Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 4, 1896

THE CELTIC MONTHLY:
A MAGAZINE FOR HIGHLANDERS.
Edited by JOHN MACKAY, Glasgow.
No. 2 Vol. IV.]
NOVEMBER, 1895.
[Price Threepence.
GENERAL SIR JOHN ALEXANDER
EWART, K.C.B.
vvpi^ENElUL SIR JOHN EWART, the
f^lfitr' present Colonel of the Argyll and
\\^l Sutherland Highlanders, was liorn on
11th June, 1821, in H.M. 67th Regiment, of
which his father, the late Lieutenant-General
John Frederick Ewart, C.B., was at that time
the Lieutenant-Colonel. He was educated at
the Royal Military College of Sandhiu'st, and
in May, 1838, passed out at the head of the
Ust, obtaining at the same time the prize for
general merit and good conduct, and also a
special certificate signed by the Board oi
Examination.
General Sir George Murray, G.C.B., who
was then the Colonel of the 42ud Royal High
landers, applied for his appointment to that
regiment, but there being no vacancy, he was
on the 27th July, 1838, gazetted to an Ensigncy,
without purchase, in the S-'jth Royal Sussex
Regiment, the depot of which was stationed at
Stirling Castle, where he joined. In 1840 he
embarked for the Island of Mauritius, ser\ing
in that colony until 1843, and again from 1840
till 1848, in which year he became a Captain
and exchanged to the 93rd Sutherland High
landers. Whilst ui the 3.5th he for sometime
commanded the light company, and was for
several years captain of the cricket eleven.
On September 30th, 1848, he joined the
93rd Highlanders at Stirlmg Castle, the
regiment which had just returned from Canada,
being quartered at Stirling, Perth, and Dundee.
After remaining for foiu' years in Scotland it
was moved to England, and in February, 1854,
received sudden orders to embark for jNIalta,
together with three battalions of the Cuards
and several other regiments. War with Russia
ha\'ing been declared, it proceeded on tn
Turkey, landing at Gallipoli on 11th April,
1854, and at Varna on the 15th Jime, for the
purpose of assisting the Turks then besieged at
Silistria by the Russians : the latter, however,
on hearing of the arrival of the Bi'itish and
French troops, at once raised the siege and
retired. The invasion of the Crimea was then
decided on, and on the 7th September the
combined expedition sailed, a sight which will
never be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
The British infantry had been formed into
five divisions, the 1st, which was connnanded
by H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, consisting
of three battalions of Guards and the three
Highland regiments (42nd, 79th, and 93rd).
On the 14th September the landing of the
troops was effected .about eight miles south of
Eupatoria, and on the 19th the allies consisting
of 27,000 British, 23,000 French, and 8,000
Turks commenced their march towards
Sebastopol.
The Battle of Abna took place on the 20th
September, the Russians occupying a very
strong position on the heights beyond the river,
strengthened by two earth-works, both heavily
armed. The light division under Lieutenant-
General Sir George Brown, assisted by a
portion of the 2nd division, endeavoured to
storm the principal field-work, but were unfor-
tunately driven back by the heavy fire. The
Guards and Highlanders then advanced in
line, the former capturing the field-work and
the latter storming tlie heights to its right.
At 5 o'clock the fighting was all over and the
Russians in full retreat, the loss of the 93rd
being 1 officer (Ensign Abercromby) killed
and 52 non-commissioned officers and men
killed or wounded. In this battle Sir John
Ewart, who was at the time a captain, had the
scabbard of his claymore broken by a rifle ball.
He was subsequently present at the Battles of
Balaclava and lukerman, and throughout the
Siege of Sabastopol, accompanying the 93rd on
the expeilition to Kertch and Yenikale, and
being present with them at the two assaults
upon Sebastopol, made 18th Jime and Sth
September, 1855. The Highland regiments
were not present at Inkerman, being at that