the Commanding Officer of the s Officer, commanding the said Convoy, & Transport Vessels.

Draft

Endorsed:
Draft to the Ldrs of the Admty

March 10th, 1757.

2 Tents, Baggage &c

Transports for Highlanders &c.

After arriving at Glasgow, Scotland, newspaper accounts depict the main body of Fraser's Highlanders, on or about 19 April 1757, proceeding southwest to Portpatrick en route to Donaghadee, Ireland, where they would continue their march some 400 miles south to Cork, Ireland, and depart for North America in transport vessels under the cover of HMS Enterprize, a 40-gun man of war. The merchant transport ships were contracted by the British Government for a period of about 13 months for service in North America. 

The makeup of ships in the Enterprize convoy to North America is revealed by Captain [John] Lewis, who accompanied the group from Cork Harbour, Ireland, on 30 June 1757, for the transatlantic voyage. While the captain's decision to depart from the convoy approximately 236 miles southwest of the Azores (or Western Islands) remains a mystery, he landed in New York in early September. A thorough ship count of the convoy is located in the following contemporary newspaper extract.

Annapolis Maryland Gazette  

15 September 1757

New York, September 5.

Friday last arrived here the Brig. Bell-Savage, Capt. Lewis, from Cork, and informs, That he sail'd from thence the 30th of June, in Company with eighteen Sail of Transports, having on board 2500 Highlanders, five Sail loaded with Powder and Ball, and seventeen Sail of Merchantmen for the West-Indies, Philadelphia, and Boston; all under Convoy of the Enterprize Man of War of 40 Guns, the Faulkland of 50 Guns, and the Stork Sloop of 10 Guns; and that on July 25, in Lat. 35 North, and Long. 30 West, he left the Convoy.

Captain Lewis' account of 18 transports assigned to the Highlanders reveals an even distribution of ships to both Colonels Fraser and Montgomery's battalions and is further confirmed in the official ship's logs of HMS Falkland, who accompanied nine of Montgomery's transports to South Carolina. And while the names of eight of Colonel Fraser's transports have been identified in the official ship's logs for HMS Enterprize, the ninth and unidentified final ship may have carried extra supplies, perhaps to include a small contingency of arms, ordnance, and camp necessaries such as tents, extra utensils, food, drinks, and clothing. It's also could have been used as a temporary hospital ship for any sick men in the battalion. The following list comprises all nine vessels which transported Colonel Fraser's men to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the summer months of 1757.

Transports for Colonel Fraser's Second Highland Battalion

Ann

Owner: William Dodsworth

Tonnage/Parts: 391/19

Commencing/Ending: 8 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 13/1

Freight: £3314:0:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Brotherly Love

Owner: John Richardson

Master: Armstrong

Tonnage/Parts: 357/18

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 7 March 1757-18 April 1758

Months/Days: 13/12

Freight: £3108:17:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Cecilia

Owner: John Brathery

Tonnage/Parts: 214/86

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 17 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 12/23

Freight: £1781:19:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Cumberland

Owner: Thomas Boulby

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 11 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 12/29

Freight: £2105:12:11

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Dutchess of Hamilton

Owner: Anthony Bacon

Tonnage/Parts: 379/72

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 29 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 12/11

Freight: £3015:8:10

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Kent

Owner: Thomas Brown

Master: Henry Lawson

Tonnage/Parts: 218/89

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 2 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 13/7

Freight: £1882:17:0

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Matilda

Owner: Elidad Blackwell

Tonnage/Parts: 166/34

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 22 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 12/18

Freight: £1361:12:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Mertilla

Owner: David Trinder

Tonnage/Parts: 241/42

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 10 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 12/30

Freight: £2038:1:6

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America. 

Note: Other documents record her as Myrtilla.

Neptune

Owner: Robert Harrison

Master: John Williams

Tonnage/Parts: 192/58

Hired: 24 February 1757

Commencing/Ending: 9 March 1757-8 April 1758

Months/Days: 13/0

Freight: £1627:12:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America. Discharged at Deptford.

Total passengers include 32 serjeants, 19 drummers, 869 rank & file, 150 supernumeraries, 22 deserters, 33 invalids, 110 women & 29 children. [TNA, GD122/22/17, p. 18-20]. 

It's worth noting Matilda is recorded as having arrived from America to the Downs, London, on 11 April 1757, with Duchess of Hamilton, Myrtilla, Brotherly Love, Neptune, and Kent. [Lloyds List, No. 2219, 12 April 1757].

Note: Originally commissioned Norwich in May 1718, she was later renamed Enterprize on 23 May 1744.

Source: Lists of Transports, 1754-1773. TNA, ADM 49/126; the shipmasters of Kent and Neptune (Lawson and Williams) are located in Captain John Donkley's Journal (HMS Enterprize), while the shipmaster of the Brotherly Love (Armstrong) is located in Lloyd's List, 1757.

Colonel Simon Fraser

From aboard the Ann transport ship in Cove Harbour, Colonel Fraser wrote on June 28th, 1757:

My Dr Sir,

Tho I have been long hurryd I am not less so than ever & have but just time to tell you that we marched safe and sound thro Ireland without the loss of a man since we landed they hardly gave us time to cool our bloods when they embarked us & here we are all alive and merry.

I don’t know if I said anything in answer to yours about the meal but it must be sent for & distributed first to the widows, then to the wives & so on to the third and fourth generation of them that loved me well enough to follow me. As to the Deserters I woud have them be sent by the first troops to Glasgow & Mr Geo Buchanan Junr there will send them by some Capt transporting convicts to Halifax where we are destined to & this I would have done with the rest if any are taken. God bless you my Dr Sir, the Wyfie poor beoch, the bairns, Hopefull &c &c I shall find time to write you at sea.  

[signed]

Yrs S. Fraser

Sergeant James Thompson

The following is an excerpt from Sergeant James Thompson's diary on the sailing to North America.

Our Regiment rendezvou'd at Cork, there to embark for Service, somewhere or other in North America. We sail'd with seal'd orders, which were only to be open'd when we reach'd a certain latitude. The hir'd vessel I was embark'd in was call'd the Martello, a beautiful new ship, and it was her first voyage. The Captain did not know her trim, and the first few days after our sailing she would run away from the Commodore in no time, in spite of our short'ning sail, and for this high offense, which he couldn't help, the Captain had frequently a shot fired at him, to make him keep under the wing of the Commodore, the shot however, did no further injury than subject the Captain to a fine of six and eight pence for every shot. One day we had a fine stiff breeze and our ship actually outsailed the whole of the Fleet altho' only under bare poles. When the Commodore saw this he was satisfied it wasn't the Captain's fault, and he made him pay no more six-and-eight pence per shot. The ship was so tight that she didn't require pumping the whole of the voyage, which was a lucky circumstance indeed.

At last, we discover'd the Commodore's Signal for the whole of the Fleet to heave-to, and when we had done this as cleverly as we could, the Signal was made for all Commanding Officers of Corps to go on board the Commodore's ship. This was to make known our Destination, and to receive their Orders accordingly. We soon after found out that our place of destination was Halifax. As good luck would have it, the Fleet was safe, and soon after we cast our Anchor, our Captain was anxious to try the tightness of his ship and gave his orders to have her pump'd. The men had difficulty in getting the pumps to draw, and when, at last, water came, it was as black as my Bonnet, and it produced such a stench, that it would soon have poison'd all the men on board. It turn'd out that instead of pumping out, 'afaith they were obliged to pump in, to prevent the Troops getting sick.

When we landed at Halifax, we found our Commander-in-Chief General Wolfe there, drilling away the men, and making fight sham-battles at a place round the Town called Deptford, where the ground is level. We were not long at Halifax when we received Orders to set sail for the River Saint Lawrence, and in a few days we came to anchor opposite the harbour of Louisbourg which we knew it was our business to try and take.

Further research indicates the hired vessel Martello that Serjeant Thompson spoke of may have actually been named Myrtilla, as recorded on October 17, 1757 with the Second Highland Battalion in Halifax Harbour. Thompson describes her as "...a beautiful new ship," and early records confirm she was originally built in 1754. Because Thompson's diary was recorded some years later, it would not be uncommon, due to advanced age, to have erred in his recollections.

On 21 October 1757, it was reported a ship named Myrtilla [Capt. March] foundered in the Gulf of Florida on her way from Jamaica to London, "but the Crew are got to South Carolina." [Lloyds List, 21 October & 1 November 1757]. It has not been established if this was Serjeant Thompson's vessel or not.

Transports for Colonel Montgomery's First Highland Battalion

Britannia

Owner: William Coates

Tonnage/Parts: 371/75

Commencing/Ending: 11 March 1757-2 January 1759

Months/Days: 21/23

Freight: £5257:15:6

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Dolphin

Owner: Peter Tearon

Tonnage/Parts: 258/22

Commencing/Ending: 22 March 1757-10 November 1758

Months/Days: 19/20

Freight: £3299:11:1

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Duke William

Owner: Thomas Gibson

Tonnage/Parts: 404/75

Commencing/Ending: 58 March 1757-3 January 1759

Months/Days: 21/30

Freight: £5785:0:0

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Lyon

Owner: Adam Boulby

Tonnage/Parts: 293/81

Commencing/Ending: 10 March 1757-25 November 1758

Months/Days: 20/16

Freight: £3920:13:16

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Ruby

Owner: Robert Middleton

Tonnage/Parts: 381/67

Commencing/Ending: 8 March 1757-5 December 1758

Months/Days: 20/28

Freight: £5190:13:3

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Success

Owner: William Thompson

Tonnage/Parts: 231/53

Commencing/Ending: 11 March 1757-27 June 1758

Months/Days: 15/17

Freight: £2341:17:4

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

Tamerlane

Owner: Robert Rogers

Tonnage/Parts: 214/14

Commencing/Ending: 10 March 1757-21 February 1759

Months/Days: 23/12

Freight: £3256:8:9

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America

William and Ann

Nominal Guns: 20

Operator: Royal Navy

Acquired: 5.1757

First Commissioned: 23.5.1757

Category: Hired Vessel

Commander: Thomas Gordon

Note: William and Ann belonged to the British Royal Navy.

Wye River

Owner: William Anderson

Tonnage/Parts: 246/41

Commencing/Ending: 10 March 1757-2 December 1757

Months/Days: 8/23

Freight: £1402:11:10

Employed: Carrying Forces to North America and Discharge at So. Carolina

Source: Lists of Transports, 1754-1773. TNA, ADM 49/126.

Transport Vessels Depart Louisbourg, 1759
In the early summer of 1759, the British Fleet set sail from Louisbourg for Quebec, in all approximately 9,000 soldiers strong. The regiments were divided into three divisions/brigades [white - 1st brigade, red - 2nd brigade, blue - 3rd brigade], and to further distinguish between regiments the ships were dressed with color-coded vanes. Colonel Fraser's transport vessels for this voyage were as follows:

White Division - 1st Brigade
Colonel Fraser, 78th Foot
Vanes: white, and two blue balls

Ship: Ann & Elizabeth
Shipmaster: Wm. Robinson
Tons: 215
Troops: 113
Taken up: London
With one cutter boat

Ship: Argyle
Shipmaster: Alexr. Morrison
Tons: 300
Troops: 193
Taken up: Boston
With three whale boats

Ship: Jane
Shipmaster: Jno. Garnett
Tons: 273
Troops: 97
Taken up: London
With one cutter boat

Ship: James & Henrietta
Shipmaster: Jno. Meeke
Tons: 357
Troops: 196
Taken up: London
With one flat boat

Ship: Resolution
Shipmaster: Zachy Marshall
Tons: 238
Troops: 122
Taken up: London
With one cutter boat

Ship: Thornton
Shipmaster: Jno. Ekshaw
Tons: 331
Troops: 221
Taken up: New York

Ship: Venus [2]
Shipmaster: Wm. Duffield
Tons: 317
Troops: 208
Taken up: London
With two cutter boats

Total troops: 1150

Note: Venus [2] was the second of two vessels by the same name operating for the British Fleet at this time. The first Venus transport vessel operating in the area was commanded by Shipmaster Johnson.

Sources:

“Transport Vessels for the Highland Battalions.” Letter received by Lords of Admiralty, 10 March 1757. America and West Indies, Original Correspondence, etc. Despatches to governors and others, 1756-1757, C.O. 5 ed., vol. 212, pp. 423-426. Public Archives Canada. Print.

"Transports in the White Division." Northcliffe Collection: Series 1: Robert Monckton Papers. LAC, Microfilm C-366.

Col. Simon Fraser, "Colonel Fraser in Cove Harbour, 28 June. 1757." Clan Fraser Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2001.

Earl John Chapman, “Troop Transport Martello.” Received by Rootsweb.com, Rootsweb, 10 Apr. 2010, newsarch.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MARINERS/2010-04/1271681061. Accessed 2 July 2017.

"Halifax Harbour Transporte List." Elizabeth Rose Family papers. NAS, GD125-22-17, p. 18.

Lloyd's Register Group, “Lloyd's Register of Ships.” Lloyd's Register Group Limited, 2017, www.lrfoundation.org.uk/public_education/reference-library/register-of-ships-online/.

Andrew Welsh, "Enterprize departs Cork, Ireland, 30 June 1757." The Magazine of magazines, compiled from original pieces, with extracts from the most celebrated books and periodical compositions published in Europe, vol. 13, p. 575. London. Printed for W. Owen, 1757.

British Fourth Rate Ships of the Line, "Norwich Renamed Enterprize, 1744." Three Decks, Warships in the Age of Sail, 2017. https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=559#BWAS-1714. Accessed 2 July 2017. Web.

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

Last updated 7 October 2023.

The Siege of Quebec: Week Eight

August 15th, 1759. Remained in camp all day ; the weather rainy. Nothing extraordinary.

16th. This forenoon a small party of the enemy shewed themselves to the left of our encampment, but were repulsed by a few of our advanced guard.

17th. This forenoon the General gave in orders that the two battalions and two companys of Light Infantry should prepare to embark on board their respective vessels, as the former distribution. At 10 o'clock we struck our tents and embarked, where we remained till the night following. The other company of Light Infantry with the 200 marines to remain on shore till further orders, under the command of Captn. Fraser.

18th. At 12 o'clock this day embarked Capt. Simon Fraser with Delaunne's co. of Lt. Infantry. At the same time the General called for commanding officers of companys in order to explain his order of battle at landing next, or at the attack intended on the village Chambeau, where according to intelligence formerly given (by prisoners taken), there are some magazines, and consequently men to endeavour their defence. After which explanation the General sent orders to the commanding officers of the marines to keep the tents of the two regts. standing, that as the enemy might discover the embarkation of Delaune's company in the daytime, seeing the camp as formerly excepting the tents of the Light Infantry, as also keeping the face of the encampment as formerly with a number of large fires, that from these circumstances the enemy will probably conjecture that the tents struck is only the Light Infantry, being detached, &c. Likewise oblige them to keep their quarters, not knowing the infantry's intention or destination.

At 11 o'clock we embarked in boats, and agreeable to orders rendevouzed at the War transport. At 12 o'clock we sett of accompany'd by two floating batterys, for the intended attack of Chambeau, which lies on the north shore, 7 leagues up the river Point au Tremble and 21 leagues ffrom Quebec.

19th. By daybreak we drew nigh the rendevouze formerly mentioned, at the same time discovered a large topsail schooner on her way from shore, and bearing down upon us, which would not be so convenient ; but in a little time they altered their course, by which we understood they meant to scheere off. About an hour after we landed, to our surprise without opposition, being two miles below the church of St. Joseph. We formed a column, Delaune's and Carden's company forming the van, and Fraser's company, with a detachmt of Royal Americans, the rear guard. As churches were generally the posts they occupied we marched in the aforesaid order without any molestation, excepting a few shott on our rear which did not disturb us much, when our van came in sight of the church of St. Joseph, a Capt. of De La Sare's regiment with about 60 regulars made a show of making a stand, which obliged the Brigadier to make a disposition of attacking, not knowing but they might be a part of a larger body. On their seeing the head of our column draw nigh, the Capt. and his men withdrew to the wood without firing a shott. Near this church found a store-house in which store was all the effects including equipage and apparel, of all the officers in Quebec, civil and military, besides arms and ammunition, the whole value as 90.000 pounds sterling money, which we consumed by fire. We remained at Chambeau till 1/2 past three o'clock in the evening ; being low water we embarked on board our boats, carrying off some sheep, leaving 100 cattle shott on the beach. Major Dalling's Light Infantry covered the retreat, which was done in pretty good order, and without the loss of one man. After we were embarked, and about 500 yards from shore, the General ordered one Capt. Mophak, a sea officer who had the command and direction of the flatt-bottomed boats when without the troops or at embarking or debarking, with two floating batterys and two flatt-bottomed boats with troops in them, to attack the schooner which lay dry on the sout shore. On the boars approaching the enemy fired two shott, abandon'd her, and sett her on fire. As we were coming down the river we was fired on by a party of Canadians from behind logs on the south shore ; none hurt. Arrived at 10 o'clock this night at our camp ; part of the troops did not disembark.

20th. The remaining part of the troops disembarked, and the marines in camp embarked. Rainy weather. At night disturbed by our sentry's firing at some straggling enemy coming to sculk by our camp ; the Light Infantry under arms till day, during which time it rained very hard.

21st. This morning the Brigadr (Genl Murray) sent to the camp desiring Capt. Fraser to come on board, signifying to him that he considered a diversion up the river to be of great consequence, and that every measure practicable should be taken to destroy the French shipping (which lay about 24 leagues above the town or city of Quebec) in order to clear the communication twixt us and Mr. Amherst, proposing to send Capt. Fraser with despatches to his Excellency General Wolfe, which afterwards was dropt. Forenoon of the day Admiral Holmes went on board a schooner in order to go reconoitre the French shipping and sound the channel.

Source:

Anon. Journal of the particular transactions during the siege of Quebec: at anchor opposite the Island of Orleans, July 26th, 1759. London, Quebec, 1901.

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

Companies of the 78th Regiment, 1763

As early as March 1759 Colonel Fraser's 78th Highlanders consisted of 14 companies and over 1500 men and women, each commanded by a commissioned officer. By 1763 the total number was reduced quite significantly to a regiment just under 900 in strength. Although thoroughly documented muster rolls [complete with soldier's names] are not available for the early years, it's towards the latter end of the war when we would finally discover the names of the men and women who graced their country in what will be forever recognized as one of the single most important military campaigns in North America's early history.

Muster rolls have remained an important document in military accountability for literally hundreds of years. In addition to identifying the names in a company, battalion, or regiment, they sometimes contained a 'record of events,' recording activities engaged in by the particular unit. The primary function of the many rolls maintained was to provide basic information about the identities, numbers, condition, equipage, and pay status of the men and women that comprised the British Army in order to facilitate administrative control. The rolls would have been created at the formation of a regiment, and continued monthly [bimonthly, and even semi-annually] as a way to track the status of each member, and finally ending when the unit was disbanded. It has been reported commanding officers' sometimes 'padded their rolls' [accounting for more men than they actually had] in order to receive extra rations at the end of the month. 

The earliest known surviving subsistence rolls [muster rolls created to document the official discharge dates, including funding victualed to each soldier] for the 78th Highlanders are dated 19 July 1763, with a subsequent set created one month later in August. Though errors have been discovered in the final reporting [we would expect to see incomplete or ambiguous reporting when dealing with about 900 names], these rolls serve as the Regiment's official discharge roster at the time of its disbandment.

Colonel Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 1763

     - Colonel Fraser's Company
     - Major James Abercrombie's Company
     - Major John Campbell's Company
     - Captain John McDonell's Company
     - Captain Hugh Cameron's Company
     - Captain Archibald Campbell's Company
     - Captain John Fraser's Company
     - Captain Alexander Campbell's Company
     - Captain John Nairn's Company
     - Captain Hugh Fraser's Company
     - Captain Hugh Montgomerie's Company
     - Captain Alexander McLeod's Company
     - Captain Ranald McDonell's Company
     - Captain Alexander Wood's Company

Source:
“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.