Like its forerunner the Old 78th Fraser Highlanders, which fought so well at Louisbourg
and Quebec under General Wolfe in 1759-1760, the 71st gained fame campaigning from
Brooklyn, NY, to Savannah, Georgia, and back north until October 1781. Then,
outnumbered three to one by 7,000 Frehch and 12,000 American troops near Yorktown,
Virgjnia, the British forces under Lord Cornwallis capitulated and were interned in
camps, albeit with their personal weapons for game hunting, These Highlanders suffered
severe hardships; "in less than 12 months they had marched and countermarched nearly
2,000 miles ...." With peace concluded in 1783, the 71st.
Regiment was soon disbanded
with honours at Perth, Scotland, but prisoners of war such as 'Big' Alex and likely
comrade Archie, awaited discharge there in mid-May 1784.<sup>iv</sup>
Returning to Inverness-shire, 'Big' Alex MacLeod soon wed Jessie MacPhee — a sister of
emigrant John ‘Gibraltar' MacPhee (1760-1847) who had fought at the siege of Gibraltar
in 1782. Archie returned to kin on north Mull, Argyllshire, and to court Catherine
McLean (c1768-c1790), probably of the nearby Torloisk clan branch.<sup>v</sup> They married at
Ballochvoy near Tobermory in December 1785, but daughter Ann McGilvray (sic) was
born at a nearby hamlet the following October 9th, and son, Donald, at Kilbeag in the fall
of 1788.<sup>vi</sup> A widower soon after, Archie likely re-visited the mainland to discuss
prospects in Canada with 'Big' Alex.

==== Emigration saga ====

In 1791, according to their denied petitions, for land and Loyalist status of April 1834,
Archie and 'Big' Alex, as veterans of America and fluent in English, were picked to
explore Glengarry's frontier for the MacLeod emigration that ultimately sailed with 12
MacLeod, five McGillivray and 19 other clan families.
The next year the two veterans sailed back to Scotland, rejoining the other emigration
leaders — Kenneth MacLeod (1745-1815) of Moyle, a tacksman of Glenelg parish, his
young son (later Captain) Alexander MacLeod (1769-1850); and 'Big' Norman MacLeod
(c1733-1794) of Glenelg's Sandaig, second cousin to Kenneth — to ready the expedition
for Sea. 'Big' Norman's naval experience doubtless helped in the planning and aboard
ship, but late in the long voyage he became ill and died shortly after reaching Glengarry.
His wife, Mary McRae (c1734-c1793), died before the departure. (See Highland maps).
Some 150 men, women and children set sail from Glenelg's port on 15 June 1793, aboard
a ship chartered by the co-leaders at Greenoch. Mid-way across the Atlantic a violent
storm so damaged the ship that it was forced to return to Greenoch. On August 2<sup>nd</sup> the
families were transferred to the brig Argyle of 145 tonnes. Barely four days at sea, the
//Argyle// lost her upper masts and sailing in a violent gale and was forced into Lamlash, Isle
of Arran, for repairs before finally making a stormy fall crossing of the Atlantic. (Built in
New Brunswick in 1789, it mounted two guns, but its crew of 12 may have been from
Greenoch.)
it is hard to grasp the hardships these would-be settlers endured over the next three
months at sea in a small vessel. Crammed below decks in rough, unheated spaces, fetid
from foul air, so that some nursing mothers, children, aged men and women succumbed
to the haydships and were buried at sea. Finally, braving a "severe snowstorm and
excessively cold weather off Prince Edward Island," the //Argyle// limped into
Charlottetown on November 2<sup>nd</sup> with a foot of ice encasing its deck.<sup>vii</sup>
In May 1794 most of the MacLeod contingent set sail again, although a few decided to
settle near Charlottetown. The 115 or so aboard schooner //Charlot// reached Quebec on
June 3<sup>rd</sup> and at Montreal transferred to bateaux, portaging past the St. Lawrence rapids