Date Thesis Awarded
4-2017
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
History
Advisor
Julie Richter
Committee Members
Paul Mapp
Giulia Pacini
Abstract
Although now among the most recognizable soldiers in the British Army, Scottish Highlanders were once regarded with suspicion and hostility. A number of clans revolted against the king in 1745-1746, and this act was punished severely with the proscription of Highland dress and weapons. Yet only one decade later, as the British government faced a critical shortage of troops in the French and Indian War, it decided to create two new Highland regiments and enlarge a third for service in North America. Men from formerly rebellious clans enlisted in droves, later showing themselves to be among the king’s best soldiers. They also sustained higher casualties than any other regiments largely because of English misconceptions about their actual abilities. Those who survived helped create some of the first emigrant Highland communities in North America and once again proved among the king's loyalist soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
Recommended Citation
Breton, Douglas, "“No Great Mischief if They Should Fall”: Scottish Highland Soldiers in the French and Indian War" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1071.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1071
