XXXIII. A.D. 1745…

XXXIII. A.D. 1745

BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.

Plan of the march of the rebels into England--Composition of the Highland army--Highland mode of fighting--March of Prince Charles into England--Siege and capture of Carlisle--Dissension in the Prince’s council--Resignation of Lord George Murray--Proceedings of Marshal Wade--The Highland army marches south--Arrives at Manchester--The Manchester regiment--Rebels march to Derby--Consternation at London--Charles’s council resolve to retreat--Charles desires to proceed to London--Overruled--The Chevalier’s agents in France--French expedition under Lord John Drummond--His arrival and proceedings--Retreat of the Highland army to Scotland--Skirmish at Clifton--Recapture of Carlisle.

When Charles’s resolution to march into England was finally agreed to by his officers, the next thing to be determined was the route to be taken. After some deliberation the council advised the Prince to march straight to Berwick, of which town they thought he could easily make himself master, and thence to Newcastle and give battle to Marshal Wade, who had collected a force in the neighbourhood of that town. If victorious, the prince was to march to London by the east coast, so as to favour the disembarkation of any troops that France might send over destined to land on that coast. But this plan, though unanimously approved of, was overturned by Lord George Murray, who was of a very different opinion from the rest of the council. In presence of several of the principal officers of the army he represented the plan of a march along the east coast as an affair of great difficulty, and that its advantages, if it really had any, would be more than compensated by the loss of time it would occasion, which at the present juncture was very precious. He therefore proposed that the army should march into England by the western road, and that to conceal its route it should march in two columns, one by Kelso and the other column by Moffat, so that both columns could easily join near Carlisle, on a day to be appointed. Finding that Lord George’s arguments had prevailed with most of the officers, Charles agreed to his scheme, though he considered the route by Berwick as the better of the two.[988]

Preparatory to their march the insurgents removed their camp to a strong position to the west of Dalkeith, six miles south of Edinburgh, having that town on their left, the South Esk in front, the North Esk in their rear, with an opening on their right towards Polton. From this camp a detachment was sent with three pieces of cannon to secure the pass of the Forth above Stirling, lest Lord Loudon should march south with the independent companies he was forming, and attempt to force the passage.[989]

On the evening of Thursday the 31st of October, Prince Charles finally left Holyrood House accompanied by his life-guards, and several of the clan-regiments, amid the regrets of a vast concourse of spectators, most of whom were never to see him again. He slept that night at Pinkie House, and went next morning to Dalkeith, and took up his quarters in Dalkeith House, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch. On that day he was joined by the clan Pherson, under the command of their chief, Macpherson of Cluny, by Menzies of Shien and his men, and some small parties of Highlanders, amounting altogether to between 900 and 1,000 men.

At this period the state of the insurgent army was as follows. Of cavalry, the first troop of horse-guards, which was commanded by Lord Elcho, consisted of 62 gentlemen with their servants, under 5 officers. It amounted in all to 120. The second troop, which was commanded by the honourable Arthur Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Balmerino, was not complete, and did not exceed 40 horse. A small squadron, called the horse-grenadiers, was commanded by the Earl of Kilmarnock, with which were incorporated some Perthshire gentlemen, in absence of Lord Strathallan their commander, who had been appointed governor of Perth and commander of the Jacobite forces in Scotland during the stay of the Highland army in England. These last united, amounted to nearly 100. Lord Pitsligo was at the head of the Aberdeen and Banffshire gentlemen, who, with their servants, amounted to about 120; and besides those enumerated, there was a party of between 70 and 80 hussars, under the nominal command of Secretary Murray as colonel, but in reality under the direction of one Baggot, an Irish officer, who had lately arrived from France. The infantry, all of whom wore the Highland garb, consisted of thirteen battalions or regiments, six of which consisted of the clans, properly so called; of these six regiments, three were of the Macdonalds, and the other three were each composed of the Camerons, the Stewarts of Appin, and the Macphersons. Three regiments of Athole men, commonly called the Athole brigade, the regiments of the Duke of Perth, Lord Ogilvy, Glenbucket, and Roy Stewart, made up the thirteen regiments.[990] Of the infantry, which amounted to about 5,000 men, about 4,000 were real Highlanders. Thus the total amount of the army did not exceed 6,000 men.[991]

The clan-regiments, according to custom, were commanded by their respective chiefs; but in some instances, in the absence of the chief, the regiment of the clan was commanded by his son, and failing both, by the nearest kinsman of the chief. In these regiments every company had two captains, two lieutenants, and two ensigns, all of whom were generally related, by ties of blood, to the chief. The pay of a captain in the army was half-a-crown per diem; that of a lieutenant two shillings; and of an ensign one shilling and sixpence. The front rank of each clan-regiment was composed of persons who were considered gentlemen by birth, though without fortune or means. The pay of these was one shilling per diem. The gentlemen in the front rank were better armed than the men in the rear rank. All the former had targets, which many of the latter had not. When fully armed, as was generally the case, every gentleman of the front rank carried a musket and broadsword, with a pair of pistols and a dirk stuck in the belt which surrounded his body. In some rare instances another dagger was stuck within the garter of the right leg, to be used in cases of emergency. A target, formed of wood and leather thickly studded with nails, covered the left arm, and enabled the wearer to parry and protect himself from the shots or blows of an assailant.

Thus armed, the success of a Highland army depended more upon individual bravery than upon combined efforts, and their manner of fighting was, as the Chevalier Johnstone observes, adapted for brave but undisciplined troops. “They advance,” says that writer, “with rapidity, discharge their pieces when within musket length of the enemy, and then, throwing them down, draw their swords, and holding a dirk in their left hand with their target, they dart with fury on the enemy through the smoke of their fire. When within reach of the enemy’s bayonets, bending their left knee, they, by their attitude, cover their bodies with their targets that receive their thrusts of the bayonets, which they contrive to parry, while at the same time they raise their sword-arm, and strike their adversary. Having once got within the bayonets, and into the ranks of the enemy, the soldiers have no longer any means of defending themselves, the fate of the battle is decided in an instant, and the carnage follows; the Highlanders bringing down two men at a time, one with their dirk in the left hand, and another with the sword. The reason assigned by the Highlanders for their custom of throwing their muskets on the ground is not without its force. They say they embarrass them in their operations, even when slung behind them, and on gaining a battle they can pick them up along with the arms of their enemies; but if they should be beaten, they have no occasion for muskets. They themselves proved that bravery may supply the place of discipline at times, as discipline supplies the place of bravery. The attack is so terrible, that the best troops in Europe would with difficulty sustain the first shock of it; and if the swords of the Highlanders once come in contact with them, their defeat is inevitable.”[992]

In entering upon such a desperate enterprise as the invasion of England with the handful of men he had mustered, Charles certainly must have calculated on being supported by a large party in that country. Indeed, his chief reason for urging such a step was the numerous assurances he alleged he had received from his friends in that kingdom, that he would be joined by a very considerable body of the people; but there seems reason to believe, that, in his expectations of support, he was guided almost solely by the reports of his agents, and that he had very little communication with any of the parties on whose support he relied.[993] In a memoir[994] which the prince presented to the King of France on his return from Scotland, he states, that, if after the battle of Preston he had had 3,000 regular troops under his command, in addition to his other forces, he could have penetrated into England, and marched to London, without opposition, as none of the English troops which were on the continent had arrived; but the case was now widely different, and without a general rising, it was next to impossible to succeed in the face of a large regular army, which was assembling at different points, supported by a numerous militia.

Pursuant to the plan of Lord George Murray, the advanced guard of the first division of the army left Dalkeith on the evening of Friday the 1st of November, and took the road to Peebles. The main body, consisting of the Athole brigade, the Duke of Perth’s regiment, the regiments of Lord Ogilvy, Glenbucket, and Roy Stewart, and the greater part of the horse followed next day. The artillery and baggage were sent along with this column. This division was under the command of the Marquis of Tullibardine. The second division, which consisted of the life-guards and the clan regiments, headed by the prince in person, marched from Dalkeith on the 3d of November in the direction of Kelso. The guards formed the van, and the prince marched on foot at the head of the clans with his target over his shoulder. It was supposed that he would have mounted his horse after proceeding a mile or two; but, to the surprise of every person, he marched on foot the whole day, and continued the same practice during the whole of the expedition, wading through mud and snow, and it was with difficulty that he could be prevailed upon to get on horseback, even to cross a river. The example he thus set to his men, joined to the condescension and affability he displayed, endeared him to the army. Charles arrived at Lauder the same night, and took up his residence in Thirlstane castle, the seat of the Earl of Lauderdale.

After despatching part of his men by a middle course towards Selkirk and Hawick, the prince next day marched to Kelso. As Marshal Wade was supposed to be on his way north from Newcastle, Charles sent his life-guards across the Tweed, not so much for the purpose of reconnoitring, as for amusing the enemy. After advancing several miles on the road to Newcastle, they halted at a village, and made some inquiries as to quarters and accommodation for the army, which they stated was on its march to Newcastle. Charles even sent orders to Wooler, a town on the road to Newcastle, to provide quarters for his army. The design was to keep Wade in suspense, and draw off his attention from the movements of the Highland army upon Carlisle. While at Kelso, Charles sent a party of between 30 and 40 men across the Tweed, to proclaim his father upon English ground. Having performed the ceremony, they returned to Kelso.[995] The prince remained at Kelso till the 6th of November, on the morning of which day he crossed the Tweed. The river was scarcely fordable, but the men were in high spirits, and when up to the middle in the water, they expressed the ardour they felt by setting up a loud shout and discharging their pieces.[996] After crossing the river, the prince turned to the left, and marched towards Jedburgh, where he arrived in a few hours.

As his next route lay through a dreary waste of considerable extent, he halted at Jedburgh for the night, to refresh his men, and departed early next morning. Marching up Rule water, Charles led his men into Liddisdale over the Knot o’ the Gate, and after a fatiguing march of about twenty-five miles, arrived at Haggiehaugh upon Liddel water, where he slept. Charles marched down Liddel water on the following day, being Friday the 8th of November, and entered England in the evening. When crossing the border, the Highlanders drew their swords, and gave a hearty huzza; but a damp came over their spirits, on learning that Lochiel had cut his hand in the act of unsheathing his sword, an occurrence which the Highlanders superstitiously regarded as a bad omen.[997] Charles lay at Reddings in Cumberland that night. The division belonging to the prince’s column, consisting of horse, which had taken the middle route by Hawick and Langholm, reached Longtown the same day.

While the eastern division was thus moving in a circuitous direction to the appointed place of rendezvous near Carlisle, the western column, which started on the road to Peebles, was following a more direct route, by Moffat and down Annandale. This division entered England near Longtown. On the 9th of November, Charles marched with his division to Rowcliff, four miles below Carlisle, where he crossed the river Eden, and quartered his men in the villages on the west side of the city. In the afternoon, Charles was joined by the greater part of the other division, under the Marquis of Tullibardine. This march was judiciously planned, and was executed with such precision, that scarcely two hours elapsed between the arrival of the two main divisions at the appointed place of rendezvous. The march, according to the Chevalier Johnstone, resembled on a small scale that of Marshal Saxe, a few years before, when he advanced to lay siege to Maestricht.

The plan for deceiving Marshal Wade succeeded so well, that that commander, who had now an army of 11,000 men under him, had no idea that the Highland army was marching on Carlisle, and accordingly directed his whole attention to the protection of Newcastle. Such was the secrecy with which the motions of the army were conducted, that, with the exception of Charles and his principal officers, no person knew its real destination.[998] On arriving in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, desertion had diminished the prince’s army by some hundreds.

The city of Carlisle, the capital of Cumberland, had formerly been a place of great strength, and had, during the wars between England and Scotland, been considered one of the keys of England on the side of the latter; but since the union of the crowns, its fortifications had been allowed to fall into decay. It was surrounded by walls flanked with towers, and a fosse or ditch. The city was protected by a castle on the north-west, supposed to be as old as the time of William Rufus, and by a citadel on the south-east, erected in the reign of Henry the Eighth. The castle, on the present occasion, was well furnished with artillery, and was garrisoned by a company of invalids; but, like the city, its fortifications were not in good repair. To aid the inhabitants in defending the city, the whole militia of Cumberland and Westmoreland had been assembled within its walls.

When approaching the city on the 9th, a party of the prince’s horse advanced to Stanwix Bank, a small hill near Carlisle, to reconnoitre; but they were forced to retire by a few shots from the castle. The whole of the army having passed the Eden next day, Charles proceeded to invest the city on all sides. One of his parties, in marching round from the Irish to the English gate, was fired upon both from the castle and the town, but did not sustain any loss. Having completed the investment, the prince, about noon, sent a letter to the mayor of the city, requiring him to open its gates, and allow the army to enter in a peaceable manner; promising, in case of compliance, to protect the city from insult, but threatening an assault in the event of a refusal. The prince stated, that should an assault be made, he might not have it in his power to prevent the dreadful consequences which usually befall a city captured in that way. An answer was required within two hours, but none was given, and a discharge of cannon from the besieged announced their determination to hold out. In consequence of this reception, the trenches were opened at night, under the orders of the Duke of Perth, at the distance of eighty yards from the walls. Mr. Grant, an Irish officer, of Lally’s regiment, who had lately arrived from France, and who was an experienced engineer, ably availing himself of some ditches, approached close to the city without suffering from the fire of the besieged. The artillery consisted of six Swedish field pieces, which had been received from France, and of the pieces which had been taken at Preston.[999]

Having received intelligence that Marshal Wade was advancing from Newcastle to relieve Carlisle, and that he had already arrived at Hexham, Charles resolved to meet him on some of the hilly grounds between Newcastle and Carlisle. Leaving, therefore, a sufficient force to blockade Carlisle, he departed with the remainder of the army on the morning of the 11th, and reached Warwick castle about ten o’clock. He then despatched Colonel Ker with a party of horse, in the direction of Hexham, to reconnoitre, and ordered his men to take up their quarters for the night. Ker having ascertained that the news of Wade’s march was false, returned to Brampton, and made his report. After waiting two days at Brampton without hearing any thing of Wade, a council of war was held, at which several opinions were offered. One opinion, in which Charles concurred, was that the army should advance to Newcastle, and give battle to Wade. Some of the council thought that this would be a dangerous step; for even were they to defeat the marshal, his army might take refuge in Newcastle, which it was vain for them to think of taking, as, besides the strength of the place, the army had lost many men upon its march. Others were for returning to Scotland till joined by a greater body of their friends; but Lord George Murray opposed all these views, and proposed, that while one part of the party should besiege and blockade Carlisle, the other should remain at Brampton. The Duke of Perth seconded this opinion, and offered to undertake the charge of the battery, if Lord George would take the command of the blockade. The council having all agreed to Lord George’s proposal, six of the Lowland regiments were sent to blockade the town, besides the Duke of Perth’s, which was to be employed on the battery.[1000]

Whilst the main body of the army was at Brampton, the party left before the city occupied themselves in cutting down wood in Corby and Warwick parks, with which they made scaling-ladders, fascines, and carriages. On the 13th, about noon, the regiments appointed for the blockade and siege of the city re-appeared before it. Lord George Murray took up his quarters at Harbery, and posted his men in the villages around the city to stop all communication with it. The besieging party broke ground in the evening within musket-shot of the walls, about half-way between the English and Scotch gates.[1001] A constant firing was kept up from the city; but as these operations were carried on under cloud of night, the party in the trenches received no injury. Having completed their battery, the besiegers brought up their whole cannon, consisting of thirteen pieces, to play upon the town. Next morning the fire from the garrison was renewed, but with little effect, and the besiegers, instead of returning the fire, held up their bonnets on the end of their spades in derision.[1002]

Alarmed by the preparations of the Highlanders, and the state of affairs within the city, a meeting of the inhabitants was held, at which it was resolved to surrender the town. For seven days the garrison of the city, kept in constant alarm by the Highlanders, had scarcely enjoyed an hour’s continued repose; and while many of the men had, from illness, absolutely refused to assist any longer in the defence of the city, numbers were hourly leaving it clandestinely by slipping over the walls; so that in several cases the officers of some companies had not more than three or four men left. In this state of matters the only alternative was a surrender; and as a crisis appeared to be at hand, a white flag was exhibited from the walls, and a messenger despatched to the Duke of Perth to request terms. His Grace sent an express to Brampton to know the prince’s pleasure; but his Royal Highness refused to grant any terms to the city unless the castle surrendered at the same time. At the request of the mayor, a cessation of arms was granted till next day; but before the time expired, Colonel Durand, the commander of the castle, agreed to surrender the fortress along with the town. The conditions were, that the liberties and properties of the inhabitants, and all the privileges of the town, should be preserved inviolate;--that both garrisons, on taking an oath not to serve against the house of Stuart for one year, should be allowed to retire,--and that all the arms and ammunition in the castle and the city, and all the horses belonging to the militia, should be delivered up to the prince. This capitulation was signed by the Duke of Perth and Colonel Durand on the night of the 14th.[1003]

Next morning at ten o’clock the Duke of Perth entered the city at the head of his regiment, and was followed by the other regiments at one o’clock in the afternoon. The castle, however, was not given up till next morning. The Duke of Perth shook hands with the men of the garrison, told them they were brave fellows, and offered them a large bounty to enlist in the service of the prince.[1004] The mayor and his attendants went to Brampton, and delivered the keys of the city to the prince.[1005] The duke found 1,000 stand of arms in the castle, besides those of the militia. He also found 200 good horses in the city, and a large quantity of valuable effects in the castle, which had been lodged there by the gentry of the neighbourhood for safety.[1006]

On the day following the surrender, the Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed in the city with the usual formalities; and, to give greater eclat to the ceremony, the mayor and aldermen were compelled to attend with the sword and mace carried before them. Along with the manifestoes formerly noticed, another declaration for England, dated from Rome, 23d December, 1743, was also read, of much the same tenor as the others.

After the Chevalier had been proclaimed, and the different manifestoes read, the corporation went out to meet the prince, who entered the city under a general salute of artillery.[1007]

In many points of view the capture of Carlisle would have been of great importance to the prince, if he had been strong enough to have availed himself of the state of terror which that event, and his subsequent advance into the very heart of England, had thrown the people of that kingdom; but his means were soon found quite inadequate to accomplish his end. Even if his resources had been much greater than ever they were, it seems doubtful whether the jealousies and dissensions, which, at an early period, began to distract his councils, would not have rendered all his exertions, for obtaining the great object of his ambition, unavailable.

The origo mali, the source of the discord, and all the misfortunes, as the Jacobites would say, that flowed from it, are attributed by an individual[1008] who had good opportunities of judging, and whose narrative appears to be impartial, to “the unbounded ambition of Secretary Murray, who from the beginning aimed at nothing less than the whole direction and management of every thing. To this passion he sacrificed what chance there was of a restoration, though that was the foundation on which all his hopes were built. He had an opportunity of securing the prince’s favour long enough before he could be rivalled. He was almost the only personal acquaintance the prince found in Scotland. It was he that had engaged the prince to make this attempt upon so slight a foundation, and the wonderful success that had hitherto attended it was placed to his account. The Duke of Perth, whose character indeed was well known to the prince, judging of Murray’s heart by his own, entertained the highest opinion of his integrity, went readily into all his schemes, and confirmed the prince in the esteem he had already conceived for Murray. After Mr. Kelly was gone, there was only Sir Thomas Sheridan and Mr. Sullivan, of those that had come along with the prince that had any thing to say with him, and these Murray had gained entirely. Lord George Murray was the man the secretary dreaded most as a rival. Lord George’s birth, age, capacity, and experience, would naturally give him great advantage over the secretary; but the secretary had got the start of him, and was determined to stick at nothing to maintain his ground.

“He began by representing Lord George as a traitor to the prince. He assured him that he had joined on purpose to have an opportunity of delivering him up to the government. It was hardly possible to guard against this imposture. The prince had the highest opinion of his secretary’s integrity, and knew little of Lord George Murray, so the calumny had its full effect. Lord George soon came to know the suspicion the prince had of him, and was affected as one may easily enough imagine. To be sure, nothing could be more shocking to a man of honour, and one that was now for the third time venturing his life and fortune for the royal cause. The prince was partly undeceived by Lord George’s gallant behaviour at the battle [of Preston], and had Lord George improved that opportunity he might have perhaps gained the prince’s favour, and got the better of the secretary; but his haughty and overbearing manner prevented a thorough reconciliation, and seconded the malice and malicious insinuations of his rival. Lord George did not altogether neglect making his court. Upon some occasions he was very obsequious and respectful, but had not temper to go through with it. He now and then broke out into such violent sallies, as the prince could not digest, though the situation of his affairs forced him to bear with them.

“The secretary’s station and favour had attached to him such as were confident of success, and had nothing in view but making their fortunes. Nevertheless, Lord George had greater weight and influence in the council, and generally brought the majority over to his opinion, which so irritated the ambitious secretary, that he endeavoured all he could to give the prince a bad impression of the council itself, and engaged to lay it entirely aside. He had like to have prevailed at Carlisle, but the council was soon resumed, and continued ever after to be held upon extraordinary emergencies. It was not in this particular only that Murray’s ambition was detrimental to the prince’s affairs. Though he was more jealous of Lord George Murray than of any body, Lord George was not the only person he dreaded as a rival. There were abundance of gentlemen in the army, in no respect inferior to Mr. Murray, but his early favour gave him an opportunity of excluding most of them from the prince’s presence and acquaintance. All those gentlemen that joined the prince after Murray were made known under the character he thought fit to give of them, and all employments about the prince’s person, and many in the army, were of his nomination. These he filled with such as, he had reason to think, would never thwart his measures, but be content to be his tools and creatures without aspiring higher. Thus some places of the greatest trust and importance were given to little insignificant fellows, while there were abundance of gentlemen of figure and merit, that had no employment at all, and who might have been of great use had they been properly employed.”[1009]

Till the siege of Carlisle, Secretary Murray had been able to disguise his jealousy of Lord George Murray, who, from his high military attainments, had been able hitherto to rule the council; but, on that occasion, the secretary displayed his hostility openly, and Lord George thereupon resigned his command as one of the lieutenant-generals of the army. The circumstances which led to the resignation of Lord George were these. It appears that, before the blockading party left Brampton, he desired Charles to give him some idea of the terms his royal highness would accept of from Carlisle, not with the view of obtaining powers to conclude a capitulation, but merely to enable him to adjust the terms according to the prince’s intentions, and thereby save a great deal of time. Charles not being able to come to any resolution before Lord George’s departure, his lordship begged of him to send his instructions after him, that he might know how to conduct himself in the event of an offer of surrender by the city; but the secretary interposed, and told Lord George plainly, that he considered the terms of capitulation as a matter within his province, and with which Lord George had no right to interfere.[1010] Lord George has not communicated the answer he gave to Murray on this occasion. The part of the army destined for the blockade, though willing to take their turn along with the rest of the army, was averse to bear the whole burden of it. Their commander was aware of this feeling, and, in a letter written to his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, from his head-quarters at Harbery, on the 14th of November, proposed a plan which he thought would satisfy both parties. After alluding to the indefatigable exertions of the Duke of Perth, who had himself wrought in the trenches to encourage his men to erect the battery, and the great difficulties he had to encounter from the nature of the ground, Lord George requested the marquis to represent to the prince, that the men engaged on the blockade would not expose themselves either in trenches or in the open air within cannon shot, or even within musket shot of the town, but by turns with the rest of the army; and he proposed that it should be decided by lot who should mount guard the first night, second night, and so on. To carry the views of his men into effect, Lord George proposed the following plan, subject to the approval of a council of war, viz., that 50 men should be draughted out of each of the battalions that remained at Brampton, with proper officers, and at least two majors out of the six battalions; and that these should be sent to Butcherly, within a mile of the battery; and that as 150 men might be a sufficient guard for the battery, the six battalions would in this way furnish two guards, in addition to which, he proposed that two additional guards should he draughted, one from the Athole brigade, and the other from General Gordon’s and Lord Ogilvy’s regiments; and, by the time these four guards had served in rotation, he reckoned that the city would be taken, or the blockade removed. A council of war was held at Brampton upon this proposal, which came to the resolution, that as soon as the whole body forming the blockade had taken their turn as guards, the division of the army at Brampton should occupy its place, and form the blockade, but that no detachments should be sent from the different corps; nor did the council think it fair to order any such, as these corps had had all the fatigue and danger of the blockade of Edinburgh.[1011]

Such were the circumstances which preceded the resignation of Lord George Murray, who, in a letter to Prince Charles dated the 15th of November, threw up his commission, assigning as his reason the little weight which his advice, as a general officer, had with his royal highness. He, however, stated, that as he had ever had a firm attachment to the house of Stuart, “and in particular to the king,” he would serve as a volunteer, and that it was his design to be that night in the trenches. In a letter, which he wrote the same day to the Marquis of Tullibardine, he stated that he was constantly at a loss to know what was going on in the army, and that he was determined never again to act as an officer; but that as a volunteer, he would show that no man wished better to the cause, and that he would do all in his power to advance the service. At the request of the marquis, who informed Lord George that Charles wished to see him, Lord George waited upon the prince, who appears to have received him dryly. On being informed by Lord George, that he had attended in consequence of a message from the prince, Charles denied that he had required his attendance, and told him that he had nothing particular to say to him. His lordship then repeated his offer to serve as a volunteer. Charles told him he might do so, and here the conversation ended. In a conversation which took place afterwards, between Lord George and Sir Thomas Sheridan, the former entered into some details, to show that in his station, as lieutenant-general, he had had no authority, and that others had usurped the office of general, by using the name of the prince. He complained that, while he was employed in the drudgery, every thing of moment was done without his knowledge or advice. He concluded by observing, that he had ventured his all,--life, fortune, and family,--in short, every thing but his honour,--that, as to the last, he had some to lose, but none to gain, in the way things were managed, and that, therefore, he had resolved upon serving in a humble capacity.[1012]

There appears to be no foundation for the statement[1013] that Lord George resigned his commission from a dislike to serve under the Duke of Perth, whom he never mentions but with respect, although he was much inferior to Lord George in ability. He has also been accused of arrogance both to those of his own rank and even to the prince. But as Burton[1014] well remarks, “men of ability like Murray, unless they preserve a rigid restraint, are apt to let the contempt they feel for the silly people they are embarked with become unreasonably apparent, especially when they are interrupted in their plans by those who do not understand them.” The Duke of Perth, who was a Roman Catholic, on its being represented to him that it might injure the prince’s cause to have at the head of the army one of his persuasion, cheerfully resigned his commission. On this, Lord George, with whose valuable services the army could not dispense, was persuaded to assume his command. He thus became virtually general of the army, under the prince; for his brother, Tullibardine, who was in a bad state of health, took nothing upon him.[1015]

Although Marshal Wade must have been duly apprised of the arrival of the Highland army in England, yet it was not until he had received intelligence of their march to Brampton, and of their probable advance upon Newcastle, that he began to move. He set out from Newcastle on the 16th of November, the day after the surrender of Carlisle; but a deep snow, which had just fallen, so retarded his march, that his army did not reach Ovington till eight o’clock that night. Next day he advanced to Hexham, where the first column of his army arrived about four o’clock in the afternoon; but the rear did not get up till near midnight. The army, unable to proceed farther on account of the snow, encamped on a moor near the town, and the men were provided with a sufficient quantity of straw to repose upon by the inhabitants, who kindled large fires all over the ground to protect the troops from the cold, which was unusually severe. At Hexham, Wade was informed of the reduction of Carlisle. He remained there three days in the expectation of a thaw; but the road to Carlisle continuing impassable, he returned to Newcastle, which he reached on the 22d of November.[1016] The conduct of Marshal Wade, in delaying his march from Newcastle, has been justly censured, for there can be no doubt that had he made a movement in advance upon Carlisle about the time the insurgents marched to Brampton, that town would have been saved.

The sudden and unexpected success which had attended Charles’s arms in England, spread a general alarm through all the northern and western parts of that kingdom, and extended even to the capital itself. Such was the alternation of hope and fear in the minds of the people of all classes, that whilst the most trifling article of good news led them to indulge in the most extravagant manifestations of joy, the smallest reverse of fortune plunged them into the most abject distress. Sir Andrew Mitchell, alluding to this circumstance in a letter to President Forbes, says, that if he had not lived long enough in England to know the natural bravery of the people, he should have formed a very false opinion of them from their demeanour at the period in question.[1017]

As soon as the news of the surrender of Carlisle was known in London, the government resolved to assemble an army of 10,000 men in Staffordshire, under Sir John Ligonier, an officer of considerable military experience. For this purpose, Sir John left London on the 21st of November, taking along with him nine old battalions, two regiments of dragoons, and part of his own regiment of horse. In addition to this and the other army under Wade, a third army, to be placed under the immediate command of his majesty, was ordered to be raised, and encamped in the vicinity of London for its protection. The city and castle of Chester were put in a proper state of defence, and the town of Liverpool raised a regiment of 700 men, who were clothed and maintained at the expense of the inhabitants.

When mustered at Carlisle, the prince’s army amounted only to about 4,500 men.[1018] The idea of marching to London and overturning the government with such a force, in the face of three armies and a numerous militia, amounting in all to upwards of 60,000 men, could scarcely have been entertained by any adventurer, however sanguine his hopes may have been; but Charles was so full of his object, that he shut his eyes to the great difficulties of the enterprise, which he imagined would be surmounted by the tried valour of his troops, and the junction of a considerable party in England devoted to his cause.

To determine upon the course to be next pursued, Charles called a council of war a few days after the capture of Carlisle, in which different opinions were maintained. As there was no appearance of either an invasion from France, or an insurrection in England, some of the members proposed returning to Scotland, where a defensive war could be carried on till such time as the prince should be in a condition to resume offensive operations. Others were for remaining at Carlisle, and quartering the army in the neighbourhood till they saw whether there should be any indications of a rising in England. A third party proposed that they should march to Newcastle and engage Wade’s army. A fourth, that the army should continue its route to London by the west or Lancashire road, in support of which opinion they urged, that being now in possession of Carlisle, they had, at the worst, a safe retreat. This last proposal being quite in accordance with the prince’s own sentiments, he declared that his opinion of marching directly to London, in terms of the resolution entered into at Edinburgh, was in no respect altered since he entered England. Lord George Murray, who had hitherto remained silent, was then desired by the prince to give his opinion. His lordship entered at some length into the question; stated the advantages and disadvantages of each of the different opinions; and concluded, by observing, that for himself he could not venture to advise his royal highness to march far into England, without receiving more encouragement from the country than he had hitherto got; but he was persuaded, that if his royal highness was resolved to make a trial of what could be expected, and would march south, his army, though small, would follow him. After Lord George had done speaking, Charles immediately said he would venture the trial. In giving his opinion, Lord George says he spoke with the more caution, in consequence of the recent circumstances which had led to his resignation.[1019]

As a considerable number of men had been collected at Perth since the prince’s departure from Scotland, and more were on their way thither from the north, Charles, before leaving Carlisle for the south, sent Maclauchlan of Maclauchlan to Scotland with an order to Lord Strathallan, to march with all the forces under his command, and join the army in England; but this order was disregarded.

Whilst encamped at Duddingston, the Highlanders preferred sleeping in the open air, and had with difficulty been prevailed upon to use the tents which had been captured at Preston and those provided at Edinburgh. These tents were packed up for the campaign in England: but the party, to whose care they were intrusted, most unaccountably left the whole of them at Lockerby along with other baggage. The whole, consisting of thirty cart-loads, were captured by a party of country people, who carried them to Dumfries. After the surrender of Carlisle, Lochiel went with a party to reclaim the baggage, failing which, he was ordered to exact £2,000 from the town; but before he reached Dumfries he was recalled. The army, therefore, being now without tents, and the season very severe, it was resolved so to arrange the order of march as to get the men accommodated in the towns. For this purpose, it was determined that one part of the army should precede the other by a day’s march, the second division always occupying the quarters vacated by the first; but that, where the country would admit of it, there should be only half-a-day’s march betwixt them.[1020]

In accordance with this plan, the first division, commanded by Lord George Murray, left Carlisle on the 20th of November. It consisted, with the exception of the Duke of Perth’s regiment, which being appointed to guard the thirteen cannon and ammunition, was not included in either division, of the whole of the low country regiments,[1021] six in number, with the life-guards under Lord Elcho, who marched at the head of the division. Each of these regiments led the van in its turn. This division reached Penrith the same day, having performed a march of eighteen miles. The second division, consisting of the clan regiments and the remainder of the cavalry, headed by the prince in person, left Carlisle next day, and arrived at Penrith that night, and entered the quarters occupied by the first division, which marched the same day to Shap, where it passed the night.[1022] In the march of the prince’s division the cavalry always marched at its head, and each of the clan regiments led the van by turns, agreeably to the plan observed by the division under Lord George Murray. A garrison of about 200 men was left in Carlisle under the command of one Hamilton, who had been made deputy-governor under the Duke of Perth, on whom the governorship had been conferred.[1023]

On reaching Penrith, Charles, for the first time, heard of the march of Wade from Newcastle, and of his arrival at Hexham. Resolved to return to Carlisle and give battle to Wade, should he advance upon that city, Charles remained all the next day at Penrith, waiting for further intelligence of the marshal’s movements; but receiving information from Lord Kilmarnock, who still remained with his horse at Brampton, that the English general was on his way back to Newcastle, Charles marched to Kendal on the 23d. The van of the army, which had arrived at Kendal on the previous day, marched on the 23d to Lancaster, where it halted for the night. The prince resumed his march on the 25th, and reached Lancaster, on which day the first division went to Garstang. On the 26th the whole army reached Preston, where it halted till the 27th. Recollecting the fate of the Highland army at Preston in 1715, the Highlanders had become possessed of the idea that they would never get beyond that town; but Lord George Murray, on being informed of it, dispelled this superstitious dread by crossing the bridge over the Ribble, and quartering a considerable number of his men on the other side of that river.[1024]

During his progress to Preston, Charles received no marks of attachment from the inhabitants of the towns and country through which he passed; but at Preston his arrival was hailed with acclamations and the ringing of bells. With the exception, however, of Mr. Townley, a Catholic gentleman who had been in the French service, and two or three other gentlemen, no person of any note joined him. By dint of entreaty a few recruits were indeed raised; but it was not with such levies that Charles could expect to strengthen his army. At Preston Charles held a council of war, at which he repeated the assurances he alleged he had received from his English partisans, and gave fresh hopes of being joined by them on their arrival at Manchester. The Highland chiefs were prevailed upon to continue their march. Lord George Murray proposed to march with his column to Liverpool, and to join the other division at Macclesfield; but this proposal was overruled.[1025]

Accordingly, on the 28th, the Highland army left Preston and marched to Wigan,[1026] where they passed the night. Next day the whole army entered Manchester, amid the acclamations of the inhabitants, who illuminated their houses, and lighted up bonfires in the evening, to express their joy. The same evening one Dickson, a sergeant, enlisted by the Chevalier Johnstone, from the prisoners taken at Preston, presented 180 recruits whom he had raised in the course of the day in Manchester. This young Scotsman, whom the Chevalier represents to have been “as brave and intrepid as a lion,” disappointed at his own ill success in raising recruits at Preston, had requested permission from Johnstone, in whose company he was, to proceed to Manchester--a day’s march before the army--to make sure of some recruits before it should arrive there. The Chevalier reproved him sharply for entertaining so wild and extravagant a project, which would expose him to the danger of being taken and hanged, and ordered him back to his company; but Dickson, reckless of consequences, quitted Preston on the evening of the 28th, with his mistress and a drummer, and travelling all night, entered Manchester next morning, and immediately began to beat up for recruits for “The Yellow Haired Laddie.” Conceiving that the Highland army was at hand, the populace at first did not interrupt him; but when they ascertained that the army would not arrive till the evening, they surrounded him in a tumultuous manner, with the intention of taking him prisoner dead or alive. Dickson presented his blunderbuss, charged with slugs, threatened to blow out the brains of those who first dared to lay hands on himself or the two who accompanied him; and by turning round continually, facing in all directions, and behaving like a lion, he soon enlarged the circle which a crowd of people had formed around him. Having contrived for some time to manœuvre in this way, those of the inhabitants of Manchester, who were attached to the house of Stuart, took arms, and flew to the assistance of Dickson, to rescue him from the fury of the mob; so that he had soon 500 or 600 men to aid him, who dispersed the crowd in a very short time. Dickson now triumphed in his turn; and putting himself at the head of his followers, he proudly paraded undisturbed the whole day with his drummer, enlisting all who offered themselves. That evening, on presenting his recruits, it was found that the whole amount of his expenses did not exceed three guineas. This adventure gave rise to many a joke, at the expense of the town of Manchester, from the singular circumstance of its having been taken by a sergeant, a drummer, and a girl.[1027]

The van of the prince’s army, consisting of 100 horse, entered Manchester on the evening of the 28th of November, and, to magnify their numbers, ordered quarters to be prepared for 10,000 men. Another party of cavalry entered the town at ten o’clock next morning, and about two o’clock in the afternoon, Charles himself, accompanied by the main body, marched in on foot, surrounded by a select body of the clans. He wore on this occasion a light tartan plaid belted with a blue sash, a grey wig, and a blue velvet bonnet with silver lace, having a white rose in the centre of the top, by which latter badge he was distinguished from his general officers, who wore their cockades on one side.[1028] Here, as in all the other towns through which the Highlanders had passed, the Chevalier de St. George was proclaimed. The bells of the town were rung, and in the evening an illumination was made and bonfires lighted, by order of the prince, who also issued a proclamation requiring all persons, who had public money in their hands, to pay it into his treasury. The army halted a day at Manchester and beat up for recruits. They were joined by some young men of the most respectable families in the town, by several substantial tradesmen and farmers, and by upwards of 100 common men. These, with the recruits raised by Dickson, were formed into a corps called the Manchester regiment, the command of which was given to Mr. Townley, on whom the rank of Colonel was conferred. This regiment never exceeded 300 men, and were all the English who ever openly declared for the prince.[1029]

Though Charles’s reception at Manchester had been rather flattering, yet the countenance he received was not such as to encourage him to proceed, and a retreat now began to be talked of. One of Lord George Murray’s friends ventured to hint to him that he thought they had advanced far enough, as neither of the events they had anticipated, of an insurrection in England, or a landing from France, were likely to take place. Lord George, who, it is understood, had always a retreat in view, if not supported by a party in England or by succours from abroad, said that they might make a farther trial by going as far as Derby, but that if they did not receive greater encouragement than they had yet met with, he would propose a retreat to the prince.

Conceiving that it was the intention of Charles to march by Chester into Wales, the bridges over the Mersey, on the road to Chester, had been broken down by order of the authorities; but this precaution was quite unnecessary. After halting a day at Manchester the army proceeded to Macclesfield on the morning of the 1st of December, in two divisions. One took the road to Stockport, and the other that to Knottesford. The bridge near Stockport having been broken down, Charles crossed the river up to his middle in water. At Knottesford the other division crossed the river over temporary bridges, made chiefly out of poplar trees laid length-ways with planks across. The horse and artillery crossed at Chedle-ford. In the evening both divisions joined at Macclesfield, where they passed the night.[1030]

At Macclesfield Charles received intelligence that the army of Ligonier, of which the Duke of Cumberland had taken the chief command, was on its march, and was quartered at Lichfield, Coventry, Stafford, and Newcastle-under-Lyme. The prince resolved to march for Derby. To conceal their intentions from the enemy, Lord George Murray offered to go with a division of the army to Congleton, which lay on the direct road to Lichfield, by which movement he expected that the duke would collect his army in a body at Lichfield, and thereby leave the road to Derby open.[1031] This proposal having been agreed to, Lord George went next day with his division to Congleton, whence he despatched Colonel Ker at night with a party towards Newcastle-under-Lyme, whither the Duke of Kingston had retired with his horse, on the approach of the Highlanders, to get intelligence of the enemy. Ker came to a village within three miles of Newcastle, and had almost surprised a party of dragoons, and succeeded in seizing one Weir, a noted spy, who had been at Edinburgh all the time the prince was there, and who had kept hovering about the army during its march to give intelligence of its motions.[1032] The main body of the royal army, which was posted at Newcastle-under-Lyme, on hearing of the march of the division of the Highland army upon Congleton, retreated towards Lichfield, and other bodies that were beyond Newcastle advanced for the purpose of concentrating near that town, by which movements the design of Lord George Murray was completely answered. Having thus succeeded in deceiving the duke, Lord George Murray, after passing the night at Congleton, went off early next morning with his division, and turning to the left, passed through Leek, and arrived at Ashbourne in the evening. Charles, who had halted a day at Macclesfield, took the road to Derby by Gawsworth, and entered Leek shortly after the other division had left it. He would have remained there till next morning; but as he considered it unsafe to keep his army divided at such a short distance from the royal forces, who might fall upon either division, he set out from Leek about midnight, and joined the other column at Ashbourne early in the morning.[1033] The Duke of Devonshire, who had been posted in the town of Derby, with a body of 700 militia, on hearing of the approach of the Highland army had retired from the town on the preceding evening.[1034]

On the 4th of December Charles put the first division of his army in motion, and at eleven o’clock in the forenoon his van-guard, consisting of thirty horse, entered Derby and ordered quarters for 9,000 men. About three o’clock in the afternoon Lord Elcho arrived with the life-guards and some of the principal officers on horseback. These were followed, in the course of the evening, by the main body, which entered in detached parties to make the army appear as numerous as represented. Charles himself did not arrive till the dusk of the evening; he entered the town on foot, and took up his quarters in a house belonging to the Earl of Exeter. During the day the bells were rung, and bonfires were lighted at night. The magistrates were ordered to attend in the market-place, in their gowns, to hear the usual proclamations read; but having stated that they had sent their gowns out of town, their attendance was dispensed with, and the proclamations were made by the common crier.[1035]

The fate of the empire and his own destiny may be said to have now depended upon the next resolution which Charles was to take. He had, after a most triumphant career, approached within 127 miles of London, and there seemed to be only another step necessary to complete the chivalrous character of his adventure, and to bring his enterprise to a successful termination. This was, to have instantly adopted the bold and decisive measure of marching upon and endeavouring to seize the capital. The possession of the metropolis, where Charles had a considerable party, would have at once paralysed the government; and the English Jacobites, no longer afraid of openly committing themselves, would have rallied round his standard. The consternation which prevailed in London when the news of the arrival of the Highland army at Derby reached that capital, precludes the idea that any effectual resistance would have been offered on the part of the citizens; and it was the general opinion, that if Charles had succeeded in beating the Duke of Cumberland, the army which had assembled on Finchley Common would have dispersed of its own accord.[1036] Alluding, in a number of the True Patriot, to the dismay which pervaded the minds of the citizens of London, Fielding says, that when the Highlanders, by “a most incredible march,” got between the Duke of Cumberland’s army and the metropolis, they struck a terror into it, “scarce to be credited.” The Chevalier Johnstone, who collected information on the spot shortly after the battle of Culloden, says, that when the intelligence of the capture of Derby reached London, many of the inhabitants fled to the country, carrying along with them their most valuable effects, and that all the shops were shut,--that there was a prodigious run upon the bank, which only escaped bankruptcy by a stratagem,--that although payment was not refused, the bank, in fact, retained its specie, by keeping it continually surrounded by agents of its own with notes, who, to gain time, were paid in sixpences; and as a regulation had been made, that the persons who came first should be entitled to priority of payment; and as the agents went out by one door with the specie they had received, and brought it back by another, the bona fide holders of notes could never get near enough to present them;--that King George had ordered his yachts--on board of which he had put all his most precious effects--to remain at the Tower stairs in readiness to sail at a moment’s warning,--and that the Duke of Newcastle, secretary of state for the war department, had shut himself up in his house a whole day,[1037] deliberating with himself upon the part it would be most prudent for him to take, doubtful even whether he should not immediately declare for the prince.[1038]

The only obstacle to Charles’s march upon the capital was the army of the Duke of Cumberland, which was within a day’s march of Derby. From the relative position of the two armies, the Highlanders might, with their accustomed rapidity, have outstripped the duke’s army, and reached the capital at least one day before it; but to Charles it seemed unwise to leave such an army, almost double his own in point of numbers, in his rear, whilst that of Wade’s would advance upon his left flank. Of the result of an encounter with Cumberland, Charles entertained the most sanguine hopes. His army was small, when compared to that of his antagonist; but the paucity of its numbers was fully compensated by the personal bravery of its component parts, and the enthusiastic ardour which pervaded the bosom of every clansman. At no former stage of the campaign were the Highlanders in better spirits than on their arrival at Derby. They are represented by the Chevalier Johnstone as animated to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, breathing nothing but a desire for the combat; and were to be seen during the whole day waiting in crowds before the shops of the cutlers to get their broadswords sharpened, and even quarrelling with one another for priority in whetting those fearful weapons.[1039] It was not without reason, therefore, that Charles calculated upon defeating Cumberland; and although there was a possibility that that bold and daring adventurer or his army, and perhaps both, might perish in the attempt to seize the capital, yet the importance of the juncture, and the probability that such a favourable opportunity of accomplishing his object might never again occur, seem to justify Charles in his design of advancing immediately upon London. However, whatever might have been the result of the advance of the rebel army, other counsels prevailed, and Charles reluctantly yielded to the entreaties of his friends, who advised a retreat.[1040]

On the morning after the arrival of the Highland army at Derby, Charles held a council of war to deliberate upon the course to be pursued. The prince, who never for a moment entertained the least idea of a retreat, and who considered his own personal safety a minor consideration, urged every argument in his power for an immediate advance, with all the vehemence and ardour characteristic of an enterprising and fanatic mind. He said that he did not doubt, that, as his cause was just, it would prevail,--that he could not think of retreating after coming so far,--and that he was hopeful there would be a defection in the enemy’s army, and that some of their troops would join him. Lord George Murray, however, proposed a retreat, and used a variety of arguments, which appeared to him unanswerable, in support of that measure. He represented to his royal highness and the council, that they had advanced into England depending upon French succours, or an insurrection in that kingdom, and that they had been disappointed in both,--that the prince’s army, by itself, was by no means a match for the troops which the government had assembled,--that besides the Duke of Cumberland’s army, which was between 7,000 and 8,000 men strong, and which was expected that night at Stafford, Marshal Wade was coming up by hard marches by the east road with an army of 10,000 men, and that he was already at Ferrybridge, which was within two or three days’ march of the Highland army,--that in addition to these two armies, there was a third at least equal to either of them already forming in the neighbourhood of London, consisting of guards and horse, with troops which the government would bring from the coast, where they were quartered; so that there would be three armies of regular troops, amounting together to about 30,000 men, which would surround the Highland army, which was not above a sixth of that number. That, admitting that the prince should beat Cumberland or Wade, he might, should he lose 1,000 or 1,500 of the best of his men, be undone by such a victory, as the rest would be altogether unfit to engage a fresh army, which he must expect to encounter,--that, on the other hand, should the prince be defeated, it could not be supposed that he or any of his men could escape, as the militia, who had not hitherto appeared much against the Highland army, would, upon its defeat, possess themselves of all the roads, and the enemy’s horse would surround them on all sides,--that as Lord John Drummond had lately landed in Scotland with his own regiment and some Irish troops from France, the prince would have a better chance of success by returning to Scotland,--that the forces under Lord John Drummond and the Highlanders assembled at Perth, would, when united, form an army almost as numerous as that under the prince,--that since the court of France had begun to send troops, it was to be hoped it would send considerable succours, and as the first had landed in Scotland, it was probable the rest would follow the same route,--that if the prince was cut off, all the succours France could send would avail nothing, and “the king’s” affairs would be ruined for ever,--that the prince had no chance of beating in succession the armies opposed to him, unless the English troops should be seized with a panic, and run away at the sight of the Highlanders, a circumstance barely possible, but not to be depended upon,--that the whole world would blame the prince’s counsellors as rash and foolish, for venturing an attempt which could not succeed,--and that the prince’s person, should he escape being killed in battle, would fall into the enemy’s hands. In fine, that nothing short of an absolute certainty of success could justify such a rash undertaking, but that retreat, which was still practicable, and of which Lord George offered to undertake the conduct, would give the prince a much better chance of succeeding than a battle under such circumstances, and would do him as much honour as a victory.[1041]

Charles still persevered in his resolution, and insisted on giving battle next morning to the Duke of Cumberland, and advancing to London; but the chiefs of the clans unanimously supported the views of Lord George Murray, and represented to his royal highness, that although they had no doubt the Highlanders could easily beat the army of the Duke of Cumberland, though greatly superior in point of numbers, yet such a victory could not be obtained without loss; and that an army of 4,500 men opposed to the whole force of England, could not admit of the smallest diminution, especially as they would soon have to fight another battle before entering London with the army on Finchley Common. But supposing that by some extraordinary occurrence they should arrive at the capital without losing a man, what a figure would such a small body of men make amidst its immense population? They added, that the prince ought now to perceive clearly how little he had to expect from his English partisans, since, after traversing all the counties reputed as to have been most attached to his family, not a single person of distinction had declared for him.[1042] With the exception of the Duke of Perth, who, from deference to the prince, concurred in his opinion, all the persons present were for a retreat; the duke himself at last also declaring for that measure.[1043]

Finding his council resolved upon a retreat, Charles proposed marching into Wales instead of returning to Carlisle; but this proposal was also opposed by all present. His royal highness at last reluctantly yielded to the opinion of his council. In conducting the retreat, Lord George Murray offered to remain always in the rear himself, and proposed that each regiment should take it by turns till the army reached Carlisle; and that it should march in such order, that if Lord George was attacked he might be supported as occasion required, and without stopping the army unless assailed by a great body of the enemy. He also stipulated that the cannon and carriages, with the ammunition, should be placed in the van, and that he should not be troubled with the charge of them.[1044]

To prevent any unpleasant feeling on the part of the army on account of the retreat, and to conceal the intelligence of their movements as long as possible from the enemy, the council agreed to keep the resolution to retreat secret; but it was divulged to Sir John Macdonald, an Irish gentleman, and an officer in the French service, who had come over with the prince. In the course of the afternoon, Lord George Murray, Keppoch, and Lochiel, while walking together, were accosted by this gentleman, who had just dined heartily, and made free with his bottle, and were rallied by him a good deal about the retreat. “What!” addressing Keppoch, “a Macdonald turn his back!” and turning to Lochiel, he continued, “For shame! A Cameron run away from the enemy! Go forward, and I’ll lead you.” The two chiefs and Lord George endeavoured to persuade Sir John that he was labouring under a mistake; but he insisted that he was right, as he had received certain information of the retreat.[1045]

Disappointed at the result of the deliberations of the council, Charles was exceedingly dejected. To raise his spirits, or to ingratiate themselves with him, some of the council, and particularly Sir Thomas Sheridan and Secretary Murray, though they had approved highly of the motion to retreat in the council, now very inconsistently blamed it. They were, however, aware that the retreat would, notwithstanding their opposition, be put in execution, and to excuse themselves for agreeing to it, they alleged that they did so, because they knew the army would never fight well when the officers were opposed to its wishes. The prince was easily persuaded that he had consented too readily to a retreat, but he would not retract the consent he had given unless he could bring over those to whom he had given it to his own sentiments, which he hoped he might be able to do. With this view he called another meeting of the council in the evening, and in the meantime sent for the Marquis of Tullibardine, who had been absent from the meeting in the morning, to ask his opinion. The marquis finding the prince bent upon advancing, declared himself against a retreat; but after hearing the arguments of the advocates of that measure at the meeting in the evening, the marquis retracted his opinion, and declared himself fully satisfied of its necessity. Having been informed of the conduct of those who had tampered with the prince, the rest of the officers told him at meeting, that they valued their lives as little as brave men ought to do, and if he was resolved to march forward, they would do their duty to the last; but they requested, for their own satisfaction, that those persons who had advised his royal highness to advance, would give their opinion in writing. This proposal put an end to farther discussion, and Charles, finding the members of council inflexible in their opinion, gave way to the general sentiments.[1046]

Hitherto the French court had not come under any written engagement to support the enterprise of Charles; but after the news of the capture of Edinburgh reached France, a treaty was entered into with the French crown. By this treaty, which was signed at Fontainebleau, on the 24th of October, by the Marquis D’Argenson, on the part of the French king, and by Colonel O’Bryen, on the part of Prince Charles, as regent of Scotland, the French king among other things agreed to furnish the prince with a body of troops to be taken from the Irish regiments in the service of France, along with other troops, to serve under his royal highness, to defend the provinces.

Lord John Drummond, who commanded a regiment in the French service, known by the name of Royal Scots, was appointed to the command of the troops destined for Scotland. Preparations were immediately made to fit out the expedition, and Lord John received written instructions, dated from Fontainebleau, October 28th, and signed by the French king, requiring him to repair immediately to Ostend, to superintend the embarkation of the troops. By these instructions, Lord John was directed to disembark the troops if possible upon the coast between Edinburgh and Berwick, and as soon as he had landed to give notice of his arrival to Prince Charles, and that the succours which he had brought were entirely at the disposal of the orders of the prince, to which Lord John himself was directed to conform, either by joining his army, or acting separately, according to the views of Charles. Lord John was also instructed to notify his arrival to the commander of the Dutch troops lately arrived in England, and to intimate to him to abstain from hostilities, agreeably to the capitulations of Tournay and Dendermonde. He was required to ask a prompt and categorical answer as to how he meant to act without sending to the Hague, as the states-general had declared to the Abbé de la Ville, that they had given positive orders to the commanders of these troops not to infringe the said capitulations; and if, notwithstanding such notification, the Dutch troops should commit acts of hostility against those of the King of France, his lordship was ordered to confine closely such Dutch prisoners he might make, and to listen to no terms which would recognise a violation of the capitulations, or dispense the King of France from enforcing the engagement that had been entered into with the Dutch, as to the exchange of prisoners of war.[1047]

Lord John Drummond accordingly proceeded to the coast, and having completed the embarkation of the troops, he set sail from Dunkirk about the middle of November, carrying along with him his own regiment, a select detachment from each of the six Irish regiments in the service of France, and Fitz-James’s regiment of horse, so called from the Duke of Berwick, natural son of James the Second, who had been their colonel. Along with these troops were embarked a train of artillery and a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition. The forces embarked amounted to about 1,000 men, but they did not all reach their destination, as some of the transports were taken by English cruisers, and others were obliged to return to Dunkirk.

From Montrose, where he arrived about the end of November, Lord John despatched part of his forces to Aberdeen to aid Lord Lewis Gordon, and proceeded with the rest to Perth, where he established his head-quarters. In terms of his instructions, he sent a messenger to England with a letter to Count Nassau, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch auxiliaries, notifying his arrival, and requiring him to observe a neutrality. He also carried letters to the commanders of the royal forces. The bearer of these despatches, having obtained an escort of eight dragoons at Stirling, proceeded to Edinburgh, and having delivered a letter to General Guest, the commander of the castle, went on to Newcastle, and delivered letters to the Count and Marshal Wade. The Marshal, however, refused to receive any message “from a person who was a subject of the king, and in rebellion against his majesty.” At the same time his lordship sent another messenger with a letter to Lord Fortrose, announcing his arrival, and urging him to declare for the prince as the only mode he had of retrieving his character. To induce him to join, Lord John informed his lordship that the prince had entered Wales, where he had about 10,000 friends, and that “his royal highness, the Duke of York,” accompanied by Lord Marischal, would immediately join him at the head of 10,000 men.[1048]

Apprehensive that Lord John would cross the Forth above Stirling, two regiments of foot, and Hamilton’s and Gardiner’s dragoons, which had arrived at Edinburgh from Berwick, on the 14th of November, began their march to Stirling, on the 7th of December, to guard the passages of the Forth, and were joined at Stirling by the Glasgow regiment of 600 men, commanded by the Earl of Home. Lord John Drummond, however, it appears, had no intention of crossing the Forth at this time.

Almost simultaneously with Lord John Drummond’s expedition, the French ministers appear to have contemplated a descent upon England under Lord Marischal, preparatory to which, Prince Henry repaired, by invitation, to Paris. Twelve thousand men were to have been employed upon this expedition; but the retreat of Charles from Derby, and the difficulty of transporting such a large force to England, seem to have prevented its execution.

On arriving at Derby, Charles had sent forward a party on the road to London to take possession of Swarkstone bridge, about six miles from Derby. Orders had been given to break down this bridge, but before these orders could be put in execution, the Highlanders had possessed themselves of it. The Duke of Cumberland, who, before this movement, had left Stafford with the main body of his army for Stone, returned to the former place, on the 4th of December, on learning that the Highland army was at Derby. Apprehending that it was the intention of Charles to march to London, he resolved to retire towards Northampton, in order to intercept him; but finding that the young Chevalier remained at Derby, his royal highness halted, and encamped on Meriden Common in the neighbourhood of Coventry.[1049]

Agreeably to a resolution which had been entered into the previous evening, the Highland army began its retreat early on the morning of the 6th of December, before daybreak. Scarcely any of the officers, with the exception of those of the council, were aware of the resolution, and all the common men were entirely ignorant of the step they were about to take. To have communicated such a resolution to the army all at once, would, in its present disposition, have produced a mutiny. To keep the army in suspense as to its destination, a quantity of powder and ball was distributed among the men, as if they were going into action, and by some it was insinuated that Wade was at hand, and that they were going to fight him; whilst by others it was said that the Duke of Cumberland’s army was the object of their attack.[1050] At the idea of meeting the enemy, the Highlanders displayed the greatest cheerfulness; but as soon as they could discriminate by daylight the objects around them, and could discover by an examination of the road, that they were retracing their steps, nothing was to be heard throughout the whole army, but expressions of rage and lamentation. Had it sustained a defeat, the grief of the army could not have been more acute. Even some of those who were in the secret of the retreat, and thought it the only reasonable scheme that could be adopted, could scarcely be reconciled to it when about to be carried into effect.[1051]

Charles himself partook deeply of the distress of his men. Overcome by the intensity of his feelings, he was unable for a time to proceed with the army, and it was not until his men had been several hours on their march that he left Derby. Forced in spite of himself to give a reluctant assent to a measure, which, whilst it rendered useless all the advantages he had obtained, rendered his chance of gaining the great stake he was contending for extremely problematical; his spirits sunk within him, and an air of melancholy marked his exterior. In marching forwards, he had always been first up in the morning, put his men in motion before break of day, and had generally walked on foot; but in the retreat, his conduct was totally changed. Instead of taking the lead, he allowed the army to start long before he left his quarters, kept the rear always behind waiting for him, and when he came out, mounted his horse, and rode straight forward to his next quarters with the van.[1052]

After the first burst of indignation had in some degree subsided, and when the men began to speculate upon the reasons which could have induced the retreat, a statement was given out that the reinforcements expected from Scotland were on the road, and had already entered England,--that Wade was endeavouring to intercept them,--that the object of the retrograde movement was to effect a junction with them,--and that as soon as these reinforcements had joined the army, the march to London would be resumed. It was hinted that they would probably meet these reinforcements about Preston or Lancaster. The prospect thus held out to them of a speedy advance upon London, tended to allay the passions of the men, but they continued sullen and silent during the whole of the day.[1053]

The army lay the first night at Ashbourne. It reached Leek next day; but that town being too small to accommodate the army, Elcho’s and Pitsligo’s horse, and Ogilvy’s and Roy Stuart’s regiments of foot, went on to Macclesfield, where they passed the night. The remainder of the army came next day to Macclesfield, and the other division, which had passed the night there, went to Stockport. On the 9th both divisions met on the road to Manchester, and entered that town in a body. There had been considerable rioting and confusion in Manchester on the preceding day. Imagining from the retreat that the Highland army had sustained a reverse, a mob had collected, and, being reinforced by great numbers of country people with arms, had insulted the Jacobite inhabitants, and seemed disposed to dispute the entrance of the Highland army into the town; but upon the first appearance of the van, the mob quietly dispersed, and order was restored.[1054] In the retreat some abuses were committed by stragglers, who could not be prevented from going into houses. As Lord George Murray found great difficulty in bringing these up, he found it necessary to appoint an expert officer out of every regiment to assist in collecting the men belonging to their different corps who had kept behind, a plan which he found very useful.[1055]

It was Charles’s intention to have halted a day at Manchester, and he issued orders to that effect; but on Lord George Murray representing to him that delay might be dangerous, the army left that town on the forenoon of the 10th, and reached Wigan that night. Next day the army came to Preston, where it halted the whole of the 12th. From Preston the Duke of Perth was despatched north with 100 horse, to bring up the reinforcements from Perth.[1056]

The prince arrived at Lancaster late in the evening of the 13th. On reaching his quarters, Lord George Murray found that orders had been given out, that the army was to halt there all the next day. On visiting Charles’s quarters next morning, Lord George was told by the prince that he had resolved to fight the enemy, and desired him to go along with O’Sullivan, and reconnoitre the ground in the neighbourhood for the purpose of choosing a field of battle. His lordship, contrary to the expectations of those who had advised Charles to fight, and who supposed that Lord George would have opposed that measure, offered no advice on the subject. He merely proposed that as the ground suitable for regular troops might not answer the Highlanders, some Highland officers should also inspect the ground, and as Lochiel was present, he requested that he would go along with him,--a request with which he at once complied. With an escort of horse and foot, and accompanied by Lochiel and O’Sullivan, Lord George returned back about two miles, where he found a very fine field upon a rising ground sufficiently large for the whole army, and which was so situated, that from whatever quarter the enemy could come, the army would be completely covered till the enemy were close upon them. After surveying these grounds very narrowly, and taking three of the enemy’s rangers prisoners, the reconnoitring party returned to Lancaster. From the prisoners Lord George received information that the corps called the rangers was at Garstang, and that a great body of Wade’s dragoons had entered Preston a few hours after he had left it. His lordship reported to the prince the result of the survey, and told him that if the number of his men was sufficient to meet the enemy, he could not wish a better field of battle for the Highlanders; but Charles informed him that he had altered his mind, and that he meant to proceed on his march next day.[1057]

It is now necessary to notice the movements of the Duke of Cumberland and Marshal Wade. By retaining possession of Swarkstone bridge for some time after his main body left Derby, Charles deceived Cumberland as to his motions, and the Highland army was two days’ march distant from the duke’s army before he was aware of its departure from Derby. As soon, however, as he was apprised of the retreat, the duke put himself at the head of his horse and dragoons, and 1,000 mounted volunteers, furnished by some of the gentlemen of Warwickshire, for the purpose of stopping the Highlanders till the royal army should come up, or, failing in that design, of harassing them in their retreat. He marched by Uttoxeter and Cheadle; but the roads being excessively bad, he did not arrive at Macclesfield till the night of the 10th, on which day the Highland army had reached Wigan. At Macclesfield the duke received intelligence that the Highlanders had left Manchester that day. His royal highness thereupon sent orders to the magistrates of Manchester to seize all stragglers belonging to the Highland army; he directed Bligh’s regiment, then at Chester, to march to Macclesfield, and, at the same time, ordered the Liverpool Blues to return to Warrington, where they had been formerly posted. Early on the 11th, he detached Major Wheatley with the dragoons in pursuit of the Highlanders. Meanwhile Marshal Wade having held a council of war on the 8th, at Ferrybridge, in Yorkshire, had resolved to march by Wakefield and Halifax into Lancashire, in order to intercept the insurgents in their retreat northwards. He accordingly came to Wakefield on the 10th at night, where, learning that the van-guard of the Highland army had reached Wigan, he concluded that he would not be able to overtake it, and therefore resolved to return to his old post at Newcastle by easy marches. He, however, detached General Oglethorpe with the horse to join the duke. This officer crossed Blackstone Edge with such expedition, that he reached Preston on the same day that the Highlanders left it, having marched about 100 miles in three days, over roads at any time unfavourable, but now rendered almost impassable by frost and snow. At Preston, Oglethorpe found the Georgia rangers, and was joined by a detachment of Kingston’s horse, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Mordaunt. Here these united forces halted nearly a whole day, in consequence of an express which the Duke of Cumberland had received from London, announcing that a French expedition from Dunkirk had put to sea, and requiring him to hold himself in readiness to return to the capital. This information was afterwards found to be erroneous; but it was of service to the Highlanders, who, in consequence of the halt of the royal forces, gained a whole day’s march a-head of their pursuers.

In his retreat, the chief danger the prince had to apprehend was from the army of Wade, who, by marching straight across the country into Cumberland, might have reached Penrith a day at least before the prince; but by the information he received of the route taken by Wade’s cavalry, he saw that the danger now was that the united cavalry of both armies might fall upon his rear before he could reach Carlisle. He therefore left Lancaster on the 15th; but the rear of his army was scarcely out of the town when some of the enemy’s horse entered it. The town bells were then rung, and the word being given from the rear to the front, that the enemy was approaching, the Highlanders formed in order of battle; but the alarm turning out to be false, the army continued its march to Kendal. The enemy’s horse, however, followed for two or three miles, and appeared frequently in small parties, but attempted nothing. The army entered Kendal that night, where they were met by the Duke of Perth and his party. In his way north, the duke had been attacked in this town by a mob, which he soon dispersed by firing on them; but in the neighbourhood of Penrith he met with a more serious obstruction, having been attacked by a considerable body of militia, both horse and foot, and being vastly outnumbered, was obliged to retreat to Kendal.[1058]

As Lord George Murray considered it impossible to transport the four-wheeled waggons belonging to the army to Shap, he proposed to the prince to substitute two-wheeled carts for them,[1059] and as he was afraid that no provisions could be obtained at Shap, he suggested that the men should be desired to provide themselves with a day’s provision of bread and cheese. Orders were accordingly issued agreeably to these suggestions, but that regarding the waggons seems not to have been attended to; and by some oversight, the order about the provisions was not communicated to many of them till they were on their march next morning. The consequence was, that the men who were unprovided returned to the town, and much confusion would have ensued, had not Lord George Murray sent some detachments of the rear with officers into the town to preserve order, and to see the men return to the army. This omission retarded considerably the march of the army. The difficulties which Lord George Murray had anticipated in transporting the waggons across the hills were realised, and by the time he had marched four miles and got among the hills, he was obliged to halt all night, and take up his quarters at a farm house about a gun-shot off the road. The Glengarry men were in the rear that day, and though reckoned by his lordship not the most patient of mortals, he says he “never was better pleased with men in his life,” having done all that was possible for men to do.[1060]

With the exception of the Glengarry regiment, the army passed the night between the 16th and 17th at Shap.[1061] On the morning of the 17th, Lord George received two messages from Charles, ordering him upon no account to leave the least thing, not so much as a cannon ball behind, as he would rather return himself than that any thing should be left. Though his lordship had undertaken to conduct the retreat on the condition that he should not be troubled with the charge of the baggage, ammunition, &c., he promised to do all in his power to carry every thing along with him. To lighten the ammunition waggons, some of which had broken down, his lordship prevailed upon the men to carry about 200 cannon balls, for which service he gave the bearers sixpence each. With difficulty the rear-guard reached Shap that night at a late hour. Here he found most of the cannon, and some of the ammunition with Colonel Roy Stuart and his battalion.[1062] The same night, the prince with the main body arrived at Penrith. Some parties of militia appeared at intervals; but they kept at a considerable distance, without attempting hostilities.[1063]

Early in the morning of the 18th, the rear-guard left Shap; but as some of the small carriages were continually breaking, its march was much retarded. It had not proceeded far when some parties of English light-horse were observed hovering at some distance on the eminences behind the rear-guard. Lord George Murray notified the circumstance to the prince at Penrith; but as it was supposed that these were militia, the information was treated lightly. No attempt was made to attack the rear-guard, or obstruct its progress, till about mid-day, when a body of between 200 and 300 horse, chiefly Cumberland people, formed in front of the rear-guard, behind an eminence near Clifton Hall, and seemed resolved to make a stand. Lord George Murray was about to ascend this eminence, when the party was observed marching two and two abreast on the top of the hill. They suddenly disappeared to form themselves in order of battle behind the eminence, and made a great noise with trumpets and kettle-drums. At this time two of the companies of Roy Stuart’s regiment, which the Duke of Perth had attached to the artillery, were at the head of the column. The guns and ammunition waggons followed, behind the two other companies of the same regiment. The Glengarry regiment, which marched with Lord George Murray at its head, was in the rear of the column. Believing, from the great number of trumpets and kettle-drums, that the English army was at hand, the rear-guard remained for a short time at the bottom of the hill, as if at a loss how to act in a conjuncture which appeared so desperate. It was the opinion of Colonel Brown, an officer of Lally’s regiment, who was at the head of the column, that they should rush upon the enemy sword in hand, and either open a passage to the army at Penrith, or perish in the attempt. The men of the four companies adopting this opinion, immediately ran up the hill, without informing Lord George Murray of their resolution; and his lordship, on observing this movement, immediately ordered the Glengarry men to proceed across the inclosure, and ascend the hill from another quarter, as they could not conveniently pass the waggons which had almost blocked up the roads. The Glengarry men, throwing off their plaids, reached the summit of the hill almost as soon as the head of the column, on gaining which, both parties were agreeably surprised to find, that the only enemy in view was the light horse they had observed a few minutes before, and who, alarmed at the appearance of the Highlanders, galloped off in disorder. One of the fugitives fell from his horse, and was cut to pieces in an instant by the Highlanders.[1064]

The rear-guard resumed its march, and on reaching the village of Clifton, Lord George Murray sent the artillery and heavy baggage forward to Penrith under a small escort. Being well acquainted with all the inclosures and parks about Lowther Hall, the seat of Lord Lonsdale, about the distance of a mile from Clifton, Lord George Murray, at the head of the Glengary regiment and some horse, examined these parks and inclosures in the hope of falling in with the light horse; but, although he saw several of them, he only succeeded in making two prisoners. By these prisoners Lord George was informed that the duke himself, with a body of 4,000 horse, was about a mile behind him. As Clifton was a very good post, Lord George Murray resolved to remain there; and on his return to the village he sent Colonel Roy Stuart with the two prisoners to Penrith, to inform Charles of the near approach of the duke, and that he would remain at Clifton till further orders. In the event of the prince approving of his intention of making a stand at Preston, his lordship requested that 1,000 men might be sent him from Penrith. On returning to Clifton from Lowther parks, Lord George found the Duke of Perth there; and, besides Colonel Roy Stuart’s men, who amounted to about 200, he also found the Macphersons with their chief, Cluny Macpherson, and the Stewarts of Appin, headed by Stewart of Ardshiel.[1065]

Before the return of Colonel Roy Stuart from Penrith, the enemy appeared in sight, and proceeded to form themselves into two lines upon Clifton moor, about half a mile from the village. The Duke of Perth thereupon rode back to Penrith to bring up the rest of the army to support Lord George, who he supposed would, from the strength of his position, be able to maintain himself till joined by the main body. The duke was accompanied by an English gentleman who had attended Lord George during the retreat, and, knowing the country perfectly well, had offered to lead without discovery the main body a near way by the left, by which movement they would be enabled to fall upon the enemy’s flank. Had Lord George received the reinforcement he required, his design was to have sent half of his men through the inclosures on his right, so as to have flanked the duke’s army on that side, whilst it was attacked on the other by the other half. He expected that if he succeeded in killing but a small number of Cumberland’s horse that the rest would be thrown into disorder, and that as they would be obliged to retreat through a lane nearly a mile long, between Lord Lonsdale’s inclosures, that they would choke up the road, and that many of them would be unable to escape. In absence of this reinforcement, however, the Lieutenant-general was obliged to make the best dispositions he could with the force he had with him, which amounted to about 1,000 men in all, exclusive of Lord Pitsligo’s horse and hussars, who, on the appearance of the enemy, shamefully fled to Penrith.[1066]

The dispositions of Lord George were these. Within the inclosures to the right of the highway he posted the Glengarry men, and within those to their left he placed the Stewarts of Appin and the Macphersons. On the side of the highway, and close to the village of Clifton, he placed Colonel Roy Stuart’s regiment. As some ditches at the foot stretched farther towards the moor on the right than on the left, and as that part was also covered by Lord Lonsdale’s other inclosures, the party on the right could not easily be attacked; and they had this advantage, that they could with their fire flank the enemy when they attacked the left. To induce the enemy to believe that his numbers were much greater than they were, Lord George, after exhibiting the colours he had at different places, caused them to be rolled up, carried to other places, and again unfurled.[1067]

About an hour after the Duke of Cumberland had formed his men, about 500 of his dragoons dismounted and advanced forward to the foot of the moor, in front of a ditch at the bottom of one of three small inclosures between the moor and the places where Roy Stuart’s men were posted at the village. At this time Colonel Stuart returned from Penrith, and, after informing Lord George that the prince had resolved to march immediately to Carlisle, and that he had sent forward his cannon, he stated that it was his royal highness’s desire that he should immediately retreat to Penrith. From the situation in which the Lieutenant-general was now placed, it was impossible to obey this order without great danger. The dismounted horse were already firing upon the Highlanders, who were within musket-shot; and, if retreat was once begun, the men might get into confusion in the dark, and become discouraged. Lord George proposed to attack the dismounted party, and stated his confidence that he would be able by attacking them briskly to dislodge them; Cluny Macpherson and Colonel Stuart concurring in Lord George’s opinion, that the course he proposed was the only prudent one that could be adopted, they agreed not to mention the message from the prince.

In pursuance of this determination, Lord George Murray went to the right where the Glengarry men were posted, and ordered them, as soon as they should observe him advance on the other side, to move also forward and keep up a smart fire till they came to the lowest ditch. He observed that if they succeeded in dislodging the enemy from the hedges and ditches, they could give them a flank fire within pistol-shot; but he gave them particular injunctions not to fire across the highway, nor to follow the enemy up the moor. After speaking with every officer of the Glengarry regiment, his lordship returned to the left, and placed himself at the head of the Macphersons, with Cluny by his side. It was now about an hour after sunset, and the night was somewhat cloudy; but at short intervals the moon, which was in its second quarter, broke through and afforded considerable light. The Highlanders had this advantage, that whilst they could see the disposition of the enemy, their own movements could not be observed. In taking their ground the dismounted dragoons had not only lined the bottom inclosures which ran from east to west, directly opposite the other inclosures in which the Highlanders were posted, but some of them had advanced up along two hedges that lay south and north.

The Highlanders being ready to advance, the Stewarts and Macphersons marched forward at the word of command, as did the Macdonalds on the right. The Highlanders on the right kept firing as they advanced; but the Macphersons, who were on the left, came sooner in contact with the dragoons, and received the whole of their fire. When the balls were whizzing about them, Cluny exclaimed, “What the devil is this?” Lord George told him that they had no remedy but to attack the dragoons, sword in hand, before they had time to charge again. Then drawing his sword, he cried out, “Claymore,” and Cluny doing the same, the Macphersons rushed down to the bottom ditch of the inclosure, and clearing the diagonal hedges as they went, fell sword in hand upon the enemy, of whom a considerable number were killed at the lower ditch. The rest fled across the moor, but received in their flight the fire of the Glengarry regiment. In this skirmish only twelve Highlanders were killed; but the royal forces sustained a loss of about one hundred in killed and wounded, including some officers. The only officer wounded on the side of the Highlanders was Macdonald of Lochgarry, who commanded the Glengarry men. Lord George Murray made several narrow escapes. Old Glenbucket, who, from infirmity, remained at the end of the village on horseback, had lent him his target, and it was fortunate for Lord George that he had done so. By means of this shield, which was convex, and covered with a plate of metal painted, his lordship protected himself from the bullets of the dragoons, which cleared away the paint off the target in several places.[1068] The only prisoner taken on this occasion was a footman of the Duke of Cumberland, who stated that his master would have been killed, if a pistol, with which a Highlander took aim at his head, had not missed fire. This man was sent back to his royal highness by the prince.[1069]

After remaining a short time at Clifton after the skirmish, Lord George went to Penrith, where he found the prince ready to mount for Carlisle. His royal highness was very well pleased with the result of the action. The men who had been engaged halted at Penrith a short time to refresh themselves; and the prince, after sending Clanranald’s and Keppoch’s regiments as far back as Clifton bridge, to induce the inhabitants to believe that he meant to fight the Duke of Cumberland, left Penrith for Carlisle with the main body. Next morning the whole army reached Carlisle, where the prince found letters, though rather of an old date, from Lord John Drummond and Lord Strathallan. Lord John gave him great encouragement from the court of France, and informed his royal highness that it was the desire of the King of France that the prince should proceed with great caution, and if possible avoid a decisive action till he received the succours the king intended to send him, which would be such as to put his success beyond all doubt, and that, in the mean time, he (Lord John) had brought over some troops and a train of artillery, sufficient to reduce all the fortresses in Scotland. Lord Strathallan gave a very favourable account of the state of the army assembled at Perth, which he represented as better than that which the prince had with him. As nothing positive, however, was known at Carlisle of the operation of the Jacobite forces in the north, Charles resolved to continue the retreat into Scotland. Contrary to the opinion of Lord George Murray, who advised him to evacuate Carlisle, Charles resolved to leave a garrison there to facilitate his return into England, of which at the time he had strong hopes when joined by the forces under Lords Strathallan and Drummond.[1070] As Carlisle was not tenable, and as the Highland army could easily have re-entered England independent of any obstruction from any garrison which could be put into it, the conduct of Charles in leaving a portion of his army behind has been justly reprehended; but there is certainly no room for the accusation which has been made against him, of having wilfully sacrificed the unfortunate garrison.[1071] It was not without difficulty that Charles could make up a garrison. The Duke of Perth was unwilling to allow any of his men to remain; and appearing to complain in the presence of the prince that a certain number of the Athole men had not been draughted for that service, Lord George Murray told him, also in the prince’s presence, that if his royal highness would order him, he would stay with the Athole brigade, though he knew what his fate would be.[1072] The number of men left in garrison amounted to about 400. Mr. Hamilton was continued in the command of the castle, and Mr. Townley was made commandant of the town.

The Highland army halted the whole of the 19th in Carlisle, and departed next day for Scotland. The Esk, which forms part of the boundary between England and Scotland on the west, was, from an incessant rain of several days, rendered impassable by the nearest road from Carlisle; but at the distance of about eight miles from Carlisle it was still fordable. The army reached the place, where they intended to cross, about two o’clock in the afternoon. Before crossing the water, the following route was fixed upon by the advice of Lord George Murray, whose opinion had been asked by Charles in presence of some of his officers, viz., that Lord George, with six battalions, should march that night to Ecclefechan, next day to Moffat, and there halt a day; and after making a feint towards the Edinburgh road, as if he intended to march upon the capital, to turn off to Douglas, then to Hamilton and Glasgow,--that the prince should go with the clans and most of the horse that night to Annan, next day to Dumfries, where they should rest a day; then to Drumlanrig, Leadhills, Douglas, and Hamilton, so as to be at Glasgow the day after the arrival in that city of Lord George’s division.[1073]

Though the river was usually shallow at the place fixed upon for passing, it was now swollen, by continued rains, to the depth of four feet. The passage was not without its dangers; but as the river might be rendered impassable by a continuation of the rain during the night, and as it was possible that the Duke of Cumberland might reach the Esk next morning, it was resolved to cross it immediately. After trying the water to ascertain that the ford was good, a body of cavalry formed in the river, a few paces above the ford, to break the force of the stream, and another body was likewise stationed in the river below the ford to pick up such of the infantry as might be carried away by the violence of the current. This arrangement being completed, the infantry entered the river a hundred men abreast, each holding one another by the neck of the coat, by which plan they supported one another against the rapidity of the river, leaving sufficient intervals between their ranks for the passage of the water. Lord George Murray, who was among the first to enter the water in his philibeg, says, that when nearly across, there were about 2,000 men in the water at once. The appearance of the river, in the interval between the cavalry, presented an extraordinary spectacle. As the heads of the Highlanders were generally all that was seen above the water, the space of water occupied in the passage looked like a paved street. Not one man was lost in the transit; but a few girls who had followed their lovers in their adventurous campaign, were swept away by the current. After the army had passed, the pipes began to play; and the Highlanders, happy on setting their feet again on Scottish ground, forgot for a time the disappointment they had suffered at Derby, and testified their joy by dancing reels upon the northern bank of the Esk.[1074]

The expedition into England, though not signalised by any great military achievement, will always hold a distinguished place in the annals of bold and adventurous enterprise. It was planned and carried through in all its details with great judgment; and if circumstances had not delayed its execution, it might have terminated in success. From the consternation into which the English people were thrown by the invasion of the Highland army,[1075] it seems certain, that without the aid of a regular army their militia would scarcely have ventured to oppose the march of the Highlanders to the metropolis; but after the return of the British forces from Flanders, the arrival of the Dutch auxiliaries, and the assembling of the armies under Wade and Ligonier, the attempt appeared to be hopeless. It was not, however, until the retreat from Derby that the government was relieved from its anxiety for the safety of the monarchy.

The Duke of Cumberland halted at Penrith on the 20th of December, and marched next day to Carlisle, which he invested the same day. As he was under the necessity of sending to Whitehaven for heavy cannon, the fire from his batteries did not commence till the morning of the 28th. During the blockade the garrison fired repeatedly upon the besiegers, but with little effect. A fire was kept up by the besiegers from a battery of six eighteen-pounders, during the 28th and 29th. Another battery of three thirteen-pounders was completed on the 30th; but on the first fire from the old battery that day, the besieged hung out a white flag, and offered hostages for a capitulation. The Duke of Cumberland, on observing this signal, sent one of his aides-de-camp with a note, desiring to know its meaning; to which Governor Hamilton answered, that the object was to obtain a cessation for a capitulation, and desiring to know what terms his royal highness would grant to the garrison. The only condition the duke would grant was, that the garrison should not be put to the sword, but be reserved for the king’s pleasure; and Hamilton, seeing the impossibility of holding out, surrendered the same day. The garrison, including officers, consisted of 114 men of the Manchester regiment; of 274 men, also including officers, chiefly of the Scotch low country regiments, and a few Frenchmen and Irishmen. The number of cannon in the castle was sixteen, ten of which had been left by the Highland army on its return to Scotland. Among the prisoners were found twelve deserters from the royal forces, who were immediately hanged. The officers were kept prisoners in the castle, but the privates were confined in the cathedral and town-jail. The whole were afterwards dispersed in several jails through England. The Duke of Cumberland, after putting Bligh’s regiment in garrison at Carlisle, returned to London, in consequence of an order from court.[1076]

FOOTNOTES:

[988] Kirkconnel MS. Lord George Murray’s Narrative, in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 47.

[989] Kirkconnel MS.

[990] Kirkconnel MS.

[991] The Highland army about the middle of November, according to a list then published, was thus composed:--

Regiments. Colonels. Men.

Lochiel, Cameron, younger of Lochiel, 740

Appin, Stewart of Ardshiel, 360

Athole, Lord George Murray, 1,000

Clanranald, Macdonald, yr. of Clanranald 200

Keppoch, Macdonald of Keppoch, 400

Glencoe, Macdonald of Glencoe, 200

Ogilvy, Lord Ogilvy, 500

Glenbucket, Gordon of Glenbucket, 427

Perth, { Duke of Perth (including } 750 { Pitsligo’s foot), }

Robertson, Robertson of Strowan, 200

Maclauchlan, Maclauchlan of Maclauchlan, 260

Glencairnock, Macgregor of Glencairnock, 300

Nairne, Lord Nairne, 200

Edinburgh, John Roy Stewart, 450

Several small corps, 1,000

Horse, { Lord Elcho, } 160 { Lord Kilmarnock, }

Horse, Lord Pitsligo’s, 140 ----- 7,287

The numbers, however, are overrated.

[992] Memoirs, p. 113.

[993] Letters from Moor and Smart, two of the agents of the Chevalier de St. George, will be found among the Stuart Papers. Smart held an appointment in the London post-office, and is often alluded to in the correspondence between Sempil and Drummond of Bochaldy, and the Chevalier, as their “post-office correspondent.” Smart was furnished with a list of the addresses, under which the correspondence between the Chevalier’s agents on the continent, and their friends in England, was carried on, and, as his duty appears to have been to examine all letters passing through the post-office, he passed the letters to such addresses without examination. When he found any letters from abroad, giving information to the government about the Jacobite party, he always burnt them.--Letter from Drummond to the Chevalier de St. George, 19th October, 1745, among the Stuart Papers.

[994] Stuart Papers.

[995] Marchant, p. 161.

[996] Kirkconnel MS.

[997] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 455.

[998] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 56.

[999] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 57.

[1000] Lord George Murray’s Narrative, Jacobite Memoirs, pp. 47, 48.

[1001] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 493.

[1002] Ray, p. 96.

[1003] Kirkconnel MS.

[1004] Marchant, p. 169.

[1005] Boyse, p. 100.

[1006] Marchant, p. 169.

[1007] Ray, p. 99. Boyse, p. 100.

[1008] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.

[1009] Kirkconnel MS.

[1010] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 49.

[1011] Jacobite Memoirs, pp. 49-50.

[1012] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 52.

[1013] Kirkconnel MS.

[1014] Scotland, (1689-1747) vol. ii. p. 476.

[1015] Kirkconnel MS.

[1016] Boyse, p. 101.

[1017] Culloden Papers, p. 255.

[1018] The Chevalier Johnstone says it did not exceed 4,500; and Maxwell of Kirkconnel, that it amounted to 4,400.

[1019] Lord George Murray’s Narrative, Jacobite Memoirs, p. 48. Home’s Rebellion, p. 143.

[1020] Kirkconnel MS.

[1021] So called, to distinguish them from the clan regiments, though the greater part were Highlanders, and wore the Highland garb, which was indeed the dress of the whole army.--Idem.

[1022] Charles, during his stay at Carlisle, lived in the house of a Mr. Hymer, an attorney, to whom he paid twenty guineas, being five guineas per diem, for the use of his house, as noted in the prince’s household book, published in the Jacobite Memoirs. James Gib, his master of household, appears to have grudged Charles’s liberality, as he observes that Hymer furnished nothing, not even coal or candle; and, moreover, that he and his wife had every day two dishes of meat at dinner, and as many at supper, at the cost of the prince. But Charles’s liberality was not confined to landlords, for Gib states, that whenever he happened to pass even a night in a gentleman’s house, his ordinary custom was to give at least five guineas of ‘drink-money’ to the servants.

[1023] Kirkconnel MS. Jacobite Memoirs, p. 49.

[1024] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 457.

[1025] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 52.

[1026] At Wigan, Charles gave “a woman” ten guineas for one night for the use of her house, her husband, “a squire, being from home.”--Household Book.

[1027] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 63. This statement of the Chevalier Johnstone’s is corroborated in the main by a contemporary journal in Marchant, p. 197.

[1028] Boyse, p. 103.

[1029] Kirkconnel MS. Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 66.

[1030] Boyse, p. 104.

[1031] Lord George Murray’s Narrative, in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 53.

[1032] When Weir was taken, Mr. Maxwell says, “he was immediately known to be the same person that had been employed in that business in Flanders, the year before. It was proposed to hang him immediately, in punishment of what he had done, and to prevent the mischief he might do in case the prince did not succeed. But the prince could not be brought to consent. He still insisted that Weir was not, properly speaking, a spy, since he was not found in the army in disguise. I cannot tell whether the prince, on this occasion, was guided by his opinion or by his inclination. I suspect the latter, because it was his constant practice to spare his enemies, when they were in his power. I don’t believe there was one instance to the contrary to be found in his whole expedition.”--Kirkconnel MS.

[1033] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 54.--Kirkconnel MS.

[1034] Boyse, p. 164.

[1035] Marchant, p. 202. Boyse, p. 164.

[1036] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 78.

[1037] Burton discredits these statements, there being, he says, no contemporary evidence in their favour.--Scotland (1689-1747), vol. ii. p. 483.

[1038] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 75.

[1039] Idem, p. 67.

[1040] Burton appears to think that there was little danger of any serious consequences following the possession of London by Charles. “The days were long past,” he says, “when the rising of a body of the English gentry brought a certain force into the field; and a few wealthy peers and squires, with their lacqueys and grooms, would have gone little way to help some five thousand janissaries in keeping down the people of England.”--Scotland (1689-1747), vol. ii. p. 485.

[1041] Lord George Murray’s Narrative. Kirkconnel MS.

[1042] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 71.

[1043] There seems to be an apparent discrepancy between Lord George’s statement, (Jacobite Memoirs, p. 55,) and that of the Chevalier Johnstone, (Memoirs, p. 71,) relative to the conduct of the Duke of Perth: but the account in the text agrees with the account of Charles himself, (in Appendix, No. 33, to Home’s Works,) who says, that with the exception of himself, all the members of the council “were of opinion that the retreat was absolutely necessary.”

[1044] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 56.

[1045] Id. p. 57.

[1046] Idem. Kirkconnel MS.

[1047] See these instructions in the Stuart Papers.

[1048] Home, Appendix, No. 35.

[1049] Boyse, p. 106.

[1050] Kirkconnel MS. Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 78.

[1051] Kirkconnel MS.

[1052] Lord George Murray’s Narrative in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 59.

[1053] Kirkconnel MS.

[1054] Kirkconnel MS.

[1055] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 58.

[1056] Kirkconnel MS.

[1057] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 60. Kirkconnel MS.

[1058] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 460. Kirkconnel MS.

[1059] Maxwell of Kirkconnel gives a different version of this matter from that of Lord George Murray. After stating that his lordship represented to Charles the dangerous situation he might be in if the united armies of Wade and Cumberland overtook him before reaching Carlisle, he says that Lord George “proposed to avoid them by sacrificing the cannon and all the heavy baggage to the safety of the men, which was now at stake. He observed that the country is mountainous betwixt Kendal and Penrith, and the roads, in many places, very difficult for such carriages; but the prince was positive not to leave a single piece of his cannon. He would rather fight both their armies than give such an argument of fear and weakness. He gave peremptory orders that the march should be continued in the same order as hitherto, and not a single carriage to be left at Kendal.”

[1060] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 63.

[1061] In the prince’s Household Book, printed among the Jacobite Memoirs, the following entries occur:--

Dec. 17th, at Shape, Tuesday.

To ale, wine, and other provisions, £4 17 The landlady for the use of her house, 2 2

N. B. The landlady a sad wife for imposing.

[1062] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 65.

[1063] Kirkconnel MS.

[1064] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 87.

[1065] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 66.

[1066] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 68.

[1067] Idem, p. 67.

[1068] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 72.--Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 463.

[1069] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 92.

[1070] Kirkconnel MS.

[1071] Alluding to the retention of Carlisle, Mr. Maxwell observes, “This was perhaps the worst resolution the prince had taken hitherto. I cannot help condemning it, though there were specious pretexts for it. It was, to be sure, much for the prince’s reputation upon leaving England, to keep one of the keys of it, and he was in hopes of returning before it could be taken; but he could not be absolutely sure of that, and the place was not tenable against a few pieces of artillery, of battering cannon, or a few mortars. It’s true he had a good many prisoners in Scotland, and might look upon them as pledges for the lives of those he left in garrison; but that was not enough. He did not know what kind of people he had to deal with, and he ought to be prepared against the worst that could happen. The lives of so many of his friends ought not to have been exposed without an indispensable necessity, which was not the case; for blowing up the castle, and the gates of the town, would have equally given him an entry into England.”

[1072] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 73.

[1073] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 73.

[1074] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 74.--Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 99.

[1075] “The terror of the English,” says the Chevalier Johnstone, Memoirs, p. 101, “was truly inconceivable, and in many cases they seemed quite bereft of their senses. One evening as Mr. Cameron of Lochiel entered the lodgings assigned to him, his landlady, an old woman, threw herself at his feet, and with uplifted hands and tears in her eyes, supplicated him to take her life, but to spare her two little children. He asked her if she was in her senses, and told her to explain herself; when she answered, that every body said the Highlanders ate children, and made them their common food. Mr. Cameron having assured her that they would not injure either her or her little children, or any person whatever, she looked at him for some moments with an air of surprise, and then opened a press, calling out with a loud voice, ‘Come out children; the gentleman will not eat you.’ The children immediately left the press where she had concealed them, and threw themselves at his feet. They affirmed in the newspapers of London that we had dogs in our army trained to fight, and that we were indebted for our victory at Gladsmuir to these dogs, who darted with fury on the English army. They represented the Highlanders as monsters, with claws instead of hands. In a word, they never ceased to circulate, every day, the most extravagant and ridiculous stories with respect to the Highlanders. The English soldiers had indeed reason to look upon us as extraordinary men, from the manner in which we had beaten them with such inferior numbers, and they probably told these idle stories to the country people by way of palliating their own disgrace.” The able editor of Johnstone’s Memoirs relates in a note to the above, that Mr. Halkston of Rathillet, who was in the expedition, stated that the belief was general among the people of England, that the Highlanders ate children:--“While the army lay at Carlisle he was taken ill, and went with a few of his companions to a farmer’s house in the neighbourhood, where he remained several days. Perceiving his landlady to be a young woman, he asked her if she had any children, and where they were. When she found that he was no cannibal, she told him the truth was, that all the children were sent out of the way for fear the Highlanders should devour them.”

A Derby gentleman, who had a party of forty men quartered in his house, in a letter which appeared in all the newspapers of the period, describes most of them as looking “like so many fiends turned out of hell to ravage the kingdom and cut throats; and under their plaids nothing but various sorts of butchering weapons were to be seen.” He complains that they had eaten up “near a side of beef, eight joints of mutton, four cheeses, with abundance of white and brown bread, (particularly white,) three couples of fowls, and would have drams continually, as well as strong-ale, beer, tea, &c.” In the midst of this general devastation our host was convulsed with “unavoidable laughter to see these desperadoes, from officers to the common men, at their several meals, first pull off their bonnets, and then lift up their eyes in a most solemn manner, and mutter something to themselves, by way of saying grace, as if they had been so many pure primitive Christians!!!” This is merely a specimen of the many ridiculous stories with which the English journals of the period were crammed.

[1076] Boyse, p. 129.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

XXXIV. A.D. 1745-46

BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.

The Highland army returns to Scotland--Arrives at Glasgow --Proceedings of the Jacobites in the North--Arrest and escape of Lord Lovat--Skirmish at Inverury--Alarm at Edinburgh--Arrival of an English army--The Prince at Glasgow--Marches towards Stirling--Investment and surrender of the town--Skirmishing on the Forth--Highland army reinforced--Hawley’s army arrives at Falkirk--Preparations for battle--Battle of Falkirk.

Pursuant to the plan of march fixed upon at crossing the Esk, the Highland army separated, and Lord George Murray, at the head of the low country regiments, proceeded to Ecclefechan, where he arrived on the night of the 20th, and marched next day to Moffat. The prince, at the head of the clans, marched to Annan, where he passed the night of the 20th. The horse of the prince’s division under Lord Elcho were, after a short halt, sent to take possession of Dumfries, which they accomplished early next morning, and the prince, with the clans, came up in the evening. In no town in Scotland had there been greater opposition displayed to the restoration of the house of Stuart than in Dumfries, from the danger to which the inhabitants supposed their religious liberties, as presbyterians, would be exposed under a catholic sovereign. This feeling, which was strongly manifested by them in the insurrection of 1715, had now assumed even a more hostile appearance from the existence of the new body of dissenters called “Seceders,” which had lately left the bosom of the established church of Scotland, and which professed principles thought to be more in accordance with the gospel than those of their parent church. A body of these dissenters had volunteered for the defence of Edinburgh shortly after Charles had landed, and, on his march for England, a party of them had taken up arms, and had captured and carried to Dumfries thirty waggons belonging to the Highland army, which had been left at Lockerby by the escort appointed to protect them. To punish the inhabitants for their hostility, Charles ordered them to pay £2,000 in money, and to contribute 1,000 pairs of shoes. About £1,100 only were raised; and, in security for the remainder, Mr. Crosbie, the provost, and a Mr. Walter Riddel, were carried off as hostages. The prince also levied the excise at Dumfries, and carried off some arms, horses, &c. Some outrages were committed in the town by the Highlanders, who told the inhabitants that they ought to think themselves gently used, and be thankful that their town was not burned to ashes.

After halting a day at Dumfries, the prince proceeded with his division up Nithsdale on the evening of the 23d, and passed the night at Drumlanrig, the seat of the Duke of Queensberry. Next day he entered Clydesdale, and halted at Douglas. The prince slept that night in Douglas castle. He reached Hamilton on the 25th, and took up his residence in the palace of the Duke of Hamilton. Next day the Chevalier occupied himself in hunting, an amusement of which he was uncommonly fond, and to which he had been accustomed from his youth. The division under Lord George Murray, after halting a day at Moffat, where, being Sunday, his men heard sermon in different parts of the town from the episcopal ministers who accompanied them, proceeded by Douglas and Hamilton, and entered Glasgow on Christmas day. On the evening of the 26th the prince also marched into Glasgow on foot at the head of the clans. Here he resolved to halt and refresh his men for a few days after their arduous march, and to provide them with clothing, of which they stood greatly in need. In passing through Douglas and Lesmahago, the Highlanders pillaged and burnt some houses, in revenge for the capture of Macdonald of Kinlochmoidart, who, in his way south from the Highlands, had been seized on Brokencross moor, near Lesmahago, by the country people, headed by a student of divinity named Linning, and carried to Edinburgh castle.[1077]

Before noticing Charles’s proceedings at Glasgow, it is necessary to give a short summary of those of his friends in the north, up to the period of his arrival in that city.

When intelligence of the Chevalier’s march into England, and his unexpected success at Carlisle was received in the north, the zeal of the Jacobites was more and more inflamed. Whilst the Frasers, headed by the Master of Lovat, blockaded Fort Augustus, Lord Lewis Gordon was busily employed in raising men, and levying money by force and threats of military execution, in the shires of Banff and Aberdeen. Of two battalions which his lordship raised, one was placed under the command of Gordon of Abbachie, and the other under Moir of Stonywood. To relieve Fort Augustus, the Earl of Loudon left Inverness on the 3d of December with 600 men of the independent companies, and passing through Stratherrick during a very severe frost, reached Fort Augustus without opposition, and having supplied the garrison with every thing necessary for its defence, returned to Inverness on the 8th, after notifying to the inhabitants of Stratherrick the risk they would incur should they leave their houses and join the insurgents.[1078]

As the future progress of the insurrection in the Highlands depended much upon the Frasers, Lord Loudon, in conjunction with Lord President Forbes, resolved to march to Castle Downie, the seat of Lord Lovat, and to obtain the best satisfaction that could be got for the peaceable behaviour of that powerful clan. For this purpose, two companies of the Mackenzies, which had been posted near Brahan, were called into Inverness on the 9th of December, and after allowing the detachment, which had been at Fort Augustus, one day’s rest, his lordship left Inverness on the 10th, taking along with him that detachment and the two companies, amounting together to 800 men, and proceeded to Castle Downie. The earl prevailed upon Lord Lovat to go with him to Inverness, and to live there under his own eye, until all the arms of which the clan were possessed, (and of which he promised to obtain the delivery,) were brought in. But instead of delivering the arms on the day fixed, being the 14th of December, he made excuses and fresh promises from day to day till the 21st, when Lord Loudon, thinking that he was deceived, placed sentries at the door of the house where Lord Lovat resided, intending to commit him to the castle of Inverness next morning; but his lordship contrived to escape during the night through a back passage, and, being very infirm, was supposed to have been carried off on men’s shoulders.[1079]

Next in importance to the keeping down of the Frasers, was the relief of the shires of Banff and Aberdeen from the sway of Lord Lewis Gordon. To put an end to the recruiting and exactions of this nobleman, the laird of Macleod was sent the same day that Lord Loudon proceeded to the seat of Lord Lovat with a body of 500 men, composed of 400 of his own kindred, and 100 of the Macleods of Assint, towards Elgin, and these were to be followed by as many men as could be spared from Inverness, after adjusting matters with Lord Lovat. Accordingly, on the 13th, 200 men were detached under Captain Munro of Culcairn, to follow Macleod to Elgin and Aberdeen, and these were again to be followed by other small bodies, and by Lord Loudon himself, as soon as matters were finally settled with Lovat. The escape of that wily old chief, however, put an end to this part of the plan, as it was considered dangerous to reduce the force near Inverness any farther, while Lord Lovat was at large.

In the meantime Macleod reached Elgin, where he received intelligence that a party of 200 of the insurgents had taken possession of the boats on the Spey at Fochabers, and that they intended to dispute the passage with him. Macleod advanced to the banks of the Spey on the 15th; but the insurgents, instead of waiting for him, retired on his approach, and he passed the river without molestation. On the 16th and 17th he marched to Cullen and Banff. Meanwhile Munro of Culcairn arrived with his detachment at Keith, where he was joined by Grant of Grant at the head of 500 of his clan, and on the 18th they proceeded, in conjunction, to Strathbogie. Next day it was agreed upon between Macleod and Culcairn, that whilst the former should march next morning from Banff to Old Meldrum, which is twelve miles from Aberdeen, the latter, with Grant and his men, should at the same time proceed to Inverury, which is about the same distance from Aberdeen; but Grant, apprehensive that his own country would be harassed in his absence, returned home.[1080]

When Lord Lewis Gordon heard of the arrival of Macleod at Inverury, he resolved to attack him. With his own regiment, the men whom Lord John Drummond had sent, and a battalion of 300 Farquharsons, commanded by Farquharson of Monaltry, he left Aberdeen on the 23d, and arrived near Inverury with such expedition and secrecy, that he almost surprised Macleod in his quarters. It was late before Lord Lewis reached the place, and Macleod had barely time to put his men under arms, and to seize some advantageous posts in the town. Day-light had disappeared before the action commenced; but the light of the moon enabled the combatants to see one another. Both sides continued to fire for some time; but Lord John Drummond’s soldiers and the Farquharsons having advanced close upon the Macleods, the latter fled, and never halted till they had recrossed the Spey. Very few men were killed on either side; but the victors took forty-one prisoners, among whom were Mr. Gordon, younger of Ardoch; Forbes of Echt; Maitland of Petrichie; and John Chalmers, one of the regents of the university of Aberdeen.[1081]

Shortly after this skirmish, Lord Lewis Gordon marched his men to the general rendezvous at Perth, where, about the time of Prince Charles’s return from England, about 4,000 men were collected. These consisted of the Mackintoshes, the Frasers, the part of the Mackenzies attached to Charles, and the Farquharsons; of recruits sent from the Highlands to the clan regiments that had gone to England; of the forces raised by Lord Lewis Gordon, Sir James Kinloch, and other gentlemen in the low country of the north; and of the troops brought over from France by Lord John Drummond.

While this mixed body lay at Perth, a disagreement occurred between the Highlanders and the other troops, which might have led to serious consequences if the arrival of an order sent by the prince from Dumfries, requiring them to hold themselves in readiness to join him, had not put an end to the dispute. This disagreement was occasioned by the conduct of Lord Strathallan and his council of officers, on receiving the order which Charles had sent from Carlisle by Maclauchlan of Maclauchlan, to march with all their forces, and to follow the army into England. This order, contrary to the opinion of Maclauchlan and all the Highland officers, they had considered it inexpedient to obey. The result was, that the Highland officers caballed together, and resolved to march; but as the Highlanders had no money, as many of those who had come last from the Highlands wanted arms, and as Lord Strathallan was in possession of the money, arms, ammunition, and stores, they could not proceed. In this dilemma they entered into a combination to seize the money and arms, and, persisting in their resolution to march, matters were proceeding to extremities when Rollo of Powhouse arrived at Perth with the order alluded to, which at once put an end to the dispute.[1082]

The inhabitants of Edinburgh, relieved from the presence of the Highland army, had lived for five weeks in a state of comparative security. Public worship had been resumed in several of the city churches on the 3d of November, and in all of them on the 10th. The state officers who had retired to Berwick, did not, however, return till the 13th, when they entered the city with an air of triumph, which accorded ill with their recent conduct as fugitives. On the following day, Lieutenant-general Handasyde arrived, as before stated, at Edinburgh with Price’s and Ligonier’s regiments of foot, and Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s (lately Gardiner’s,) dragoons; and, on the 7th of December, these troops were sent west to Stirling, where, in conjunction with the Glasgow and Paisley militia, amounting to nearly 700 men, commanded by the Earl of Home, they guarded the passes of the Forth. In the mean time, exertions were made to re-embody the Edinburgh regiment; but these do not appear to have been attended with success. With the exception of some young men who formed themselves into a volunteer company, few of the inhabitants were disposed to take up arms, as they were fully sensible, that without a sufficient force of regular troops, no effectual resistance could be opposed to the Highlanders, should they return to the city.

In this situation of matters, the news of the Highlanders having crossed the Esk in their retreat from England, reached Edinburgh, and threw the civil and military authorities into a state of consternation. Ignorant of the route the Highlanders meant to follow, they were extremely perplexed how to act. They naturally apprehended another visit, and their fears seemed to be confirmed by the return to Edinburgh of the regular troops from the west, on the 23d of December, and by the arrival of the Glasgow regiment the next day, all of whom had retreated to Edinburgh on the approach of the Highlanders. A resolution was adopted by the public authorities to put the city in a proper state of defence, and, on the 29th, a paper was read in the city churches, acquainting the inhabitants, that it had been resolved in a council of war to defend the city. Next day a considerable number of men from the parishes in the neighbourhood, who had been provided with arms from the castle, entered the city, and were drawn up in the High Street. The men of each parish marched by themselves, and were attended in most instances by their respective ministers.[1083] These were joined by other small corps, one of the most remarkable of which was a body of Seceders, belonging to the associated congregations of Edinburgh and Dalkeith, carrying a standard with the inscription, “For Religion, Covenants, King, and Kingdoms.”

Had the Highlanders chosen to march upon Edinburgh, the resolution to defend it would not have been carried into effect, as it was the intention of the regular troops to have retired to Berwick on their approach; but, fortunately for the reputation of the new defenders of the capital, an army under Lieutenant-general Hawley was now on its march into Scotland. This gentleman, who had just been appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland, though described by the Duke of Newcastle as “an officer of great ability and experience,”[1084] was in fact a man of very ordinary military attainments, and in no way fitted for the important duty which had been assigned him. His whole genius lay, as Mr. John Forbes of Culloden observed to his father, the president, in the management of a squadron, or in prosecuting with vigour any mortal to the gallows. He had a very sorry opinion of the prowess of the Highlanders, whom he was confident of beating, if his troops were in good condition, without regard to the numbers of their opponents;[1085] but he was destined soon to find out his mistake.

To expedite the march of the English army, the gentlemen and farmers of Teviotdale, the Merse, and the Lothians furnished horses, by means of which the first division of the royal army, consisting of a battalion of the Scots Royals and Battereau’s foot, reached Edinburgh as early as the 2d of January, where they were shortly joined by Fleming’s and Blakeney’s regiments, that of Major-general Huske, by Hawley himself, by the regiments of Wolfe (not, as has been supposed, the immortal general of that name) and Cholmondeley, Howard’s (the old Buffs) and Monro’s, and by Barrel’s and Pulteney’s. At Dunbar, Aberlady, and other places, these troops were entertained by the proprietors in East Lothian, who allowed each soldier a pound of beef, a pound of bread, a glass of spirits, and a bottle of ale.[1086] They were also feasted at Edinburgh at the expense of the city, where they were courteously received by the terrified inhabitants, who furnished them with blankets, and evinced great anxiety to make them comfortable.[1087] The citizens also illuminated their houses; and such as declined had their windows broken by the mob, who also demolished with an unsparing hand all the windows of such houses as were uninhabited. On his arrival in the city, the commander-in-chief justified Mr. Forbes’s opinion by causing one gallows to be erected in the Grassmarket, and another between Leith and Edinburgh, on which it is supposed he meant to hang such unfortunate victims as might fall into his hands.[1088]

To return to Charles. On his arrival at Glasgow, his first care was to provide for the necessities of his men, who were in a most pitiable plight from the want of clothing. He ordered the magistrates to furnish the army with 12,000 shirts, 6,000 cloth coats, 6,000 pairs of stockings, and 6,000 waistcoats. Enraged at the conduct of the citizens for having subscribed to the fund for raising troops against him, the prince sent for Buchanan the provost, and demanded the names of the subscribers, and threatened to hang him in case of refusal; but the provost, undismayed, replied that he would name nobody except himself, that he had subscribed largely, as he thought he was discharging a duty, and that he was not afraid to die in such a cause. The provost had to pay a fine of £500 as the penalty of his refusal.[1089]

The mansion which Charles occupied during his residence in Glasgow belonged to a rich merchant named Glassford. It was the best house in the city, and stood at the western extremity of the Trongate, but has long since disappeared. While in Glasgow he ate twice a-day in public. The table was spread in a small dining-room, at which he sat down without ceremony with a few of his officers in the Highland dress. He was waited upon on these occasions by a few Jacobite ladies. Charles courted popularity, and, to attract attention, dressed more elegantly in Glasgow than at any other place;[1090] but the citizens of Glasgow kept up a reserve, which made Charles remark, with a feeling of mortifying disappointment, that he had never been in a place where he found fewer friends. Though dissatisfied with the people, he seemed, however, greatly to admire the regularity and beauty of the buildings.[1091]

Having refitted his army, Charles, within a few days after his arrival, reviewed it on Glasgow Green, in presence of a large concourse of spectators, and had the satisfaction to find that, with the exception of those he had left at Carlisle, he had not lost more than 40 men during his expedition into England. Hitherto he had carefully concealed his weakness, but now, thinking himself sure of doubling his army in a few days, he was not unwilling to let the world see the handful of men with which he had penetrated into the very heart of England, and returned in the face of two powerful armies almost without loss.[1092]

Abandoning, in the mean time, his project of returning to England, Charles resolved to lay siege to the castles of Stirling and Edinburgh. He depended much for success upon the artillery and engineers brought over by Lord John Drummond, and looked confidently forward for additional succours from France in terms of the repeated assurances he had received. Having determined on beginning with Stirling, he sent orders to Lord Strathallan, Lord John Drummond, Lord Lewis Gordon, and other commanders in the north, to join him forthwith with all their forces. To accelerate a junction with the forces at Perth, the prince marched his army from Glasgow on the 4th of January, 1766, in two divisions; one of which, commanded by the prince, took the road to Kilsyth, where it passed the night. Charles himself took up his quarters in Kilsyth house, then belonging to Mr. Campbell of Shawfield. Mr. Campbell’s steward, it is said, was ordered to provide every thing necessary for the comfort of the prince, under a promise of payment, but was told next morning that the bill should be allowed to his master at accounting for the rents of Kilsyth, which was a forfeited estate. Next day Charles marched towards Stirling, and encamped his division at Denny, Bannockburn, and St. Ninians. He passed the night at Bannockburn-house, the seat of Sir Hugh Paterson, where he was received with Jacobite hospitality. The other division, consisting of six battalions of the clans, under Lord George Murray, spent the first night at Cumbernauld, and the next at Falkirk, where they fixed their quarters.

Preparatory to the siege of the castle, Charles resolved to reduce the town of Stirling. The inhabitants, encouraged by General Blakeney, the governor of the castle, determined to defend the town; and a body of about 600 volunteers, all inhabitants of the town, was supplied by the governor with arms and ammunition from the castle, and promised every assistance he could afford them. He told them, at the same time, that if they should be overpowered they could make a good retreat, as he would keep an open door for them. Animated by the activity of the magistrates and the clergymen of the town--among whom the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, the father of the Secession,[1093] who commanded two companies of Seceders, was particularly distinguished--the inhabitants proceeded to put the town in a posture of defence.

On the afternoon of Saturday the 4th of January, the Highlanders had nearly surrounded the town; but they did not complete the investment till next day, which was partly occupied in cutting down some trees intended for fascines, on which they meant to construct a battery. About eight o’clock in the evening they sent a drummer to the east gate with a message; but, being fired upon by the sentinels, he threw away his drum and fled. The insurgents fired several shots into the town during the night, which were responded to by the volunteers, who were all under arms, and posted in different parties at the different by-ways and paths into the town, and at such parts of the wall as were deemed insufficient. During the night the utmost alarm prevailed among the inhabitants, and few of them went to bed. Some fled from the town, and others retired into the castle; but the magistrates and the other principal inhabitants remained all night in the council chamber in which they had assembled, to give such direction and assistance as might be necessary, in case an assault should be attempted during the night.[1094]

Next morning the insurgents were discovered erecting a battery within musket-shot of the town, almost opposite to the east gate, in a situation where the cannon of the castle could not be brought to bear upon them. The volunteers kept up a constant fire of musketry upon them; but, in spite of this annoyance, the Highlanders completed the battery before noon. Charles, thereupon, sent a verbal message to the magistrates, requiring them instantly to surrender the town; but, at their solicitation, they obtained till ten o’clock next day to make up their minds. The message was taken into consideration at a public meeting of the inhabitants, and the question of surrender was long and anxiously debated. The majority having come to the resolution that it was impossible to defend the town with the handful of men within, two deputies were sent to Bannockburn, the head-quarters of the Highland army, who offered to surrender on terms; stating that, rather than surrender at discretion, as required, they would defend the town to the last extremity. After a negotiation, which occupied the greater part of Tuesday, the following terms of capitulation were agreed upon: viz., that no demand should be made upon the town revenues,--that the inhabitants should not be molested in their persons or effects,--and that the arms in the town should be returned to the castle. Pending this negotiation, the Highlanders, to terrify the inhabitants into a speedy submission, as is supposed, discharged twenty-seven shots from the battery into the town, which, however, did no other damage than beating down a few chimney tops. After the arms were carried into the castle, the gates were thrown open on Wednesday the 8th, and the Highlanders entered the town about three o’clock in the afternoon.[1095]

Being in want of battering cannon for a siege, Charles had, before his departure from Glasgow, sent orders to Lord John Drummond, to bring up the pieces which he had brought over from France. As General Blakeney had broken down part of Stirling bridge, to prevent the insurgents at Perth from crossing the Forth at Stirling, some of the battering cannon were sent to the Frews, and were transported across that ford by means of floats, while the rest were brought to Alloa as a nearer road for the purpose of being transported across the Frith of Forth. Great difficulty was experienced in getting over these pieces, and as there was but a small guard along with them, they might have fallen into the hands of a party of troops sent up the Frith by Hawley, had not Lord George Murray, on hearing of their embarkation, sent over Lochiel with his regiment, which had lately been augmented by recruits, and was now 700 strong.[1096]

As there were no ships at Alloa, Lord George seized a vessel lying off Airth to transport his cannon across the Frith. This was a fortunate circumstance, as two sloops of war, the Pearl and Vulture, sailed up the Frith next tide from Leith roads to seize all the vessels and boats in the neighbourhood, and otherwise to obstruct the conveyance of the cannon. General Hawley, about the same time, viz., on the 8th of January, sent up some armed boats, and a small vessel with cannon from Leith, manned with 300 men under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Leighton, to destroy all the works the Highlanders had made to cover the passage of their cannon. The sloops of war anchored in Kincardine roads, whence, on the morning of the 8th, two long boats well manned were sent up towards Airth, in conjunction with the other boats and small armed vessel, to burn two vessels lying in the neighbourhood which could not be launched till the spring tides. This service they effected without the loss of a single man, though the boats were fired upon by the Highlanders who were posted in the village. Having been prevented from returning to the station off Kincardine, by the lowness of the tide, the Highlanders opened a battery of three pieces of cannon next morning upon the flotilla, but without doing it any damage. The Highlanders are said to have had two of their cannon dismounted on this occasion by the fire from the sloop, and to have sustained a loss of several men, including their principal engineer.[1097]

Apprehensive that the flotilla would next attempt to set fire to the other vessel, Lord George Murray erected a battery of four guns at Elphinstone Pans to command the river, and to keep off the sloops of war, should they attempt to come up. In addition to the troops stationed at Airth, his lordship sent a reinforcement of between 300 and 400 men from Falkirk, which arrived at Elphinstone and Airth on the 10th. At this time the vessel which had been seized at Airth was lying at Alloa, and had taken two out of seven pieces of cannon, with some ammunition on board. To capture this vessel, a large boat, having 50 soldiers on board, along with the boats belonging to the sloops of war, well manned and armed, were sent up the river during the night of the 10th, with instructions to lie all night a mile above Alloa, in order to intercept the vessel should an attempt be made to carry her up the river during the night. Unfortunately, however, for this design, the boats grounded after passing the town, and the Highlanders who were posted in the town, having, by this accident, come to the knowledge that the enemy was at hand, immediately beat to arms, and commenced a random fire from right to left, which forced the boats to retreat down the river. Next morning, however, the two sloops of war, accompanied by some smaller vessels, went up the river with the tide, and casting anchor opposite to, and within musket-shot of the battery, opened a brisk fire. Three of the smaller vessels anchored in a convenient place to play upon the village of Elphinstone, and two more hovered along as if inclined to land some soldiers, with which they were crowded. The firing was kept up on both sides, for upwards of three hours, without much damage on either side. The cable of one of the sloops of war having been cut asunder by a cannon shot, an accident which forced her from her station, and the two pilots in the other having each lost a leg, the assailants abandoned the enterprise, and fell down the river with the ebb-tide. Being now relieved from the presence of the enemy, Lord George brought over the cannon and stores without further opposition.[1098]

On the 12th of January, two days after he had taken possession of the town, Charles broke ground before Stirling castle, between the church and a large house at the head of the town, called Marr’s work. Here he raised a battery against the castle, upon which he mounted two sixteen-pounders, two pieces of eight, and three of three. The prince thereupon summoned General Blakeney to surrender, but his answer was, that he would defend the place to the last extremity; that as honour had hitherto been his rule through life, he would rather die than stain it by abandoning his post, and that his royal highness would assuredly have a very bad opinion of him, were he to surrender the castle in such a cowardly manner.[1099] To prevent any intelligence of their operations being carried to the enemy, the Highlanders shut the gates of the town, and placed guards at all the outlets. The siege went on very slowly, and Charles soon perceived that he had chosen a bad situation for his battery, which was so exposed to the fire of the castle, that its works were speedily demolished, and the cannon dismounted.

While the siege was going on, the forces in the north under Lord Strathallan and Lord John Drummond began to arrive at Stirling. By these reinforcements the prince’s army was increased to 9,000 men, all in the highest spirits. The Macdonalds, the Camerons, and the Stuarts, were now twice as numerous as they were when the Highland army entered England, and Lord Ogilvy had got a second battalion, under the command of Sir James Kinloch, as lieutenant-colonel, much stronger than the first. The Frasers, the Mackintoshes, and Farquharsons, were reckoned 300 men each, and in addition to these, the Earl of Cromarty, and his son, Lord Macleod, had also brought up their men.[1100]

Conceiving himself in a sufficiently strong condition to give battle to the Highlanders, General Hawley began to put the troops he had assembled at Edinburgh in motion towards the west. His force amounted to upwards of 9,000 men, of whom 1,300 were cavalry, and he might in a few days have increased it considerably by the addition of some regiments which were on their march to join him. He had also reason to expect the immediate arrival in the Frith of Forth of a body of 6,000 Hessians who had embarked at Williamstadt on the 1st of January, by which accession his army would have been almost doubled. Impatient, however, to acquire a renown which had been denied to Cope, his predecessor, of whose capacity he had been heard to speak very contemptuously, Hawley resolved not to wait for his expected reinforcements, but to seize the laurels which were in imagination already within his grasp.

Accordingly, on the morning of the 13th of January, the first division of the royal army, consisting of five regiments of foot, together with the Glasgow regiment of militia, and Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s dragoons, all under the command of Major-general Huske, left Edinburgh and marched westward to Linlithgow. Hearing that preparations had been made at Linlithgow for the reception of these troops, and that provisions and forage had been collected in that town for the use of Hawley’s army, Lord George Murray left Falkirk at four o’clock the same morning for Linlithgow, with five battalions of the clans for the purpose of capturing these stores. He was joined on the road by Lord Elcho’s and Lord Pitsligo’s troops of life-guards, whom he had ordered to meet him. Before sunrise he had completely surrounded the town, and as Lord George had been informed that Huske’s division was to enter the town at night, he called his officers together before marching into town, and having told them the object for which they had come, he desired that they would continue ready to assemble in the street on a moment’s warning, in order to march wherever they might be directed. After taking possession of the town, and apprehending a few militia, Lord George sent forward some patrols on the road to Edinburgh, to reconnoitre while the Highlanders were engaged in seizing the articles prepared for the royal forces; but they had scarcely been an hour in town when these advanced parties discovered a body of dragoons advancing in their direction. Two of the patrols came back at full speed, and having given Lord George notice of their approach, he marched with his men out of the town. The dragoons retired as the Highlanders advanced. Their horse, with 200 of the best foot, followed them about two miles; but the main body returned to Linlithgow, where they dined. With the exception of a few small reconnoitring parties, the advanced body also returned to the town; but in less than an hour one of these parties came in with information that the dragoons were again returning with a large body of horse and foot. Lord George resolved to attack them when the half of them should pass the bridge, half a mile west from the town, and after waiting with his men on the streets till Huske had reached the east end of the town, he retired in the expectation that the royalist general would follow him; but Huske, who marched above the town, though he followed the Highlanders to the bridge, did not pass it. Lord George returned to Falkirk, and by orders of the prince marched next day to Bannockburn.[1101]

On the 14th other three regiments marched from Edinburgh towards Borrowstownness, to support the division under Huske, and these were followed next day by three additional regiments. With these forces Huske marched on the 16th to Falkirk, and encamped to the north-west of the town with his front towards Stirling. In the evening he was joined by the remainder of the army, and the artillery, consisting of ten pieces of cannon. General Hawley himself arrived at Callander House the same evening. Next morning the army was joined by Cobham’s dragoons, who had just arrived from England, and by about 1,000 Argyleshire men, chiefly Campbells, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, afterwards Duke of Argyle. Besides this corps, this whig clan furnished another of 1,000 men, which was posted about Inverary, under Major-general Campbell, the colonel’s father, to guard the passes. Along with the army was a company called the Yorkshire Blues, raised, maintained, and commanded, by a gentleman of the name of Thornton. Several volunteers, among whom were several clergymen, also accompanied the army on this occasion.

Having received intelligence of the advance of the royalists to Falkirk, Charles, on the evening of the 16th, ordered the different detachments of his army to concentrate upon Plean moor, about seven miles from that town, and two miles to the east of Bannockburn, where his head-quarters were. He, however, left several battalions, amounting to about 1,000 men, in Stirling, under the Duke of Perth, to push on the siege of the castle. Nobody supposed that the prince, in issuing this order, had any other object in contemplation than to review his army, and of so little importance was it considered, that although the order was immediately made known on all sides, it was near twelve o’clock next day before the different parts of the army arrived from their quarters.[1102] After the army had been drawn up in line of battle, Charles called a council of war, and for the first time stated his intention of giving immediate battle to Hawley. That general had, it is believed, been informed of the probability of an attack, but he treated the information lightly, and instead of attending to the affairs of his camp, spent the morning at Callander House with the Countess of Kilmarnock, with whom he breakfasted.[1103] The Torwood, once a forest of great extent, celebrated as the chief retreat of the heroic Wallace, but now greatly decayed, lay between the two armies; and through what was once the middle of the forest, the high road from Stirling to Falkirk, by Bannockburn, passes.

From information which Charles had received, he supposed that Hawley would have advanced and offered him battle; but seeing no appearance of him, he put his army in motion about mid-day, towards Falkirk. While the main body of the army marched in two columns along the moor, on the west side of the Torwood, where they could not be seen from Hawley’s camp, a third body of horse and foot, under Lord John Drummond, appeared upon the high road which runs through the centre of the Torwood, and moved about, displaying their colours in view of the enemy, as if they intended to attack Hawley’s camp. The object of this parade was to draw off the attention of the enemy from the main body, which was advancing unperceived towards Falkirk, by a different route. After the two columns had advanced about half a mile, Lord George Murray received an order from the prince to delay passing the water of Carron till night, as he did not think it advisable to cross in the face of the enemy, but his lordship having satisfied his royal highness of the impropriety of the order, he was allowed to proceed. Ignorant of the approach of the main body of the Highlanders, Hawley’s officers thought the demonstration made by the body on the high road unworthy of attention; but they were aroused from their apathy by a countryman, who arrived in the camp with intelligence that the Highlanders were close upon them. Two of the officers immediately ascended a tree, and, by means of a telescope, descried the Highland army marching towards Falkirk, by the south side of the Torwood. This was a little before one o’clock, and the officers having communicated the circumstance to Lieutenant-colonel Howard, their commanding officer, he went to Callander House and informed the general of it. Instead, however, of ordering his men to get under arms, Hawley directed that they should merely put on their accoutrements. This order was obeyed, and the troops sat down to dinner, but before they had finished their repast, they were summoned to arms.

When the Highlanders came in sight of the water of Carron, the town of Falkirk, and the enemy’s camp, also opened upon their view. It was now between one and two o’clock, and some well-mounted scouts, who were on the opposite side of the water, on observing the Highlanders, immediately rode off at full gallop, and reported that the Highland army was about to cross the Carron at Dunnipace. The alarm which this intelligence produced in the royalist camp was very great. Hawley was instantly sent for, and the commanding officers, who were exceedingly perplexed, formed their regiments as quickly as possible upon the ground in front of the camp. The general, instantly mounting his horse, galloped to the camp, and in his haste left his hat behind him.

In taking the circuitous route by the south side of the Torwood, Charles had a double object in view--to conceal his approach from the enemy as long as he could, and to obtain possession of Falkirk moor, about two miles south-west of Hawley’s camp, and which, from the nature of the ground, was considered well fitted for the operations of a Highland army. Suspecting that it was the prince’s design to secure the heights of the moor, Hawley at once determined to prevent him, if possible, and accordingly on his arrival at the camp he ordered the three regiments of dragoons to march towards the moor, and take possession of the high ground between them and the insurgents. He also directed the infantry to follow them with fixed bayonets. This was a rash and inconsiderate step, as Hawley had never examined the ground, which he found, when too late, was by no means a suitable field of battle for his troops. In ordering his army to march up the moor, the English commander is said to have been impressed with the idea that the Highlanders did not mean to attack him, but to give him the slip, and march back to England, and that his object was to intercept them and bring them to action.[1104] This explanation, however, is by no means satisfactory.

After crossing the Carron at Dunnipace Steps, the main body of the Highlanders stretched along the moor in two parallel lines, about two hundred paces asunder. The column next the royal army consisted of the clan regiments which had been in England, and of the recruits which had lately arrived from the Highlands, with the Frasers, and a battalion of the Farquharsons. The other column, which was to the right of the last mentioned, consisted of the Athole brigade, the Maclauchlans, the battalions of Ogilvy and Gordon, and Lord John Drummond’s regiment. After reaching the bottom of the hill, the columns faced to the left, and began to ascend the eminence. Almost simultaneously with this movement, Hawley’s dragoons, proceeding along the eastern wall of Bantaskin inclosures, rapidly ascended the hill also, followed by the foot with fixed bayonets. At this instant, the sky, which till then had been unusually serene, became suddenly overcast, and before the foot had advanced far, a violent storm of wind and rain burst from the south-west, which beat directly in the faces of the soldiers, and retarded their march up the hill. A running contest seemed now to take place between the dragoons and the advanced divisions of the Highland columns, consisting of the Macdonalds and the Athole men, to gain the summit of the ridge of the moor. Both parties reached the top of the hill about the same time, and possessed themselves of two eminences, within musket-shot of each other. To prevent the dragoons gaining the advantage of the ground and the wind, the Macdonalds and Athole men had advanced with such rapidity, that they had left the rear of the columns considerably behind, and on reaching the height of the moor, they halted to give time to the rear to come up.

Meanwhile Lord George Murray, who commanded the right wing, proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for battle. In forming, the two columns merely faced to the left, by which simple movement the eastern column at once became, as originally designed, the front line. When completed, the order of battle of the Highland army was as follows. On the extreme right of the first line, stood the Macdonalds of Keppoch, next to these the Macdonalds of Clanranald, and in succession the regiment of Glengary, a battalion of Farquharsons under Farquharson of Bumarrel,[1105] the Mackenzies, the Mackintoshes, the Macphersons under Cluny their chief, the Frasers under the Master of Lovat, the Stuarts of Appin, and the Camerons, who formed the extreme left of this line. The second line, which chiefly consisted of the low country regiments, was composed of the Athole brigade, which formed the right wing, of Lord Ogilvy’s regiment of two battalions in the centre, and of the regiment of Lord Lewis Gordon, also of two battalions, which formed the left of the line. At the distance of about twenty yards in the rear of the centre of the second line, the prince was stationed with some horse and foot, and was joined before the commencement of the action by Lord John Drummond, with a large body of horse, the Irish piquets and the other troops, with which he had made the feint, as a corps de reserve. Some of the horse guards under Lords Elcho and Balmerino, and also some of the hussars, who were on the right of the prince, were sent farther to the right to protect the flank, but they were prevented from extending farther, by a morass, which covered the right wing, and were obliged to draw up behind the Athole men. At the opposite extremity on the left of the prince, Lord Pitsligo’s and Kilmarnock’s horse were stationed.[1106]

The infantry of the royal army was also formed in two lines, with a body of reserve in the rear; but the disposition of the cavalry, as will be seen, was altogether different from that of the insurgent army. The first line consisted of the regiments of Ligonier, Price, Royal Scots, Pulteney, Cholmondeley, and Wolfe, and the second of those of Battereau, Barrel, Fleming, Munro, and Blakeney. The names of the regiments are here given according to the order they stood, beginning with the right. Behind the right of the second line, Howard’s regiment was stationed as a reserve. The Glasgow regiment, and other Lowland militia, were posted as another body of reserve, near some cottages behind the left of the dragoons; and the Argyleshire men were placed at some distance from the right of the royal army, to watch the motions of the forces under Lord John Drummond, who seemed, before they joined the two columns on the moor, to threaten an attack upon the camp. The left of the dragoons was directly opposite to Keppoch’s regiment, but by keeping large intervals between their squadrons, their right extended as far down as the centre of Lord Lovat’s regiment, which stood the third from the left of the insurgent army. In consequence of this extension of the front line of the royal army, Lochiel’s regiment, which was upon the left extremity of the opposite line, was outflanked by three of the royal regiments. With the exception of one or two regiments in each line, which, by their proximity to the top of the moor, had reached ground somewhat level, the rest of the king’s infantry stood on the declivity of the hill, and so great was the inequality of the ground, that the opposite wings alone of either army were visible to each other. Between the right of the royal army and the left of that of the insurgents, there was a ravine, which, beginning on the declivity of the hill, directly opposite the centre of the Fraser battalion, ran in a northerly direction, and gradually widened and deepened till it reached the plain. The right of the royal army was commanded by Major-general Huske, the centre by Hawley himself, and the left by Brigadier Cholmondeley, but the three regiments of dragoons on the left were under the immediate command of Lieutenant-colonel Ligonier. The colonel’s own dragoon regiment, formerly Gardiner’s, was stationed on the extreme left. Hamilton’s dragoons were posted on the right, and Cobham’s in the centre.

In the action about to commence, the combatants on both sides were deprived of the use of their artillery. The Highlanders, from the rapidity of their march, left their cannon behind them, and those belonging to Hawley’s army, consisting of ten pieces, stuck fast in a swamp at the bottom of the hill. The royal forces were greatly superior to the Highlanders in numbers, but the latter had the advantage of the ground, and having the wind and the rain in their backs, were not annoyed to the same extent as their adversaries, who received the wind and rain directly in their faces.[1107]

The right wing of the Highland army and Hawley’s cavalry had remained upwards of a quarter of an hour within musket-shot of each other, waiting the coming up of the other forces, when General Hawley sent an order to Colonel Ligonier, to attack the Highlanders. At the time this order was despatched, some of his troops destined for the centre of his second line had not reached their posts, but Hawley, impatient of delay, and led astray by a mistaken though prevalent idea, that the Highlanders could not stand the shock of cavalry, resolved to commence the action with the dragoons only. Ligonier, who appears to have entertained more correct notions on this subject than the generalissimo, was surprised at the order; but he proceeded to put it in execution.[1108]

Before advancing, Colonel Ligonier made several motions, with the design of drawing off the fire of the Highlanders, and riding in among them, and breaking their ranks; but they did not fire a shot. Conjecturing that the dragoons were to be supported by a body of infantry in their rear, Lord George Murray, to whom no such description of force was discernible at the time, sent Colonel Roy Stuart and Anderson, the guide at the battle of Preston, forward on horseback to reconnoitre. On receiving their report that they had not observed any foot, Lord George resolved to anticipate his opponent Ligonier, by attacking the dragoons. Accordingly he gave orders to the right wing to advance slowly, and, passing along the line, desired the men to keep their ranks, and not to fire till he gave them orders. Lord George, with his sword in his hand, and his target on his arm, then took his station at the head of the first line, which, with the second, continued to advance in good order. The dragoons, on observing the approach of the Highlanders, also began to move forward, and were instantly at the full trot. They came up in very good order, till within pistol-shot of the first line of the Highlanders, when Lord George Murray presented his piece as the signal to fire. The Highlanders, thereupon, discharged a volley with such precision and effect, that the dragoons were entirely broken, and many of them were killed and wounded. Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s regiments instantly wheeled about, and galloped down the hill, riding over and trampling upon some of their party, and carrying along with them a company of the Glasgow regiment. Cobham’s regiment, which had just returned from foreign service, however, stood its ground for some time, and breaking through the first line of the Highlanders, trampled many of them under foot. A singular combat then ensued. Deprived of the use of their broadswords, some of the Highlanders, who lay stretched on the ground, had recourse to their dirks, which they plunged into the bellies of the horses. Others seized the riders by their clothes, and dragging them from their horses, stabbed them with the same weapon. In this mêlée the chief of Clanranald made a narrow escape, having been trodden down, and before he was able to rise a horse fell dead upon him, the weight of which prevented him from extricating himself without assistance. While in this perilous situation, he saw a dismounted dragoon and a Highlander struggling near him, and for a time the issue seemed doubtful. The anxiety of the chief, whose own preservation seemed to depend on the success of his clansman, was soon relieved, when he saw the Highlander throw his antagonist, and instantly despatch him with his dirk. The Highlander thereupon came up to the prostrate chief, and drew him from under the horse. The dragoons, unable any longer to contend with the Macdonalds, galloped off to the right between the two armies, and received the fire of the remainder of the front line of the Highlanders, as they went along, as far down as Lord Lovat’s regiment.

Afraid that, after the flight of the dragoons, the Highlanders would commence a disorderly pursuit, Lord George Murray ordered the Macdonalds of Keppoch to keep their ranks, and sent a similar order to the two other Macdonald regiments. But notwithstanding this command of the lieutenant-general, and the efforts of the officers, who, with drawn swords and cocked pistols, endeavoured to restrain them from an immediate pursuit, a considerable number of the men of these two regiments, along with all the regiments on their left, as far down as the head of the ravine, rushed down the hill in pursuit of the enemy. They were received with a volley from some of the regiments on the left of the first line of the royal army, and having returned the fire, the Highlanders threw away their muskets, and drawing their swords, rushed in upon the enemy. Unable to resist the impetuosity of the attack, the whole of the royal army, with the exception of Barrel’s regiment, and part of the regiments of Price and Ligonier, gave way. At first the Highlanders supposed that the rout was complete, and General Hawley himself, who was huddled off the field among a confused mass of horse and foot, was of the same opinion; but the Highlanders were undeceived, when coming near the bottom of the hill, they received a fire in flank from these regiments, which threw them into great disorder, and obliged them to retire up the hill. The Camerons and the Stuarts, who were on the opposite side of the ravine, suffered also from the fire of this body, and were likewise obliged to fall back.[1109]

Meanwhile Lord George Murray, who observed the confusion in Hawley’s army, was moving down the hill with the Athole men in good order, for the purpose of attacking it on its retreat. He had sent orders by Colonel Ker, to the reserve to advance on the left, and having met scattered parties of the Macdonalds returning up the hill, he endeavoured to rally them as he marched down, but without effect. Before reaching the bottom of the hill, Lord George obtained a complete view of the disorder which prevailed in the enemy’s ranks. With the exception of the three regiments of foot, and Cobham’s dragoons, which were marching rapidly towards Falkirk, and covering the rear of the other fugitives, the remainder of the royal army was running off to the right and left, by forties and fifties; but as Lord George had not more than 600 or 700 men with him, and as the rest of the Highland army was scattered over the face of the hill, he resolved to halt at its foot. Here he was joined by the Irish piquets, and by Lord John Drummond, and other officers. Some of the officers advised a retreat towards Dunipace, that the men might obtain shelter during the night from the rain, which was excessive; but his lordship strongly advised that they should endeavour to obtain possession of Falkirk immediately, while the confusion lasted, declaring that he would either lie in the town or in paradise. While this discussion was going on, the prince arrived, and approved highly of the views of his lieutenant-general. Charles was advised, in the meantime, to retire to some house on the face of the hill, till the result of the attempt should be known.

It was now almost dark, and as the fires of Hawley’s camp indicated an apparent intention on his part to retain possession of the town, the officers assembled at the bottom of the hill, considered it unsafe to advance farther, till they had ascertained the state of matters. To procure intelligence, Mr. Drummond, eldest son of Lord Strathallan, and Oliphant, younger of Gask, entered Falkirk, disguised as peasants, and having ascertained that General Hawley, after issuing orders to set fire to his tents, had abandoned the town, and was retreating on Linlithgow, they immediately returned to their friends with the information. The body collected at the foot of the hill now advanced upon Falkirk, in three detachments; one of which, under Lochiel, entered the town at the west end, another under Lord George Murray, at the centre, and the other, under Lord John Drummond, by a lane called the Cow wynd, at the east end. Some stragglers, who had remained behind, were taken prisoners, one of whom fired at Lord John Drummond, when about to seize him, and wounded him slightly in the arm. Information of the occupation of the town, by the Highlanders, was sent to the prince, who immediately repaired thither, and took up his residence in a house which fronts the steeple.

So great was the disorder that existed in the Highland army, occasioned by the rash and impetuous conduct of the Macdonalds, in leaving their ranks, and by the check received from the three regiments, that it was about four hours after the close of the battle, which lasted scarcely twenty minutes, before the greater part of the army had any information of the result. The Highlanders were dispersed in every direction over the hill, and the different clans were mingled together pell-mell. The confusion was greatly increased by the obscurity of the night, and for several hours they wandered over the moor, uncertain whether they were to meet friends or foes. Early in the evening, many of the Highlanders had retired from the field of battle, either thinking it lost, or intending to seek shelter from the weather. During this disorder, the fate of the prince himself was equally unknown. Early in the action, he had sent one of his aides-de-camp with an order; but, on returning with an answer, the prince was no more to be seen. The officer, in searching for him, fell in with the prince’s own life-guards, drawn up in order of battle, near a cottage on the edge of the hill, with their commander, Lord Elcho, at their head; but his lordship could give him no information respecting the prince. Lord Lewis Gordon, and several chiefs of the clans, ignorant even of the fate of their own regiments, met together at the seat of Mr. Primrose, at Dunipace, where they were joined by other officers all equally ignorant of the result of the battle. At length, about eight o’clock in the evening, all doubt was removed from the minds of this party, by the arrival of Macdonald of Lochgarry, who announced that the Highland army had obtained a complete victory,--that the English were flying in disorder towards Edinburgh,--and that the prince was in possession of Falkirk, and in the quarters which had been occupied by General Hawley. He added, that he had been sent to Dunipace, by the prince, with orders to the rest of the army to repair to Falkirk next morning by break of day.[1110]

Partly from the darkness of the evening, and partly from the impossibility of collecting a sufficiently numerous body of the Highlanders together, the prince was unable to continue the pursuit. About 1,500 of them had entered the town, but so intent were they upon securing the spoils of the English camp, that it was with difficulty that sufficient guards could be got for the town, and the prince’s person, during the night. Besides, the Highlanders had been upon their legs for twelve hours, without receiving any refreshment, and were completely drenched to the skin, so that even had pursuit been otherwise practicable, they must have speedily desisted from excessive fatigue, and might probably have suffered from the dragoons which covered the rear of Hawley’s foot.

In addition to seven pieces of cannon which had been abandoned by the captain of the train at the commencement of the action, Hawley left behind him all his baggage, and a large quantity of military stores. Owing to the rain, very few of his tents, to which he had set fire, were consumed. Besides the matériel of the royal army, several standards and stands of colours fell into the hands of the victors. According to the official returns, the loss of the English, in killed, wounded, and missing, was 280, including a considerable number of officers; but these returns are supposed to be greatly underrated.[1111] There were sixteen officers killed on the government side, viz., Colonel Sir Robert Munro of Foulis; Lieutenant-colonel Whitney of Ligonier’s regiment of dragoons; Lieutenant-colonel Biggar of Munro’s regiment; Lieutenant-colonel Powell of Cholmondeley’s regiment; five captains and one lieutenant of Wolfe’s; and four captains and two lieutenants of Blakeney’s regiment. Sir Robert’s regiment, which consisted chiefly of his own clan, had particularly distinguished itself at the battle of Fontenoy; but on the present occasion it partook of the panic which had seized the other regiments on the left, and fled, leaving its colonel alone and unprotected. In this situation Sir Robert was attacked by six men of Lochiel’s regiment, and, for some time gallantly defended himself with his half-pike. He killed two of his assailants, and would probably have despatched more, had not a seventh come up and shot him in the groin with a pistol. On falling, the Highlander struck him two blows across the face with his broadsword, which killed him on the spot. Dr. Munro of Obsdale, his brother, who, from fraternal affection, had attended Sir Robert to the field to afford him any medical assistance he might require, was standing close by his brother when he fell, and shared his fate at the hands of the same Highlander, who, after firing a pistol into his breast, cut him down with his claymore. The bodies of the two brothers having been recognised the next day, were honourably interred in one grave in the churchyard of Falkirk in presence of all the chiefs.[1112]

The loss on the side of the Highlanders amounted only to about 40 men, among whom were two or three captains, and some subaltern officers. They had, however, nearly double that number wounded. Besides Lord John Drummond, young Lochiel and his brother, and Dr. Archibald Cameron, were slightly wounded. Hawley’s army could boast of only one prisoner, who fell into their hands by mere accident. This was Major Macdonald of Keppoch’s regiment, cousin to the chief. Having pursued the flying English farther than any other person, he was in the act of returning to his corps, when in his way he observed, in the dusk of the evening, a body of men at some distance standing in a hollow near the bottom of the hill. Imagining this body to be Lord John Drummond’s regiment and the French piquets, he ran forward towards the party with his sword still drawn, and when near them, cried out with a feeling of strong emotion, “Gentlemen, what are you doing here? Why don’t ye follow after the dogs, and pursue them?” Scarcely, however, had he uttered these words, when he discovered that the body he accosted was an English regiment, (Barrel’s,) and the cry, “Here is a rebel! here is a rebel!” at once met his ears. Escape being impossible, the major, thinking that he would not be discovered by the colour of his white cockade, which was quite dirty with the rain and the smoke of the firing, pretended that he was one of their own Campbells; but General Huske observed that it was easy to discover what the prisoner was by his sword, the blade of which was covered over with blood and hair. Huske gave orders “to shoot the dog instantly,” and a party of musketeers immediately presented their pieces at the major’s breast; but Lord Robert Ker generously interposed, and, beating down the muskets, saved the major’s life. The general having refused to receive the major’s arms, they were accepted by Lord Robert. When pulling his pistol from his belt, previously to surrendering his arms, Huske was alarmed, and exclaimed with an oath, that “the dog” was going to shoot him; but Macdonald indignantly observed, that he was more of a gentleman than to do any such thing, and that he was only pulling off his pistol to deliver it up.[1113] The major was carried to Edinburgh, and committed to the castle next day, and, after a few months’ confinement, tried, convicted, and executed.

The victory would have been complete by the utter annihilation of the English army, had the prince taken the usual precautions to preserve unity of action among the different sections of his undisciplined host. Early in the morning, Lord George Murray had submitted a plan of the battle to his royal highness, and requested that he would name the officers that were to command, and assign them their different stations; but with the exception of Lord George himself, who was appointed to march at the head of the army, and who consequently had the command of the right wing, no other appointment appears to have been made. It seems to have been understood by Charles himself, that Lord John Drummond was to have commanded the left wing; but if such was the case, Lord John could have obtained no distinct notification thereof, as he never appeared in his place. It is maintained by Lord George Murray, that had there been an officer in command on the left, to have brought up two or three battalions from the second line, or from the corps de reserve so as to have extended the first line still farther to the left, and thus to have faced the English regiments which outflanked them, the whole of Hawley’s foot must have been taken or destroyed, and that few even of the horse would have escaped, as the Highlanders would not have given over the chase till they had reached Linlithgow,--and that, in short, had the three regiments which outlined the Highlanders been faced, the battle would not have lasted ten minutes, as these regiments, instead of keeping their ground, pouring in part of their fire on the left flank of the Highlanders, and compelling those who attacked the right and centre of Hawley’s foot sword in hand to retire to their former ground, would have given way with the rest of the main body. In the absence of Lord John Drummond, it was the duty of O’Sullivan, who, as adjutant-general, was chiefly intrusted by the prince with the formation of the left wing, to have brought up men for the purpose of extending the line; but instead of riding along the line as he should have done before the action, none of the officers of the first line of the Highland army saw him till the battle was over.[1114] While Lord John Drummond could not but be sensible of the error which had been committed on the left, he retaliated upon the lieutenant-general, by ascribing the escape of Hawley’s army to the conduct of Lord George himself, who prevented part of the right wing from joining in the charge upon the foot, after the flight of the dragoons.

The English imputed their defeat chiefly to the violence of the storm, which was full in their faces during the action; but this, though certainly a formidable difficulty, was not the only one they had to encounter. To a combination of unfortunate circumstances, and not to any particular incident, is to be ascribed the result which ensued; but mainly to Hawley’s ignorance of the resistance which the Highlanders could oppose to cavalry. He had been major of Evans’s dragoons at the battle of Sheriffmuir, where that regiment and the Scots Greys, led by the Duke of Argyle, after getting over a morass, which the intense frost of the preceding night had rendered passable, attacked the flank of the insurgent army, which conceived itself secure from that quarter, and rode down, and drove off the field several regiments of Highlanders. Imagining from this precedent, that the Highlanders could not withstand the charge of cavalry, he observed one day in a company of officers in Flanders, who were talking of the battle of Preston, that “he knew the Highlanders; they were good militia; but he was certain that they could not stand against a charge of dragoons, who attacked them well.”[1115] Under this impression he began the battle with his dragoons, before his infantry had been fully formed into line; but he soon saw the consequences of his indiscretion.

Though the field of battle is about twenty-six miles distant from Edinburgh, the intelligence of Hawley’s defeat was known there before nine o’clock at night, by the arrival of some spectators who had witnessed the action, and by some of the dragoons who, impelled by fear, did not halt till they reached the capital. The English general passed the evening of the battle at Linlithgow, and marched next morning with the mass of his army to Edinburgh, where he arrived about four o’clock in the afternoon. A prey to disappointment and vexation, the appearance of Hawley on the morning after the battle is said by an observer to have been most wretched, and even worse than that of Cope a few hours after his “scuffle,” when the same person saw him at Fala on his retreat to Berwick.[1116]

Before the return of Hawley’s army, the greatest consternation prevailed among the friends of the government at Edinburgh from the reports of the fugitives, who brought accounts of the total rout and dispersion of the army, exaggerated by the relation of circumstances which had no existence, save in their own terrified imaginations; but the arrival of the greater part of the army served to dissipate their fears in some measure. Since the commencement of the rebellion, however, to its final close, never were the apprehensions of the supporters of the existing government more alarmingly excited than on the present occasion, when they saw the veteran troops, who had fought the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, return from Falkirk discomfited by a body of undisciplined mountaineers whom they had been taught to despise. The Jacobites, on the other hand, exulted at the victory, and gave expression to their feelings by openly deriding the vanquished.[1117]

The prince spent the 18th, the day after the battle, at Falkirk; but, as the rain fell in torrents during the greater part of that day, few of the officers quitted their lodgings. Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, the slain were interred by order of the prince, and a considerable body of Highlanders marched to Linlithgow, of which they took possession. Charles now took the advice of his friends as to the use he should make of his victory. Some were for following up the blow which had been struck, and driving Hawley out of Scotland. Others were for marching directly to London before the enemy had time to recover from their consternation. They argued that it was not to be supposed that Hawley would again face the prince and his victorious army till he should receive new reinforcements; that even then the troops which had been beaten would communicate terror to the rest; and that the prince’s army, flushed with victory, could never fight with greater advantages on their side. There were others, however, who thought differently, and maintained that the capture of Stirling castle was the chief object at present; that it had never been before heard of that an army employed in a siege, having beaten those that came to raise it, had made any other use of their victory than to take the fortress in the first place; that any other conduct would argue a great deal of levity; and that it was of the utmost importance to obtain possession of the castle, as it opened an easy and safe communication between the prince, (wherever he might happen to be,) and his friends in the north. This last view was supported by M. Mirabelle de Gordon, a French engineer of Scotch extraction, who gave the prince the strongest assurances that the castle would be forced to surrender in a few days, and added, moreover, that if the prince went immediately upon another expedition he would be obliged to sacrifice all his heavy artillery which he could not carry with him into England.[1118] The opinion of an individual, decorated with an order, and who was consequently considered a person of experience and talents, had great weight with the prince, who, accordingly, resolved to reduce the castle of Stirling before commencing any other operations; but Charles discovered, when too late, that Mirabelle’s knowledge as an engineer was extremely limited, and that he had neither judgment to plan nor knowledge to direct the operations of a siege. This person, whose figure was as eccentric as his mind, was called, in derision, Mr. Admirable by the Highlanders.[1119]

During the prince’s short stay at Falkirk, a misunderstanding took place between a party of the Camerons and Lord Kilmarnock, which had nearly proved fatal to that nobleman. As this incident affords a remarkable illustration of clanship, the particulars cannot fail to be interesting. Lord Kilmarnock, having passed the evening of the battle in his house at Callander, came next morning to Falkirk with a party of his men, having in their custody some Edinburgh volunteers, who, having fallen behind Hawley’s army in its march to Linlithgow, had been taken and carried to Callander House. Leaving the prisoners and their guard standing in the street, opposite to the house where the prince lodged, his lordship went up stairs and presented to him a list of the prisoners, among whom was Mr. Home, the author of the Tragedy of Douglas and the History of the Rebellion. Charles opened the window to survey the prisoners, and while engaged in conversation with Lord Kilmarnock about them, as is supposed, with the paper in his hand, a soldier in the uniform of the Scots Royals, carrying a musket and wearing a black cockade, appeared in the street, and approached in the direction of the prince. The volunteers who observed this man coming up the street were extremely surprised, and, thinking that his intention in coming forward was to shoot the prince, expected every moment to see him raise his piece and fire. Observing the volunteers, who were within a few yards of the prince, all looking in one direction, Charles also looked the same way, and seeing the soldier approach appeared amazed, and, calling Lord Kilmarnock, pointed towards the soldier. His lordship instantly descended into the street, and finding the soldier immediately opposite to the window where Charles stood, the earl went up to him, and striking the hat off the soldier’s head, trampled the black cockade under his feet. At that instant a Highlander rushed from the opposite side of the street, and, laying hands on Lord Kilmarnock, pushed him violently back. Kilmarnock immediately pulled out a pistol, and presented it at the Highlander’s head; the Highlander in his turn drew his dirk, and held it close to the earl’s breast. They stood in this position about half a minute, when a crowd of Highlanders rushed in and drove Lord Kilmarnock away. The man with the dirk in his hand then took up the hat, put it on the soldier’s head, and the Highlanders marched off with him in triumph.

This extraordinary scene surprised the prisoners, and they solicited an explanation from a Highland officer who stood near them. The officer told them that the soldier in the royal uniform was a Cameron: “Yesterday,” continued he, “when your army was defeated he joined his clan; the Camerons received him with joy, and told him that he should wear his arms, his clothes, and every thing else, till he was provided with other clothes and other arms. The Highlander who first interposed and drew his dirk on Lord Kilmarnock is the soldier’s brother; the crowd who rushed in are the Camerons, many of them his near relations; and, in my opinion,” continued the officer, “no colonel nor general in the prince’s army can take that cockade out of his hat, except Lochiel himself.”[1120]

An accident occurred about the same time, which had a most prejudicial effect in thinning the ranks of the Highland army. The Highlanders, pleased with the fire-arms they had picked up upon the field of battle, were frequently handling and discharging them. Afraid of accidents, the officers had issued orders prohibiting this abuse, but to no purpose. One of Keppoch’s men had secured a musket which had been twice loaded. Not aware of this circumstance, he fired off the piece, after extracting one of the balls, in the direction of some officers who were standing together on the street of Falkirk. The other ball unfortunately entered the body of Æneas Macdonell, second son of Glengary, who commanded the Glengary regiment. He survived only a short time, and, satisfied of the innocence of the man that shot him, begged with his last breath that he might not suffer. To soothe the Glengary men under their loss, the prince evinced by external acts that he participated in their feelings, and, to show his respect for the memory of this brave and estimable youth, attended his funeral as chief mourner; but nothing the prince was able to do could prevent some of the men, who felt more acutely than others the loss of the representative of their chief, from returning to their homes.

On Sunday the 19th, the prince returned to Bannockburn, leaving Lord George Murray with the clans at Falkirk. At Bannockburn he issued, by means of a printing-press which he had carried with him from Glasgow, an account of the battle of Falkirk, a modest document when compared with that of Hawley, who gravely asserted that had it not been for the rain his army would have continued in his camp, “being masters of the field of battle!”

After the battle of Falkirk, the Duke of Perth again summoned the castle of Stirling to surrender, but the governor returned the same answer he had sent to the first message. The prince therefore resumed the siege on his return to his former head quarters, and fixed his troops in their previous cantonments. An able mathematician, named Grant, who had been employed many years with the celebrated Cassini, in the observatory at Paris, and who had conducted the siege of Carlisle, had at the commencement of the siege communicated to the prince a plan of attack, by opening trenches and establishing batteries in the church-yard. He had assured the prince that this was the only place where they could find a parallel almost on a level with the batteries of the castle; and that if a breach were effected in the half-moon, which defended the entry to the castle, from a battery in the church-yard, the rubbish of the work would fill the ditch, and render an assault practicable through the breach. In consequence, however, of a remonstrance from the inhabitants, who stated that the fire from the castle in the direction of the church-yard would reduce the greater part of the town to ashes, the prince abandoned this plan, and consulted M. Mirabelle, with the view of ascertaining whether there was any other practicable mode of making an attack on the castle with effect. To borrow an expression of the Chevalier Johnstone, in reference to the conduct of Mirabelle on this occasion, that it is always the distinctive mark of ignorance to find nothing difficult, not even the things that are impossible, this eccentric person, without the least hesitation, immediately undertook to open the trenches on the Gowling or Gowan hill, a small eminence to the north of the castle, about forty feet below its level.[1121]

As there were not above fifteen inches depth of earth above the rock, it became necessary to supply the want of earth with bags of wool and earth, an operation which occupied several days. On breaking ground a fire was opened on the trenches from the castle, which was renewed from time to time during the progress of the works, and was answered from the trenches; but the fire from the castle was not sufficiently strong to hinder the operations, which, from the commanding position of the castle guns, could have been easily prevented. The design of General Blakeney in thus allowing the besiegers to raise their works, was, it is understood, to create a belief among them, that the castle would not be tenable against their batteries, and by this impression to induce the Highland army to remain before the fortress till Hawley should be again in sufficiently strong condition to advance from Edinburgh. Having, on the evening of the 28th, completed the battery on the Gowan hill, which consisted of three pieces of cannon, the rebels quickly raised another on a small rocky eminence called the Ladies’ hill, on the south-east of the town. They were both unmasked on the morning of the 29th, and immediately opened with a brisk fire, which shattered two of the embrasures of the castle. As the guns of the batteries were pointed upwards, the balls generally went over the castle, and the few that struck the walls produced little effect; but the case was totally different with the besieged, who, from their elevated situation, from which they could see even the shoe-buckles of the French artillerymen behind the batteries, poured down a destructive fire upon the besiegers from two batteries mounting together thirteen pieces, which dismounted the besiegers’ guns, broke their carriages, and forced them to retire with considerable loss. Thus defeated in their attack, the rebels abandoned the siege after wasting three weeks in a fruitless attempt to obtain possession of a post, which could have been of no essential service to them, and before which they lost some of their best men, chiefly among the French piquets, whom least of all they could spare.

FOOTNOTES:

[1077] Culloden Papers, p. 263.

[1078] Idem, p. 461.

[1079] Culloden Papers, p. 461.

[1080] Culloden Papers, p. 462.

[1081] Kirkconnel MS. Home, 159.

[1082] Home, p. 160.

[1083] Home, p 162.

[1084] Culloden Papers, p. 264.

[1085] Idem, p. 265.

[1086] Scots Magazine, vol. viii. p. 32.

[1087] “The zeal (says General Wightman) which the inhabitants have shown in accommodating the troops, will help to ridd us of the suspicion of Jacobitism; but we have a pack of vermin (Qu. Jacobites?) within our walls, who take unaccountable libertys, of whom I hope we shall be for ever ridd ere long.”--Culloden Papers, p. 470.

[1088] Culloden Papers, p. 270.

[1089] Boyse, p. 131.

[1090] Household Book in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 155.

[1091] Boyse, p. 132.

[1092] Kirkconnel MS.

[1093] Now embodied in the United Presbyterian Church.

[1094] History of Stirling, p. 146.

[1095] History of Stirling, p. 150.

[1096] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 77.

[1097] General Hawley, alluding to this affair, in a letter to the lord-president, 12th Jan. 1745-6, says, “We have had a small brush with them (the Highlanders) yesterday at Airth, up the Forth with 300 men in boats; killed and wounded about fifty, with their chief French engineer; crippled two of their guns, burnt all their boats, and hindered their transporting their great cannon from Alloway for some days.”--Culloden Papers, p. 266.

[1098] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 78. Kirkconnel MS. Scots Magazine, vol. viii.

[1099] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 116.

[1100] Kirkconnel MS.

[1101] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 79. Kirkconnel MS.

[1102] Kirkconnel MS.

[1103] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 120.

[1104] Home, p. 176.

[1105] There was another battalion of the Farquharsons under Farquharson of Monaltry, which, having the charge of the cannon belonging to the insurgent army, was not in the battle.

[1106] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 501. Kirkconnel MS. Home, p. 168. Jacobite Memoirs, p. 85.

[1107] Some accounts make Hawley’s forces of all descriptions at 15,000, being nearly double the number of the Highlanders, who amounted to 8,000; but these statements are exaggerated. Hawley’s army, including the Argyleshire men, did not probably exceed 10,000 men.

[1108] Home, p. 175.

[1109] Lord George Murray’s Narrative in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 85. Kirkconnel MS. Home, p. 171. Culloden Papers, p. 272. Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 122.

[1110] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 127.

[1111] Mr. Home, who was in the engagement, states, that Hawley had about 300 or 400 private men killed. Maxwell of Kirkconnel, who was also present, reckons his loss at between 400 and 500 killed, and some hundreds of prisoners. The Chevalier Johnstone makes, men 600 killed, and 700 prisoners. Such also is the estimate of the author of the Journal and Memoirs printed among the Lockhart Papers.

[1112] Culloden Papers, p. 268.

[1113] Note in the prince’s household book in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 158.

[1114] Jacobite Memoirs, pp. 91, 92, 94.

[1115] Home, p. 177.

[1116] Culloden Papers, p. 267.

[1117] Id., p. 272.

[1118] Kirkconnel MS.

[1119] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 117.

[1120] Home, p. 180.

[1121] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 118.

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