Sutherland and the Reay country

THE REGIMENTS. 237
Naturally some of the parents grumbled at the taking away
•of their sons, but the young men themselves never seem to
have questioned the right thus assumed by their chief over
their military services. The levy was made up to a con-
siderable extent of men who had served in the 3rd Sutherland
Fencibles, which had been disbanded about two years
previously, and many of the men, as well as the non-
commissioned officers, were the sons of highly respectable
farmers. The officers were mostly well known gentlemen
■connected with Sutherland and the adjacent counties. The
whole body of 600 men, without a single absentee, assembled
in Inverness in the Month of August, and during their stay
in the Highland capital they were so orderly and well
behaved that no place of confinement was required in
•connection with the regiment. In September it received its
number, and was entered in the Army List as the 93rd. In
this month it also embarked at Fort George for Guernsey,
where it was for the first time armed and fully equipped.
It remained in Guernsey till September 1802, and was then
ordered to Scotland to be reduced ; but in consequence of
the renewal of war with France, the order for reduction was
•countermanded, and instead of being disbanded, the regi-
ment was sent to Aberdeen. In February 1803 it was
removed to Ireland, and in August 1805, it embarked at
•Cork, for the Cape of Good Hope. It formed with the
71st and 72nd regiments, the Highland Brigade which was
under the command of Brigadier General Ferguson.
In landing at Table Bay the 93rd lost 35 men by the
upsetting of a boat in the surf. Its first engagement was in
the battle of Blue Mountains. This was a decisive victory,
for the enemy were completely routed with a loss of upwards