Towards the end of the year 1777 every effort was made by the British Ministry to encourage the country to raise troops voluntarily for the prosecution of the war then being waged between Great Britain and her American Colonies. Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, each raised a regiment of a thousand men at its own expense, and several independent companies were formed in Wales. In this manner 15,000 men were raised and presented to the State, of which upwards of two-thirds were obtained from Scotland, and principally from the Highland clans. [Sidenote: 1778.] At this time Lord McLeod, the eldest son of the Earl of Cromarty, whose title had been attainted and his estates forfeited for his participation in the Rebellion of 1745, returned to England from Sweden, having attained in its service the rank of Lieutenant-General. Being well received by His Majesty King George II, and finding his influence in the Highlands still considerable, although destitute of property, he offered his services to raise a regiment. The offer was accepted, and such was the respect entertained for his family and name, that in a short time 840 Highlanders were recruited and marched to Elgin. Here they were joined by 236 Lowlanders, raised by Captains the Honorable John Lindsay, David Baird, James Fowlis, and other officers, and by 34 English and Irish, who had been recruited in Glasgow. They amounted in all to 1,100 men, and were embodied at Elgin under the name of McLeod’s Highlanders in April 1778, where they were inspected by General Skene, and approved by him as an excellent hardy body of men, fitted for any service. Immediately after the completion of this battalion, letters of service were granted for the creation of a second battalion, which was raised in like manner, with nearly the same expedition and in equal numbers. There is no record extant to show the different nationalities of which this battalion was formed, but it is probable that its composition was very similar to that of the first battalion when raised. Thus in the course of a few months Lord McLeod from being an exile without fortune or British military rank, found himself at the head of upwards of 2,200 of his countrymen, of whom nearly 1,800 were from that district and neighbourhood in which his family had once possessed so much influence. Each battalion consisted of 50 sergeants, 50 corporals, 20 drummers and fifers, 2 pipers, and 1,000 privates, and was officered as under. _Colonel_, John Lord McLeod. FIRST BATTALION. _Lieut.-Colonel_, Duncan McPherson. _Majors._ John Elphinston. James Mackenzie. _Captains._ George Mackenzie. Alexander Gilchrist. John Shaw. Charles Dalrymple. Hugh Lamont. Hon. James Lindsay. David Baird. _Captain Lieutenant and Captain_, David Campbell. _Lieutenants._