1787-1846~ History ~
In December of 1777, His Majesty, King George III, granted letters of service to John Campbell of Barbreck, Scotland. These letters gave Campbell of power to raise a regiment of foot, 1,082 men strong. There were to be eight battalion companies with 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 1 ensign, 5 sergeants, 5 corporals, 2 drummers and 100 private soldiers each; one (1) light infantry and one (1) grenadier company each with 1 captain, 3 lieutenants, 5 sergeants, 5 corporals, 2 drummers, 2 pipers and 100 private soldiers each. The recruits were to be at least 5'4" tall and aged 18 through 30.
Of all the Highland regiments, the 74th had more lowlanders in ranks than in any other of the same description raised at this time. Of the private men, only 590 were from Argyllshire County, the rest being from Glasgow and the western districts of Scotland. Of the 1082 men authorized, 987 men were raised (684 Highlanders, 282 Lowlanders, 12 English, and 9 Irish).
The name Campbell, as might be expected in an Argyllshire regiment, mustered strong for officers. Nine of the eleven most senior officers were surnamed Campbell. It is possible that many of the enlisted men were also Campbells (possibly due to family recruiting family). On 13 May 1778, Major-General Robert Skene inspected the 74th Regiment, mustering 960 rank and file, in Glasgow. In August of the same year, the regiment embarked from Greenock, Scotland and was to land at Halifax, Nova Scotia. On 11 February 1779, General Sir Henry Clinton ordered Brigadier General Francis McLean to send the flank companies of the 70th, 74th, and 82nd (regiments) to headquarters at New York City. The Light Company, commanded by Captain Campbell of Balnabie and the Grenadier Company, commanded by Captain Ludovick Colquhoun of Luss, arrived at New York on 23 March 1779.
In the spring of 1779, the battalion companies took possession of Bagaduce (present-day Castine, Maine) with the intention of establishing a post there. Before defenses could be completed, a force of 2,500 men under the command of Commodore Saltonstall of Boston attacked. From 28 July until 13 August, the 74th and a detachment of the 82nd, under the command of Brigadier General McLean, defended their positions and kept the rebels from advancing. By 13 August, a relief fleet under the command of Sir George Collier, forced the rebels to leave in defeat. The losses to the 74th were 2 sergeants and 14 privates killed and 17 rank and file wounded. The battalion companies stayed at Bagaduce, completing construction of a fort (Fort George) for the remainder of the war until 15 January 1784, when they evacuated Penobscot Bay; more than a year after the Treaty of Paris (3 September 1783) was signed.
The detached flank companies served with the 1st Grenadier battalion and the 1st Light Infantry battalions. They campaigned with Sir Henry Clinton on his expedition to South Carolina (December 1779 – June 1780) which resulted in the capture of Charlestown and the surrender of a significant American army. The Light Company was part of General Phillips' army that landed in March 1781 in Virginia. They served in the entire Virginia Campaign which culminated at the surrender of Cornwallis' army at Yorktown on 19 October 1781.
The Light Company was marched to the prisoner of war camp at Fort Frederick, Maryland. They remained prisoners until the cessation of hostilities in late 1783 when they returned to the main army headquarters at New York. By 1784, all the companies of the 74th were reunited in Halifax and were embarked for England; landing at Portsmouth. They were then marched to Sterling and disbanded on 24 May 1784.| The 74th was detached from the army at Nundeedroog on the 21st of October, with three Sepoy battalions and some field artillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, into the Baramahal country, which this column was ordered to clear of the enemy. They reached the south end of the valley by forced marches, and took the strong fort of Penagurh by escalade on the 31st of October, and after scouring the whole of the Baramahal to the southward, returned towards Caverypooram, and encamped within five miles of the strong fort of Kistnagherry, 50 miles S.E. of Bangalore, on the 7th of November. Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell determined on attacking the lower fort and town immediately, and the column advanced from the camp to the attack in three divisions at ten o’clock on that night; two of these were sent to the right and left to attack the lower fort on the western and eastern sides, while the centre division advanced directly towards the front wall. The divisions approached close to the walls before they were discovered, succeeded in escalading them, and got possession of the gates. The enemy fled to the upper fort without making much resistance, and the original object of the attack was thus gained. But a most gallant attempt was made by Captain Wallace of the 74th, who commanded the right division, to carry the almost inaccessible upper fort also. His division rushed up in pursuit of the fugitives; and notwithstanding the length and steepness of the ascent, his advanced party followed the enemy so closely that they had barely time to shut the gates. Their standard was taken on the steps of the gateway; but as the ladders had not been brought forward in time, it was impossible to escalade before the enemy recovered from their panic. |  |  |
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~ The Battle of Assaye 1803 ~ 
The battle of Assaye was fought on the 23rd of September 1803. On that day Major-General the Hon. Arthur Wellesley attacked the whole combined Mahratta army of Sindiah and the Rajah of Berar, at Asssya, on the banks of the Kaitna river. The Mahratta force, of 40,000 men, was completely defeated by a force of 5000, of which not more than 2000 were Europeans, losing 98 pieces of cannon, 7 standards, and leaving 1200 killed, and about four times that number wounded on the field. The conduct of the 74th in this memorable battle was most gallant and distinguished; but from having been prematurely led against the village of Assaye on the left of the enemy’s line, the regiment was exposed, unsupported, to a most terrible cannonade, and being afterwards charged by cavalry, sustained a tremendous loss.
In this action, the keenest ever fought in India, the 74th had Captains D. Aytone, Andrew Dyce, Roderick Macleod, John Maxwell; Lieutenants John Campbell, John Morshead Campbell, Lorn Campbell, James Grant, J. Morris, Robert Neilson, Volunteer Tew, 9 sergeants, and 127 rank and file killed; and Major Samuel Swinton, Captains Norman Moore, Matthew Shawe, John Alexander Main, Robert Macmurdo, J. Longland, Ensign Kearnon, 11 sergeants, 7 drummers, and 270 rank and file wounded. "Every officer present," says Cannon, "with the regiment was either killed or wounded, except Quartermaster James Grant, who, when he saw so many of his friends fall in the battle, resolved to share their fate, and, though a non-combatant, joined the ranks and fought to the termination of the action." Besides expressing his indebtedness to the 74th in his despatch to the Governor-General, Major-General Wellesley added the following to his memorandum on the battle :— "However, by one of those unlucky accidents which frequently happen, the officer commanding the piquets which were upon the right led immediately up to the village of Assays. The 74th regiment, which was on the right of the second line, and was ordered to support the piquets, followed them. There was a large break in our line between these corps and those on our left. They were exposed to a most terrible cannonade from Assaye, and were charged by the cavalry belonging to the Campoos; consequently in the piquets and the 74th regiment we sustained the greatest part of our loss.
"Another bad consequence resulting from this mistake was the necessity of introducing the cavalry into the action at too early a period. I had ordered it to watch the motions of the enemy’s cavalry hanging upon our right, and luckily it charged in time to save the remains of the 74th and the piquets."
The names especially of Lieutenants-Colonel Harness and Wallace were mentioned with high approbation both by Wellesley and the Governor-General. The Governor-General ordered that special honorary colours be presented to the 74th and 78th, who were the only European infantry employed "on that glorious occasion," with a device suited to commemorate the signal and splendid victory.
The device on the special colour awarded to the 74th appears at the head of this account. The 78th for some reason ceased to make use of its third colour after it left India, so that the 74th is now probably the only regiment in the British army that possesses such a colour, an honour of which it may well be proud.
Captain A. B. Campbell of the 74th, who had on a former occasion lost an arm, and had afterwards had the remaining one broken at the wrist by a fall in hunting, was seen in the thickest of the action with his bridle in his teeth, and a sword in his mutilated hand, dealing destruction around him. He came off unhurt, though one of the enemy in the charge very nearly transfixed him with a bayonet, which actually pierced his saddle._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Standing up for and acting upon the things that you know are honorable. |  |
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