Requesting Levy Money and Tents for Two Highland Battalions

A clerk at the War Office in Westminster, London, processes several requests from Lord William Barrington (1717-1793; 2nd Viscount Barrington) regarding levy money and tents to be issued for two new Scottish Highland battalions raised for service in North America. (Jeffrey Campbell, Supplying the Battalions, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Requesting Levy Money and Tents for Two Highland Battalions

In November 1756, at the request of Lord Loudoun to raise additional men for service in North America, the War Office, led by Secretary at War William Barrington, in January 1757, began issuing a series of beating orders, which were instrumental in not only recruiting men for the then-Second Highland Battalion (quickly renumbered 63rd Regiment of Foot, then 78th Regiment of Foot) but also, to begin issuing camp necessaries such as tents, kettles, and other implements to be utilized.

The following two orders address the allotment of three British pounds in currency to each new recruit as levy money for their enlistment, also, that the tents may be issued out of His Majesty's Stores for the use of the newly raised First and Second Highland Battalions, led by Lieutenant-Colonels Archibald Montgomery and Simon Fraser.

Recruit Levy Money

War Office 13 January 1757

My Lord & Sir,
His Majesty having been pleased to order two Highland Battalions of Foot to be forthwith raised & sent to North America each Battalion to consist of 40 Serjeants 40 Corporals 20 Drummers and 1000 Private Men besides Commission Officers (their Establishment to commence from the 23 Decr. Last incl and to allow three pounds per Man Levy Money I have the Honour to acquaint you therewith, that you may be pleased to lay a Memorial before the Rt. Honble the Lords Commissioners of his Maty’s Treasury for the Money wanting for this Service.

    I am
    My Lord & Sir
    Barrington

Lord Visct. Dupplin
& Thos. Potter Esqr. Paymaster Genl.

Copy

Requesting Tents

War Office 13 Janry 1757

Sir

His Majesty Having ordered two Highland Battalions of Foot to be forthwith raised each Battalion to consist of 40 Serjeants, 40 Corporals, 20 Drummers & 1000 Private men besides Commission Officers under the Command of Lieut Colonel Archibald Montgomery and Lieut Colonel Simon Fraser, and be employed for the defense of His Majesty’s Colonies in North America, I am to desire you will be pleased to receive His Majesty’s Command thereupon and signify the same to the Master Genl. of the Ordnance, that Tents may be delivered out of His Majesty’s Stores with all possible Expedition to each of the said Battalions Accordingly to the above mentioned Numbers.

    I am

    sir &c

    Barrington

Rt. Hon'ble Mr. Pitt His Majesty’s

Principal Secry of State

Source:

War Office Records: Out Letters: Secretary at War. General Letters, Dec. 1756 - Apr. 1757, LAC, W.O. 4, vol. 53 (Selections), p. 60.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2023.

Memorial of Roderick McCloud, 78th Regiment

It is believed that the men of the 78th Regiment, who were a mix of farmers, tailors, blacksmiths, and weavers, would have gone back to their previous occupations to earn a livelihood after the war. However, some former soldiers struggled to survive and needed government assistance to make ends meet because of injuries they acquired during the numerous conflicts. (Jeffrey Campbell, The Workshop, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Memorial of Roderick McCloud, 78th Regiment

Memorials are written as a statement of facts, events, and important information that summarizes tragic events, or key points in a case (when submitted by a lawyer to a court), or to honor soldiers who fought in battles of war. In the following case of Private Roderick McLeod, a Private soldier in Colonel Simon Fraser's 78th Foot, a memorial was presented as a legal document to outline specific details related to the petitioner's personal endeavors, and reads as follows:

MEMORIAL

To His Excellency Friderick Haldimand Esquire, Captain General, Governor, and Commander in Chief of the Province of Quebec, General & Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Forces in said Province and Territorys depending thereon &c. &c. &c.

The most humble Petition of Rodrique McClaud, formerly belonging to his Majesty's 78th or Colonel Frazer's Hig[h]land Regt.

    Shew'd

            That in 1759 at the Battle before Quebec the 13th of September he receiv'd such a terrible wound on the forehead, that eighteen pieces of bone we[re] taken out of his skull. That after the Reduction of said Regiment he obtain[e]d his lawful Discharge, besides a recommendation for Chelsea. But thinking himself than young and apt, he thought it better to stay in Canada, where he Married, and has at present a Wife and four Children; which he brought up with pains and labour, Industry and fatigue, to this Day. But comming now to a certain Age, where by every change of weather, his Wound causes him the most Languishing and Inexprimable pains, which hinders him very often to provide the Necessary for his poor Fameily.
            For which most humbly besuch's your Excellency, who is a real father to Veterans, a support of the Afflicted, and whose charity extens to all persons, which implore his Bounty, to grant to most humble Petitioner, a little Provision and wood for the support of his poor fameily; for which they shall ever pray -/

No.4
Memorial From
Roderick McCloud.
formerly of the 78th Regimt.
a Private Soldier
March 1782.

Note: In 1762, two men by the name of Roderick McLeod are recorded as serving in Captain Simon Fraser's Company (later to become Captain Hugh Montgomeries Company) of the 78th Foot.

Source:

British Library, Haldimand Papers, Memorials from the Provincial Corps and Loyalists, n.d,. 1777-1782, MG 21, ADD. Mss. 21874, (B-214). LAC, Microfilm H-1743, images 1203-1204.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2023.

Disbanded Soldiers on the Lovat Estates, 1764

Farmland basking in the warm embrace of a picturesque sunset, the landscape is a patchwork of verdant fields and golden wheat that stretch out to meet the horizon, where the soft hues of the setting sun kiss the earth. Scattered across the serene panorama are quaint cottages with thatched roofs and wafting smoke, each nestled amidst lush gardens and surrounded by the industrious activities of the period - farmers tilling the land with horse-drawn plows, children playing, and women tending to the livestock. (Jeffrey Campbell, A Bygone Era, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Disbanded Soldiers on the Lovat Estates, 1764

Listed as 'King's Cottagers,' the following men who served in Colonel Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot in North America, 1757-1763, returned home at the end of the war and settled on the fortified Lovat Estates. Typically, their post-military roles included the occupations of  tradesmen and day laborers who worked on the local farms and in the small villages nearby.

There were 58 houses built upon this Estate, of which 54 were occupied by men from both Colonel Fraser's Regiment, and other various military regiments, including Campbell's, Johnston's, Sutherlands, McLean's, Petitot's, Leighton's, Oughton's, Carr's, Murray's, Brudnell's, and Keith's Regiment. The local Factor found it necessary to give two of the houses built at Chrochell's as a school and schoolhouse for the accommodation of a schoolmaster settled there, and was also been obliged to give two houses built at Castle Dunie [Dounie or Downie - presently Beaufort Castle] to a flax dresser and spinning mistriss.

Total expenses included:

Erect buildings: £10.12.2

Money loaned for aids to prosecute men's trades: £5.0.0

Travel charges; purchasing household furniture: £3.8.0

Cover sheet:

List of disbanded Soldiers settled on the annext Estate of Lovat as Tradesmen and Day Labourers under the denomination of King's Cottagers, 1764

Donald Fraser

Regiment: Frasers

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 30

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Barnyards

When settled: April 28th, 1764

Findlay McKearick

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 40

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Ardnacrask

When settled: Sepr. 28, 1764

Thomas Campbell

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 31

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Relig

When settled: Aprl. 28th, 1764

Dougall McDonald

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 50

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Chrochell

When settled: July 7th, 1764

Alexander Macra

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 29

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Chrochell

When settled: Sepr. 5th, 1764

Donald Kennedy Junr.

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 40

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Chrochell

When settled: Augt. 28th, 1764

Unmarried Men

John Chisholm

Regiment: Fraser's

Time of Service yrs.: 7

Place of Birth: Kilmorack Parish, County Inverness

Years of age: 27

Profession: Day Labourer

Village or Farm where settled: Lovat Estate

When settled: July 7th, 1764

Beaufort 10th Novr. 1764 [signed] John Forbes

Notes: It is presumed initial building and living expenses were laid of by the local Factor, then reimbursed by the Scottish Government.

While the list does not constitute an official roster of men who returned to Scotland, it can be consulted in concert with the men admitted to Royal Chelsea Hospital as pensioners as an unofficial list.

Source:

NRS, E787/28, p.1-4.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2023.

Memorial for the 63d. Regiment

Hotel-Dieu de Québec, a historic hospital complex nestled within the fortified walls of Old Quebec City during the 18th century. The grandeur of the French colonial architecture is accentuated by the warm, golden light of a setting sun, casting long shadows across the cobblestone streets and the meticulously maintained gardens. The three-story stone building, with its steeply pitched, red-tiled roof and arched windows, stands as a testament to the era's craftsmanship. (Jeffrey Campbell, In Better Health, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Memorial for the 63d. Regiment

A series of letters from Colonel Simon Fraser, 63rd Regiment of Foot, to Jeffrey Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the British army in North America and Colonel of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment, providing a memorial on the status of the regiment in October 1759.

Sir

    The affairs of this army have taken a happy turn since I had the honor of writing you by Capt. Strobo, and General Monckton's thinking that in the present situation my being here might be of some use. I resolved to stay altho' he was at the same time so good as to give me leave to go to the Continent upon the Surgeons giving it as their advice; I am far from claiming any merit from doing my duty, but as you was pleased to promise me leave to go to England, I hope you will not think me less entitled to it when next Campaign is over As not having my leave in writing woud tho' Quebec had not been have prevented my going this winter, I shall take it as a very great favor if you will be so good as to send me your leave to go when next Campaign is over by some of those who come to join this Army in case they shoud act Seperately if it was not of the last consequence to me I do assure your Sir I woud give you no trouble.

    I take liberty to enclose a Memorial with regard to the affairs of the Regiment, if you shoud think any part of it unreasonable, the only apology I have is a common & in this instance a very true one, that it is owing to your extraordinary goodness to us. It is necessary to mention that Alexander Fraser proposed to purchase an Ensigncy is in Scotland, my reason for Refrencing you woud consent to his purchaseing & being sent for imediatly is his being eldest son to Capt. Fraser of this Regiment, who died in the Service. 

    I have the honor to be with the greatest respect,

                       

                                            Sir

                                                           

                                                Your obliged & obedient

                                                                Servt. S. Fraser

Quebec Octr. 25th. 1759.

Memorial For the 63d. Regiment

To His Excellency General Amherst,

Lieut. William McDonald being in such a state of health as to be incapable or serving, and at the same time unfit to apply to any other Business, the eldest Ensign and a Volunteer having advanced mony to pay his Debts, General Monckton has given him leave to go to England, and it is humbly proposed to General Amherst that he shou'd go out upon half pay, and that the succession should be the following gentlemen, who advanced money to pay his debts.

Eldest Ensign Harry Munro

Volunteer Archibald Fraser

Major Clephane finding himself unfit and unable to join the Regiment last Campaign gave power to Colo. Young to sell his majority with consent of the Commander in Chief, and it was agreed with Colo. Young if consent shou'd be obtain'd, that Capt. McPherson eldest Capt. shou'd give Major Clephane £1100 Str. and five shillings a day, while the Regt. stands, or two shillings and five pence a day in case of it's Reduction for life for his majority; as this is the only way Capt. McPherson can purchase, it is hoped in consideration of his long and aproved service & the Esteem he is in with the Regt. that the General will be pleased to consent to it, in that case the following succession is humbly proposed.

Capt. Lieut. Charles McDonell for the Compy [wounded this Campaign]

Eldest Lieut. Archibald Campbell for the Capt. Lieut'cy [wounded this Campaign]

Alexander Fraser for the Ensigncy

Capt. James Fraser having had weak eyes for some time was reduced almost to blindness, by being several hours exposed to a very hot sun, & afterwards to the waist in water in the attack on Momerency the 31st. July since which time he has been constantly confined, & Mr. Adair giving him no hopes of Recovery, he finds himself obliged to desire the General's leave to sell, which he hopes he will be pleased to grant to 26 years service of which there was Seven Campaigns of War. If the General is so good as to allow the purchase to go on in the Regiment, the following succession is humbly proposed.

For the Company, the eldest Lieut. & Qr. Mr. John Fraser

For the Lieutenancy

For the Ensigncy

For the Quarter Mastership George Gordon

The Gentlemen proposed of all the above Purchases have lodged Credit for the Money at York.

If the General is pleased to grant leave for the above purchases as the persons recommended except Ensign John Campbell are the eldest of their several Ranks, tis hoped the General will make their Commissions of this date, as otherwise they wou'd lose Rank in case of any promotion here during the Winter.

Several Invalids disabled in the Campaign, not being out of the Surgeon's hands were obliged to be sent with the hospital to York. Lieut. John Fraser Qr. Mr. has recommend a long discharges to be given to them, when the General thinks it proper to order them to England. There are also gone to the Continent a number of Scorbutic men, many of whom are totally unfit for Service by age and Infirmity, if the General wou'd be pleased to order them to be inspected by the Director of the Hospital Lieut. John Fraser has discharges for whatever number he is pleased to order to be discharged.

Quebec Octr. 25th 1759

S. Fraser. Colo. 63d Regt.

Note: Captain James Fraser eventually resigned his commission effective 13 December 1759, and was succeeded by Captain Charles McDonell [TNA, W.O. 25/27, p.70].

John Adair was a assigned surgeon on 24 September 1754 to the hospital in North America, and in 1759 served as Deputy Director of the hospital at New York [TNA, W.O. 25/23, p.180; W.O. 34/17, p.333].

Source:

TNA, W.O. 34/78, p.39-40;103-104.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2023.

Payroll Account of Private Charles Rose, 1758

An accountant at the War Office in Westminster, London, was ultimately responsible for the tracking of hundreds of millions of pounds being spent on funding British armies on multiple fronts around the world. At the regimental level, paymasters were charged with accounting for the income and expenses of every soldier, ensuring assets were properly tracked down to the very last pence. (Jeffrey Campbell, Accountability, 2024. Artist's rendition created with Perchance AI Image Generator)

Payroll Account of Private Charles Rose, 1758

Much like today, accounting books were used in the eighteenth century for documenting military pay and other related expenses accrued over periods of time. The payroll account of Private Charles Rose, 78th Regiment, covers the period of July 5, 1757, through April 24, 1758.

Note: Category headers and bracketed script have been added for clarification and do not appear in the original document. Additionally, it would not be uncommon to discover accounting errors as these were gentlemen who created inaccuracies the same as you and I.

[Page 1]

Income

To 2 Weeks arrears Due in Ireland

     £0. 0. 10

To 9 Weeks pay & arrears of Pay Due on y'e Passage from y'e 5th July 1757 to y'e

5th Sept. D'o.

     £1. 10. 9

To 5 Weeks Pay & arrears Due from y'e 5th Sept. 1757 to y'e 10th Oct. D'o.

 £0. 8. 4

To 1 Weeks arrears from 10th Oct. to the 17th. Do. 1757

     £0. 0. 5

To 6 Weeks Pay & arrears Due from y'e 17th Oct. to the 28th Novr. 1757

 £1. 6. 6

To 21 Weeks arrears Due from y'e 28th Novr. 1757 to y'e 24th Aprl. 1758

 £1. 15. 0

[Total]  £4. 15. 10

[Page 2]

Expenses

To 1 pair of Shoes & 1 Napsack

     £0. 6. 6

To 2 Haversacks @ Kilraick & Glasgow

£0. 2. 0

To 1 Cocade 1 pair garters & 1 sett buckles

     £0. 2. 0

To 1 Pistle & Kilt belt

     £0. 1. 4

To 1 Turn Key 1 Screw 1 Brush & wire

     £0. 0. 9

To Provisions furnished at Glasgow

     £0. 4. 8

To Spruce Beer @ Halifax

     £0. 2. 8

To 2 Cheq'd Shirts furnished you

£0. 7. 0

To 10 months stoppages for the Pay Mr. Serjt. begin the 4th July 1757 & End the 4th May 

1758 @1d pr. month

     £0. 0. 10

To 7 months stoppages for y'e barber begin the 24th Sept. & End the 24th of Aprl. 1758

@ 2 pr. month

     £0. 1. 2

To yr. Propn. of a cooks frock

     £0. 0. 8

To Cash given at Fairf'd & Boston pr. Advnc.

     £1. 8. 0

To 2 Weeks Pay given in to the Hospital at Hallifax

     £0. 6. 0

  [Subtotal]   £3. 3. 7

To Cash Paid him as Ballce. of ye above Acct.

     £1. 12. 3

  [Total]  £4. 15. 10

Halifax 1758 3d. May Received ye Above Ballabce in full of my Pay and  arrears from ye Date my attestation to y'e 24th Apr. 1758 as witness of hand.

his

Charles CR Rose

mark

Source:

Major James Clephane, "Payroll account of Private Donald McKenzie, 1758." Military Account Book at Halifax, NAS GD125-34-5, pp. 28-9.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2023.