this interval Pipe-major Cameron, thinking a little music would be grateful to his comrades, set his drones in order, and made the hills re-echo the "Pibroch Dhonuil Dhu." The effect was electrical. The weary Highlanders were on their legs in an instant anxiously looking to their wounded General (Stewart), who was a few paces in rear, for the order to advance. He at once ordered the piper to stop, and warned them of the fatal consequences that might follow a forward movement at that particular moment. Meanwhile the French below were increasing in numbers, and in ten minutes the piper, probably impatient of the general's tactics, tuned up again, and again his comrades jumped up eager for action. The angry general peremptorily ordered him not to play without orders, on peril of his life. He obeyed, but was heard muttering, with a sublime confidence in the power of his own music, "Mur leig e leom a phiob a chluich cha'n eil Frangeach 's an duthaich nach bi nuas oirn" (if he'll not let me play, every man in the land of France will be here).* and 71st, 71st and The French, after a little skirmishing, brought forward a mass of infantry to overpower all opposition, and Stewart, after a few rounds, withdrew the advanced wings, and marching them through the intervals of the 50th and 71st right wing, placed them in position 200 yards in their rear. The enemy followed, and were warmly received by the 50th who then retreated through the intervals of the 92nd left wings, and thus relieving each other with the utmost regularity, and disputing every inch of ground, they fell back fully a mile, when, being reinforced by the 82nd, they halted in a new position, from which they had the mortification of seeing their camp plundered by the enemy; the batmen and mules which had been out in the morning had been unable to remove all the baggage, and some of them had been taken. An officer mentions how his faithful servant, Hugh Johnstone, had saved his most valuable articles and money by emptying his knapsack of his own kit, and filling it with his master's valuables. At the beginning of the action Colonel Cameron detached Captain Campbell of the 92nd with 150 men to the summit * Told by Private John Downie and by an officer. From of the rock of Maya, which was the key of the position. this post its garrison rendered considerable assistance, for the face of the hill was covered with whinstone rocks, which Campbell and his men hurled down on the pursuers, frequently with great effect. But neither bullets, bayonets, nor boulders could check the advance of the enemy, who had separated the two brigades (the Second having retired across the valley of the Bastan). Our troops Fresh troops were advancing from Urdax. were from 2000 to 2500 men, their opponents 8000 to 9000; and about 7 p.m. General Stewart, in order to stop further bloodshed, proposed to retire, and sent an order to the troops on the rock to abandon it; but, before the bearer of the message could deliver it, the cheers of the troops at the base of the hill reached the summit. These were occasioned by the arrival of General Barnes with the 6th Regiment and some Brunswick infantry. A more seasonable reinforcement was never received. The tired soldiers were resting when it arrived, but rose to cheer-" Our lads were perfectly frantic with joy." General Stewart, having regard to the extraordinary loss and fatigue sustained by them, desired that the 92nd should not join in the charge of Barnes' troops. But this time the pipe-major was not to be denied. He struck up the charging tune of "The Haughs of Cromdale," his comrades, seized with what in the Highlands is called "mire chath" the frenzy of battle without either asking or obtaining permission, not only charged, but led the charge, and rushed down on the enemy with irresistible force, driving back their opponents in the most splendid style. The power of the national music over the minds of Scottish soldiers was never more conspicuous. D'Erlon, taking it for granted that such temerity must be backed by stronger reinforcements than appeared, retired about a mile, and General Stewart made such dispositions as This tune is older than the battle of Cromdale (1689); the old words have more to do with weddings than warfare Tha banais aig na Graintaich uile, Rev. W. Forsyth, Abernethy. would convey the impression that he intended to renew the combat in the morning. Intelligence was, however, received that Generals Cole, Picton, and Byng had been compelled by the overwhelming forces of Soult to yield their positions, by which the right of the army was turned. This rendered the recovery of the Col de Maya useless, and Hill, withdrawing the troops during the night, posted them on the heights in rear of Irueta, fifteen miles from the scene of action. It now became necessary for Wellington to concentrate part of his army in front of Pampeluna, to prevent the relief of that fortress. Such was the disastrous conflict of Maya, in which 2600 British troops not only retained the key of their position for nine hours, despite the utmost efforts of about 11,000 of Bonaparte's best infantry, but, on receiving a reinforcement of only 1000 men, actually recaptured about a mile of ground which the enemy had acquired earlier in the day. It was certainly one of the most brilliant achievements of the whole Peninsular War. * The following anecdote shows the impression made by the conduct of the Gordon Highlanders on the commander of the French army corps engaged. An officer relates that a wounded British Colonel had to be left behind in the valley of Bastan. In passing through the village, the French General, Count d'Erlon, called on him, and after condoling with him said, "Pray, Colonel, how many sans culottes have you in your division?" "One battalion," answered the Colonel. "One regiment of several battalions I presume you mean, Colonel," retorted d'Erlon. "No, General, only one battalion, I assure you," replied Colonel H——. The Count, with a smile of incredulity, then said, "Come now, Colonel, don't quiz me; do tell me candidly how many Highlanders you had in action on the right of your position on the 25th?" Colonel H-then said earnestly, "I give you my word of honour, General, there was only half a battalion, not exceeding 400 men." D'Erlon fixed his eyes on Colonel H---, and after a pause said with emotion, "Then, Colonel, they were more than men, "Men without breeches," the name used by the French for the High landers. for before that body of troops I lost one thousand killed and wounded." In commemoration of the noble and devoted conduct of his regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron was permitted by His Majesty to bear the word "Maya" on the shield of his . coat of arms. Napier, in his account of the battle, says, "Never did soldiers fight better, seldom so well." "The stern valour of the Ninety-second would have graced Thermopylae.' "* * In his first edition, published 1840, Napier added after the word "Ninety-second” the words “principally composed of Irishmen." This statement gave great offence to the regiment, not because they in any way disliked or undervalued Irishmen, but because the statement was inconsistent with fact and with their nationality. Colonel J. M‘Donald, then commanding the 92nd, wrote to the author drawing his attention to the error in his History, “which you yourself will be anxious to rectify in any further editions of that valuable work. I do not deem any apology necessary for requesting that you will have the goodness to admit this mistake. Should you, however, be under the impression that the 92nd was not principally composed of Scotchmen, I shall be happy to furnish you with ample proof"; which he afterwards did, and the objectionable paragraph was left out in later editions; and in "Battles of the Peninsula," note, page 300, Napier writes, "In my original work, misled by false information, I said the soldiers of the 92nd were all Irish, but their Colonel (M'Donald) afterwards gave me irrefragable proof by a list of names that they were Scotchmen." The Monthly Return, dated Heights of Maya, 25th July 1813, gives the nationality of the N.-C. officers and rank and file of the First Battalion as under : SERGEANTS. DRUMMERS. CORPORALS. PRIVATES. TOTAL. PER CENT. It has been often said that Highland regiments were composed of Irishmen, and generally with as little reason as on this occasion. As an instance, I remember when serving with the Gordon Highlanders in 1855, an old gentleman told me he had, when a boy, been visiting where the 92nd were quartered in Essex in 1805; that he particularly remembered the tall men of the Grenadier Company, adding, "They were mostly Irishmen, for I used to hear them talking in the Irish language." I find the nationality of the N.-C. officers and men of the Grenadier Company, First Battalion 92nd Regiment (Gordon Highlanders), on January 1st, 1805, was::-English, 7; Scotch, 87; Irish, 3. – Total, 97; and of the Scotch, the great majority were from the northern counties, and many would naturally speak Scotch Gaelic, which is sufficiently like Irish Gaelic to account for the mistake. A list of the officers of both battalions of the regiment in 1813 is given in the Appendix. It shows nearly all Scotch, most of them Highlanders, and nearly half from Inverness-shire. Many officers and men of the battalion were absent on July 25th on command, sick, prisoners of war, so that there were present and fit for duty on that day:-Field-officers, 3; captains, 7; subalterns, 20; staff, 6; sergeants, 40; drummers, 15; rank and file, 762.-Total of all ranks, 853. Of whom Ensign Ewen Kenedy was killed in action, and Captain S. Bevan and Lieutenant Alexander MacDonald died of their wounds. The other officers wounded were-LieutenantColonel John Cameron, Majors Jas. Mitchell and John MacPherson, Captains G. W. Holmes and Ronald MacDonald, Lieutenants William Fyfe, Donald MacPherson, John A. Durie, James John Chisholm, Robert Winchester, Donald M'Donald, James Ker Ross, George Gordon, John Grant; Ensigns Thomas Mitchell and George Mitchell. It was evidently difficult to make an exact return of the killed in action, as the dead had to be left to be buried by the French, and several corrections seem to have been made. Altogether I find the names of sixty-seven N.-C. officers and men killed. In many cases the rank is torn off the original return, and these I have entered as privates. Names of N.-C. officers and soldiers killed in action, 25th July 1813; taken from non-effective return of 25th August 1813 |