Twelve Years in the Army

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. John G. Gollan's memoir is the hard-earned testimony of an ordinary Highland soldier who grows from a boy dazzled by pibroch, recruiting parties, and military pageantry into a veteran shaped by war's grim realities. Born in Inverness, he longs to join the 79th Cameron Highlanders, works toward the required height, and finally enlists after years of longing, school, and close contact with garrison life near Fort-George and Edinburgh Castle. What follows is a vivid soldier's-eye chronicle of the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion. He recounts the voyage to the East, the landing in storm, cholera, and death, and the march to the Alma, where British, Highland, and French troops storm Russian positions at terrible cost. The siege of Sebastopol brings Balaclava, the "thin red line," Inkermann, winter starvation, disease, and fierce endurance. In India, the narrative turns to Allahabad, Cawnpore, and Lucknow, where rebel atrocities fuel the army's resolve under Sir Colin Campbell and other commanders. Through battle, suffering, and patriotism, Gollan honors the courage and sacrifice of the British soldier.