30 THE WAR ON THE BORDERS. [1763, June. 



cers who commanded under his orders in Pennsyl- 

 vania, Virginia, and Maryland. Colonel Henry 

 Bouquet was a Swiss, of the Canton of Berne, who 

 had followed the trade of war from boyhood. He 

 had served first the King of Sardinia, and after- 

 wards the republic of Holland ; and when the 

 French war began in 1755, he accepted the com- 

 mission of lieutenant-colonel, in a regiment newly 

 organized, under the direction of the Duke of Cum- 

 berland, expressly for American service. The 

 commissions were to be given to foreigners as well 

 as to Englishmen and provincials ; and the ranks 

 were to be filled chiefly from the German emi- 

 grants in Pennsylvania and other provinces.^ The 

 men and oflicers of this regiment, known as the 

 " Eoyal American," had now, for more than six 



1 " The next object of the immediate attention of Parliament in this 

 session was the raising of a new regiment of foot in North America, for 

 which purpose the sum of £81,178 16s. was voted. This regiment, which 

 was to consist of four battalions of 1000 men each, was intended to be 

 raised chiefly out of the Germans and Swiss, who, for many years past, 

 had annually transported themselves in great numbers to British plan- 

 tations in America, where waste lands had been assigned them upon the 

 frontiers of the provinces ; but, very injudiciously, no care had been 

 taken to intermix them with the English inhabitants of the place, so that 

 very few of them, even of those who have been born there, have yet 

 learned to speak or understand the English tongue. However, as they 

 were all zealous Protestants, and in general strong, hardy men, accus- 

 tomed to the cHmate, it was judged that a regiment of good and faithful 

 soldiers might be raised out of them, particularly proper to oppose tlie 

 French ; but to this end it was necessary to appoint some ofl&cers, espe- 

 cially subalterns, who understood military discipUne and could speak the 

 German language ; and as a sufficient number of such could not be found 

 among the English officers, it was necessary to bring over and grant com- 

 missions to several German and Swiss officers and engineers. But aa 

 this step, by the Act of Settlement, could not be taken without the au- 

 thority of Parliament, an act was now passed for enabling his Majesty to 

 grant commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants, who had 



