Napoleonic Wars Veteran

[Melancholy Man]

I don't see a specific history board, and genealogists will be well placed to know graves in Caithness. I have been told that, somewhere, there is the gravestone of a man who fought Boney.

Does anyone recognize this?

[Angela]

My gggg grandfather, William Fraser, was in the 42nd (Royal Highland) Foot Regiment and served in the Napoleonic Wars. He collected his pension in Thurso after he was discharged from the army in 1816.

I don't know where he was buried, and I've no reason to think he's the man you're looking for, but I would think there must have been many more like him.:)

[Melancholy Man]

Gosh! Did he know Richard Sharpe? At least one of my ggg-grandfathers would have been of the right age to have fought (although, he didn't).

From what I remember, this grave is noteworthy in that it states the occupant was a veteran. But, honestly, could there have been many from Caithness who did fight? I'd hazard a guess that the population of the far north of the mainland, even pre-Clearances, wasn't barely over a dozen thousands. Only half of that would have been male, of whom much less still of fighting age. Finally, due to the relative isolation from the main recruiting grounds, it's narrowed down still further.

The Navy on the other hand, what an Orcadian being on with Billy Bligh's ship.

[Angela]

My man was born in Gairloch, so I can't claim that there was even one Caithness born man who did fight against Napoleon.;)

However he married a Caithness woman and he was a Chelsea 'out-pensioner' with an arrangement to collect his pension in Thurso. He was discharged from the 3rd Royal Veteran Battalion of the 42nd Foot, so I suppose he was indeed a 'veteran' -aged 33 when he was discharged.

If you look on the National Archives site (if you haven't already) you might find out more -that's where I found my William's records. :)

[Rhandy]

My 3 x great grandfather Captain Peter Innes was in the 79th Regiment of Foot, he fought Napoleon at Waterloo and was injured. To my knowledge and from his baptism ,he was born in Wick. He is buried at Old Wick Cemetery, bad sadly Fred's message to me says the stone is face down. Is this any help?

Cheers
Rhandy

[davie]

I had an ancestor (Caithness born & bred) in the 42nd Highlanders who served in the Napoleonic Wars and I know of at least two others from the same small area.
Many Highlanders (and Caithnessians) served and died with Wellington - remember at the time there was little future at home for the young men of Caithness & the North West. If the family was fortunate enough to have a croft or whatever that would invariably be taken over by the first-born son and those that came after were ready cannon fodder.

[htwood]

I also have an ancestor, Caithness born and bred, Donald Stewart, who served from 1796 to 1823 in the 72nd Regiment of Foot. When he was released from the army as "broken in body and spirit" at age 53, he was given "foot money" and walked from Chelsea back to Lybster. Then he started collecting his pension at Thurso, married an 18yr old, and had at least 13 children. Hardly broken LOL

[scottishrootsbarb]

It would seem that many highlanders fought in the Napoleonic War.
One such person was Donald Sutherland who is named on the Badbea Monument, the brother of John SUTHERLAND (known as John BADBEA) although family research has suggested that Donald Sutherland's name was actually WILLIAM. I cannot locate definite information for you at the moment but I do know there were others from Badbea who also fought in the Napoleonic war.
Barb from Canada :)

[Melancholy Man]

Coming to think about it, it was a bloomin' stupid thing to say. Where did all those Highlanders in Sharpe come from otherwise?


If the family was fortunate enough to have a croft or whatever that would invariably be taken over by the first-born son and those that came after were ready cannon fodder.

Positions as farm chiels would still have been there, or the new manufactories in the heaving metropolises. Whilst economic circumstances do play a part in men's decision to join, I'm always wary of portraying them as being utterly beholden to them and not capable of making their own decisions.

After all:


This book is cheerfully dedicated to those greatest and most heroic of all human endeavors, WAR and WARFARE; may they never cease to give us the pleasure, excitement and adrenal stimulation that we need, or provide us with the heroes, the presidents and the leaders, the monuments and museums which we erect to them in the name of PEACE.

[domino]

Findmypast , a genealogy program, appears to have quite a lot of stuff on the Napoleonic wars. Lots of Caithness names. The down side is, it is pay to view.