Statement Concerning Soldier Enlisted in Soirle Macdonald's Company, 1778

This written statement dated 21 July 1778 by William Waddell, Justice of the Peace at New York, certifies that Peter Johnston is 'duly enlisted as a private soldier in the company commanded by Soirle McDonald in His Majesty's Service under the command of Lt Col Sutherland'. Waddell concludes by affirming that the oath of fidelity was administered to Johnston who acknowledged that the appropriate sections of the 'Articles of War against Mutiny and Desertion' had been read out to him.<br /> <br /> Captain Soirle Macdonald emigrated to North Carolina from Skye in 1771 and settled in Anson County. He served as a Loyalist during the American War of Independence after which he settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He returned to Skye c1792 where he lived until he was over 90. He left a young widow who was still living at Feaul, Kilmuir in 1886, when she had reached the age of 100.<br /> <br /> The document is part of the JLM Mitchell Archive of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. Sheriff James Lachlan Martin Mitchell (b. 13 June 1929) was a native of Inverness and son of well-known doctor, Lachlan Mitchell. He was appointed full-time sheriff in Edinburgh in 1978 and served there until his retirement in 1995. He died on 26 November 2001 <br /> <br /> <br /> For further information about this item and the collection to which it belongs, please <a href="mailto: archives@highlifehighland.com">email</a> the Highland Archive Service