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John Gollan offers his raw accounts not as a scholar, but as a humble Highland veteran whose health was shattered in service. Encouraged by surviving comrades, he writes to ensure the public understands the true price paid by those in uniform. Simple verses added throughout the record capture the quiet reflection that followed horrific battles.
PREFACE.
Parades through Inverness with dazzling boots, drawn swords, and traditional bagpipes filled young John Gollan with dreams of noble military glory. Rejections at Fort-George for lacking height only fueled his obsession until he reached standard and joined the 79th Cameron Highlanders in Edinburgh. Real soldiering quickly stripped away romantic delusions of gentlemanly leisure once camp life began.
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY—MY ENLISTMENT.
Direct military exercise at Chobham prepared the Cameron Highlanders for overseas deployment when Britain declared war against Russia in 1854. Disembarking at Scutari revealed Constantinople's grimy reality beneath its glittering distant mosques. Training at Varna alongside French and Turkish allies turned deadly when cholera devastated regiments before they ever sailed for the Crimean Peninsula.
CHAPTER II. WAR DECLARED AGAINST RUSSIA—PASSAGE TO TURKEY.
Troops disembarked at Kalamita Bay on September 14, 1854, carrying three days of rations while leaving their tents aboard ship. Heavy rain soaked officers and privates alike as they slept on bare Russian soil with knapsacks for pillows. Untreated cholera claimed dozens of men in the dark before the column even began marching toward the Alma River.
CHAPTER III. LANDING IN THE CRIMEA.
Burning villages and heavy artillery fire greeted the Allied line on September 20 as they advanced toward entrenched Russian positions above the Alma River. Sir Colin Campbell ordered the Highland Brigade forward, leading a fierce uphill surge that shattered the enemy's defense in under three hours. Returning to the field the next morning required digging mass graves for hundreds of fallen comrades.
CHAPTER IV. BATTLE OF THE ALMA.
Dragging heavy siege guns seven miles from Balaclava harbor to Sebastopol exhausted infantrymen unaccustomed to manual trench work. Russian cavalry attacked the supply port on October 25, forcing Sir Colin Campbell to form the 93rd Highlanders into a thin red line that repelled horsemen with controlled volleys. Lord Cardigan's subsequent cavalry charge achieved immense legendary renown despite heavy casualties and minor tactical gain.
CHAPTER V. HARDSHIPS BEFORE SEBASTOPOL—THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA.
Starvation, dysentery, and sub-zero temperatures decimated British camps while the bloody combat at Inkermann cost thousands of lives. A violent storm on November 14 destroyed tents and sank vital supply ships, leaving soldiers in threadbare uniforms to freeze on snow-covered rocks. Volunteer night raids past enemy sentries to steal Russian firewood provided rare moments of warmth and survival.
CHAPTER VI. HARDSHIPS BEFORE SEBASTOPOL—THE BATTLE OF INKERMANN.
Four days of intense bombardment culminated on September 8 when French troops seized the key Malakhoff redoubt, forcing Russian forces to abandon Sebastopol. Soldiers spent a second, far better-supplied winter in constructed wooden huts at Kamara while engaging in athletic games during armistice negotiations. Sir Colin Campbell delivered a poignant farewell to his Highland Brigade before troops embarked for Portsmouth.
CHAPTER VII. CAPTURE OF THE MALAKHOFF AND REDAN—FALL OF…
Queen Victoria inspected Crimean veterans at Aldershot, offering emotional praise that moved battle-hardened infantrymen to tears. Orders soon shifted the 79th Regiment to Dublin, where news of the 1857 Indian Mutiny triggered immediate mobilization under Sir Colin Campbell's leadership. Gollan embarked for India in July, trading Scottish homeward hopes for a long sea voyage to Calcutta.
CHAPTER VIII. ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND—REVIEW BY HER MAJESTY—EMBARK…
Transport by bullock carts brought troops past massacres at Banares and Allahabad toward the ruined garrison of Cawnpore. Exposed to blistering tropical heat and night dews, British forces fought brutal skirmishes while advancing toward Lucknow. Officers prepared ten thousand soldiers for a coordinated assault against entrenched rebel forces occupying the capital city of Oude.
CHAPTER VIIIa. OUR CAMPAIGN IN INDIA—MARCH TO CAWNPORE.
Summary trials and cannon executions marked the final suppression of rebel strongholds near the Nepaul border. Regimental duties shifted to garrison life at Meean-Meer, where soldiers observed local religious rituals involving sacred bulls and river idols. Deep physical exhaustion and the loss of trusted officers led Gollan to seek his final discharge after twelve years of active service.
CHAPTER IX. CONTINUATION OF INDIAN CAMPAIGN—THE REBELLION…
Homeward passage aboard the transport Cospatrick in March 1863 provided time to record shipboard life and evaluate military policy. Short-term recruits frequently received free soap, flannels, and tobacco while ten-year combat veterans were left with broken health and no provisions. Daily entries record severe rainstorms, onboard livestock, and deep reflections on fallen comrades who never made the return trip.
CHAPTER X. RETURN FROM INDIA—MY LOG-BOOK.
Simple rhymes honor the 79th Cameron Highlanders and Sutherland Highlanders during their engagements across Turkey, the Crimea, and India. Verses contrast the public enthusiasm during wartime with the cold neglect shown to time-expired soldiers returning home. Rhyming stanzas serve as a lasting pledge of brotherhood among men who stood together under fire.
POETRY.
A Scottish soldier recounts harrowing frontline combat in the Crimea and India alongside systemic neglect of military veterans.