In the following year, shortly after the Lord President arrived at Culloden from the south, he wrote a letter to Mackenzie dated the 11th of October 1745, in which he tells him that the Earl of Loudon had come the day before to Cromarty, and brought some "credit"
with him, which "will enable us to put the Independent Companies together for the service of the Government and for our mutual protection." He requested Fortrose to give immediate orders to pick out those who are first to form one of the companies, that they might receive their commissions and arms. Alexander Mackenzie of Fairburn was to command. There was, the President said, a report that Barrisdale had gone to a.s.synt to raise the men of that country, to be joined to those of Coigeach, who were said to have orders to be in readiness to join Macdonald, and with instructions to march through Mackenzie"s territories in order to find out how many of his Lordship"s va.s.sals could be persuaded, by fair means or foul, to join the standard of the Prince. "I hope this is not true,"
writes the President; "if it is, it is of the greatest consequence to prevent it. I wish Fairburn were at home; your Lordship will let me know when he arrives, as the Lord Cromarty has refused the company I intended for his son. Your Lordship will deliberate to whom you would have it given." ["Culloden Papers," pp. 421-2.]
Exasperated at this time by the exertions made by President Forbes to obstruct the designs of the disaffected, a plan was formed to seize him by some of the Frasers, a party of whom, amounting to about 200, attacked Culloden House during the night of the 15th of October, but the President being on his guard they were repulsed.
[Fraser"s "Earls of Cromartie."]
On the 13th of October Mackenzie had written to Forbes that he surmised some young fellows of his name attempted to raise men for the Prince, but that he sent expresses to the suspected parts, with orders to the tenants not to stir under pain of death without his leave, though their respective masters should be imprudent enough to desire them to do so. The messengers returned with the people"s blessings for his protection, and with a.s.surances that they would do nothing without his orders, "so that henceforward your Lordship need not be concerned about any idle report from benorth Kessock." In a letter dated "Brahan Castle, 19th October 1745," Lord Fortrose refers to the attempt on the President"s house, which, he says, surprised him extremely, and "is as dirty an action as I ever heard of," and he did not think any gentleman would be capable of doing such a thing. He adds, "as I understand your cattle are taken away, I beg you will order your steward to write to Colin, or anybody else here, for provisions, as I can be supplied from the Highlands.
I am preparing to act upon the defensive, and I suppose will soon be provoked to act on the offensive. I have sent for a strong party to protect my house and overawe the country. None of my Kintail men will be down till Tuesday, but as the river is high, and I have parties at all boats, nothing can be attempted. Besides, I shall have reinforcements every day. I have ordered my servants to get, at Inverness, twelve or twenty pounds of powder with a proportionable quant.i.ty of shot. If that cannot be bought at Inverness, I must beg you will write a line to Governor Grant to give my servant the powder, as I can do without the shot ... Barrisdale has come down from a.s.synt, and was collared by one of the Maclauchlans there for offering to force the people to rise, and he has met with no success there. I had a message from the Mackenzies in Argyllshire to know what they should do. Thirty are gone from Lochiel; the rest, being about sixty, are at home. I advised them to stay at home and mind their own business."
On the 28th of the same month his Lordship writes to inform the President that the Earl of Cromarty and his son, Macculloch of Glastullich, and Ardloch"s brother, came to Brahan Castle on the previous Friday; that it was the most unexpected visit he had received for some time, that he did not like to turn them out, that Cromarty was pensive and dull; but that if he had known what he knew at the date of writing he would have made them prisoners, for Lord Macleod went since to Lochbroom and a.s.synt to raise men. He enclosed for the President"s use the names of the officers appointed to the two Mackenzie companies, and intimated that he offered the commission to both Coul and Redcastle, but that both refused it. It was from Coul"s house, he says, that Lord Macleod started for the North, and that vexed him. On the same day Forbes acknowledges receipt of this letter, and requests that the officers in the two companies should be appointed according to Mackenzie"s recommedations, "without any further consideration than that you judge it right," and he desires to see Sir Alexander of Fairburn for an hour next day to carry a proposal to his Lordship for future operations. "I think," he adds, "it would be right to a.s.semble still more men about Brahan than you now have; the expense shall be made good and it will tend to make Caberfey respectable, and to discourage folly among your neighbours."
In a letter of 6th November the President says, "I supposed that your Lordship was to have marched Hilton"s company into town (Inverness) on Monday or Tuesday; but I dare say there is a good reason why it has not been done."
On the 8th of November Mackenzie informs the Lord President that the Earl of Cromarty had crossed the river at Contin, with about a hundred men on his way to Beauly, "owing to the neglect of my spies, as there"s rogues of all professions." Lord Macleod, Cromarty"s son came from a.s.synt and Lochbroom the same day, and followed his father to the rendezvous, but after traversing the whole of that northern district he did not get a single volunteer. "Not a man started from Ross-shire, except William, Kilcoy"s brother, with seven men, and a tenant of Redcastle with a few more and if Lentran and Torridon did go off last night, they did not carry between them a score of men. I took a ride yesterday to the westward with two hundred men, but find the bounds so rugged that it"s impossible to keep a single man from going by if he has a mind. However, I threatened to burn their cornyards if anybody was from home this day, and I turned one house into the river for not finding its master at home. It"s hard the Government gives n.o.body in the North power to keep people in order. I don"t choose to send a company to Inverness until I hear what they are determined to do at Lord Lovat"s."
The Earl of Loudon writes to Marshal Wade, then Commander-in-Chief in the North, under date of 16th November, saying that 150 or 160 Mackenzies, seduced by the Earl of Cromarty, marched in the beginning of that week up the north side of Loch-Ness, expecting to be followed by 500 or 600 Frasers, under command of the Master of Lovat, but the Mackenzies had not on that date pa.s.sed the mountains.
On the 16th of December Fortrose writes asking for L400 expended by him during two months on his men going to and coming from the Highlands, for which he would not trouble him only that he bad a very "melancholy appearance" of getting his Martinmas rent, as the people would be glad of any excuse for non-payment, and the last severe winter, and their having to leave home, would afford them a very good one. He was told by the President in reply, that his letter had been submitted to Lord Loudon, that both of them agreed that his Lordship"s expenses must have been far greater than what he claimed, "but as cash is very low with us at present, all we can possibly do is to let your Lordship have the pay of the two companies from the date of the letter signifying that they were ordered to remain at Brahan for the service of the Government.
The further expense, which we are both satisfied it must have cost your Lordship, shall be made good as soon as any money to be applied to contingencies, which we expect, shall come to hand, and if it should not come so soon as we wish, the account shall be made up and solicited, in the same manner with what we lay out of our own purses, which is no inconsiderable sums." This correspondence will show the confidence which then existed between the Government and Lord Fortrose.
On the 9th of December the two Mackenzie companies were marched into Inverness. Next day, accompanied by a detachment from Fort-Augustus, they proceeded to Castle Dounie for the purpose of bringing Lord Lovat to account. The crafty old Simon agreed to come in to Inverness and to deliver up his arms on the 14th of the month, but instead of doing so he of course made good his escape.
After the battle of Prestonpans, the Government, on the recommendation of the Earl of Stair, forwarded twenty blank commissions to President Forbes, with orders to raise as many companies of 100 men each, among the Highlanders. Eighteen of the twenty were sent to the Earls of Sutherland and Cromarty, Lords Fortrose and Reay, the Lairds of Grant and Macleod, and Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat, with instructions to raise the Highland companies in their respective districts. The Earl of Cromarty, while pretending to comply with the instructions of the Lord President, offered the command of one of the companies to a neighbouring gentleman, whom he well knew to be a strong Jacobite, and at the same time made some plausible excuse for his son"s refusal of another of the commissions.
When Lord John Drummond landed with a body of Irish and Scotch troops, in the service of the French, to aid Prince Charles, he wrote to Mackenzie announcing his arrival and earnestly requesting him to declare at once for the Stuart cause, as the only means by which he could "now expect to retrieve his character." All the means at Drummond"s disposal proved futile, and the Mackenzies were thus kept out of the Rising of 1745.
That Prince Charles fully appreciated the importance of having the Mackenzies led by their natural chief, for or against him, will be seen from Lord Macleod"s Narrative of the Rebellion. [Printed at length in Fraser"s "Earls of Cromartie."] "We set out," his Lordship says, "from Dunblain on the 12th of January, and arrived the same evening at Glasgow. I immediately went to pay my respects to the Prince, and found that he was already set down to supper. Dr Cameron told Lord George Murray, who sat by the Prince, who I was, on which the Lord Murray introduced me to the Prince, whose hand I had the honour to kiss, after which the Prince ordered me to take my place at the table. After supper I followed the Prince to his apartment to give him an account of his affairs in the North, and of what had pa.s.sed in these parts during the time of his expedition to England. I found that nothing surprised the Prince so much as to hear that the Earl of Seaforth had declared against him, for he heard without emotion the names of the other people who had joined the Earl of Loudon at Inverness; but when I told him that Seaforth had likewise sent two hundred men to Inverness for the service of the Government, and that he had likewise hindered many gentlemen of his clan from joining my father (the Earl of Cromarty) for the service of the Stuarts, he turned to the French Minister and said to him, with some warmth, "Hc! mon Dieu! et Seaforth est aussi contre moi!""
At this stage a hero named Mackenzie, who had done good service to the Prince in his wanderings through the Highlands after the battle of Culloden, may be mentioned. Such a small tribute is due to the gallant Roderick Mackenzie, whose intrepidity and presence of mind in the last agonies of death, saved his Prince from pursuit at the time, and was consequently the means of his ultimate escape in safety to France. Charles had been pursued with the most persevering a.s.siduity, but Roderick"s ruse proved so successful on this occasion that further search was for a time considered unnecessary. Mackenzie was a young man, of respectable family, who joined the Prince at Edinburgh, and served as one of his life-guards.
Being about the same age as his Royal Highness, and, like him, tall, somewhat slender, and with features in some degree resembling his, he might, by ordinary observers not accustomed to see the two together, have pa.s.sed for the Prince himself. As Roderick could not venture with safety to return to Edinburgh, where still lived his two maiden sisters, he after the battle of Culloden fled to the Highlands and lurked among the hills of Glenmoriston, where, about the middle of July, he was surprised by a party of Government soldiers. Mackenzie endeavoured to escape, but, being overtaken, he turned on his pursuers, and, drawing his sword, bravely defended himself. He was ultimately shot by one of the red-coats, but as he fell, mortally wounded, he exclaimed, "You have killed your Prince! You have killed your Prince!" whereupon he immediately expired. The soldiers, overjoyed at their supposed good fortune, cut off his head, and hurried off to Fort-Augustus with their prize. The Duke of c.u.mberland, quite convinced that he had now obtained the head of his Royal relative, packed it up carefully, ordered a post-chaise, and at once went off to London, taking the head along with him.
After his arrival the deception was discovered, but meanwhile it proved of great a.s.sistance to Prince Charles in his ultimately successful efforts to escape.
Shortly after the battle of Culloden a fleet of ships appeared off the coast of Lochbroom, under the command of Captain Fergusson.
They dropped anchor at Loch-Ceannard, when a large party went ash.o.r.e and proceeded up the Strath to the residence of Mr Mackenzie of Langwell, connected by marriage with the Earl of Cromarty. Langwell having supported the Prince, fled out of the hated Fergusson"s way; but his lady was obliged to remain at home to attend to a large family of young children, who were at the time laid up with smallpox. The house was ransacked. A large chest containing the family and other valuable papers, including a wadset of Langwell and Inchvannie from her relative, George, Earl of Cromarty, was burnt before her eyes; and about fifty head of fine Highland cattle were mangled by the swords and driven to the ships of the spoilers.
Nor did this satisfy them. They committed similar depredations, without any discrimination between friend or foe, for eight days during which they remained in the neighbourhood. ["New Statistical Account of Lochbroom."]
It is well known that Mackenzie had strong Jacobite feelings although his own prudence and the influence of Lord President Forbes secured his support for the Government. "Though many respectable individuals of the Clan Mackenzie had warmly espoused the cause of Charles, Lord Fortrose seems at no time to have proclaimed openly for him, whatever hopes he might have countenanced when in personal communication with the expatriated Sovereign, as indeed there is cause to infer something of the kind from a letter which, towards the end of November, 1745, was addressed by Lord John Drummond to Kenneth, pressing him instantly to join the Prince, then successfully penetrating the West of England, and qualifying the invitation by observing that it was the only mode for his Lordship to retrieve his character. Yet so little did Fortrose or his immediate followers affect the cause, that when Lord Lovat blockaded Fort-Augustus, two companies of Mackenzies, which bad been stationed at Brahan, were withdrawn, and posted by Lord Loudon, the commander-in-chief of the Government forces, at Castle Dounie, the stronghold of Fraser and, with the exception of these, the Royal party received no other support from the family of Seaforth, though many gentlemen of the clan served in the King"s army. Yet it appears that a still greater number, with others whose ancestors identified themselves with the fortunes of the House of Kintail, were inclined to espouse the more venturous steps of the last of the Stuarts. George, the last Earl of Cromarty, being then paramount in power, and, probably so, in influence, even to the chief himself, having been, for certain reasons, liable to suspicions as to their disinterested nature, declared for Charles, and under his standard his own levy, with all the Jacobite adherents of the clan, ranged themselves, and were mainly instrumental in neutralizing Lord Loudon"s and the Laird of Macleod"s forces in the subsequent operations of 1746, driving them with the Lord President Forbes, to take shelter in the Isle of Skye." [Bennetsfield MS.]
Kenneth married on the 11th of September, 1741, Lady Mary, eldest daughter of Alexander Stewart, sixth Earl of Galloway, with issue -
I. Kenneth, his heir and successor.
II. Margaret, who on the 4th of June, married William Webb.
III. Mary, who married Henry Howard, of Effingham, with issue.
IV. Agnes, who married J. Douglas.
V. Catherine, who on the 1st of March, 1773, married Thomas Griffin Tarpley, student of medicine.
VI. Frances, who married General Joseph Wald.
VII. Euphemia, who, on the 2nd of April, 1771, married William Stewart of Castle Stewart, M.P. for the County of Wigton.
His wife died in London on the 18th of April, 1751, and was buried at Kensington, where a monument was raised to her memory. Kenneth died, also in London, on the 19th of October, 1761, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, when he was succeeded by his only son,
XIX. KENNETH, SIXTH EARL OF SEAFORTH,
Viscount Fortrose, and Baron Ardelve, in the Peerage of Ireland.
From his small stature, he was generally known among the Highlanders as the "Little Lord." He was born in Edinburgh on the 15th of January, 1744, and at an early age entered the army. As a return for his father"s loyalty to the House of Hanovar in 1745, and his own steady support of the reigning family, George III., in 1764, raised him to the peerage by the t.i.tle of Baron Ardelve. He was created Viscount Fortrose in 1766, and in 1771, Earl of Seaforth, all in the peerage of Ireland. To evince his grat.i.tude for this magnanimous act, he, in 1778, offered to raise a regiment for general service. The offer was accepted by his Majesty, and a fine body of 1130 men were in a very short time raised by his Lordship, princ.i.p.ally on his own estates in the north and by gentlemen of his own name. Of these, five hundred were enlisted among his immediate va.s.sals, and about four hundred from the estates of the Mackenzies of Scatwell, Kilcoy, Redcastle, and Applecross. The officers from the south to whom he gave commissions in the regiment brought about two hundred men, of whom forty-three were English and Irish. The Macraes of Kintail, always such faithful followers and able supporters of the House of Seaforth, were so numerous in the new regiment that it was known more by their name than by that of Seaforth"s own kinsmen, and so much was this the case that the well-known mutiny which took place in Edinburgh, on the arrival of the regiment there, is still known as "the affair of the Macraes." [The Seaforth Highlanders were marched to Leith, where they were quartered for a short interval, though long enough to produce complaints about the infringement of their engagements, and some pay and bounty which they said were due them. Their disaffection was greatly increased by the activity of emissaries from Edinburgh, like those just mentioned as having gone down front London to Portsmouth. The regiment refused to embark, and marching out of Leith, with pipes playing and two plaids fixed on poles instead of colours, took a position on Arthur"s Seat, of which they kept possession for several days, during which time the inhabitants of Edinburgh amply supplied them with provisions and ammunition. After much negotiation, a proper understanding respecting the cause of their complaint was brought about, and they marched down the hill in the same manner in which they had gone up, with pipes playing; and "with the Earls of Seaforth and Dunmore, and General Skene, at their head, they entered Leith, and went on board the transports with the greatest readiness, and cheerfulness." In this case, as in that of the Athole Highlanders, none of he men were brought to trial, or even put into confinement for these acts of open resistance. - "Stewart"s Sketches - Appendix"
p. lxvviv.] The regiment was embodied at Elgin in May, 1778, and inspected there by General Skene, when it was so effective that not a single man was rejected. Seaforth, appointed Colonel on the 29th of December, 1777, was now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant, and the regiment was called the 78th (afterwards the 72nd), or Ross-shire Regiment of Highlanders.
The grievances complained of at Leith being removed, the regiment embarked at that port, accompanied by their Colonel, and the intention of sending them to India having been abandoned, one half of the corps was sent to Guernsey and the other half to Jersey.
Towards the end of April, 1781, the two divisions a.s.sembled at Portsmouth, whence they embarked for India on the 12th of June following, being then 973 strong, rank and file. Though in excellent health, the men suffered so much from scurvy, in consequence of the change of food, that before their arrival at Madras, on the 2d of April, 1782, no fewer than 247 of them died. and out of those who landed alive only 369 were fit for service. Their Chief and Colonel died in August, 1781, before they arrived at St Helena, to the great grief and dismay of his faithful followers, who looked up to him as their princ.i.p.al source of encouragement and support.
His loss was naturally a.s.sociated in their minds with recollections of home, with melancholy remembrances of their absent kindred, and with forebodings of their own future destiny and so strong was this feeling impressed upon them that it materially contributed to that prostration of mind which made them all the more readily become the victims of disease. They well knew that it was on their account alone that he had determined to forego the comforts of a splendid fortune and high rank to encounter the privations and inconveniences of a long voyage and the dangers and other fatigues of military service in a tropical climate. ["Stewart"s Sketches,"
and Fullarton"s "History of the Highland Clans and Highland Regiments."]
His Lordship married on the 7th of October, 1765, Lady Caroline Stanhope, eldest daughter of William, second Earl of Harrington, and by her - who died in London from consumption, from which she suffered for nearly two years, on the 9th of February, 1767, at the early age of twenty, ["Scots" Magazine" for 1767, p. 533.] and was buried at Kensington - he had issue, an only daughter, Lady Caroline, who was born in London on the 7th of July, 1766. She formed an irregular union with Lewis Malcolm Drummond, Count Melfort, a n.o.bleman of the Kingdom of France, originally of Scottish extraction, and died in 1547. She is buried under a flat stone inscribed with her name in the St Pancras (Old) Burial Ground, London.
Thus the line of George, second Earl of Seaforth, who died in 1633, became extinct; and the reader must therefore now accompany us back to Kenneth Mor, the third Earl, to pick up the chain of legitimate succession. It has been already shown that the lineal descent of the original line of Kintail was diverted from heirs male in the person of Anna, Countess of Balcarres, daughter of Colin, first Earl of Seaforth.
Kenneth Mor, the third Earl, had four sons - (1) Kenneth Og, his heir and successor, whose line terminated in Lady Caroline, as above; (2) John of a.s.synt, whose only son, Alexander, had an only son Kenneth, who died in 1723 without issue; (3) Hugh, who died young; and (4) Colonel Alexander, afterwards designated of a.s.synt and Conansbay, who, as his second wife, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Paterson, Bishop of Ross, and sister of John Paterson, Archbishop of Glasgow. Colonel Alexander had no issue by his first wife, but by the second he had an only son and six daughters. The daughters were (1) Isabella, who married Basil Hamilton of Baldoon, became the mother of Dunbar, fourth Earl of Selkirk, and died in 1725; (2) Frances, who married her cousin, Kenneth Mackenzie of a.s.synt, without issue; (3) Jane, who married Dr Mackenzie, a cadet of Coul, and died at New Tarbat, on the 18th of September, 1776; (4) Mary, who married Captain Dougall Stuart of Blairhall, a Lord of Session and Justiciary, and brother of the first Earl of Bute, with issue; (5) Elizabeth, who died unmarried at Kirkcudbright, on the 12th of March, 1796, aged 81; and (6) Maria, who married Nicholas Price of Saintfield, County Down, Ireland, with issue. She was maid of honour to Queen Caroline, and died in 1732. Colonel Alexander"s only son was,
Major William Mackenzie, who died on the 12th of March, 1770. He married Mary, daughter and co-heir of Matthew Humberston, Lincoln, with issue, two sons - (1) Thomas Frederick Mackenzie, Colonel of the 100th Regiment of foot, who a.s.sumed the name of Humberston in addition to his own on succeeding to his mother"s property; and (2) Francis Humberston Mackenzie. Both of Major William"s sons ultimately succeeded to the Seaforth estates. He had also four daughters - (1) Frances Cerjat, who married Sir Vicary Gibbs, M.P., his Majesty"s Attorney-General, with issue; (2) Maria Rebecca, who married Alexander Mackenzie of Breda, younger son of James Mackenzie, III. of Highfield, with issue, six sons - William, a Lieutenant in the 78th Highlanders, who died at Breda, in Holland, from a wound which he received on the previous day at the taking of Merxein, in 1814 Thomas, a Midshipman, R.N., drowned at sea; Frederick, R.N., murdered at Calcutta in 1820; Francis, R.N., drowned at sea in 1828; and Colin, all without issue; also Captain Alexander, of the 25th Regiment, subsequently Adjutant of the Ross-shire Militia, who married Lilias Dunbar, daughter of James Fowler of Raddery, with issue - James Evan Fowler, who died unmarried; Alexander, now residing at Fortrose, and three daughters who died unmarried; (3) Elizabeth, who died without issue; and (4) Helen, who married Major-General Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser of Inverallochy, fourth son of Colin Mackenzie, VI.
of Kilcoy, Colonel of the 78th Regiment, and M.P. for the County of Ross, with issue.
Major William died on the 12th of March, 1770, at Stafford, Lincolnshire.
His wife died on the 19th of February, 1813, at Hartley, Herts. His eldest son,
Colonel Thomas Frederick Mackenzie-Humberston, it will be seen, thus became male heir to his cousin, Earl Kenneth, who died, without male issue, in 1781. The Earl, finding his property heavily enc.u.mbered with debts from which he could not extricate himself, conveyed the estates to his cousin and heir male, Colonel Thomas, in 1779, on payment of L100,000. Earl Kenneth died, as already stated, in 1781, and was succeeded by his cousin,
XX. COLONEL THOMAS FREDERICK MACKENZIE-HUMBERSTON,
In all his estates, and in the command of the 78th Ross-shire Highland Regiment, but not in the t.i.tles and dignities, which terminated with his predecessor. When the 78th was raised, in 1778, Thomas Frederick Mackenzie-Humberston was a captain in the 1st Regiment of Dragoon Guards, but he gave this up and accepted a captaincy in Seaforth"s regiment of Ross-shire Highlanders.
He was afterwards quartered with the latter in Jersey, and took a prominent share in repelling the attack made on that island by the French. On the 2nd of September, 1780, he was appointed from the 78th as Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant of the 100th Foot.
In 1781 he embarked with this regiment to the East Indies, and was at Port Preya when the outward bound East India fleet under Commodore Johnston was attacked by the French. He happened at the time to be ash.o.r.e, but such was his ardour to share in the action that he swam to one of the ships engaged with the enemy. Immediately on his arrival in India he obtained a separate command on the Malabar Coast, but in its exercise he met with every possible discouragement from the Council of Bombay. This, however, only gave a man of his spirit greater opportunity of distinguishing himself, for, under all the disadvantages of having funds, stores, and reinforcements withheld from him, he undertook, with 1000 Europeans and 2500 Sepoys to wage an offensive war against Calicut. He was conscious of great personal resources, and harmony, confidence, and attachment on the part of his officers and men. He finally drove the enemy out of the country, defeated them in three different engagements, took the city of Calicut, and every other place of strength in the kingdom. He concluded a treaty with the King of Travancore, who was reinforced by a body of 1200 men. Tippoo then proceeded against him with an army of 30,000, more than one-third of them cavalry; Colonel Mackenzie-Humberston repelled their attack, and by a rapid march regained the Fort of Panami, which the enemy attempted to carry, but he defeated them with great loss. He served under General Matthews against Hyder Ali in 1782; but during the operations of that campaign, Matthews gave such proofs of incapacity and injustice, that Colonels Macleod and Humberston carried their complaints to the Council of Bombay, where they arrived on the 26th of February, 1783. The Council ordered General Matthews to be superseded, appointed Colonel Macleod to succeed him in command of the army, and desired Colonel Humberston to join him. They both sailed from Bombay on the 5th of April, 1783, in the "Ranger" sloop of war; but, notwithstanding that peace had been concluded with the Mahrattas, their ship was attacked on the 8th of that month by the Mahratta fleet, and after a desperate resistance of four hours, captured.
All the officers on board were either killed or wounded, among them the young and gallant Colonel Mackenzie-Humberston, who was shot through the body with a four pound ball, and he died of the wound at Geriah, on the 30th April, 1783, in the 28th year of his age. A fine monument is erected to his memory in Fortrose Cathedral.
He had only been Chief of the Clan for two years, and, dying unmarried, he was succeeded as head of the house and in the family estates by his next and only lawful brother, ["Douglas" Peerage."
He had a natural son, Captain Humberston Mackenzie, of the 78th, killed at the storming of Ahmadnugger, on the 8th of August, 1803.]
XXI. FRANCIS HUMBERSTON MACKENZIE,
Raised to the peerage of the United Kingdom as Lord Seaforth and Baron Mackenzie of Kintail, in 1797. This n.o.bleman was in many respects an able and remarkable man, was born in 1754, in full possession of all his faculties but a severe attack of scarlet fever, from which he suffered when about twelve years of age, deprived him of hearing and almost of speech. As he advanced in years he again nearly recovered the use of his tongue, but during the last two years of his life, grieving over the loss of his four promising sons, all of whom predeceased him, he became unable, or rather never made the attempt to articulate. In his youth he was intended to follow the naval profession, but his physical misfortunes made such a career impossible.
Little or nothing is known of the history of his early life. In 1784, and again in 1790, he was elected M.P. for the County of Ross.
In 1787, in the thirty-third year of his age, he offered to raise a regiment on his own estates for the King"s service, to be commanded by himself. In the same year the 74th, 75th, 76th, and 77th Regiments were raised, and the Government declined his patriotic offer, but agreed to accept his services in procuring recruits for the 74th and 75th. This did not satisify him, and he did not then come prominently to the front. On the 19th of May 1790, he renewed his offer, but the Government informed him that the strength of the army had been finally fixed at 77 Regiments, and his services were again declined. He was still anxious to be of service to his country, and when the war broke out in 1793, he for the third time renewed his offer, and placed his great influence at the service of the Crown. On this occasion a letter of service is granted in his favour, dated the 7th of March, 1793, empowering him, as Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant, to raise a Highland battalion, which, being the first embodied during the war, was to be numbered the 78th, the original Mackenzie regiment having had its number previously reduced to the 72d. The battalion was to consist of one company of grenadiers, one of light infantry, and eight battalion companies. The Mackenzie chief at once appointed as his Major his own brother-in-law, Alexander Mackenzie, at that time of Belmaduthy but afterwards of Inverallochy and Castle Fraser, fourth and younger son of Colin Mackenzie, VI. of Kilcoy, then a captain in the 73d Regiment, and a man who proved himself on all future occasions well fitted for the post. The following notice, headed by the Royal arms, was immediately posted throughout the counties of Ross and Cromarty, on the mainland, and in the Island of Lewis:
"SEAFORTH"S HIGHLANDERS to be forthwith raised for the defence of his Glorious Majesty, King George the Third, and the preservation of our happy const.i.tution in Church and State.
"All lads of true Highland blood willing to show their loyalty and spirit, may repair to Seaforth, or the Major, Alexander Mackenzie of Belmaduthy or the other commanding officers at headquarters at , where they will receive high bounties and soldier-like entertainment.