History of the Frasers of Lovat

XIX. GENERAL SIMON FRASER. 499
when the order for embarkation at Greenock arrived, and he
being - still absent, they loudly expressed their extreme
sorrow. They said "they were Lochiel's men ; with him at
their head they were ready to go to any part of the world ;
they were certain some misfortune had happened or he
would have been with them " ; and it took all the persuasive
eloquence of General Fraser to explain the situation of
Lochiel to their satisfaction, and to convince them that they
could not more effectually serve him and show their attach-
ment and duty to their chief than by embarking along with
their comrades and countrymen. And this they consented
to do with the more cheerfulness as Captain Charles
Cameron of Fassifern, a leading and popular member of
their own clan, afterwards killed at Savannah in 1779, was
appointed to command them in the absence of their chief.
When Lochiel heard of the conduct of his clansmen, though
still unwell, he, forgetting the delicate state of his health,
hurried down to Scotland, and the fatigue of the journey
had such an effect upon him that he died a few weeks
afterwards, universally respected and lamented.
It appears that General Fraser addressed the men in a
rousing Gaelic speech. While speaking to them, an old
Highlander who had accompanied his son to Glasgow was
leaning on his staff, gazing at the General with intense
earnestness. When his chief had finished his address the
old man walked up to him, and "with that easy familiar
intercourse which in those days subsisted between the
Highlanders and their superiors," he shook him by the
hand, exclaiming in Gaelic, " Simon, you are a good soldier,
and speak like a man ; so long as you live Simon of Lovat
will never die," alluding to the General's address and
manner, which, it was said, much resembled that of his
father, Lord Lovat, whom the older generation of High-
landers knew and remembered well even then, twenty-nine
years after his death. Those who wish to follow the
regiment through the American War of Independence, in
the course of which it always took a distinguished part,
until the men were taken prisoners at Yorktown, on the