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Mackenzie found against Macleod 23 Aug. 1746. The brief for the crown against him is in the British Museum (Egerton MS. 2000, f. 67). At his trial, 20 Dec. 1746, Macleod pleaded guilty and threw himself on the king's mercy. He received a free pardon, dated 22 Jan. 1748, on condition that within six months of his attaining his majority he should convey to the crown all his rights and claims to the estates of the earls of Cromarty. This was duly done (, ii. cclxiii — Cromarty Writs, bundle 30, No. 16). Macleod's father, the Earl of Cromarty, had also been tried by his peers, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death and to a forfeiture of his estates, but the capital sentence was remitted on condition of his residing during the remainder of his life within the county of Devon.

Unwilling to be a burden on his family, Macleod left Devonshire privately in April 1749, and proceeded to Hamburg, and thence to Berlin, where he obtained letters of introduction from Marshal Keith [see ] to the court of Sweden. In a letter dated 16 June (old style), Macleod writes that in a few days he was to obtain a company in the Swedish regiment of Major-general Hamilton, in which he had apparently been serving as a volunteer; that Baron Hamilton, high chancellor of Sweden, his colonel's brother, was his firm friend [see, d. 1724] and that the king of Sweden had granted him a pension until better provided for (ib. i. cclxiii). On the recommendation of Lord George Murray, the Chevalier St. George, father of Prince Charles Edward, paid the cost of his equipment (ib.) In 1754 he appears to have been serving in Finland, as his Father describes him as frozen up there (ib. i. ccxliv). In April 1755 he was promoted to major in 'an old Swedish regiment' (Brit Mus. Addit. MS. 33055). He afterwards visited Denmark, to see the manoeuvres of the Danish troops. As a volunteer with the Prussian army and aide-de-camp to Marshal Keith, he made the campaign in Bohemia in 1757, and was present at the battle and siege of Prague (ib.) He left a narrative of this campaign, which is printed by Fraser.

When war broke out between Sweden and Prussia, Macleod, by the advice of Keith, went back to Sweden, and soon after obtained leave to visit England; application to enter the British service failed, it is said, through the misjudgment of his uncle, Sir John Gordon. Macleod went back to Sweden. In a letter of 30 Jan. 1762, his father states that Macleod had been made a knight of the Swedish order of the North Star, and expressed gratification at Macleod and his brother George having qualified as freeholders in Ross and Cromarty, and so obtained a footing again in the old country. Macleod rose to the rank of colonel (or by some accounts lieutenant-general) in the Swedish army, and received the title of Count Cromarty.

Returning to England in 1777, during the early part of the American war, Macleod was graciously received by George III, and, partly through the good offices of his cousin, Henry Dundas [see, first ], an offer made by him to raise a regiment of highlanders was accepted. His commission as colonel was dated 19 Dec. 1777. In a few weeks a fine body of 840 highlanders was got together, to which were added 236 lowlanders, raised by David (afterwards Sir David) Baird [q. v.] and other officers, and a few English and Irish. The regiment, 1,100 strong, marched to Elgin, and was passed for the service by General Skene in April 1778, and became the 73rd foot. Orders were at once issued for the formation of a second battalion. This was speedily completed, and from being an exile Macleod found himself at the head of a splendid corps of 2,200 of his countrymen, of whom 1,800 were from the neighbourhood in which his family once had its home. Stewart cites it as a remarkable example of the traditional influence of an old and respected name. Macleod embarked for India with the 1st battalion 73rd and other troops early in 1779. In accordance with instructions they occupied the island of Goree, which the French had abandoned for Senegal, and placed a garrison of the 75th and African corps there. They were delayed some months refitting at the Cape, and landed at Madras 20 Jan. 1780. Two days previously the 2nd battalion 73rd, under Macleod's brother George, landed at Gibraltar, as part of Admiral Rodney's relief, and bore a distinguished part in the subsequent defence. On 20 July 1780 tidings reached Madras of the irruption of Hyder Ali into the Carnatic. Three days later Macleod, as senior king's officer, urged on the president of the council the need of military reparations in the event of the rumours proving true. 'What can we do?' was the reply, 'we have no money,' 'but,' it was added, 'we mean to collect an army, and you are to command it.' Troops were then got together at Poonamallee, which Macleod was directed to march to Conjeveram. He remonstrated with the council as to the inadequacy of the force, saying, 'I have always observed that when you despise your enemy, he ends by giving you a d—d rap over the knuckles' (, Life of Baird, i. 17). The