XXXV. A.D. 1746
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.
Duke of Cumberland sent down to Scotland--Marches westward--Siege of Stirling castle raised--Highland army retreats to the north--Council held at Crieff--Duke of Cumberland pursues and arrives at Perth--Arrival of Hessians--Rout of Moy--Capture of the town and castle of Inverness by Charles--Duke of Cumberland arrives at Aberdeen--Highlanders capture Fort Augustus--Expedition against Lord Loudon--Expedition of Lord George Murray into Athole--Duke of Cumberland’s movements--Takes possession of Old Meldrum and Strathbogie--Insurgents retreat across the Spey--Re-capture of the Hazard sloop-of-war--Siege of Fort William by the insurgents--Siege abandoned.
Unwilling any longer to intrust the management of the war to a general who had given such a signal proof of incapacity as Hawley had done, the government, immediately on receipt of his despatches, sent down the Duke of Cumberland to Scotland, to take the command of the army, and to retrieve if possible the lost reputation of the heroes of Dettingen and Fontenoy. The duke was beloved by the army, and enjoyed its confidence, circumstances which rendered him peculiarly fitted to supersede Hawley, who, after his return to Edinburgh, had by his severities become unpopular with the soldiers. Another reason for putting the duke at the head of the army opposed to Prince Charles, was the favourable effect which, it was supposed, the appearance of a prince of the blood would have upon the minds of the people of Scotland, and which, it was expected, would neutralise the influence of his kinsman. But apart from his rank as the son of the king, Prince William had little to recommend him to the especial notice of a nation, rather fastidious in its respect for princes. His conduct while in Scotland showed that humanity, the brightest ornament which can adorn the soldier hero, had no place in the catalogue of his virtues. With a cruelty, partly the result, perhaps, of the military school in which he was trained,[1122] and which fortunately has few parallels among civilised nations, he pursued his unfortunate victims, the misguided but chivalrous adherents of the fallen dynasty, with a relentless perseverance which disgusted even his own partisans.
Having received his instructions, the duke lost no time in preparing for his journey. He left London on the 25th of January, attended by Lord Cathcart, Lord Bury, Colonels Conway and York his aides-de-camp, and arrived at Holyrood House on the 30th. He was waited upon by the state-officers, the magistrates of the city, the professors of the university, and the clergy, all of whom were graciously received. His royal highness was presented with the freedom of the city in a gold box. In the afternoon he held a sort of drawing-room, which was attended by a considerable number of ladies very richly dressed. The most conspicuous among them was a Miss Ker, who wore a busk, at the top of which was a crown done in bugles, surrounded with this inscription, “Britain’s Hero, William, Duke of Cumberland.” To celebrate his arrival the city was illuminated in the evening, but although the Jacobites, from prudential motives, concurred in this demonstration, their windows were broken by the mob.[1124]
In the course of the day the duke inspected the army. His appearance revived the spirits of the soldiers, who, it is said, desired nothing so much as an opportunity of wiping away the disgrace of their late defeat. Such being the favourable disposition of the troops, it was resolved in a council of war held in the evening to march next morning to the relief of Stirling castle. Accordingly, early in the morning the army, which, by recent reinforcements, had been increased to fourteen battalions of foot, and four regiments of dragoons, besides the Argyleshire men, left Edinburgh in two divisions, preceded by Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s dragoons. One of these divisions, comprising eight battalions, at the head of which the duke was to place himself, proceeded towards Linlithgow, and the other, consisting of six battalions under the command of Brigadier Mordaunt, marched in the direction of Borrowstownness. The duke himself left Holyrood House at nine o’clock in the morning, in presence of a large assemblage of citizens, who, from curiosity, had collected before the palace at an early hour to witness his departure. He entered a splendid coach, which, with twelve beautiful horses, had been presented to him by the Earl of Hopetoun, and was accompanied in his progress through the city by many persons of distinction, and by a crowd of citizens. On reaching Castlebarns, a place about a quarter of a mile from the West-port, by which he left the city, the duke mounted his horse, and taking off his hat thanked the people for their attentions. He told them that he was in great haste to fulfil the object of his mission, and concluded by wishing them farewell. This short address was received with a loud huzza. The duke then took leave of the nobility and gentry who surrounded him, and at parting said, “Shall we not have one song?” He then began to sing an old Scottish song:--
“Will ye play me fair? Highland laddie, Highland laddie.”
But before he had finished the first stanza he stretched forth his hand, and, putting spurs to his horse, went off at full gallop to join the army.[1125]
The duke took up his quarters for the night at Linlithgow with the eight battalions, and Mordaunt stopped at Borrowstowness with the other division. The dragoons were quartered in the adjacent villages, and the Argyleshire men were posted in front towards the river Avon. Early next morning, the duke received intelligence that the main body of the Highland army, quartered at Falkirk, had retired to the Torwood, where, they gave out, they intended to make a stand. Determined that no time should be lost in following the insurgents, the duke, after reviewing his army in the morning, advanced towards Falkirk. Several parties of the Highlanders, who were seen hovering on the hills between Falkirk and Linlithgow, retired with precipitation on his approach; but some stragglers were brought in by his advanced scouts, who reported that the Highlanders, afraid to risk another battle, on account of the increase of the royal army, and the diminution of their own by desertion, were repassing the Forth in great confusion. Two great explosions, like the blowing up of magazines, which were heard from a distance, seemed to confirm this intelligence. On reaching Falkirk, the duke found that all the wounded soldiers who had been made prisoners in the late action, had been left behind by the insurgents in their retreat. His royal highness halted at Falkirk with the main body of his army, and immediately detached Brigadier Mordaunt with the Argyleshire men and all the dragoons, in pursuit of the Highlanders. The duke passed the night in the house which Charles had occupied on the evening of the late battle, and slept in the same bed on which the prince had reposed. Next morning Prince William marched to Stirling, of which Brigadier Mordaunt had taken possession the previous evening. He complimented General Blakeney on his defence of the castle, and was informed by the latter that, had the siege continued much longer, he (Blakeney) must have surrendered for want of ammunition and provisions.
In his march the duke was accompanied by several officers of the English army, who had been taken prisoners at Preston, and who, under the pretence of being forcibly released by armed parties of country people in Angus and Fife, had broken their parole, and returned to Edinburgh. The Duke of Cumberland, who appears to have thought it by no means dishonourable to break faith with rebels, not only absolved these officers from their parole, but sent circulars to all the other officers, who continued prisoners of war, releasing them from the solemn obligation they had undertaken not to serve against Prince Charles for a certain time, requiring them to join their respective regiments, and threatening with the loss of their commissions such of them as should refuse to return immediately to the service. Only a few officers had the virtuous courage to refuse compliance, declaring their sense of the insult offered to men of an honourable profession, by remarking that the duke was master of their commissions, but not of their probity and honour.[1126]
It was not without considerable reluctance that Charles had been induced to consent to a retreat. So late as the 28th of January, on which day he received information at Bannockburn that the Duke of Cumberland was expected at Edinburgh in a day or two, he had sent Secretary Murray to Falkirk to acquaint Lord George Murray, that it was his intention to advance and attack the Duke of Cumberland, when he should reach Falkirk, and to request his lordship to remain there till the duke came to Linlithgow. Lord George did not express any disapprobation of Charles’s design, but immediately drew up a plan of the battle in contemplation, which he carried to Bannockburn, and showed to Charles. The prince, who was in high spirits, expressed himself much pleased with the plan, which differed in some respects from that he had sketched previous to the late battle; but, to his utter astonishment, he received a packet from Lord George Murray by an aide-de-camp, containing a representation by his lordship and all the chiefs,[1127] who were with him at Falkirk, advising a retreat to the north.
In this paper, after stating that they considered it their duty, “in this critical juncture,” to lay their opinions in the most respectful manner before his royal highness, they proceeded to say, that they were certain that a vast number of his troops had gone home since the battle of Falkirk, and that, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the commanders of the different corps, they found that the evil was hourly increasing, and that they had it not in their power to prevent it,--that as they were afraid Stirling castle could not be taken so soon as was expected, they could, from the inequality of their numbers to that of the enemy, anticipate nothing but utter destruction to the few troops that might remain behind, should the enemy advance before the castle fell into Prince Charles’s hands. For these reasons, they gave it as their opinion, that the only way to extricate his royal highness, and those who remained with him, out of the imminent danger which threatened them, was to retire immediately to the Highlands, where the army could be usefully employed the remainder of the winter in taking the forts in the north,--that they were morally certain they could keep as many men together as would answer that end, and would hinder the enemy from following them to the mountains at that season of the year,--and that, in spring, they had no doubt that an army of 10,000 effective Highlanders could be brought together, who would follow his royal highness wherever he might think proper. Such a plan, they maintained, would certainly disconcert his enemies, and could not but be approved of by his royal highness’s friends both at home and abroad, and that if a landing should happen in the meantime, the Highlanders would immediately rise either to join the invaders, or to make a powerful diversion elsewhere. On considering the hard marches which the army had undergone, the season of the year, and the inclemency of the weather, his royal highness, they said, as well as his allies abroad and his adherents at home, could not fail to approve of the proposal,--that the greatest objection to the retreat was the difficulty of saving the artillery, particularly the heavy cannon; but that it would be better that some of these were thrown into the Forth, than that his royal highness and the flower of his army should be exposed to the risk they inevitably would, should the proposed retreat not be agreed to, and put in execution without loss of time; and that they thought that it would be the greatest imprudence to risk the whole on so unequal a chance, when there were such hopes of succour from abroad, besides the resources his royal highness would have from his adherents at home. In conclusion, they informed the prince that they had just been apprised, that numbers of their people had gone off, and that many were sick, and not in a condition to fight. They added, that nobody was privy to the address but the subscribers; and they assured him that it was with great concern and reluctance they found themselves obliged to declare their sentiments in so dangerous a situation,--a declaration which nothing could have prevailed upon them to make but the unfortunate diminution of the army by desertion.[1128]
According to a statement made by John Hay, who occasionally acted as secretary to the prince, Charles was so transported with rage, after reading this paper, that he struck his head against the wall of the room till he staggered, and exclaimed most violently against Lord George Murray. To dissuade the subscribers from their resolution, Charles sent Sir Thomas Sheridan to Falkirk, who, not succeeding in his mission, returned to Bannockburn, accompanied by Keppoch and several other chiefs. These argued the matter with Charles himself, and ultimately prevailed upon him to consent to a retreat.[1129] This retreat was condemned by some of the prince’s flatterers; but the simple fact, stated by Patullo the muster-master of the prince’s army, that, before the retreat, the army had been diminished by desertion to 5,000 men, fully justifies the advice given by Lord George Murray and the chiefs at Falkirk.[1130] Even Sir Thomas Sheridan, the especial favourite of the prince, admitted the necessity of the retreat, for reasons apart from the reduction of the army.[1131]
In order to make the retreat with as little loss as possible, horses and carriages were ordered in from all quarters, under the pretext of carrying the field artillery and ammunition towards Edinburgh, whither it was given out that the army was to march immediately. The army, however, began to suspect the design, and every person, not in the secret, looked dejected. During the 30th, a great deal of bustle took place in the country in collecting horses and carriages, but with little effect, as the country people, who also began to conjecture that a retreat was intended, were not disposed to attend to the order.[1132] At length the design of these preparations became apparent when, in consequence of a previous arrangement, Lord George Murray left Falkirk with the clans on the evening of the 31st for Bannockburn, leaving behind him Elcho’s, Pitsligo’s, and Kilmarnock’s horse, who were directed to patrol betwixt Falkirk and Linlithgow till ten o’clock that night. Lord George continued at the prince’s quarters till after twelve o’clock at night, when it was agreed that the army should rendezvous at nine o’clock next morning near St. Ninians; and a message was directed to be sent to the Duke of Perth and Lord John Drummond, both of whom were at Stirling, to be ready to march between nine and ten o’clock, but not to evacuate the town without further orders. However, after Lord George had left the prince’s quarters for his own, these orders were countermanded without his knowledge, and orders were sent to Stirling to evacuate it by break of day.[1133]
The appointed rendezvous at St. Ninians never took place, for the private men, imagining when they first heard of the retreat that the danger was much greater and nearer than it really was, had begun at day-break to take the road to the Frews. Before the hour appointed for assembling, many of them had arrived at that ford, so that when Charles left his quarters for St. Ninians, scarcely a vestige of his army was to be seen. Officers were sent after some parties, who were still visible, for the purpose of stopping them, but without effect. The troops in Stirling, in terms of the orders they had received, after spiking their cannon, also marched to the Frews, so that the prince and Lord George Murray found themselves almost deserted. Charles finding it impossible to recall his troops, marched off with some of the chiefs and the few troops that remained with him.[1134]
On the morning of the retreat the church of St. Ninians, in which the insurgents had fifty barrels of gunpowder, blew up with a terrible explosion, which was heard by the Duke of Cumberland’s army at Linlithgow. Whether it happened from accident or design, is a point which cannot be ascertained. If from design, it must have been the act of some unknown individual, as there was no warning given to any person to keep out of the way. That it could not have been perpetrated by any person in the prince’s interest, seems very evident from the fact, that Charles himself was near enough to have suffered injury, and that some of the Highlanders, as well as several of the inhabitants of the village, were killed.[1135] Yet, such was the spirit of misrepresentation which prevailed at the time, that, without the least assignable motive, the odium of the act was thrown upon Charles.
When this explosion took place, Lord George Murray was still at his head quarters. He thought the castle-guns had fired a volley; and on repairing to the town about an hour after the explosion, he was utterly amazed to find that the besiegers had disappeared. He, therefore, sent an aide-de-camp to call off some horse he had posted near Falkirk, and proceeded immediately, with the few troops that remained with him, to the Frews.
The Highland army was quartered that night at Doune, Dunblane, and adjacent villages, and continued to retire next day, the 2d of February, in a very disorderly manner. The prince halted at Crieff, where he reviewed his army, and, according to the statement of one of his officers,[1136] his army was found not to have lost above 1,000 men by desertion. Charles, who had consented to a retreat on the supposition that his army had lost a third of its numbers from this cause, is said to have been deeply affected on this occasion. Lord George Murray’s enemies did not let slip the opportunity of reproaching him, and, indeed, all the chiefs who had signed the representation, with deception; but the author above referred to observes, that their mistake, if there really was a mistake, can be easily accounted for, if people will divest themselves of prejudice, and examine the circumstances impartially. He observes, that, from the battle of Falkirk up to the time of the Duke of Cumberland’s march from Edinburgh, the country being absolutely secure, the Highlanders had indulged their restless disposition by roaming about all the villages in the neighbourhood of their quarters, and that numbers of them were absent several days from their colours--that their principal officers knowing for certain that some had gone home, imagined that such was also the case with all who were not to be found in their respective quarters, but that all the stragglers had got to Crieff and appeared at the review. Without questioning such a respectable authority as Mr. Maxwell, who may be right in the main fact, as to the number of the army at Crieff, it seems more likely that the army had recruited its ranks on the retreat to Crieff, by overtaking the deserters on their homeward route, than that 2,000 or 3,000 men should have been absent on a sojourn in the neighbourhood of their camp.
After the review, the prince held a council of war, to deliberate upon the course to be pursued. At no former meeting did heats and party animosities break out to such an extent as at this council. Lord George Murray complained greatly of the flight, and requested to know the names of the persons who had advised it; but the prince took the whole blame on himself. After a great deal of wrangling and altercation, it was determined that the army should march north to Inverness in two divisions,--that the horse and low-country regiments should proceed along the coast road, and that the prince, at the head of the clans, should take the Highland road.[1137] Lord George, after other officers had refused, agreed to take the command of the coast division, which arrived at Perth late that night. The prince remained at Crieff, and passed the night at Fairnton, a seat of Lord John Drummond, in the neighbourhood. Next day, being the 4th, Charles marched from Crieff to Dunkeld, and thence to Blair Athole, where he remained several days, till he heard of the arrival of the other division at Aberdeen.
It would have been quite impossible, under almost any circumstances, for the Duke of Cumberland’s army to have overtaken the Highlanders; but slow as the movements of such an army necessarily were, it met with an obstruction which retarded its progress nearly three days. This was the impassable state of Stirling bridge, one arch of which had, as formerly mentioned, been broken down by General Blakeney to embarrass the intercourse between the Highland army when in the south, and its auxiliaries in the north. It was not till the morning of the 4th of February that the bridge was repaired, on which day the English army passed over. The advanced guard, consisting of the Argyleshire Highlanders and the dragoons, went on to Crieff, and the foot were quartered in and about Dunblane, where the duke passed the night. Next day he proceeded to Crieff, and on the 6th arrived at Perth, of which his advanced guard had taken possession the previous day.
Lord George Murray marched from Perth for Aberdeen with his division on the 4th. He left behind thirteen pieces of cannon, which were spiked and thrown into the Tay, a great quantity of cannon balls, and fourteen swivel guns, that formerly belonged to the Hazard sloop-of-war, which had been surprised and taken at Montrose by the Highlanders. These pieces were taken out of the river next day by the royal troops.
Having learned at Perth the different routes taken by the Highland army, and that it had gained two or three days’ march in advance, the Duke of Cumberland resolved to halt a few days to refresh his men. From Perth parties were sent out to perambulate the neighbouring country, who plundered the lands and carried off the effects of the prince’s adherents. The Duchess Dowager of Perth and the Viscountess of Strathallan were apprehended, carried to Edinburgh, and committed to the castle.
Shortly after his arrival at Perth, the Duke of Cumberland received an express announcing the arrival in the Frith of Forth of a force of about 5,000 Hessians, under the command of the Prince of Hesse, son-in-law of George II. These auxiliaries had been brought over from the continent to supply the place of the Dutch troops, who had been recalled by the states-general in consequence of the interference of the French government, which considered the treaty entered into between the King of Great Britain and Holland, by which the latter agreed to furnish these troops to suppress the rebellion, as a violation of the capitulations of Tournay and Dendermonde.
The fleet which conveyed the Hessian troops anchored in Leith roads on the 8th of February, having been only four days from Williamstadt. The troops were disembarked at Leith on the 9th and the following day, and were cantoned in and about Edinburgh. On the 15th of February the Duke of Cumberland paid a visit to the Prince of Hesse, his brother-in-law, at Edinburgh. On that evening they held a council of war in Milton-house, the residence of the lord-justice-clerk. In consequence of the sudden and disorderly retreat of the Highlanders, an opinion had begun to prevail among the friends of the government at Edinburgh, that it was the intention of the insurgents to disperse themselves, and that Charles would follow the example set by his father in 1716, by leaving the kingdom. Impressed with this idea, the generals who attended the council gave it as their unanimous opinion that the war was at an end, and that the duke had nothing now to do but to give orders to his officers to march into the Highlands, as soon as the season would permit, and ferret the insurgents out of their strongholds, as it appeared evident to them that they would never risk a battle with an army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. After the officers had delivered their sentiments, the duke requested Lord Milton to give his opinion, as he knew the Highlands and Highlanders better than any person present. His lordship at first declined doing so, as he was not a military man, but being pressed by the duke, he began by expressing a hope that he might be mistaken in the opinion he was about to give, but he felt himself bound to declare, from all he knew of the Highlands and Highlanders, that the war was not at an end, and that as the king’s troops could not follow the Highlanders among their fastnesses in the winter season, they would, though now divided and scattered, unite again, and venture another battle before giving up the war. Acquiescing in the views of Lord Milton, whose opinion turned out correct, the duke returned to Perth next day to put his army in motion towards the north.[1138]
Meanwhile, the Highland army was proceeding in its march to Inverness. After remaining a few days at Blair-Athole, Charles marched to Ruthven in Badenoch, the barrack of which was taken and blown up by a party under Gordon of Glenbucket, who made the small garrison prisoners. He reached Moy castle, a seat of the laird of Mackintosh, about ten miles from Inverness, on the 16th of February, with an advanced guard of about 50 men. As Charles’s forces were widely scattered, he resolved to halt at Moy till he should concentrate a force sufficient to attack the Earl of Loudon, who was posted at Inverness with 2,000 men.
Hearing of Charles’s arrival at Moy castle, and that he had not above 500 or 600 men with him, Lord Loudon formed a design to seize him during the night while off his guard. The better to conceal his project, his lordship, at three o’clock in the afternoon, completely invested Inverness on all sides, posting guards and a chain of sentinels round the town, with positive orders not to suffer any person to leave it on any pretext whatever. He ordered, at the same time, 1,500 men to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s warning; and, having assembled them without noise, he put himself at their head, and instantly set off, planning his march so as he might arrive at the castle of Moy about eleven o’clock at night.[1139]
Notwithstanding the secrecy, however, with which Lord Loudon concocted his scheme, the plan was divulged by the imprudence or perfidy of some persons intrusted with the secret. According to one account (for there are several), the design was communicated to Lady Mackintosh, a zealous Jacobite, by Fraser of Gorthleck, in a letter which he sent to her, and in another letter which she received at the same time from her mother, who, though a whig, felt a repugnance to allow Charles to be made a prisoner in her daughter’s house, in which he had taken up his residence as a guest.[1140] Another account is, that while some English officers were drinking in a tavern in Inverness, waiting the hour of their departure, a girl of thirteen or fourteen years of age, who happened to wait on them, paid great attention to their conversation, and, from certain expressions dropped by them, discovered their design,--that she immediately left the house, escaped from the town, notwithstanding the vigilance of the sentinels, and immediately took the road to Moy, running as fast as she was able, without shoes or stockings, which, to accelerate her progress, she had taken off,--and that on arriving she informed Lady Mackintosh of the design against the prince.[1141] The Jacobite Memoirs, however, have furnished a third version of this affair, which appears to be more correct in the details. It is there stated that Lady Mackintosh’s mother, who lived in Inverness, having received notice of Lord Loudon’s design, despatched a boy, about fifteen years of age, named Lauchlan Mackintosh, to Moy, to apprise the prince thereof,--that the boy, finding he could not pass by Lord Loudon’s men without running the risk of being discovered, concealed himself behind a wall till they had passed, when, taking a different road, he reached Moy and gave the alarm. The prince, who was in bed, was instantly awakened, and, jumping out, put on his clothes, left the house with a guard of about thirty men, and disappeared in a neighbouring wood.[1142]
As soon as Lady Mackintosh was informed of Lord Loudon’s design, she sent five or six of her people, headed by a country blacksmith, named Fraser, to watch the advance of Loudon’s troops. This man, with a boldness almost incredible, formed the extraordinary design of surprising the advancing party, in the expectation that they would fall a prey to a panic. With this view, he posted his men on both sides of the road to Inverness, about three miles from Moy, and enjoined them not to fire till he should give directions, and then not to fire together, but one after the other, in the order he pointed out. After waiting for some time, the party was apprised of the advance of Lord Loudon’s troops by the noise they made in marching. When the head of the detachment, which consisted of 70 men under the laird of Macleod, was within hearing, the blacksmith called out with a loud voice, “Here come the villains who intend to carry off our prince; fire, my lads; do not spare them; give them no quarter.” He thereupon discharged his piece in the direction of the detachment, and his party, after following his example, ran in different directions, calling upon the Macdonalds and Camerons to advance on the right and left, and repeating aloud the names of Lochiel and Keppoch. Impressed with the belief that the whole Highland army was at hand, the advanced guard instantly turned its back, and communicating its fears to the rear, a scene of indescribable confusion ensued. The sauve-qui-peut which burst forth from the discomfited legions of Napoleon on the plains of Waterloo, was not more appalling to the flying French than were the names of the Camerons and Macdonalds to the ears of Lord Loudon’s troops on the present occasion. In the hurry of their flight many were thrown down and trodden upon, and so great was the panic with which the fugitives were seized, that the flight continued till they got near Inverness. The Master of Ross, who accompanied the party, and was one of those who were overwhelmed, observed to Mr. Home, that he had been in many perils, but had never found himself in such a grievous condition as that in which he was at the rout of Moy.[1143] In this affair the laird of Macleod’s piper, reputed the best in Scotland, was shot dead on the spot. On the dispersion of Lord Loudon’s party, Charles returned to the castle.
Having assembled his men next morning, Charles advanced upon Inverness with the intention of attacking Lord Loudon, and taking revenge for the attempt of the preceding night; but his lordship, not feeling inclined to wait for the prince, retired into Ross-shire, by crossing the Moray Frith at the ferry of Kessock. Charles took immediate possession of Inverness, and laid siege to the castle then named Fort George. This structure, which was situated on a hill to the south-west of Cromwell’s fort, had been raised at the Revolution; and had cost the government, since its erection, above £50,000. The castle was fortified in the modern manner, being a regular square with four bastions, and it commanded the town and the bridge over the river Ness.
This fortress had a garrison of eighty regular troops; but, on his departure from Inverness, Lord Loudon threw into it two of the independent companies, one of Grants, and the other of Macleods. The castle on the present occasion mounted sixteen pieces of cannon, and was well provided with ammunition and provisions. The prince summoned the fortress to surrender, but Grant of Rothiemurchus, the governor, refused to comply. Though Charles had left his heavy artillery behind, he found no difficulty in reducing this fort, as the little hill on which it was built was so contiguous to the town that it could be easily approached on that side, without exposure to its fire. It was resolved to undermine the castle and blow it up; but, after a siege of two days, and when the mine had been completed, the garrison surrendered. This event took place on the 20th of February. The prince, however, did not spare the fortress, which he blew up immediately after the surrender; a sergeant in the French artillery, who was charged with the operation, losing his life on the occasion.[1144]
On the same day that Charles arrived at Moy, the division under Lord George Murray had reached Spey side; and the day before Fort George surrendered he had arrived with his men in the neighbourhood of Inverness. In consequence of a great fall of snow, which took place on the day Lord George marched from Aberdeen, his march had been most fatiguing; and the French piquets and Lord John Drummond’s regiment were obliged to halt a day at Kintore and Inverury. After giving the prince an account of his march, Lord George, contemplating the possibility of a retreat to the Highlands, mentioned a plan, devised by him and Lord Pitsligo, to assess the shires of Banff, Moray, and Nairn in 5,000 bolls of meal, for the use of the army; and he proposed that the greater part of it should be sent to the Highlands for subsistence, in case of retreat thither. The prince approved of the plan; but directed that the whole of the meal, when collected, should be brought to Inverness.[1145]
With the exception of two detachments, which took possession of Blair and Castle Menzies, the army of the Duke of Cumberland lay inactive at Perth till the 20th of February, on which day he put his army in motion for the north, in four divisions. He sent notice to the Prince of Hesse to march to Perth, and in his way to leave two battalions at Stirling. At the same time he directed the remains of Ligonier’s and Hamilton’s dragoons to be cantoned at Bannockburn, and St. George’s dragoons to be posted at Bridge of Earn. With the assistance of these cavalry regiments, which were placed under the command of the Earl of Crawford, it was thought that the Prince of Hesse would be able to check the insurgents, and prevent their progress south, should they give the duke the slip. In marching north, the duke’s army took the road along the coast, as Lord George Murray had done. On the 27th of February the army arrived at Aberdeen, where the duke took up his quarters, till the advance of spring should enable him to take the field. A few days before his arrival, a vessel from France had landed at Aberdeen three troops of Fitz-James’s horse, with five officers, and a piquet of Berwick’s regiment. These troops, with a party of men under Moir of Stonywood, left Aberdeen on the duke’s approach.
Compelled by circumstances to abandon, within the short space of three weeks, the whole tract of low country from the Avon to the Don, on which he chiefly relied for the subsistence of his army, followed by a large army with powerful resources in its rear, which it could render speedily available, and narrowly watched by the forces under Lord Loudon, the situation of Charles now became very critical. The fertile province of Moray and part of the adjacent territory had, by the expulsion of Lord Loudon from Inverness, no doubt come into his possession; but he could not expect to maintain his ground in this district for any length of time without a precarious struggle. He had it in his power, whenever he pleased, to retire into the neighbouring Highlands, where his pursuers would scarcely venture to follow him; but, without previously securing a supply of provisions from the Low country, he could not keep his army together in a district where the means of subsistence were extremely scanty. The possibility of such a retreat was contemplated by Lord George Murray; but, from aversion to such a design, or from want of foresight, Charles, as just stated, over-ruled his lordship’s proposal to send a supply of provisions to the Highlands.
Judging from the slowness of the Duke of Cumberland’s motions, that a considerable time would elapse before he would venture to cross the Spey, Charles resolved to employ the interval in carrying through a series of operations which he and his friends projected. The principal of these were the reduction of Fort Augustus and Fort William, and the dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army. To secure subsistence for his army, he cantoned the greater part of the division which had marched by Aberdeen between that town and Inverness; and, as after the retreat from Stirling he had directed any supplies that might be sent him from France to be landed to the north of Aberdeen, he occupied all the little towns along that coast. As this district was generally disaffected to the government, it was an easy matter to guard it with the few troops that were dispersed over it; and no danger was to be apprehended till the English army came up, when the various parties were directed to fall back from post to post as the duke advanced.[1146]
The first enterprise that Charles undertook, after capturing Fort George, was the siege of Fort Augustus. To reduce this fortress, and with the ulterior view of laying siege to Fort William, Brigadier Stapleton was sent into Stratherrick with the French piquets and a detachment of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, and appeared before Fort Augustus about the end of February. Without waiting for his artillery, which consisted of a few pieces found at Fort George, he attacked the old barrack and carried it immediately, the garrison retiring to the fort. Mr. Grant, who had succeeded M. Mirabelle as chief engineer, since the siege of Stirling, opened a trench upon the 3d of March. The garrison held out two days, when, in consequence of the explosion of the powder magazine by the falling of a shell, the fortress surrendered, and the garrison, which consisted of three companies of Guise’s regiment, were made prisoners of war. Leaving Lord Lewis Gordon with a few troops in command of the place, the brigadier marched to Fort William, which he invested on the land side.[1147]
Pursuant to his plan of operations, the prince, in the beginning of March, sent Lord Cromarty with a detachment, consisting of his own regiment, the Mackintoshes, Macgregors, and Barrisdale’s men, to drive the forces under Lord Loudon out of Ross-shire. Finding that his lordship was unable to accomplish the task which had been assigned him, Charles despatched Lord George Murray to his assistance with the Macdonalds of Clanranald and a battalion of Lochiel’s regiment. He reached Dingwall the first night, where he found Lord Cromarty’s detachment; but his lordship had been absent two days at his own house with a strong guard of Mackenzies. Lord George marched next day for Tain, where he understood Lord Loudon was posted; but on the road he learned that his lordship had crossed the Dornoch Frith to Sutherland, and had quartered his troops in the town of Dornoch and the neighbourhood. Not having any boats to carry his men across the frith, his lordship, after consulting his officers, returned to Dingwall, where he quartered his men. The reason of retiring a day’s march farther back was to throw Lord Loudon off his guard, as it was contemplated to bring boats along the coast and attempt the passage. There was nothing to prevent the detachment marching round the head of the frith; but Lord Loudon having a sufficiency of boats, might have eluded his pursuers by recrossing to Tain; and, as Lord George would, by such a course, have been several days’ march from Inverness, the main body of the Highland army would have been in a critical situation, if the Duke of Cumberland’s army had reached the neighbourhood of Inverness, while the corps under Lord George Murray was on the north side of the Frith of Dornoch.[1148] After sending notice to Lord Cromarty of the disposition of his forces, and that the Duke of Perth would take the command, Lord George returned to Inverness the following day, to execute a design he and Macpherson of Cluny had concerted, to surprise the castle of Blair, and to beat up the quarters of the government troops in Athole, who, from information he had received, had committed great excesses in that district.
To carry the enterprise against Lord Loudon into execution, all the fishing boats that could be collected on the coast of Moray were brought to Findhorn. A few gentlemen, to whom the charge of collecting this small flotilla had been intrusted, had conducted the matter with such secrecy and expedition, that no person in the government interest was aware of it; but after the boats were all in readiness, a difficulty presented itself in getting them across the Moray frith without being perceived by the English cruisers that were continually passing along the coast. Moir of Stonywood, however, undertook to convey the boats to Tain, and he accordingly set out one night with this little fleet, and arrived at his destination next morning without being observed by the enemy.[1149] On the flotilla reaching Tain, the Duke of Perth divided his force into two parts; and while, with one of them, he marched about by the head of the frith, he directed the other to cross in the boats. Under cover of a thick fog this division landed without being discovered, and the duke, having united his forces on the north side of the frith, advanced upon Dornoch. When near that town, he came up with a party of 200 men, who were on their march to join Lord Loudon. This party instantly fled; but Major Mackenzie, who commanded it, with four or five officers, and sixty privates, were made prisoners. Among the officers was a son of Mr. Macdonald of Scothouse, who was taken prisoner by his own father.[1150] The main body, under Lord Loudon, abandoned Dornoch in great consternation, and fled north towards Glenmore, pursued by the Jacobite forces. Both parties marched all night; but the fugitives kept ahead of their pursuers. After a chase of about thirty miles, the Duke of Perth discontinued the pursuit, and halted at the head of Loch Shin. While following the enemy during the night, great anxiety prevailed among the Macdonalds in the Duke of Perth’s detachment, lest, in the event of an engagement, they might not be able, notwithstanding their white cockades, to distinguish themselves from the Macdonalds of Skye, who, like the other Macdonalds, wore heather in their bonnets.[1151] Upon reaching the head of Sutherland-shire, Lord Loudon separated his army. Accompanied by the lord-president and the laird of Macleod, he marched to the sea-coast with 800 of the Macdonalds and Macleods, and embarked for the Isle of Skye. Part of his own regiment, with several officers, took refuge in Lord Reay’s country. Finding that Lord Loudon’s troops had dispersed, the Duke of Perth returned to Inverness, leaving Lord Cromarty in Sutherland with a sufficient force to keep Lord Sutherland and Lord Reay’s people in check. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army was considered of such importance by Charles, that he immediately despatched an officer to France with the intelligence.[1152] In this expedition, several vessels in the Frith of Dornoch, having some valuable effects on board, fell into the hands of the insurgents.
Before Lord George Murray set out on his expedition into Athole, Macpherson of Cluny had secured the passes between that country and Badenoch, to prevent all communication between these districts. About the middle of March Lord George left Inverness with 400 men of the Athole brigade; and, on entering Badenoch, he was joined by Cluny with 300 Macphersons. On the 16th of March the whole detachment set out from Dalwhinnie in the dusk of the evening, and did not halt till they reached Dalnaspidal, about the middle of Drummochter, where the body was divided into a number of small parties, in each of which the Athole men and the Macphersons were proportionally mixed.
Hitherto, with the exception of Macpherson of Cluny and Lord George, no person in the expedition knew either its destination or object. The time was now come for Lord George to explain his design, which he said was to surprise and attack before day-light, and as nearly as possible at the same time, all the posts in Athole occupied by the royal forces. As an encouragement, he offered a reward of a guinea to every man who should surprise a sentinel at his post. There were about thirty posts in all, including the different houses at which the royal troops were quartered; but the principal posts, more especially selected for attack, were Bun-Rannoch, the house of Keynnachin, the house of Blairfettie, the house of Lude, the house of Faskally, and the inn at Blair, where, as Lord George Murray was informed, several officers of the twenty-first regiment were quartered. After the different parties had discharged their duty by attacking the posts assigned them, they were ordered to meet at the bridge of Bruar, about two miles north from Blair, as the general rendezvous for the detachment.
Having received their instructions, the different parties set out immediately: and so well was the scheme of attack laid, that betwixt three and five o’clock in the morning, the whole posts, though many miles distant from one another, were carried. At Bun-Rannoch, where there was a late-wake held that night, the sentinel was surprised, and the whole of the party, (Argyleshire men,) while engaged in that festivity, were taken prisoners, without a shot being fired on either side. The sentinel at Keynnachin being more upon his guard, discharged his piece and alarmed his friends, who defended themselves for a short time by firing from the windows, till the party broke into the house, and killing one man, made prisoners of the rest. At Blairfettie, where there were fifty Argyleshire men stationed, the sentinel was surprised, and the party, with the proprietor of the mansion at their head, entered the house before the soldiers within knew that they were attacked. They endeavoured to defend themselves, but were obliged to surrender. Lady Blairfettie was in bed at the time, and knew nothing of the affair, till informed by a servant that her husband was below, and wished to see her immediately. On coming down stairs she found the garrison disarmed, the prisoners in the dining-room, and about a dozen of her husband’s tenants and servants standing over them with drawn swords. Blairfettie, thinking that his wife had been harshly treated, desired her to point out any of the prisoners who had used her ill; but she answered that she had no other complaint to make than this, that the prisoners had eaten all her provisions, and that she and her children were starving.[1153] The parties at Faskally, at Lude, and the bridge of Tilt, were also taken; but that in the inn of Blair, after some resistance, escaped to the castle. Three hundred prisoners were taken by Lord George’s parties, without the loss of a single man. While beating up the different posts, a party, by order of Lord George, secured the pass of Killiecrankie.[1154]
Having been apprised, by the arrival of the party from the inn of Blair, of the presence of the enemy, Sir Andrew Agnew, who held the castle of Blair, instantly got his men under arms, and left the castle to ascertain who they were that had attacked his posts. Information of this circumstance was brought about daybreak by an inhabitant of the village to Lord George Murray, who was then at the bridge of Bruar with a party of twenty-five men only and a few elderly gentlemen, waiting for the different parties he had despatched the previous night. This intelligence was of the utmost importance to Lord George and his party, all of whom would otherwise have probably fallen into the hands of the garrison. Lord George immediately consulted the gentlemen around him as to the course they should pursue. Some advised an immediate retreat in the direction of Dalwhinnie, but others were for crossing the nearest hills, and retiring by roads along which it would be difficult for the garrison to follow them. His lordship, however, was opposed to both opinions, as by quitting his post he was afraid that his different parties, as they came to the appointed place of rendezvous, would be surprised, and made prisoners. While pondering how to extricate himself from the dilemma in which he was placed, he espied a long unfinished turf-wall which ran across a field near the bridge. An idea at once occurred to him, that by disposing the few men that were with him behind this wall at a considerable distance from one another, and by displaying the colours of both regiments in front, he might deceive Sir Andrew Agnew’s detachment, by inducing them to believe that they were to be opposed by a large body of men. Having disposed his small party in the way described, Lord George directed the pipers, (for luckily he had with him the whole pipers of his detachment,) to keep their eyes fixed upon the road to Blair, and the moment they saw any military appear in that direction, to strike up at once with all their bagpipes. Just as the sun was rising above the horizon, Sir Andrew Agnew’s men appeared, and their ears were instantly saluted by the noise of the bagpipes, when the pipers commenced playing one of their most noisy pibrochs. The party behind the wall then drew their swords, and, as they had been previously ordered by Lord George, kept brandishing them above their heads. This ruse succeeded completely, and Sir Andrew, alarmed by the noise and the spectacle before him, at which he took only a short glance, ordered his men to the right about, and retired into the castle.[1155]
Being now relieved from all apprehension of attack, Lord George remained at his post till joined by about 300 of his men, when he marched to Blair, and invested the castle. Having no battering-cannon, and only two small field-pieces, which could make no impression on walls that were seven feet thick, he resolved to blockade the castle, which he expected would be forced to surrender in two or three weeks for want of provisions. To cut off the communication between the castle and the neighbouring country, Lord George placed a guard of 300 men at the village of Blair, where he was himself stationed, and another near the Mains, at some stables which had been recently erected. Being joined by 400 or 500 men belonging to the district, who had been formerly in the Highland army, Lord George detached a party to Dunkeld, where they remained till the approach of the Hessians from Perth. This party then retreated to Pitlochrie, two miles below the pass of Killiecrankie, where they remained several days, during which time repeated skirmishes took place between them and the hussars, and some of St. George’s dragoons. During the time the Athole men kept possession of Pitlochrie, Lord George Murray went there generally twice every day to ascertain the state of matters. The Hessians showed no disposition to leave Dunkeld, where they had taken up their quarters, till the 13th of March, on which day a large body of them came up as far as the Haugh of Dalskean, about two miles from Pitlochrie. The dragoons and hussars continuing to advance, the Athole men retired to the foot of the pass of Killiecrankie, where they halted to dispute the passage; but after remaining six hours waiting for the Hessians, they were informed that a great part of them had returned to Dunkeld.[1156]
At this time the garrison of Blair castle was reduced to great distress from the want of provisions, and if the blockade had been continued a few days longer they must have surrendered; but, fortunately for the besieged, Lord George Murray was ordered to return immediately to Inverness, in consequence of the expected advance of the Duke of Cumberland. Accordingly, on the 31st of March, Lord George sent off his two pieces of cannon, that he might not be impeded in his march, and about ten o’clock at night he drew off the party from the pass to Blair, taking his departure for Inverness, at two o’clock next morning. Finding the pass clear, Lord Crawford went through it the same morning, but the Hessians, alarmed at the dreadful aspect which it presented, positively refused to enter the pass. As, from the expresses which Lord George Murray received, he was led to infer that the Duke of Cumberland was about to leave Aberdeen, his lordship made a most rapid march, having performed the journey in seventy hours, four only of which he devoted to sleep. Cluny’s men were left at Ruthven, to guard Badenoch from the incursions of the royal troops in Athole.[1157]
To facilitate his march to the north, and to clear as much of the low country as possible from the presence of the insurgents, the Duke of Cumberland sent several detachments from Aberdeen, to scour the country, and possess themselves of certain posts between the Don and the Spey. One of these detachments, consisting of four battalions of infantry, the Duke of Kingston’s horse, and Cobham’s dragoons, under the command of General Bland, left Aberdeen on the 12th of March, and took possession of Old Meldrum, Inverury, and Old Rayne. Bland was preceded on his march by the Argyleshire men, and 100 of the laird of Grant’s followers under the eldest son of that chief. At this time the insurgent forces on the east of the river Spey, which had been placed under the command of Lord John Drummond, were stationed as follows. Lord Strathallan’s horse, which had been lately separated from Lord Kilmarnock’s, and the hussars, occupied Cullen; part of the battalions of Roy Stewart and Gordon of Avochy, consisting of about 400 men, with 50 horse, were quartered at Strathbogie, and the remainder were cantoned in Fochabers, and the villages along the Spey.[1158]
Having received intelligence of the occupation of Strathbogie by the Highlanders, the Duke of Cumberland sent orders on the 16th, to General Bland to march thither with all the troops under his command, and endeavour to surprise the forces there assembled, and failing in that design, to attack them and drive them across the river. To sustain General Bland, should occasion require, Brigadier Mordaunt marched by break of day next morning to Old Meldrum, with four battalions and four pieces of cannon. About the same time General Bland left Old Meldrum for Strathbogie, and almost succeeded in surprising the insurgents, who were ignorant of his approach till he came near the place. At the time the news of General Bland’s march reached Strathbogie some of the Highlanders were absent, having been sent the preceding night for the purpose of intercepting the young laird of Grant, who was returning to his own country with a commission to raise a regiment out of his clan, and who was to pass within a few miles of Strathbogie. The party, however, did not succeed, as Mr. Grant got the start of them, and took up his quarters for the night in a strong castle belonging to Lord Forbes, which they found it impossible to force without artillery. This party returned to Strathbogie about one o’clock in the afternoon, greatly fatigued from want of rest, and found that intelligence had been received of Bland’s advance. This news was fully confirmed by the arrival of some scouts, who came back at full speed with information that a large body of horse and foot was at hand.[1159]
Alarmed at the unexpected approach of the enemy, the officers at Strathbogie were at first at a loss how to act. There was danger in retreat as well as in attempting to remain. It was impossible that the men, who were in want of sleep and refreshment, could march far without halting; and as they had left several stragglers behind, it appeared certain that, in the event of a retreat, these would be picked up by Bland’s cavalry. On the other hand, from the vast numerical superiority of the English forces, it was dreaded that the small party would not be able to make an effectual resistance, and that in the event of a defeat the whole would easily fall into the enemy’s hands. In this dilemma it was resolved to remain an hour at Strathbogie, to give time to the stragglers to come up, and then to retreat. At this time the van of Bland’s detachment had begun to appear, and before the hour had elapsed the whole was in sight, and the van within a quarter of a mile of the village. The small party of guards then marched out towards the enemy, and while they formed between the village and the bridge of Bogie, as if intending to dispute the passage of the bridge, the foot left the village. After they had cleared the village, and the enemy’s cavalry had begun to file along the bridge, the small body of horse retired after the foot, towards the river Deveron, which they crossed. They thereupon formed again on the other side of the river to stop the enemy’s horse, who had pursued them at full speed from Strathbogie to the river side, but they did not at first attempt the passage, a circumstance which enabled the foot to gain the adjoining hill without molestation, where, from the narrowness of the road and the rockiness of the ground on each side of it, they were perfectly safe from the attacks of cavalry. With the exception of some volunteers among the cavalry, who followed half-way up the hill, and skirmished with a few of the guards who were left behind to observe their motions, the rest of the cavalry gave over the pursuit. The Highlanders, however, did not halt till they reached Fochabers. Next day they crossed the Spey, along with the other troops which had been cantoned on the east side, and took up their quarters in the villages on the opposite side.[1160]
From Strathbogie, General Bland sent forward a detachment of 70 Campbells, and 30 of Kingston’s horse, to occupy Keith, but they were not allowed to hold this post long. Major Glasgow, an Irish officer in the service of France, having offered to the prince to carry it with a detachment of 200 men, he was allowed to attempt the enterprise, and succeeded, the village having been invested on all sides before the enemy was aware of the attempt. On this occasion they became the victims of a little stratagem. After recrossing the Spey, Lord John Drummond sent a body of horse and foot across every morning. The foot remained generally all day at Fochabers, and the horse patrolled on the road between that village and Keith. On the 20th of March, a small party of Bland’s light horse having appeared on the top of the hill that overlooks Fochabers, the party occupying the village, apparently alarmed, left it in a hurry, much earlier than usual, and repassed the river. The design in thus repairing across the river before the usual time, was to throw the party at Keith off their guard, who, fancying themselves secure, took no precautions against surprise. After it had grown quite dark, Glasgow crossed the Spey with his detachment, consisting of 200 foot and 40 horse, and marching direct to Keith, arrived there unperceived about one o’clock in the morning. The Campbells, who were quartered in the church, formed in the church-yard, and a smart fire was kept up for some time between them and their assailants; but upon being promised quarter, if they submitted, they laid down their arms. Of the whole party, including the horse, not above five or six escaped. Captain Campbell who commanded the detachment, a non-commissioned officer, and five privates were killed. Glasgow had twelve of his men killed or wounded.
The advantages obtained by the insurgents in their expeditions into Athole and Sutherland, and by the reduction of Fort Augustus, were in some degree balanced by the loss of the Prince Charles, formerly the Hazard sloop of war, and the capture of some treasure and warlike stores which she had brought from France for the use of Charles’s army; and by the abandonment of the siege of Fort William.
Early in November the Hazard, a vessel mounting sixteen guns and some swivels, with a crew of 80 men, had anchored at Ferriden, opposite Montrose. The object of her commander, in taking this station, was to prevent the insurgents from taking possession of the town. At this time a party of Lord Ogilvy’s men, under the command of Captain David Ferrier, held Brechin, of which Ferrier had been appointed deputy-governor by the prince before his march into England; and to hinder the approach of this party towards Montrose, a fire was kept up at intervals for three days and nights from the Hazard, the only effect of which was to annoy the inhabitants exceedingly. To put an end to such a state of matters, Ferrier formed the design of capturing the vessel by raising a battery at the entrance of the river, and thereby to prevent her getting out to sea. In pursuance of this plan he entered Montrose one night, and possessed himself of the island on the south side of the town, opposite to where the Hazard lay. Next day the Hazard attempted to dislodge the party from the isle by her fire, but without success. In the afternoon of the following day a vessel carrying French colours was observed at sea, standing in towards the river; this turned out to be a transport from France, with a party of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, some Irish piquets, and six pieces of artillery. On observing this vessel, the Hazard fired a gun to leeward as a decoy; but, upon a signal from the party on the island, the commander of the French vessel ran her on shore out of reach of the Hazard’s guns. The crew then landed the six guns, and a fire was opened from them upon the Hazard next morning from both sides of the river, on each of which three of the pieces had been planted. With the exception, however, of having some of her rigging cut, she sustained no damage. Before the arrival of Ferrier’s party, Captain Hill, the commander of the Hazard, had taken four six-pounders, and two four-pounders, belonging to the town, which he had put on board a vessel in the harbour; but, by oversight, he left this vessel at the quay, and the consequence was, that she fell into the hands of the insurgents. This circumstance was fatal to the Hazard; for, finding that the guns lately landed were not sufficient to force the Hazard to surrender, Captain Ferrier carried the four six-pounders to the Dial hill, from which he fired upon her; and her commander, seeing escape hopeless, after hoisting a flag of truce, and making an ineffectual attempt for permission to leave the river, surrendered.[1161]
This vessel, being a first-rate sailer, was a great acquisition to the insurgents, and had made several trips to France. On the present occasion the Prince Charles, as the Hazard was now named by the Highlanders, was returning from France, having on board several officers and some privates, a supply of arms and ammunition, and a quantity of gold coin, amounting to between £12,000 and £13,000 sterling. She was observed, on the 24th of March, off the Banffshire coast, by the Sheerness man-of-war, which immediately gave chase. The Prince Charles taking a north-west course, endeavoured to escape by entering the Pentland frith; but the Sheerness followed her into that dangerous gulf; and after a running fight, in which the Prince Charles is said to have lost 36 men, the latter ran ashore on the sands of Melness, on the west side of Tongue bay, near the house of Lord Reay, on the 25th of March. The officers, soldiers, and crew, immediately landed with the treasure, which was contained in small boxes, and carried it to the house of William Mackay of Melness, where it remained during the night. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s forces, an event which was considered at the time highly favourable to the interests of Charles in the north, turned out, in the present instance, to be very prejudicial. Part of them, as has been stated, had, upon their dispersion, retired into that wild and barren region called Lord Reay’s country; and when the Prince Charles arrived in Tongue bay, there was a party of these troops quartered in the neighbourhood. On receiving notice of the landing, Lord Reay sent some persons in a boat across the bay, to ascertain the strength of the party that had disembarked; and, on being informed that it was not numerous, it was concerted between him and some of Lord Loudon’s officers, to attack the party next morning with such forces as they could collect. Early next morning the French, conducted by George Mackay, younger of Melness, who had undertaken to lead them to Inverness, left Melness; but they had not proceeded far, when they were attacked, two hours after day-break, by a body of men, consisting of fifty of Lord Reay’s people headed by his lordship’s steward and a similar number of Lord Loudon’s troops. After a short resistance, during which four or six of their men were killed and as many wounded, the whole party, consisting of 20 officers and 120 soldiers and sailors, surrendered.
As Charles’s coffers were almost exhausted at this time, the loss of such a large sum of money pressed with peculiar severity upon the army, which he had, in consequence, great difficulty in keeping together. Though sparing in his troops, the King of France had not been remiss in sending Charles pecuniary supplies, nor had the King of Spain been unmindful of him; but the remittances sent by these sovereigns did not all reach their destination, some of them having been intercepted by British cruisers on their way. Reckoning, however, the sums drawn and received from various sources, Charles must have got no inconsiderable sum; but he appears to have paid little attention to his pecuniary concerns, and a system of peculation is said to have been practised by the persons intrusted with the management, which told heavily upon his means. His principal steward in particular, to whom the administration of the finances was committed, is alleged not to have been scrupulously honest, and he is said to have contrived matters so as to prevent open detection. His underlings did not omit the opportunity which occasion offered, of filling their pockets: a system of imposition was also practised by means of false musters.[1162] Under such circumstances the early exhaustion of Charles’s military chest is not to be wondered at. In this situation, seeing the impossibility of recruiting his finances at Inverness, he had resolved to return to the south country; but other circumstances induced him to forego his intention.
Judging from the unfortunate result of the siege of Stirling castle, neither Lord George Murray nor Brigadier Stapleton had any hopes of reducing Fort William, which, besides being a strong place, was regularly fortified; but, as Lochiel, Keppoch, and other chiefs, whose properties lay in its neighbourhood, were very desirous to obtain possession of a fortress which perpetually annoyed them, and the garrison of which had, during the prince’s expedition into England, made frequent sallies, and burnt the houses of the country people, and carried off their cattle, they did not object to the siege.[1163]
To assist the troops under Stapleton, the Camerons and the Macdonalds of Keppoch were ordered to Fort William. Mr. Grant the engineer proposed to begin the siege by erecting a battery on a small hill, called the Sugar-loaf, which overlooked the fortress about 800 yards off; and as he observed that one of the bastions projected so far that it could not be defended by the fire of the first, he proposed to arrive at it by a trench and blow it up; but, while in the act of reconnoitring, he received a violent contusion from a cannon-ball, which completely disabled him. Brigadier Stapleton, having no other engineer, was obliged to send to Inverness for M. Mirabelle, the singular personage formerly alluded to. Meanwhile, the besieged heightened the parapets of the walls on the side where they dreaded an attack, and raised the two faces of the bastions seven feet high.[1164]
For several days a skirmishing was kept up between the garrison and two sloops of war stationed in the river, on the one side, and the besiegers on the other, with varied success; but the insurgents having completed a battery on the Sugar-loaf on March 20th, opened the siege that evening. On account of its distance from the fortress, and the smallness of the cannon, which consisted of six and four-pounders only, little execution was done. Next day the besiegers erected a new battery at the foot of the Cowhill, within half the distance of the other, which was also opened, but with little better effect. On the 22d, Brigadier Stapleton sent a drummer to Captain Scott, the commanding officer, with a letter, requiring him to surrender, but his answer was, that he would defend the place to the last extremity. The bombardment was thereupon renewed on both sides for some hours, but at last the garrison silenced the besiegers by beating down their principal battery. The besiegers then erected a third battery, and the bombardment continued, with little intermission, till the 31st, when the garrison made a sally, forced one of the batteries erected upon a place called the Craigs, about a hundred yards from the walls, and captured several pieces of cannon and two mortars. Notwithstanding this disaster, they continued to annoy the besieged from five cannon which they had still mounted, but with no other damage to the garrison than the destruction of the roofs of most of the houses. At length, on the 3d of April, Brigadier Stapleton, in consequence of instructions he had received from the prince to join him immediately, raised the siege, and, after spiking his heavy cannon, marched for Inverness with the piquets, taking his field pieces along with him. He left the Highlanders behind, on the understanding that they were to follow him with as little delay as possible. The loss sustained on either side was trifling.[1165]
Abounding as the prince’s enterprise did, in many brilliant points, there is, unquestionably, no part of it more deserving of admiration than that which now presents itself, near the end of his short, but very eventful career. At Gladsmuir and at Falkirk, almost the whole of the prince’s energies were directed to a single point, but at Inverness he projected a number of expeditions, attacks, and sieges, and conducted them with an energy and promptitude which astonished the government. The whole force he was able to collect, after his retreat to the north, did not exceed 8,000 men; and, although there was no certainty that the Duke of Cumberland might not advance immediately from Aberdeen, which is only a hundred miles from Inverness, yet he separated his forces, and, while with one detachment he kept General Bland in check, he, almost at the same time, carried on a series of operations with the isolated parts of his army in the distant territories of Athole, Lochaber, and Sutherland.
FOOTNOTES:
[1122] “But the Duke was no common man. He belonged to an age when high command was in a great measure a royal science, which men of inferior rank had scanty opportunities of studying. He was connected with the cluster of German princes, among whom, after the enticing example of the house of Brandenburg, a knowledge of the art of war was deemed a good speculation as a means of enlarging their dominions in the tangled contests created among the German states by every European war. After Frederick himself, perhaps none of these princes would have been so capable of successful appropriations of territory as the young man whose warlike pursuits were thrown into a different channel by his connection with the British throne. Though the subject of a constitutional government, however, he retained the spirit of the German soldier-prince. Military law was the first of all laws; and to military necessity everything must yield. He followed the course which, perhaps, most men brought up in his school would have followed, if in possession of the same power; but in a constitutional country it had the character of brutal severity, and after having, as he deemed it, done his stern duty, he left behind him an execrating country to find that his little nephews ran away and hid themselves, in terror of his notorious cruelty.”[1123]--Burton’s Scotland, (1689-1748), vol. ii. p. 507.
[1123] “The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland,” says the first historian of our day, “was such as distinguished him even among the princes of his brave house. The indifference with which he rode about amidst musket-balls and cannon-balls, was not the highest proof of his fortitude. Hopeless maladies--horrible surgical operations--far from unmanning him, did not even discompose him. With courage, he had the virtues which are akin to courage. He spoke the truth, was open in enmity and friendship, and upright in all his dealings. But his nature was hard; and what seemed to him justice, was rarely tempered with mercy. He was therefore, during many years, one of the most unpopular men in England. The severity with which he treated the rebels after the battle of Culloden, had gained him the name of ‘the butcher.’ His attempts to introduce into the army of England, then in a most disorderly state, the rigorous discipline of Potsdam, had excited still stronger disgust. Nothing was too bad to be believed of him. Many honest people were so absurd as to fancy that if he were left regent during the minority of his nephews, there would be another smothering in the tower.”--Macaulay’s Essays--Chatham.
[1124] Marchant, p. 328.
[1125] Marchant, p. 329.
[1126] Kirkconnel MS. Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 167. Among the honourable few were Sir Peter Halket, lieutenant-colonel of Lee’s regiment; Mr. Ross, son of Lord Ross; Captain Lucy Scott; Lieutenants Farquharson and Cumming; and Mr. Home has been justly censured for suppressing in his history this fact, and others equally well known to him.
[1127] These were Lochiel, Keppoch, Clanranald, Ardshiel, Lochgary, Scothouse, and the Master of Lovat.
[1128] No. 39 of Appendix to Home.
[1129] No. 40 of Idem.
[1130] No. 30 of Idem.
[1131] Vide Letter from Sir Thomas in Stuart Papers, dated from the Castle of Blair, 8th December, 1746.
[1132] Kirkconnel MS.
[1133] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 100.
[1134] Idem.
[1135] Kirkconnel MS.
[1136] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.
[1137] Kirkconnel MS.
[1138] Home, p. 194.
[1139] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 145.
[1140] Home, p. 197.
[1141] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 145.
[1142] Stewart’s Statement in Jacobite Memoirs. The statement given by Mr. Hume,--that Lady Mackintosh concealed Lord Loudon’s design from the prince, and that he knew nothing of his lordship’s march till next morning, is certainly erroneous. He says that “without saying a word to Charles or any of his company, she (Lady Mackintosh) ordered five or six of her people, well armed, under the conduct of a country smith, to watch the road from Inverness, and give notice if they should perceive any number of men coming towards Moy;” and that “Charles, for whose safety the lady had provided so effectually, knew nothing of Lord Loudon’s march till next morning; for he was up and dressed when the smith and his party came to Moy, and gave an account of their victory.” It is clear, however, that the blacksmith and his party were sent out by Lady Mackintosh before the arrival of the boy, as Gib, the prince’s master of the household, who was sleeping in his clothes in the Castle of Moy when the boy arrived, says expressly that the blacksmith’s adventure “happened much about the time when the boy (Lauchlan Mackintosh) arrived at Moy to give the alarm. It is probable, however, that the blacksmith and his party were sent out by Lady Mackintosh without the prince’s knowledge.”
[1143] Home, p. 198.
[1144] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 149.
[1145] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 104.
[1146] Kirkconnel MS.
[1147] Home, p. 199. Kirkconnel MS.
[1148] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 105.
[1149] Kirkconnel MS.
[1150] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 164. Johnstone gives an affecting account of the paternal anxiety of Scothouse when ordered to set out as one of the detachment to attack Lord Loudon. Not anticipating the landing of the prince in Scotland, he had applied for and obtained a commission for his son in Lord Loudon’s regiment, and his alarm now was lest his son should fall by his own hands.
[1151] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 305.
[1152] Vide Letter from Colonel Warren to the Chevalier de St. George, of 9th May, 1746, in the Stuart Papers.
[1153] Note by the Editor of Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 155.
[1154] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 107.
[1155] Home, p. 205.
[1156] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 109.
[1157] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 110.
[1158] Kirkconnel MS.
[1159] Idem.
[1160] Kirkconnel MS.
[1161] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 112.
[1162] Kirkconnel MS.
[1163] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 106. Kirkconnel MS.
[1164] Idem.
[1165] Scots Magazine. Home, p. 212. Kirkconnel MS.
XXXVI. A.D. 1746
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.
Duke of Cumberland marches north--Crosses the Spey--Proceedings of Charles--Duke of Cumberland arrives at Nairn--Prince Charles leaves Inverness and forms his army on Drummossie Moor--Night-march to Nairn--Its failure--Highland army returns to Culloden--Advance of the Duke of Cumberland--Preparations for battle--Battle of Culloden--Proceedings of Cumberland--Tumult in royal army--Barbarities committed by the troops--Skirmish at Golspie--Charles arrives at Glenboisdale--The Chiefs retire to Ruthven--Lord George Murray resigns his command--Letter from Charles--He lands in Benbecula--Proceedings of the Duke--Association of Chiefs--Devastations committed by the royal troops--Apprehension of Lord Lovat and others--Macdonald of Barisdale and Glengarry--Escape of the Duke of Perth and others--Suppression of the rebellion.
Having spent upwards of five weeks at Aberdeen, the Duke of Cumberland began to prepare for his march to the north. As it was his intention to proceed by the coast road, he had ordered a number of victualling ships to rendezvous at Aberdeen; and early in April, these vessels, escorted by several ships of war provided with artillery, ammunition, and other warlike stores, had arrived at their destination, for the purpose of following the army along the coast and affording the necessary supplies. About this time the weather had become favourable, and though still cold, the snow had disappeared, and a dry wind which had prevailed for some days had rendered the river Spey, the passage of which was considered the most formidable obstacle to his march, fordable.[1166]
Accordingly, on the 8th of April the duke left Aberdeen with the last division of his army, consisting of six battalions of foot and a regiment of dragoons. The whole regular force under his command amounted to about 7,200 men, comprehending fifteen regiments of foot, two of dragoons, and Kingston’s horse. Besides these, there were the Argyleshire men and other militia, whose united numbers may be stated at 2,000. At the time of the duke’s departure, six battalions, with Kingston’s horse and Cobham’s dragoons, under Major-general Bland, were stationed at Strathbogie, and three battalions at Old Meldrum, under Brigadier Mordaunt. The duke quartered the first night at Old Meldrum and the next at Banff, where two spies were seized and hanged. One of them was caught while in the act of notching upon a stick the number of the duke’s forces.[1167] On the 11th the duke marched to Cullen, and at Portsoy he was joined by the remainder of his army, which had been stationed at Old Meldrum and Strathbogie. The army being too numerous to obtain quarters in the town, the foot encamped for the night on some ploughed fields in the neighbourhood, and the horse were quartered in Cullen and the adjacent villages. The Earl of Findlater, who, with his countess, had accompanied the army on its march from Aberdeen, on arriving at his seat at Cullen, made a present of two hundred guineas to the troops.
Next day, being Saturday, the 12th of April, the duke put his army again in motion, and, after a short march, halted on the moor of Arrondel, about five or six miles from the river Spey. He then formed his army into three divisions, each about half a mile distant from the other, and in this order they advanced towards the Spey. The left division, which was the largest, crossed the river by a ford near Gormach, the centre by another close by Gordon castle, and the division on the right by a ford near the church of Belly. In their passage, the men were up to their waists in the water, but, with the exception of the loss of one dragoon and four women, who were carried away by the stream, no accident occurred.
The Duke of Perth, who happened at this time to be with the Highland forces appointed to defend the passage of the Spey, not thinking it advisable to dispute the position against such an overwhelming force as that to which he was opposed, retired towards Elgin on the approach of the Duke of Cumberland. The conduct of the Duke of Perth, and of his brother, Lord John Drummond, has been censured for not disputing the passage of the Spey, but without reason. The whole of the Highland forces along the Spey did not exceed 2,500 men, being little more than a fourth of those under the Duke of Cumberland. Notwithstanding this great disparity, the Highlanders, aided by the swollen state of the river, might have effectually opposed the passage of the royal army had it been attempted during the month of March, but a recent drought had greatly reduced the quantity of water in the river, and had rendered it fordable in several places to such an extent, that at two of them a whole battalion might have marched abreast. As some of the fords run in a zig-zag direction, some damage might have been done to the royal army in crossing; but as the Duke of Cumberland had a good train of artillery, he could have easily covered his passage at these places.
The departure of the Duke of Cumberland from Aberdeen was not known at Inverness till the 12th, on the morning of which day intelligence was brought to Charles that he was in full march to the north with his whole army. Shortly after his arrival at Inverness, Charles had formed the design, while the Duke of Cumberland lay at Aberdeen, of giving him the slip, by marching to Perth by the Highland road, so as to induce the duke to return south, and thus leave the northern coast clear for the landing of supplies from France. With this view, he had directed the siege of Fort William to be pushed, and, calculating upon a speedy reduction of that fortress, had sent orders to the Macdonalds, the Camerons, and the Stewarts, who were engaged in the siege, immediately on the capture of the fort to march into Argyleshire, and, after chastising the whigs in that district, and giving an opportunity to their friends there to join them, to proceed to Perth.[1168] Charles, however, for the present, laid aside the intention of marching south, and knowing that the Duke of Cumberland would advance from Aberdeen early in April, he gave orders for concentrating his forces at Inverness, and, as soon as he was informed of the duke’s march, he renewed these orders, by sending expresses every where to bring up his men. Those who had been at the siege of Fort William were already on their march, but Lord Cromarty was at a considerable distance with a large body of men, and could scarcely be expected to arrive in time if the duke was resolved on an immediate action.[1169]
Besides the men who were absent on the expeditions in Lochaber and Sutherland, there were many others who had returned to their homes, either discontented with the situation in which they found themselves after they came to Inverness, or to see their families or friends. Up to the period of their arrival there, they had received their pay punctually, but at Inverness the face of affairs was completely changed in this respect, and instead of money the troops were reduced to a weekly allowance of oatmeal. The men murmured at first at the stoppage of their pay, but their clamours were quieted by their officers, who gave them assurances that a supply of money would soon be received from France. This expectation would have been realised, but for the misfortune which befell the Prince Charles, and in consequence of that event, the soldiers began to murmur afresh, and some of them seeing no pressing occasion for their attendance, and choosing rather to enjoy a frugal repast with their friends at home than serve without pay, left the army. These absentees, however, had no intention of abandoning the service, and were resolved to rejoin their colours as soon as they saw a probability of coming to action. Accordingly, many of those who had returned to their homes set out of their own accord to rejoin the army, on hearing of the Duke of Cumberland’s advance, though few of them arrived in time for the battle.[1170]
Reduced in numbers as the prince’s army was from the causes alluded to, they still burned with impatience to meet the enemy; and when intelligence of the Duke of Cumberland’s march from Aberdeen reached Inverness, it was hailed with joy by the portion there assembled. From the fatigues and labours they had experienced during the campaign, and the numerous inconveniences to which they had been subjected from the want of pay, there was nothing the Highlanders dreaded more than another march to the south; but the near prospect they now had of meeting the English army upon their own soil, and of putting an end to the war by one bold and decisive blow, absorbed for a while all recollection of their past sufferings. By drawing the Duke of Cumberland north to Inverness, it was generally supposed that the prince could meet him on more equal terms than at Aberdeen, as he would have a better and more numerous army at Inverness, than he could have carried south. This unquestionably would have been the case had Charles avoided a battle till he had assembled all his troops, but his confidence on the present occasion got the better of his prudence.
After crossing the Spey, the Duke of Cumberland halted his army on the western bank, and encamped opposite to Fochabers, but the horse afterwards repassed the river and took up their quarters in the town. Here, as at Cullen, every precaution was taken to prevent surprise. Early next morning he raised his camp, and passing through Elgin, encamped on the moor of Alves, nearly midway between Elgin and Forres. The Duke of Perth, who had passed the previous night at Forres, retired to Nairn upon his approach. The Duke of Cumberland renewed his march on the 14th and came to Nairn, where the Duke of Perth remained till he was within a mile of the town, and began his retreat in sight of the English army. In this retreat, Clanranald’s regiment, with the French piquets and Fitz-James’s horse, formed the rear. To harass the rear, and retard the march of the main body till some of his foot should come up, the Duke of Cumberland sent forward his cavalry. Several shots were exchanged between the duke’s cavalry and the French horse, and in expectation of an engagement with the duke’s advanced guard, consisting of 200 cavalry and the Argyleshire men, the Macdonalds of Clanranald, and the Stewarts of Appin, were ordered back to support the French. These regiments accordingly returned and took ground, and Fitz-James’s horse formed on their right and left. The duke’s advanced guard thereupon halted, and formed in order of battle, but as the main body of the English army was in full march the rear recommenced their retreat. The advanced guard continued to pursue the Highlanders several miles beyond Nairn, but finding the chase useless, returned to the main body which was preparing to encamp on a plain to the west of Nairn.[1171]
Neither at the time when Charles received intelligence of the Duke of Cumberland’s march to Aberdeen, nor till the following day (Sunday), when news was brought to him that the English army had actually crossed the Spey, does Charles appear to have had any intention of speedily risking a battle. He probably expected that with the aid of the reinforcements he had sent to support the Duke of Perth, his grace would have been able, for some time at least, to maintain a position on the western bank of the river, and that time would be thus afforded him to collect the scattered portions of his army, before being compelled, by the advance of the Duke of Cumberland, to come to a general engagement. But whatever his intentions were anterior to the receipt of the intelligence of the English army having crossed the Spey, that circumstance alone made him determine to attack the Duke of Cumberland without waiting for the return of his absent detachments.
Accordingly, on the morning of the 14th, Charles ordered the drums to beat, and the pipes to play, as the signal for summoning his men to arms. After those who were in the town had assembled in the streets, the prince mounted his horse, and putting himself at their head, led them out to Culloden, about four miles from Inverness.[1172] Leaving part of his men in the parks around Culloden house, Charles went onward with his first troop of guards and the Mackintosh regiment, and advanced within six miles of Nairn to support the Duke of Perth, but finding him out of danger, he returned to Culloden, where he was joined by the whole of the duke’s forces in the evening. Lochiel also arrived at the same time with his regiment. That night the Highlanders bivouacked among the furze of Culloden wood, and Charles and his principal officers lodged in Culloden house.
Having selected Drummossie moor for a field of battle, Prince Charles marched his army thither early on the morning of the 15th, and drew his men up in order of battle across the moor, which is about half a mile broad. His front looked towards Nairn, and he had the river of that name on his right, and the inclosures of Culloden on his left. This moor, which is a heathy flat of considerable extent about five miles from Inverness and about a mile and a half to the south-east of Culloden house, forms the top of a hill which, rising at Culloden, dies gradually away in the direction of Nairn. The ascent to the moor is steep on both sides, particularly from the shore. In pitching upon this ground, Charles acted on the supposition that the Duke of Cumberland would march along the moor, which was better fitted for the free passage of his army than the common road between Nairn and Inverness, which was narrow and inconvenient.
In expectation that the Duke of Cumberland would advance, Charles sent forward on the road to Nairn some parties of horse to reconnoitre, but they could observe no appearance of any movement among the royal troops. The ground on which the army was now formed had been chosen without consulting Lord George Murray, who, on arriving on the spot, objected to it, on the footing that though interspersed with moss and some hollows, the ground was generally too level, and consequently not well suited for the operation of Highlanders. He therefore proposed to look out for more eligible ground, and at his suggestion Brigadier Stapleton and Colonel Ker were sent about ten o’clock to survey some hilly ground on the south side of the water of Nairn, which appeared to him to be steep and uneven, and of course more advantageous for Highlanders. After an absence of two or three hours, these officers returned and reported that the ground they had been appointed to examine was rugged and boggy, that no cavalry could act upon it, that the ascent on the side next the river was steep, and that there were only two or three places, about three or four miles above, where cavalry could pass; the banks of the river below being inaccessible. On receiving this information, Lord George Murray proposed, in the event of Cumberland’s forces not appearing that day, that the army should cross the water of Nairn, and draw up in line of battle next day, upon the ground which had been surveyed; and that, should the Duke of Cumberland not venture to cross after them and engage them upon the ground in question, they might watch a favourable opportunity of attacking him with advantage. In the event of no such opportunity offering, his lordship said he would recommend that the army should, with the view of drawing the duke after them, retire to the neighbouring mountains, where they might attack him at some pass or strong ground. This proposal met with the general approbation of the commanding officers; but Charles who, two days before (when a suggestion was made to him to retire to a strong position till all his army should assemble), had declared his resolution to attack the Duke of Cumberland even with a thousand men only, declined to accede to it. His grounds were that such a retrograde movement might discourage the men, by impressing them with a belief that there existed a desire on the part of their commanders to shun the English army; that Inverness, which was now in their rear, would be exposed, and that the Duke of Cumberland might march upon that town, and possess himself of the greater part of their baggage and ammunition.[1173]
Concluding from the inactivity of the Duke of Cumberland that he had no intention of marching that day, Charles held a council of war in the afternoon, to deliberate upon the course it might be considered most advisable to pursue in consequence of the duke’s stay at Nairn. According to Charles’s own statement, he had formed the bold and desperate design of surprising the English army in their camp during the night; but, desirous of knowing the views of his officers before divulging his plan, he allowed all the members of the council to speak before him. After hearing the sentiments of the chiefs, and the other commanders who were present, Lord George Murray proposed to attack the Duke of Cumberland during the night, provided it was the general opinion that the attack could be made before one or two o’clock in the morning. Charles, overjoyed at the suggestion of his lieutenant-general, immediately embraced him, said that he approved of it, that in fact he had contemplated the measure himself, but that he did not intend to have disclosed it till all the members of the council had delivered their sentiments.
Had the army been in a condition to sustain the fatigue of a night-march of ten or twelve miles, the plan of a night attack was unquestionably the best that could have been devised under existing circumstances. If surprised in the dark, even supposing the duke to have been on his guard, a night attack appeared to afford the only chance of getting the better of his superiority in numbers and discipline, and of rendering his cavalry and cannon, in which his chief strength lay, utterly useless. But the Highland army, from some unaccountable oversight on the part of the persons who had the charge of the commissariat department, was in a state bordering upon starvation, and consequently not able to perform such a fatiguing march. Although there was a quantity of meal in Inverness and the neighbourhood sufficient for a fortnight’s consumption, no care had been taken to supply the men with an allowance on leaving Inverness, and the consequence was, that during this and the preceding day very few of them had tasted a particle of food. To appease their hunger a single biscuit was distributed to each man, but this pittance only increased the desire for more; and hunger getting the better of patience, some of the men began to leave the ranks in quest of provisions. In spite, however, of the deprivation under which they laboured, the army was never in higher spirits, or more desirous to meet the enemy; and it was not until all hopes of an immediate engagement were abandoned that the men thought of looking out for the means of subsistence.[1174]
The expediency of a night attack was admitted by all the members of the council, but there were a few who thought that it should not be ventured upon until the arrival of the rest of the army, which might be expected in two or three days at farthest. Keppoch with his Highlanders had just come up and joined the army; but the Mackenzies under Lord Cromarty, a body of the Frasers whom the Master of Lovat had collected to complete his second battalion, the Macphersons under Cluny, their chief, the Macgregors under Glengyle, a party headed by Mackinnon, and a body of Glengarry’s men under Barisdale, were still at a distance, though supposed to be all on their march to Inverness. The minority objected that, should they fail in the attempt, and be repulsed, it would be difficult to rally the Highlanders,--that even supposing no spy should give the Duke of Cumberland notice of their approach, he might, if alarmed by any of his patrols, have time to put his army in order in his camp, place his cannon, charged with cartouch-shot, as he pleased, and get all his horse in readiness to pursue the Highlanders if beat off. Besides these objections, they urged the difficulty of making a retreat if many of their men were wounded, from the aversion of the Highlanders to leave their wounded behind them. They, moreover, observed that they had no intelligence of the situation of the duke’s camp; and that even could a safe retreat be made, the fatigue of marching forwards and backwards twenty miles would be too much for men to endure, who would probably have to fight next day.[1175]
All these arguments were however thrown away upon Charles, who, supported by the Duke of Perth, Lord George Murray, Lord John Drummond, Lochiel, and others, showed the utmost impatience for an immediate attack. Those who supported this view were not insensible to the danger which might ensue should the attack miscarry; but, strange to say, they were urged to it from the very cause to which the failure was chiefly owing, the want of provisions. Apprehensive that if the army was kept on the moor all night, many of the men would go away to a considerable distance in search of food, and that it would be very difficult to assemble them speedily in the event of a sudden alarm, they considered an immediate attack, particularly as Charles had resolved to fight without waiting for reinforcements, as a less desperate course than remaining where they were.[1176]
To prevent the Duke of Cumberland from obtaining any knowledge of the advance of the Highlanders from the spies who might be within view of his army, Charles fixed upon eight o’clock for his departure, by which time his motions would be concealed from observation by the obscurity of the evening. Meanwhile the commanding officers repaired to their respective regiments to put their men in readiness; but between six and seven o’clock an incident occurred which almost put an end to the enterprise. This was the departure of a large number of the men, who, ignorant of the intended march, went off towards Inverness and adjacent places to procure provisions and quarters for the night. Officers from the different regiments were immediately despatched on horseback to bring them back, but no persuasion could induce the men to return, who gave as their reason for refusing that they were starving. They told the officers that they might shoot them if they pleased, but that they would not go back till they got some provisions.[1177] By this defection Charles lost about 2,000 men, being about a third of his army.
This occurrence completely changed the aspect of affairs, and every member of the council who had formerly advocated a night attack now warmly opposed it. Charles, bent upon his purpose, resolutely insisted upon the measure, and said that when the march was begun the men who had gone off would return and follow the rest. The confidence which he had in the bravery of his army blinded him to every danger, and he was prompted in his determination to persist in the attempt from an idea that Cumberland’s army having been that day engaged in celebrating the birth-day of their commander, would after their debauch fall an easy prey to the Highlanders.
Finding the prince fully resolved to make the attempt at all hazards, the commanding officers took their stations, waiting the order to march. The watchword was, “King James the VIII.,” and special instructions were issued to the army, that in making the attack the troops should not make use of their fire-arms, but confine themselves to their swords, dirks, and bayonets; and that on entering the Duke of Cumberland’s camp they should cut the tent strings and pull down the poles, and that wherever they observed a swelling or bulge in the fallen covering, they should strike and push vigorously with their swords and dirks.[1178] Before marching, directions were given to several small parties to possess all the roads, in order to prevent any intelligence of their march being carried to the Duke of Cumberland.
In giving his orders to march, Charles embraced Lord George Murray, who immediately went off at the head of the line, about eight o’clock, preceded by two officers, and about thirty men of the Mackintosh regiment, who from their knowledge of the country were to act as guides. Though the whole army marched in one line, there was an interval in the middle as if it consisted of two columns. The Athole men led the van, and next to them were the Camerons, who were followed by the other clans. The low country regiments, the French piquets, and the horse, formed the rear. Lord John Drummond was in the centre, or at the head of the second column; and the Duke of Perth and Charles, who had Fitz-James’s and other horse with him, were towards the rear. Besides the party of Mackintoshes, who served as guides in front, there were others of that clan stationed in the centre and rear, and generally along the line, to prevent any of the men from losing their way in the dark.[1179] The plan of attack, as laid down by Lord George Murray, was as follows:--The army was to have marched in a body till they passed the house of Kilraick or Kilravock, which is about ten miles from Culloden, on the direct road to Nairn. The army was then to have been divided, and while Lord George Murray crossed the river Nairn with the van, making about one-third of the whole, and marched down by the south side of the river, the remainder was to have continued its march along the north side till both divisions came near the duke’s camp. The van was then to have re-crossed the river, and attacked the royal army from the south, while the other part was to have attacked it at the same time from the west.[1180] With the exception of Charles, who promised upon his honour not to divulge it to any person, and Anderson, who acted as guide at the battle of Preston, no person was made privy to the plan, as its success depended upon its secrecy.
In the outset of the march the van proceeded with considerable expedition, but it had gone scarcely half a mile when Lord George Murray received an express ordering him to halt till joined by the rear column, which was a considerable way behind. As a halt in the van always occasions a much longer one in the rear when the march is resumed, Lord George did not halt but slackened his pace to enable the rear to join. This, however, was to no purpose, as the rear still kept behind, and although, in consequence of numerous expresses enjoining him to wait, Lord George marched slower and slower, the rear fell still farther behind, and before he had marched six miles he had received at least fifty expresses ordering him either to halt or to slacken his pace. The chief cause of the stoppage was the badness of the roads.
About one o’clock in the morning, when the van was opposite to the house of Kilravock, Lord John Drummond came up and stated to Lord George Murray that unless he halted or marched much slower the rear would not be able to join. The Duke of Perth having shortly thereafter also come up to the front and given a similar assurance, his lordship halted near a small farm-house called Yellow Knowe, belonging to Rose of Kilravock, nearly four miles from Nairn, and about a mile from the place where it was intended the van should cross the river. In the wood of Kilravock the march of the rear was greatly retarded by a long narrow defile occasioned partly by a stone wall; and so fatigued and faint had the men become, by the badness of the road, and want of food, that many of them, unable to proceed, lay down in the wood. This circumstance was announced to Lord George Murray by several officers who came up from the rear shortly after the van had halted. Nearly all the principal officers, including the Duke of Perth, Lord George Murray, Lord John Drummond, Lochiel, and General O’Sullivan, were now in the van, and having ascertained by their watches, which they looked at in a little house close by, that it was two o’clock in the morning, they at once perceived the impossibility of surprising the English army. The van was still upwards of three, and the rear about four miles from Nairn, and as they had only been able to advance hitherto at a rate little more than a mile in the hour, it was not to be expected that the army in its exhausted state would be able to accomplish the remainder of the distance, within the time prescribed, even at a more accelerated pace. By a quick march the army could not have advanced two miles before day-break; so that the Duke of Cumberland would have had sufficient time to put his army in fighting order before an attack could have been made. These were sufficient reasons of themselves for abandoning the enterprise, but when it is considered that the army had been greatly diminished during the march, and that scarcely one-half of the men that were drawn up the day before on Drummossie moor remained, the propriety of a retreat becomes undoubted.[1181]
Lord George Murray,--who had never contemplated any thing but a surprise, and whose calculation of reaching Nairn by two o’clock in the morning would have been realised had the whole line marched with the same celerity as the first four or five regiments,--would have been perfectly justified in the unexpected situation in which he was placed, in at once ordering a retreat;[1182] but desirous of ascertaining the sentiments of the officers about him, he requested them to state their views of the course they thought it most advisable to adopt. There were several gentlemen present, who, having joined the Athole brigade as volunteers, had marched all night in the front: and as the Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, and the other officers, seemed at a loss what to resolve upon, Lord George Murray requested the volunteers to give their free opinion, as they were all equally interested in the consequences. Without hesitation all these gentlemen, eager to come to an engagement, were for marching, but most of the officers, particularly Lochiel and his brother, Dr. Cameron, were of a different opinion, in which they were backed by Lord George Murray, who observed that if they could have made the attack within the time prescribed they would certainly have succeeded, especially if they could have surprised the enemy; but to attack in daylight an army that was nearly double their number, and which would be prepared to receive them, would be considered an act of madness.[1184]
Among the volunteers the most conspicuous was Mr. Hepburn of Keith. While arguing for an attack with Lord George Murray, the beating of a drum was heard in the Duke of Cumberland’s camp. “Don’t you hear,” said Lord George; “the enemy are alarmed; we can’t surprise them.” “I never expected,” said Hepburn, “to find the red coats asleep; but they will be drunk after solemnising the Duke of Cumberland’s birth-day. It is much better to march on and attack them than to retreat, for they will most certainly follow, and oblige us to fight when we shall be in a much worse condition to fight them than we are now.” While this altercation was going on, Mr. John Hay, then acting as interim-secretary to the prince instead of Secretary Murray, who was unwell, came up and informed Lord George that the line had joined. Gathering from the conversation he overheard that a retreat was resolved upon, he began to argue against it, but being unsuccessful he immediately rode back to Charles, who was in the rear of the first column, and told him that unless he came to the front and ordered Lord George to go on nothing would be done. Charles, who was on horseback, rode forward immediately towards the front, to ascertain the cause of the halt, and on his way met the van in full retreat. He was no doubt surprised at this step, and in a temporary fit of irritation, is said to have remarked that Lord George Murray had betrayed him;[1185] but Lord George immediately convinced him “of the unavoidable necessity of retreating.”[1186]
The army marched back in two columns, by a different but more direct route than that by which it had advanced. In returning they had a view of the fires in the Duke of Cumberland’s camp. The greater part of the army arrived at Culloden, whither it had been agreed upon to proceed, about five o’clock in the morning, and the remainder did not remain long behind. The quick return of the army suggests an idea that had it marched in double columns towards Nairn by the shortest route, it might have reached its destination at least an hour sooner than the time contemplated by Lord George Murray, but there was great danger, that, by adopting such a course, the Duke of Cumberland would have obtained notice of the advance of the Highlanders.
On arriving at Culloden, the prince gave orders to bring provisions to the field; but the calls of hunger could not brook delay, and many of the common men as well as officers slipped off to Inverness and the neighbourhood in quest of refreshment. Others, from absolute exhaustion, lay down on the ground, and sought a momentary respite in the arms of sleep. Charles himself, with his principal officers, went to Culloden house, where, sullen, dejected, and silent, they for a time stared at one another with amazement, instead of deliberating upon the course they ought to pursue at this critical juncture. A search was made for food, but with the exception of a little bread and a small quantity of whisky, which was procured for the prince with great difficulty, no refreshment of any kind could be obtained.[1187]
After a short repose the men were aroused from their slumbers by their officers, who informed them that the Duke of Cumberland’s army was approaching. There were others whom hunger had kept awake, and who having seized and killed some cattle and sheep which they found at Culloden, were preparing a repast, but few of them had time to make any thing ready before the alarm was given.[1188] The intelligence of Cumberland’s advance was first brought to Culloden house about eight o’clock by one Cameron, a lieutenant in Lochiel’s regiment, who, having fallen asleep at the place where the halt was made, had been left behind. As Fitz-James’s horse and others had gone to Inverness to refresh, and as those who remained were, from the hard duty they had performed for several days and nights, unfit for patrolling, Charles had no means of ascertaining whether the troops that were approaching were merely an advanced party, or the whole of the English army. That nothing might be left to conjecture at such an important crisis, some officers were instantly despatched to Inverness, to bring back the men whom hunger had driven thither, and the Highlanders at Culloden were got ready as quickly as possible, and marched through the parks of Culloden in battalions, as they happened to be lying, to Drummossie moor, on a part of which, about half a mile to the west of the place where they had been drawn up the day before, the army halted. Lord George Murray now renewed his proposal to pass the water of Nairn, and take up a position on the ground which had been surveyed the previous morning, as being much better fitted for Highlanders than the level on which they stood. An additional reason for passing the Nairn was, that Macpherson of Cluny, who was expected every moment with his clan, was to come on the south side. Charles, however, again rejected this judicious advice, for the reasons he had formerly given.[1189] By retiring beyond Inverness, or among the fastnesses to the south of the water of Nairn, an action might have been easily avoided for several days; and, as the projected night attack had miscarried, it would certainly have been a wise course to have shunned an engagement till the men had recovered their strength and spirits; but Charles, over-sanguine in all his calculations, and swayed by his creatures and sycophants, was deaf to the suggestions of wisdom. It seems strange that a retreat to Inverness was not proposed. By retiring into the town, and occupying the grounds in the neighbourhood, a delay of twenty-four hours might have been obtained, as it is not likely that the Duke of Cumberland would have attempted to force the town, or a strong camp, the same day he marched from Nairn. By postponing the engagement till next day, a very different result might have happened, as the Highlanders, who were in a starving condition, would have had time to procure provisions and recruit from their fatigue; and numbers, who were not able to come up in time to Culloden, would have rejoined the ranks at Inverness.
The Duke of Cumberland had been informed of the night march towards Nairn by some Highland spies whom he had in his pay, and who had mixed with the insurgents as they marched; but the spies were ignorant of the intended surprise, which was kept a profound secret from the Highland army. Judging from the intelligence brought by the last person that arrived in his camp, that the Highlanders were coming directly in his front, the duke considered himself free from surprise, as the Argyleshire men lay on the plain to the west of his camp, while a party of dragoons patrolled all night between Nairn and the sea. He therefore ordered his men to take some rest, but to keep their arms in readiness. He appears not to have anticipated an attack during the night, but to have imagined that Charles merely meant to take ground during the night, and to attack him early next morning. In expectation of a battle, the duke had formed his army by break of day, and, having ascertained that the Highland army had retreated, he began his march towards Inverness about five o’clock.[1190] The English army had, as anticipated, celebrated the birth-day of their commander; but although they were amply supplied with bread, cheese, and brandy, at the duke’s expense, the men had not exceeded the bounds of moderation.[1191]
Before commencing the march, written instructions, which had been communicated to the commanders of the different regiments, were read at the head of every company in the line. These instructions were, that if the persons to whom the charge of the train or baggage horses was entrusted should abscond or leave them, they should be punished with immediate death; and that if any officer or soldier misconducted himself during the engagement, he should be sentenced. The infantry marched in three parallel divisions or columns, of five regiments each, headed by General Huske on the left, Lord Sempill on the right, and General Mordaunt in the centre. The artillery and baggage followed the first column on the right, and the dragoons and horse, led by Generals Hawley and Bland, were on the left, forming a fourth column. Forty of Kingston’s horse and Argyleshire men formed the van.[1192]
The charge of forming the Highland army in line of battle on this important occasion was intrusted to O’Sullivan, who acted in the double capacity of adjutant and quarter-master general. This officer, in the opinion of Lord George Murray, a high authority certainly, was exceedingly unfit for such a task, and committed gross blunders on every occasion of moment. In the present instance, he did not even visit the ground where the army was to be drawn up, and he committed a “fatal error” by omitting to throw down some park walls upon the left of the English army, which were afterwards taken possession of by the Duke of Cumberland, it being found afterwards impossible to break the English lines, from the destructive flank-fire which was opened from these walls upon the right of the Highland army, as it advanced to the attack.[1193] While the Duke of Cumberland was forming his line of battle, Lord George Murray was very desirous to advance and throw down these walls; but as such a movement would have broken the line, the officers about him considered that the attempt would be dangerous, and he therefore did not make it.[1194]
The Highland army was drawn up in three lines. The first, or front line, consisted of the Athole brigade, which had the right, the Camerons, Stewarts of Appin, Frasers, Macintoshes, Maclachlans, Macleans, John Roy Stewart’s regiment, and Farquharsons, united into one regiment; the Macleods, Chisholms, Macdonalds of Clanranald, Keppoch, and Glengarry. The three Macdonald regiments formed the left. Lord George Murray commanded on the right, Lord John Drummond in the centre, and the Duke of Perth on the left, of the first line. There had been, a day or two before, a violent contention among the chiefs about precedency of rank. The Macdonalds claimed the right as their due, in support of which claim they stated, that as a reward for the fidelity of Angus Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, in protecting Robert the Bruce for upwards of nine months in his dominions, that prince, at the battle of Bannockburn, conferred the post of honour, the right, upon the Macdonalds,--that this post had ever since been enjoyed by them, unless when yielded from courtesy upon particular occasions, as was done to the chief of the Macleans at the battle of Harlaw.[1195] Lord George Murray, however, maintained that, under the Marquis of Montrose, the right had been assigned to the Athole men, and he insisted that that post should be now conferred upon them, in the contest with the Duke of Cumberland’s army. In this unseasonable demand, Lord George is said to have been supported by Lochiel and his friends. Charles refused to decide a question with the merits of which he was imperfectly acquainted; but, as it was necessary to adjust the difference immediately, he prevailed upon the commanders of the Macdonald regiments to waive their pretensions in the present instance. The Macdonalds in general were far from being satisfied with the complaisance of their commanders, and, as they had occupied the post of honour at Gladsmuir and Falkirk, they considered their deprivation of it on the present occasion as ominous.[1196] The Duke of Perth, while he stood at the head of the Glengarry regiment, hearing the murmurs of the Macdonalds, said, that if they behaved with their usual valour they would make a right of the left, and that he would change his name to Macdonald; but these proud clansmen leant a deaf ear to him.
The second line of the Highland army consisted of the Gordons under Lord Lewis Gordon, formed in column on the right, the French Royal Scots, the Irish piquets or brigade, Lord Kilmarnock’s foot guards,[1197] Lord John Drummond’s regiment, and Glenbucket’s regiment in column on the left, flanked on the right by Fitz-James’s dragoons, and Lord Elcho’s horse-guards, and on the left by the Perth squadron, under Lords Strathallan and Pitsligo, and the prince’s body-guards under Lord Balmerino. General Stapleton had the command of this line. The third line, or reserve, consisted of the Duke of Perth’s and Lord Ogilvy’s regiments, under the last-mentioned nobleman. The prince himself, surrounded by a troop of Fitz-James’s horse, took his station on a very small eminence behind the centre of the first line, from which he had a complete view of the whole field of battle. The extremities of the front line and the centre were each protected by four pieces of cannon.
The English army continued steadily to advance in the order already described, and, after a march of eight miles, formed in order of battle, in consequence of the advanced guard reporting that they perceived the Highland army at some distance making a motion towards them on the left. Finding, however, that the Highlanders were still at a considerable distance, and that the whole body did not move forward, the Duke of Cumberland resumed his march as before, and continued to advance till within a mile of the position occupied by the Highland army, when he ordered a halt, and, after reconnoitring the position of the Highlanders, again formed his army for battle in three lines, and in the following order.
The first line consisted of six regiments, viz. the Royals, (the 1st,) Cholmondeley’s, (the 34th,) Price’s, (the 14th,) the Scots Fusileers, (the 21st,) Monro’s, (the 37th,) and Barrel’s, (the 4th). The Earl of Albemarle had the command of this line. In the intermediate spaces between each of these regiments were placed two pieces of cannon, making ten in all. The second line consisted of five regiments, viz. those of Pulteney, (the 13th,) Bligh, (the 20th,) Sempil, (the 25th,) Ligonier, (the 48th,) and Wolfe’s, (the 8th,) and was under the command of General Huske. Three pieces of cannon were placed between the exterior regiments of this line and those next them. The third line or corps de reserve, under Brigadier Mordaunt, consisted of four regiments, viz. Battereau’s, (the 62d,) Howard’s, (the 3d,) Fleming’s, (the 36th,) and Blakeney’s, (the 27th,) flanked by Kingston’s dragoons, (the 3d). The order in which the regiments of the different lines are enumerated, is that in which they stood from right to left. The flanks of the front line were protected on the left by Kerr’s dragoons, (the 11th,) consisting of three squadrons, commanded by Lord Ancrum, and on the right by Cobham’s dragoons, (the 10th,) consisting also of three squadrons, under General Bland, with the additional security of a morass, extending towards the sea; but thinking himself quite safe on the right, the duke afterwards ordered these last to the left, to aid in an intended attack upon the right flank of the Highlanders. The Argyle men, with the exception of 140, who were upon the left of the reserve, were left in charge of the baggage.
The dispositions of both armies are considered to have been well arranged; but both were better calculated for defence than for attack. The arrangement of the English army is generally considered to have been superior to that of the Highlanders; as, from the regiments in the second and third lines being placed directly behind the vacant spaces between the regiments in the lines respectively before them, the Duke of Cumberland, in the event of one regiment in the front line being broken, could immediately bring up two to supply its place. But this opinion is questionable, as the Highlanders had a column on the flanks of the second line, which might have been used either for extension or echelon movement towards any point to the centre, to support either the first or second line.
In the dispositions described, and about the distance of a mile from each other, did the two armies stand for some time gazing at one another, each expecting that the other would advance and give battle. Whatever may have been the feelings of Prince Charles on this occasion, those of the Duke of Cumberland appear to have been far from enviable. The thoughts of Preston and Falkirk could not fail to excite in him the most direful apprehensions for the result of a combat affecting the very existence of his father’s crown; and that he placed but a doubtful reliance upon his troops, is evident from a speech which he now made to his army. He said that they were about to fight in defence of their king, their religion, their liberties, and property, and that if they only stood firm he had no doubt he would lead them on to certain victory; but as he would much rather, he said, be at the head of one thousand brave and resolute men than of ten thousand if mixed with cowards, if there were any amongst them, who, through timidity, were diffident of their courage, or others, who, from conscience or inclination, felt a repugnance to perform their duty, he requested them to retire immediately, and he promised them his free pardon for doing so, as by remaining they might dispirit or disorder the other troops, and bring dishonour and disgrace on the army under his command.
As the Highlanders remained in their position, the Duke of Cumberland again put his army in marching order, and, after it had advanced, with fixed bayonets, within half a mile of the front line of the Highlanders, it again formed as before. In this last movement the English army had to pass a piece of hollow ground, which was so soft and swampy, that the horses which drew the cannon sank; and some of the soldiers, after slinging their firelocks and unyoking the horses, had to drag the cannon across the bog. As by this last movement the army advanced beyond the morass which protected the right flank, the duke immediately ordered up Kingston’s horse from the reserve, and a small squadron of Cobham’s dragoons, which had been patrolling, to cover it; and to extend his line, and prevent his being outflanked on the right, he also at same time ordered up Pulteney’s regiment, (the 13th,) from the second line to the right of the royals and Fleming’s, (the 36th,) Howard’s, (the 3d,) and Battereau’s, (the 62d,) to the right of Bligh’s, (the 20th,) in the second line, leaving Blakeney’s, (the 27th,) as a reserve.
During an interval of about half an hour which elapsed before the action commenced, some manœuvring took place in attempts by both armies to outflank one another. While these manœuvres were making, a heavy shower of sleet came on, which, though discouraging to the duke’s army, from the recollection of the untoward occurrence at Falkirk, was not considered very dangerous, as they had now the wind in their backs. To encourage his men, the Duke of Cumberland rode along the lines addressing himself hurriedly to every regiment as he passed. He exhorted his men to rely chiefly upon their bayonets,[1198] and to allow the Highlanders to mingle with them that they might make them “know the men they had to deal with.” After the changes mentioned had been executed, his royal highness took his station behind the royals, between the first and second line, and almost in front of the left of Howard’s regiment, waiting for the expected attack. Meanwhile, a singular occurrence took place, characteristic of the self-devotion which the Highlanders were ready on all occasions to manifest towards the prince and his cause. Conceiving that by assassinating the Duke of Cumberland he would confer an essential service on the prince, a Highlander resolved, at the certain sacrifice of his own life, to make the attempt. With this intention, he entered the English lines as a deserter, and being granted quarter, was allowed to go through the ranks. He wandered about with apparent indifference, eyeing the different officers as he passed along, and it was not long till an opportunity occurred, as he conceived, for executing his fell purpose. The duke having ordered Lord Bury, one of his aides-de-camp, to reconnoitre, his lordship crossed the path of the Highlander, who, mistaking him, from his dress, for the duke, (the regimentals of both being similar,) instantly seized a musket which lay on the ground, and discharged it at his lordship. He missed his aim, and a soldier, who was standing by, immediately shot him dead upon the spot.[1199]
In expectation of a battle the previous day, Charles had animated his troops by an appeal to their feelings, and on the present occasion he rode from rank to rank encouraging his men, and exhorting them to act as they had done at Prestonpans and at Falkirk.
The advance of Lord Bury, who went forward within a hundred yards of the insurgents to reconnoitre, appears to have been considered by the Highlanders as the proper occasion for beginning the battle. Taking off their bonnets, the Highlanders set up a loud shout, which being answered by the royal troops with a huzza, the Highlanders about one o’clock commenced a cannonade on the right, which was followed by the cannon on the left; but the fire from the latter, owing to the want of cannoneers, was after the first round discontinued. The first volley from the right seemed to create some confusion on the left of the royal army, but so badly were the cannon served and pointed, that though the cannonade was continued upwards of half an hour, only one man in Bligh’s regiment, who had a leg carried off by a cannon-ball, received any injury. After the Highlanders had continued firing for a short time, Colonel Belford, who directed the cannon of the duke’s army, opened a fire from the cannon in the front line, which was at first chiefly aimed at the horse, probably either because they, from their conspicuous situation, were a better mark than the infantry, or because it was supposed that Charles was among them. Such was the accuracy of the aim taken by the royal artillery, that several balls entered the ground among the horses’ legs, and bespattered the prince with the mud which they raised; and one of them struck the horse on which he rode two inches above the knee. The animal became so unmanageable, that Charles was obliged to change him for another.[1200] One of his servants, who stood behind with a led horse in his hand, was killed on the spot. Observing that the wall on the right flank of the Highland army prevented him from attacking it on that point, the duke ordered Colonel Belford to continue the cannonade, with the view of provoking the Highlanders and inducing them to advance to the attack. These, on the other hand, endeavoured to draw the royal army forward by sending down several parties by way of defiance. Some of these approached there several times within a hundred yards of the right of the royal army, firing their pistols and brandishing their swords; but with the exception of the small squadron of horse on the right, which advanced a little, the line remained immoveable.
Meanwhile, Lord George Murray, observing that a squadron of the English dragoons and a party of foot, consisting of two companies of the Argyleshiremen, and one of Lord Loudon’s Highlanders, had detached themselves from the left of the royal army, and were marching down towards the river Nairn, and conceiving that it was their intention to flank the Highlanders, or to come upon their rear when engaged in front, he directed Gordon of Avochy to advance with his battalion, and prevent the foot from entering the inclosure; but before this battalion could reach them, they broke into the inclosure, and throwing down part of the east wall, and afterwards a piece of the west wall in the rear of the second line, made a free passage for the dragoons, who formed in the rear of the prince’s army. Upon this, Lord George ordered the guards and Fitz-James’s horse to form opposite to the dragoons to keep them in check. Each party stood upon the opposite sides of a ravine, the ascent to which was so steep, that neither could venture across in presence of the other with safety. The foot remained within the inclosure, and Avochy’s battalion was ordered to watch their motions.[1201] This movement took place about the time the Highlanders were moving forward to the attack.[1202]
It was now high time for the Highlanders to come to a close engagement. Lord George had sent Colonel Kerr to the prince, to know if he should begin the attack; the prince ordered him to do so,[1203] but his lordship, for some reason or other, delayed advancing. It is probable he expected that the duke would come forward, and that by remaining where he was, and retaining the wall and a small farm house on his right, he would not run the risk of being flanked. Perhaps he waited for the advance of the left wing, which, being not so far forward as the right, was directed to begin the attack, and orders had been sent to the Duke of Perth to that effect; but the left remained motionless. Anxious for the attack, Charles sent an order by an aide-de-camp to Lord George Murray to advance, but his lordship never received it, as the bearer was killed by a cannon-ball while on his way to the right. He sent a message about the same time to Lochiel, desiring him to urge upon Lord George the necessity of an immediate attack.
Galled beyond endurance by the fire of the English, which carried destruction among the clans, the Highlanders became quite clamorous, and called aloud to be led forward without further delay. Unable any longer to restrain their impatience, Lord George had just resolved upon an immediate advance, but before he had time to issue the order along the line, the Mackintoshes, with a heroism worthy of that brave clan, rushed forward enveloped in the smoke of the enemy’s cannon. The fire of the centre field-pieces, and a discharge of musketry from the Scotch Fusileers, forced them to incline a little to the right; but all the regiments to their right, led on by Lord George Murray in person, and the united regiment of the Maclauchlans and Macleans on their left, coming down close after them, the whole moved forward together at a pretty quick pace. When within pistol-shot of the English line, they received a murderous fire, not only in front from some field-pieces, which for the first time were now loaded with grape-shot, but in flank from a side battery supported by the Campbells, and Lord Loudon’s Highlanders. Whole ranks were literally swept away by the terrible fire of the English. Yet, notwithstanding the dreadful carnage in their ranks, the Highlanders continued to advance, and, after giving their fire close to the English line, which, from the density of the smoke, was scarcely perceptible even within pistol-shot, the right wing, consisting of the Athole Highlanders and the Camerons, rushed in sword in hand, and broke through Barrel’s and Monroe’s regiments, which stood on the left of the first line. These regiments bravely defended themselves with their spontoons and bayonets; but such was the impetuosity of the onset, that they would have been entirely cut to pieces had they not been immediately supported by two regiments from the second line, on the approach of which they retired behind the regiments on their right, after sustaining a loss in killed and wounded of upwards of 200 men. After breaking through these two regiments, the Highlanders, passing by the two field-pieces which had annoyed them in front, hurried forward to attack the left of the second line. They were met by a tremendous fire of grape-shot from the three field-pieces on the left of the second line, and by a discharge of musketry from Bligh’s and Sempill’s regiments, which carried havoc through their ranks, and made them at first recoil; but, maddened by despair, and utterly regardless of their lives, they rushed upon an enemy whom they felt but could not see, amid the cloud of smoke in which the assailants were buried. The same kind of charge was made by the Stewarts of Appin, the Frasers, Mackintoshes, and the other centre regiments, upon the regiments in their front, driving them back upon the second line, which they also attempted to break; but finding themselves unable, they gave up the contest, not, however, until numbers had been cut down at the mouths of the cannon. While advancing towards the second line, Lord George Murray, in attempting to dismount from his horse, which had become unmanageable, was thrown; but, recovering himself, he ran to the rear and brought up two or three regiments from the second line to support the first; but, although they gave their fire, nothing could be done,--all was lost. Unable to break the second line, and being greatly cut up by the fire of Wolfe’s regiment, and by Cobham’s and Kerr’s dragoons, who had formed en potence on their right flank, the right wing also gave up the contest, and turning about, cut their way back, sword in hand, through those who had advanced and formed on the ground they had passed over in charging to their front.
In consequence of the unwillingness of the left to advance first as directed, Lord George Murray had sent the order to attack from right to left; but, hurried by the impetuosity of the Mackintoshes, the right and centre did not wait till the order, which required some minutes in the delivery, had been communicated along the line. Thus the right and centre had the start considerably, and quickening their pace as they went along, had closed with the front line of the English army before the left had got half way over the ground that separated the two armies. The difference between the right and centre and the left was rendered still more considerable from the circumstance, as noted by an eye-witness,[1204] that the two armies were not exactly parallel to one another, the right of the prince’s army being nearer the duke’s army than the left. Nothing could be more unfortunate for the prince than this isolated attack, as it was only by a general shock of the whole of the English line that he had any chance of a victory.
The clan regiments on the left of the line, apprehensive that they would be flanked by Pulteney’s regiment and the horse which had been brought up from the corps de reserve, did not advance sword in hand. After receiving the fire of the regiments opposite to them, they answered it by a general discharge, and drew their swords for the attack; but observing that the right and centre had given way, they turned their backs and fled without striking a blow. Stung to the quick by the misconduct of the Macdonalds, the brave Keppoch, seeing himself abandoned by his clan, advanced with his drawn sword in one hand and his pistol in the other; but he had not proceeded far, when he was brought down to the ground by a musket-shot. He was followed by Donald Roy Macdonald, formerly a lieutenant in his own regiment, and now a captain in Clanranald’s, who, on Keppoch’s falling, entreated him not to throw away his life, assuring him that his wound was not mortal, and that he might easily join his regiment in the retreat; but Keppoch refused to listen to the solicitations of his clansman, and, after recommending him to take care of himself, the wounded chief received another shot, and fell to rise no more.[1205]
Fortunately for the Highlanders, the English army did not follow up the advantages it had gained by an immediate pursuit. Kingston’s horse at first followed the Macdonalds, some of whom were almost surrounded by them, but the horse were kept in check by the French piquets, who brought them off. The dragoons on the left of the English line were in like manner kept at bay by Ogilvy’s regiment, which faced about upon them several times. After these ineffectual attempts, the English cavalry on the right and left met in the centre, and the front line having dressed its ranks, orders were issued for the whole to advance in pursuit of the Highlanders.
Charles, who, from the small eminence on which he stood, had observed with the deepest concern the defeat and flight of the clan regiments, was about proceeding forward to rally them, contrary to the earnest entreaties of Sir Thomas Sheridan and others, who assured him that he would not succeed. All their expostulations would, it is said, have been in vain, had not General O’Sullivan laid hold of the bridle of Charles’s horse, and led him off the field. It was, indeed, full time to retire, as the whole army was now in full retreat, and was followed by the whole of Cumberland’s forces. To protect the prince and secure his retreat, most of his horse assembled about his person; but there was little danger, as the victors advanced very leisurely, and confined themselves to cutting down some defenceless stragglers who fell in their way. After leaving the field, Charles put himself at the head of the right wing, which retired in such order that the cavalry sent to pursue could make no impression upon it.
At a short distance from the field of battle, Charles separated his army into two parts. One of these divisions, consisting, with the exception of the Frasers, of the whole of the Highlanders and the low country regiments, crossed the water of Nairn, and proceeded towards Badenoch; and the other, comprising the Frasers, Lord John Drummond’s regiment, and the French piquets, took the road to Inverness. The first division passed within pistol-shot of the body of English cavalry, which, before the action, had formed in the rear of the Highland army, without the least interruption. An English officer, who had the temerity to advance a few paces to seize a Highlander, was instantly cut down by him and killed on the spot. The Highlander, instead of running away, deliberately stooped down, and pulling out a watch from the pocket of his victim, rejoined his companions.[1206] From the plainness of the ground over which it had to pass, the smaller body of the prince’s army was less fortunate, as it suffered considerably from the attacks of the duke’s light horse before it reached Inverness. Numerous small parties, which had detached themselves from the main body, fell under the sabres of the cavalry; and many of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood, who, from motives of curiosity, had come out to witness the battle, were slaughtered without mercy by the ferocious soldiery, who, from the similarity of their dress, were perhaps unable to discriminate them from Charles’s troops. This indiscriminate massacre continued all the way from the field of battle to a place called Mill-burn, within a mile of Inverness. Not content with the profusion of bloodshed in the heat of action and during the pursuit, the infuriated soldiery, provoked by their disgraces at Preston and Falkirk, traversed the field of battle, and massacred in cold blood the miserable wretches who lay maimed and expiring. Even some officers, whose station in society, apart altogether from the feelings of humanity, to which they were utter strangers, should have made them superior to this vulgar triumph of base and illiberal minds, joined in the work of assassination. To extenuate the atrocities committed in the battle, and the subsequent slaughters, a forged regimental order, bearing to be signed by Lord George Murray, by which the Highlanders were enjoined to refuse quarters to the royal troops, was afterwards published, it is said, under the auspices of the Duke of Cumberland; but the deception was easily seen through. As no such order was alluded to in the official accounts of the battle, and as, at the interview which took place between the Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino, on the morning of their execution, both these noblemen stated their entire ignorance of it, no doubt whatever can exist of the forgery. The conduct of Charles and his followers, who never indulged in any triumph over their vanquished foes, but always treated them with humanity and kindness, high as it is, stands still higher when contrasted with that of the royal troops and their commander.[1207]
From the characteristic bravery of the Highlanders, and their contempt of death, it is not improbable that some of those who perished, as well on the field after the battle as in the flight, did not yield their lives without a desperate struggle; but history has preserved one case of individual prowess in the person of Golice Macbane, which deserves to be recorded in every history relating to the Highlanders. This man, who is represented to have been of the gigantic stature of six feet four inches and a quarter, was beset by a party of dragoons. When assailed, he placed his back against a wall, and though covered with wounds, he defended himself with his target and claymore against the onset of the dragoons, who crowded upon him. Some officers, who observed the unequal conflict, were so struck with the desperate bravery of Macbane, that they gave orders to save him; but the dragoons, exasperated by his resistance, and the dreadful havoc he had made among their companions, thirteen of whom lay dead at his feet, would not desist till they had succeeded in cutting him down.[1208]
According to the official accounts published by the government, the royal army had only 50 men killed, and 259 wounded, including 18 officers, of whom 4 were killed. Lord Robert Kerr, second son of the Marquis of Lothian, and a captain of grenadiers in Barrel’s regiment, was the only person of distinction killed; he fell covered with wounds, at the head of his company, when the Highlanders attacked Barrel’s regiment. The loss on the side of the Highlanders was never ascertained with any degree of precision. The number of the slain is stated, in some publications of the period, to have amounted to upwards of 2,000 men, but these accounts are exaggerated. The loss could not, however, be much short of 1,200 men. The Athole brigade alone lost more than the half of its officers and men, and some of the centre battalions came off with scarcely a third of their men.[1209] The Mackintoshes, who were the first to attack, suffered most. With the exception of three only, all the officers of this brave regiment, including Macgillivray of Drumnaglass, its colonel, the lieutenant-colonel, and major, were killed in the attack. All the other centre regiments also lost several officers. Maclauchlan, colonel of the united regiment of Maclauchlan and Maclean, was killed by a cannon ball in the beginning of the action, and Maclean of Drimmin, who, as lieutenant-colonel, succeeded to the command, met a similar fate from a random shot. He had three sons in the regiment, one of whom fell in the attack, and, when leading off the shattered remains of his forces, he missed the other two, and, in returning to look after them, received the fatal bullet. Charles Fraser, younger of Inverallachie, the lieutenant-colonel of the Fraser regiment, and who, in the absence of the Master of Lovat, commanded it on this occasion, was also killed. When riding over the field after the battle, the Duke of Cumberland observed this brave youth lying wounded. Raising himself upon his elbow, he looked at the duke, who, offended at him, thus addressed one of his officers: “Wolfe, shoot me that Highland scoundrel who thus dares to look on us with so insolent a stare.” Wolfe, horrified at the inhuman order, replied that his commission was at his royal highness’s disposal, but that he would never consent to become an executioner. Other officers refusing to commit this act of butchery, a private soldier, at the command of the duke, shot the hapless youth before his eyes.[1210] The Appin regiment had 17 officers and gentlemen slain, and 10 wounded; and the Athole brigade, which lost fully half its men, had 19 officers killed, and 4 wounded. The fate of the heroic Keppoch has been already mentioned. Among the wounded, the principal was Lochiel, who was shot in both ancles with some grape-shot, at the head of his regiment, after discharging his pistol, and while in the act of drawing his sword. On falling, his two brothers, between whom he was advancing, raised him up, and carried him off the field in their arms. To add to his misfortunes, Charles also lost a considerable number of gentlemen, his most devoted adherents, who had charged on foot in the first rank.
Lord Strathallan was the only person of distinction that fell among the low country regiments. Lord Kilmarnock and Sir John Wedderburn were taken prisoners. The former, in the confusion of the battle, mistook, amidst the smoke, a party of English dragoons for Fitz-James’s horse, and was taken. Having lost his hat, he was led bare-headed to the front line of the English infantry. His son, Lord Boyd, who held a commission in the English army, unable to restrain his feelings, left the ranks, and, going up to his unfortunate parent, took off his own hat, placed it on his father’s head, and returned to his place without uttering a word.
At other times, and under different circumstances, a battle like that of Culloden would have been regarded as an ordinary occurrence, of which, when all matters were duly considered, the victors could have little to boast. The Highland army did not exceed 5,000 fighting men; and when it is considered that the men had been two days without sleep, were exhausted by the march of the preceding night, and had scarcely tasted food for forty-eight hours, the wonder is that they fought so well as they did, against an army almost double in point of numbers, and which laboured under none of the disadvantages to which, in a more especial manner, the overthrow of the Highlanders is to be ascribed.[1211] Nevertheless, as the spirits of the great majority of the nation had been sunk to the lowest state of despondency by the reverses of the royal arms at Preston and Falkirk, this unlooked-for event was hailed as one of the greatest military achievements of ancient or modern times; and the Duke of Cumberland, who had, in consequence, an addition of £25,000 per annum made to his income by parliament, was regarded as the greatest hero of ancient or modern times. In its consequences, as entirely and for ever destructive of the claims of the unfortunate house of Stuart, the battle was perhaps one of the most important ever fought. Though vanquished, the Highlanders retired from the field with honour, and free from that foul reproach which has fixed an indelible stain upon the memories of the victors.
After the carnage of the day had ceased, the brutal soldiery, who, from the fiendish delight which they took in sprinkling one another with the blood of the slain, “looked,” as stated by one of themselves, “like so many butchers rather than an army of Christian soldiers,”[1212] dined upon the field of battle. After his men had finished their repast, the Duke of Cumberland marched forward to take possession of Inverness, and on his way received a letter, which had been addressed to General Bland, signed by six of the French officers in the insurgent army, offering in behalf of themselves and their men to surrender unconditionally to his royal highness. As he was about to enter the town he was met by a drummer, who brought him a message from General Stapleton, offering to surrender and asking quarter. On receiving this communication, the duke ordered Sir Joseph Yorke, one of his officers, to alight from his horse, who with his pencil wrote a note to General Stapleton, assuring him of fair quarter and honourable treatment. The town was then taken possession of by Captain Campbell, of Sempill’s regiment, with his company of grenadiers.
After securing his prisoners in the town, the Duke of Cumberland released the soldiers who had been confined in the church of Inverness by the insurgents, and who, if the government accounts be correct, had suffered great hardships. They had indeed, about a week before the battle of Culloden, been almost stripped of their clothes by an officer of the Highland army, to clothe a new corps he had raised; but a complaint having been brought to Lord George Murray on the subject, he obtained an order from the prince, in consequence of which the clothes were restored.[1213] The duke on the present occasion presented each of these men with a guinea, and gave orders that they should be taken care of.
Besides the military prisoners, several gentlemen supposed to be disaffected to the government were apprehended by the duke’s orders, shut up with the common prisoners, and were for some time denied the use of bedding. Nor did the softer sex, whose Jacobite predilections had pointed them out as objects of displeasure, escape his resentment. Several ladies, among whom were Ladies Ogilvy, Kinloch, and Gordon, were seized and kept in durance in the common guard, and were limited along with the other prisoners to the miserable pittance of half-a-pound of meal per day, with scarcely as much water as was necessary to prepare it for use. As the wounded prisoners were utterly neglected, many who would have recovered, if properly treated, died of their wounds; and so much were the rites of Christian sepulture disregarded by the royal officers, that the bodies of these unfortunate victims were carried naked through the streets by beggars, who were employed to inter them in the churchyard.[1214]
Knowing that there were several deserters from the royal army among the insurgents, the duke ordered a strict inspection to be made of the prisoners in order to find them out. No less than thirty-six were recognised, and being brought to a summary trial, were convicted, and suffered the death of traitors. Among these was one Dunbar, who had been a sergeant in Sowle’s regiment. He had taken a suit of laced clothes from Major Lockhart at the battle of Falkirk, which being found in his possession, he was dressed in them, and hanged, and his body exposed for forty-eight hours on the gibbet.[1215] A young gentleman of the name of Forbes, a relative of Lord Forbes, is also said to have perished on this occasion. He had served as a cadet in an English regiment, but, being from principle attached to the Jacobite interest, had joined the standard of the prince. An incident occurred after the execution of this unfortunate gentleman, which assumed an alarming appearance, and might have led to serious consequences had the war been continued. Before Forbes was cut down from the gibbet, an English officer, with a morbidness of feeling which seems to have seized the officers as well as the common soldiers of the army, plunged his sword into the body of Forbes, exclaiming, at the same time, that “all his countrymen were traitors and rebels like himself.” This exclamation being heard by a Scottish officer who was standing hard by, the offended Scotchman immediately drew his sword, and demanded satisfaction for the insult offered to his country. The Englishman instantly accepted the challenge, and in a short time the combat became general among the officers who happened to be on the spot. The soldiers, seeing their officers engaged, beat to arms of their own accord, and drew up along the streets, the Scotch on one side and the English on the other, and commenced a warm combat with fixed bayonets. Information of this affray having been brought to the Duke of Cumberland, he hastened to the scene of action, and by his persuasions put an end to the combat. He found the Scotch greatly excited by the affront offered them; but he soothed their wounded feelings by complimenting them for their fidelity, their courage, and exemplary conduct.[1216]
Notwithstanding the massacres which were committed immediately after the battle, a considerable number of wounded Highlanders still survived, some of whom had taken refuge in a few cottages adjoining the field of battle, while others lay scattered among the neighbouring inclosures. Many of these men might have recovered if ordinary attention had been paid to them; but the stern duke, considering that those who had risen in rebellion against his father were not entitled to the rights of humanity, entirely neglected them.[1217] But, barbarous as such conduct was, it was only the prelude to enormities of a still more revolting description. At first the victors conceived that they had completed the work of death by killing all the wounded they could discover; but when they were informed that some still survived, they resolved to despatch them. A Mr. Hossack, who had filled the situation of provost of Inverness, and who had, under the direction of President Forbes, performed important services to the government, having gone to pay his respects to the Duke of Cumberland, found Generals Hawley and Huske deliberating on this inhuman design. Observing them intent upon their object, and actually proceeding to make out orders for killing the wounded Highlanders, he ventured to remonstrate against such a barbarous step. “As his majesty’s troops have been happily successful against the rebels, I hope (observed Hossack) your excellencies will be so good as to mingle mercy with judgment.” Hawley, in a rage, cried out, “D--n the puppy! does he pretend to dictate here? Carry him away!” Another officer ordered Hossack to be kicked out, and the order was obeyed with such instantaneous precision, that the ex-provost found himself at the bottom of two flights of steps almost in a twinkling.[1218]
In terms of the cruel instructions alluded to, a party was despatched from Inverness the day after the battle to put to death all the wounded they might find in the inclosure adjoining the field of Culloden. These orders were fulfilled with a punctuality and deliberation that is sickening to read of. Instead of despatching their unfortunate victims on the spot where they found them, the soldiers dragged them from the places where they lay weltering in their gore, and, having ranged them on some spots of rising ground, poured in volleys of musketry upon them. Next day parties were sent to search all the houses in the neighbourhood of the field of battle, with instructions to carry all the wounded Highlanders they could find thither and despatch them. Many were in consequence murdered; and the young laird of Macleod was heard frankly to declare, that on this occasion he himself saw seventy-two persons killed in cold blood. The feelings of humanity were not, however, altogether obliterated in the hearts of some of the officers, who spared a few of the wounded. In one instance the almost incredible cruelty of the soldiery was strikingly exemplified. At a short distance from the field of battle there stood a small hut, used for sheltering sheep and goats in cold and stormy weather, into which some of the wounded had crawled. On discovering them the soldiers immediately secured the door, to prevent egress, and thereupon set fire to the hut in several places, and all the persons within, to the number of between thirty and forty, perished in the flames.[1219]
Another instance of fiendish cruelty occurred the same day. Almost immediately after the battle, nineteen wounded officers of the Highland army, unable to follow their retiring companions, secreted themselves in a small plantation near Culloden house, whence they were afterwards carried to the court-yard of that mansion, where they remained two days in great torture weltering in their blood, and without the least medical aid or attention but such as they received from the president’s steward, who, at the hazard of his own life, alleviated the sufferings of his unhappy countrymen by several acts of kindness. These wretched sufferers were now tied with ropes by the brutal soldiery, thrown into carts, and carried out to a park wall at a short distance from Culloden house. Being dragged out of the carts, they were ranged in order along the wall, and were told by the officer in command of the party to prepare for death. Such of them as retained the use of their limbs fell down upon their knees in prayer; but they had little time allowed them to invoke mercy, for in a minute the soldiers received orders to fire, and, being posted at the distance of only two or three yards from the prisoners, the unfortunate gentlemen were almost all instantly shot dead. That the butchery might be complete, the soldiers were ordered to club their muskets and dash out the brains of such of their miserable victims as exhibited any symptoms of life, an order which, horrible to tell, was actually fulfilled. A gentleman named John Fraser, who had been an officer in the Master of Lovat’s regiment, alone survived. He had received a ball, and being observed to be still in life, was struck on the face by a soldier with the butt end of his musket. Though one of his cheek bones and the upper part of his nose were broken, and one of his eyes dashed out by the blow, he still lived, and the party, thinking they had killed him, left him for dead. He would probably have expired on the spot, had not the attention of Lord Boyd, son of the Earl of Kilmarnock, when riding past, been fortunately attracted by the number of dead bodies he observed lying together. Espying, at a little distance from the heap, a body in motion, his lordship went up, and having ascertained from the mouth of the sufferer who he was, he ordered his servant to carry Mr. Fraser to a cottage, near at hand, which he named, where he lay concealed for three months. He lived several years afterwards, but was a cripple during life.[1220]
By the capture of Inverness, a considerable quantity of ordnance and military stores fell into the hands of the royal army. Including those taken on the field of battle, there were 30 pieces of cannon, 2,320 firelocks, 190 broadswords, a large quantity of musket cartridges, 1,019 cannon balls, a quantity of musket shot, 37 barrels of gunpowder, and 22 ammunition carts, besides tents, cantines, pistols, saddles, &c. To encourage the soldiers to collect the arms which the Highlanders had left on the field, they were allowed half-a-crown for every musket, and a shilling for every broadsword which they brought into the camp at Inverness. For every stand of colours the sum of sixteen guineas was allowed, and no less than fourteen of these were captured or picked up upon the field, all of which were burnt on the 4th of June at the market cross of Edinburgh, by the hands of the common hangman, after being carried in mock procession from the castle by a party of chimney-sweeps.
Two days after the battle the Earl of Cromarty, his son, Lord Macleod, several officers, and 153 private men, were landed at Inverness from the Hound sloop of war, which had conveyed them from Sutherland, where they had been taken prisoners by a party of Lord Sutherland’s people on the preceding day, viz., the 15th of April, under the following circumstances. Having received instructions to rejoin the main body of the Highland army at Inverness, the earl was about proceeding to fulfil them, when a plan was formed by the Mackays and the Earl of Sutherland’s people to cut him off. Uniting their forces, consisting of three independent companies, near Golspie, they resolved to attack the Earl of Cromarty, early in the morning of the 15th of April, in flank and in rear. In pursuance of this resolution, Captain Macallister, who commanded the Earl of Sutherland’s militia, marched with his company towards the water of Golspie, and having in his march received intelligence that Cromarty’s regiment had marched towards the ferry, but that the earl himself with the greater part of his officers was at Dunrobin castle, he sent Ensign John Mackay, with a party of 26 men, to intercept him. The earl left the castle with 14 officers on horseback, and a small party of well-armed foot, to join his men, and would have fallen into an ambuscade which Ensign Mackay had laid for him, had not some of the Mackays begun to fire too soon. Lord Cromarty immediately retraced his steps and took refuge in the castle, from the top of the tower of which he displayed a white flag and rang a bell, as a signal that he was attacked. The earl’s men began immediately to march back to his relief, upon which Mackay and his party retired to the adjacent high grounds. Meanwhile, the two independent companies, which were to attack Cromarty’s men in flank, arrived at the hill of Culmaly, to the north west of Golspie, and observing the insurgents returning from the ferry, and drawing up in order of battle on a rising ground about a mile west from Golspie, they concealed themselves on the top of the hill: Captains Gray and Sutherland, the commanders of the two companies, then descended the hill to reconnoitre. They computed Cromarty’s force to be between 400 and 500 men; and, having resolved to attack them, they returned to their men and gave orders to that effect. To deceive the insurgents as to the extent of their numbers, they marched down the hill in open column, keeping a distance of about twenty paces between each rank; and so well did this ruse succeed, that the insurgents, struck with a panic, fled towards the ferry, and were pursued by the two companies, who, attacking them in flank, killed a considerable number, and took 178 prisoners. The two companies thereupon marched to Dunrobin castle, which they invested. The earl held out the castle till the evening, when, despairing of relief, he requested the commanders of the companies to hold a conference with him in the castle on the subject of a surrender. While engaged in conversation, Ensign Mackay, who had entered the castle along with the two captains, went down stairs, and having informed the earl’s men below that he had surrendered, induced them to deliver up their arms. Having secured their arms, he took the keys from the porter, and, opening the gates, admitted his party. He then went up stairs with them, and, entering the dining-room, seized the earl, Lord Macleod, and the whole officers.[1221]
Whilst the Duke of Cumberland was deliberating upon the course he should adopt for finally suppressing the rebellion, his unfortunate kinsman, disheartened by his recent disaster, was entirely occupied with thoughts of his own personal safety. After leaving the field, Charles, escorted by a large body of horse, crossed the river Nairn at the ford of Falie, about four miles from the field of battle. Having halted a short time on the south side of the Nairn, during which he held a consultation with his friends, Charles dismissed the horse and most of his attendants, with instructions to assemble at Ruthven in Badenoch, where they were directed to wait for further orders. Taking along with him Sir Thomas Sheridan, O’Sullivan, Captain O’Neil, John Hay, and a few other persons, Charles set out for Gortuleg, the residence of Lord Lovat’s steward, where he arrived about sunset. There, for the first and only time, the prince met Lord Lovat, who, on learning the cause of the Prince’s unexpected visit, became, it is said, almost frantic, and, anticipating the fate which awaited him, called out to those around him to chop off his head. In a little time the aged chief regained his self-possession, and entered into conversation with Charles and his followers in relation to their future prospects. As it was not considered safe to pass the night so near the royal troops, Charles and his party, after partaking of some supper, left Gortuleg about ten o’clock for Invergarry, the seat of Macdonell of Glengarry. Before leaving Gortuleg, the prince took the precaution to change his dress.
The prince and his party arrived at the mansion of Invergarry about four o’clock in the morning, where Charles began to experience a foretaste of the hardships he was destined to endure. This ancient castle, ever since its first erection, had never been in such a cheerless condition as that in which Charles now found it. Unprovided with furniture or provisions, and inhabited by a solitary domestic, it seemed to warn the unfortunate fugitives that they were unwelcome within its walls, and that they must speedily look out for a more hospitable place of retreat. Overcome by fatigue, the whole party lay down upon the floor, in their clothes, and fell asleep. After reposing several hours, they rose, but had nothing to eat till Edward Burke, servant to Alexander Macleod, one of the party, observing a net in the water of Garry, pulled it out and caught two salmon, on which they dined.
With the exception of O’Sullivan, O’Neil, and Edward Burke, who, from his knowledge of the country, was selected as the prince’s guide, all the party took leave of Charles at Invergarry. Before leaving the castle, Charles, in order the more effectually to disguise himself, put on Burke’s coat; and at three o’clock in the afternoon, he set out for Loch Arkaig in Lochaber, accompanied by his three attendants, and took up his quarters for the night in the house of Donald Cameron of Glenpean. Charles slept the following night, that of Friday the 18th, at Mewboll, where he and his small party were well entertained. From Mewboll they set out next morning for Glenboisdale. At Loch Morar they waited several hours for a boat to carry them across; but, not finding one, they were obliged, from the road being impracticable for horses, to abandon them and to walk on foot to Glenboisdale, which they reached on Sunday the 20th, after great fatigue, having crossed two lofty ranges of mountains in their route.
Presuming that Charles still meant to make a stand, Lord George Murray and the other chiefs who remained with the army retired to Ruthven, where, including Cluny’s men whom they met on their retreat, they assembled a force of between 2,000 and 3,000 men. From the want of provisions it was impossible to keep such a body together for any length of time; and a message from Charles, two or three days after the battle, desiring them to disperse, hastened an event which seemed to be inevitable. In thus resigning the contest which by his inconsiderate rashness he had provoked, Charles showed that he was not possessed of that magnanimity which many of his followers ascribed to him. Notwithstanding their recent reverse, there existed no unwillingness on the part of the brave men who had risked their all for him to continue the war. They might not have, it is true, succeeded in vindicating the claim of an ungrateful prince in the field; but, under his leadership, they might have made a gallant stand, and forced the government to grant them favourable terms. In extenuation of the prince’s conduct, on the present occasion, it is but fair to add, that he was under the influence of a set of contemptible advisers, who prejudiced him against his best friends, and instilled into his mind a conviction that he had been betrayed at Culloden. How far the conduct of Lord George Murray, after that event, may have determined Charles to take the course he did, cannot now be ascertained; but if Charles, in the midst of his perplexity immediately after the battle, hesitated as to the course he should pursue, his reception of the following document, under the hand of Lord George Murray, was certainly not calculated to induce him to continue the contest.
“MAY IT PLEASE YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS.
“As no person in these kingdoms ventured more frankly in the cause than myself, and as I had more at stake than almost all the others put together, so, to be sure, I cannot but be very deeply affected with our late loss and present situation; but I declare, that were your royal highness’s person in safety, the loss of the cause, and the misfortunate and unhappy situation of my countrymen, is the only thing that grieves me, for I thank God I have resolution to bear my own family’s ruin without a grudge. Sir, you will, I hope, upon this occasion, pardon me, if I mention a few truths, which all the gentlemen of our army seem convinced of.
“It was highly wrong to have set up the royal standard without having positive assurances from his Most Christian Majesty, that he would assist you with all his force; and as your royal family lost the crown of these realms upon the account of France, the world did and had reason to expect that France would seize the first favourable opportunity to restore your august family.
“I must also acquaint your royal highness, that we were all fully convinced that Mr. O’Sullivan, whom your royal highness trusted with the most essential things with regard to your operations, was exceedingly unfit for it, and committed gross blunders on every occasion of moment. He whose business it was, did not so much as visit the ground where we were to be drawn up in line of battle, and it was a fatal error to allow the enemy these walls upon their left, which made it impossible for us to break them, and they, with their front fire, and flanking us when we went upon the attack, destroyed us without any possibility of our breaking them, and our Athole men have lost a full half of their officers and men. I wish Mr. O’Sullivan had never got any other charge in the army than the care of the baggage, which, I am told, he had been brought up to and understood. I never saw him in time of action, neither at Gladsmuir, Falkirk, nor in the last, and his orders were vastly confused.
“The want of provisions was another misfortune which had the most fatal consequence. Mr. Hay, whom your royal highness trusted with the principal direction of ordering provisions of late, and without whose orders a boll of meal or farthing of money was not to be delivered, has served your royal highness egregiously ill. When I spoke to him, he told me the thing is ordered, it will be got, &c.; but he neglected his duty to such a degree, that our ruin might probably have been prevented had he done his duty. In short, the three last days which were so critical, our army was starved. This was the reason our night march was rendered abortive, when we possibly might have surprised and defeated the enemy at Nairn; but for want of provisions a third of the army scattered to Inverness, &c., and the other who marched had not spirits to make it so quick as was necessary, being really faint for want of provisions.
“The next day, which was the fatal day, if we had got plenty of provisions we might have crossed the water of Nairn, and drawn up so advantageously, that we would have obliged the enemy to come to us, for they were resolved to fight at all hazards at prodigious disadvantage, and probably we would in that case have done by them as they unhappily have done by us. In short, Mr. O’Sullivan and Mr. Hay had rendered themselves odious to all our army, and had disgusted them to such a degree, that they had bred a mutiny in all ranks, that had not the battle come on, they were to have represented their grievances to your royal highness for a remedy. For my own part, I never had any particular discussion with either of them; but I ever thought them uncapable and unfit to serve in the stations they were placed in.
“Your royal highness knows I always told I had no design to continue in the army. I would of late, when I came last from Athole, have resigned my commission; but all my friends told me it might be of prejudice to the cause at such a critical time. I hope your royal highness will now accept of my demission. What commands you have for me in any other situation, please honour me with them.--I am, with great zeal, Sir, your royal highness’s most dutiful and humble servant,
“GEORGE MURRAY.
“RUTHVEN, 17th April, 1746.
“I have taken the liberty to keep 500 pieces, which shant be disposed upon except you give leave.”[1222]
It would appear from the preceding document that Lord George Murray, who, of all men, was the best judge of the propriety of trying another campaign, did not in the least contemplate that Charles would abandon the enterprise. His own opinion was, that the war should be continued; and when he heard that Charles had resolved to depart for France, he sent Secretary Hay to Glenboisdale with a message to Charles, to dissuade him against such a step; but Charles informed Hay that his resolution was fixed. Lord George maintained that the Highlanders “could have made a summer’s campaign without the risk of any misfortune: they could have marched through the hills to places in Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, the Mearns, Perthshire, Lochaber, and Argyleshire, by ways that regular troops could not have followed; and if they (the regular troops) had ventured among the mountains, it must have been attended with great danger and difficulty: their convoys might have been cut off, and opportunities would have offered to attack them with almost a certainty of success. And though the Highlanders had neither money nor magazines, they would not have starved in that season of the year so long as there were sheep and cattle: they could also have separated themselves in two or three different bodies, got meal for some days’ provision,--met again at a place appointed, and might have fallen upon the enemy when they least expected: they could have marched in three days what would have taken regular troops five: nay, had those taken the high roads as often as they would have been obliged upon account of their carriages, it would have taken them ten or twelve days. In short, they might have been so harassed and fatigued that they must have been in the greatest distress and difficulties, and at length probably been destroyed, at least much might have been expected by gaining of time: perhaps the Highlanders might have been enabled to have made an offensive instead of a defensive war.”[1223]
After receiving Charles’s orders to disperse, the officers at Ruthven, to use an expression of one of themselves,[1224] “took a melancholy leave of each other,” and went off in different directions to secure their personal safety, and the common men proceeded straight to their respective homes.
While Secretary Hay was at Boisdale, Charles drew up a letter to the chiefs, stating the reasons of his departure, which he inclosed in one to Sir Thomas Sheridan,[1225] with instructions to show it to them, but to keep it as long back as he conveniently could. He stated that it was “of the last consequence” to conceal his departure on some pretext or other, which he enjoined him to contrive, and to recommend, particularly to every person to whom he showed the paper, to follow the same course. In using this precaution Charles probably wished to keep the government in ignorance of his design to leave the kingdom. The letter to the chiefs, which, though written on or before the 23d of April, the date of the letter to Sir Thomas Sheridan, is post-dated the 28th, with the view, perhaps, of allowing Sir Thomas to withhold it for a few days, by which time Charles expected that he would be on his way to the Long island, where he expected to find a vessel to carry him to France. The letter to the chiefs runs thus:--
“FOR THE CHIEFS,
“When I came into this country, it was my only view to do all in my power for your good and safety. This I will always do as long as life is in me. But alas! I see with grief I can at present do little for you on this side the water, for the only thing that can now be done is to defend yourselves till the French assist you, if not to be able to make better terms. To effectuate this, the only way is to assemble in a body as soon as possible, and then to take measures for the best, which you that know the country are only judges of. This makes me be of little use here; whereas, by my going into France instantly, however dangerous it be, I will certainly engage the French court either to assist us effectually and powerfully, or at least to procure you such terms as you would not obtain otherways. My presence there, I flatter myself, will have more effect to bring this sooner to a determination than any body else, for several reasons; one of which I will mention here; viz. it is thought to be a politick, (policy,) though a false one, of the French court, not to restore our master, but to keep a continual civil war in this country, which renders the English government less powerful, and of consequence themselves more. This is absolutely destroyed by my leaving the country, which nothing else but this will persuade them that this play cannot last, and if not remedied, the Elector will soon be as despotick as the French king, which, I should think, will oblige them to strike the great stroke, which is always in their power, however averse they may have been to it for the time past. Before leaving off, I must recommend to you, that all things should be decided by a council of all your chiefs, or, in any of your absence, the next commander of your several corps with the assistance of the Duke of Perth and Lord George Murray, who, I am persuaded, will stick by you to the very last. My departure should be kept as long private and concealed as possible on one pretext or other which you will fall upon. May the Almighty bless and direct you.”[1226]
At Glenboisdale Charles was joined by Clanranald, Lockhart, younger of Carnwath, Æneas Macdonald, the banker, and several other adherents, who endeavoured to dissuade him from embarking for the isles, where, from the number of cruisers which hovered among the Hebrides, they considered he would run greater risk than if he remained on the mainland. Charles seemed disposed to adopt this advice; but O’Sullivan being averse to it, and having represented the great probability of speedily finding a ship among the isles to convey him to France, and the great danger of staying where he was, the prince adhered to his determination of seeking a temporary refuge in the Long island. With the intention of soliciting the protection of Sir Alexander Macdonald and the laird of Macleod, Charles sent to Kinlochmoidart for one Donald Macleod, a trustworthy person whom he wished to intrust with his despatches. Macleod had been at Inverness shipping a cargo of meal for Skye when Charles entered that town, and had been employed to accompany Æneas Macdonald to the island of Barra, for the purpose of bringing over a sum of about £380, which was lying there. They had reached Kinlochmoidart, on their way back, and were about setting out for Inverness, when Macdonald received a letter from the prince announcing his defeat, and requesting him to repair to Borodale. On receiving this message Macleod immediately set out, and in passing through a forest in the vicinity of Glenboisdale, he observed a solitary wanderer among the trees, who immediately came forward and asked him if he was Donald Macleod of Gualtergill in Skye. Macleod answered that he was, and having recognised the prince in the person of his interrogator, he stated that he was at his service. “Then,” said the prince, “you see, Donald, I am in distress. I therefore throw myself into your bosom; do with me what you like. I hear you are an honest man, and fit to be trusted.” The aged Highlander doubting his capacity to serve him, Charles stated to him the nature of the mission on which he intended to send him. Macleod, startled at the proposal, positively refused to undertake the task; and having remonstrated with Charles upon the impropriety of asking the protection of men who had, contrary to their promise, taken part against him, he abandoned his design.[1227]
During the few days that Charles spent at Glenboisdale, he is said to have wavered in his plans. Though informed of the dispersion of his troops, he had hopes that a good many might still be collected as occasion offered. He is said even to have entertained thoughts of again assembling his scattered forces, and acting on the defensive. He sent a few men, with whom Clanranald had supplied him, on all sides to obtain intelligence, but they learned nothing favourable; and accounts which he received from the Isle of Skye, that Lord Loudon was about to come over immediately to the coast of Arisaig, joined to a report, which, however, turned out to be false, that a detachment of the Duke of Cumberland’s army had already reached Fort Augustus, hastened his departure from the mainland.[1228]
Accordingly, on the evening of the 26th of April, Charles, accompanied by O’Sullivan, O’Neil, Allan Macdonald, a catholic priest of Clanranald’s family, and Edward Burke, embarked in an eight-oared boat at Borodale, in the bay of Lochnanuagh, where a few months before he had landed full of hope and enthusiasm. Besides the persons enumerated, and Donald Macleod who acted as pilot, there were seven boatmen. Charles sat down in the bottom of the boat at the feet of the pilot. Macleod, who observed indications of an approaching storm, had advised Charles to postpone his voyage till next day; but the prince was so intent upon proceeding, that he would not put off his departure. Four pecks of oatmeal were all the provision the whole party carried along with them, and the only cooking utensil was a pot which Macleod had taken care to provide.
Charles soon had occasion to repent of his obstinacy in not listening to the advice of the aged mariner; for before the boat had proceeded far, a storm arose, which is described by Macleod as the most violent he had ever witnessed, though he had been all his life a seafaring man. The danger was greatly increased by the darkness of the night, and to add to the distress of the party, the rain poured down in torrents. Vivid flashes of lightning which threw a momentary gleam over the face of the troubled deep, and the crash of the thunder which rolled over the heads of the affrighted party, increased the horrors of the scene. Unprovided with a compass, they were entirely ignorant of the course they were steering; but they had, from the violence of the tempest, no alternative but to go before the wind, and in the event of escaping the fury of the waves, running the risk of being driven upon Skye, where the prince might fall into the hands of the militia who were in that island. But all their apprehensions of danger on this score were removed, by discovering at day-break that they were on the coast of the Long island. At seven o’clock in the morning they landed with great difficulty at Rossinish, a point of land on the north-east of Benbecula, one of the islands which form the group called the Long island. Having secured their boat, Charles and his party entered an uninhabited hut, in which they kindled a fire to warm themselves and dry their clothes, which were saturated with rain and salt-water. Charles purchased a cow, which was immediately slaughtered; and which, with the small quantity of meal provided by Donald Macleod, served to support the party during the time they remained on the island.[1229]
Meanwhile the Duke of Cumberland was using every effort to capture the persons of the young Chevalier and his principal adherents. For this purpose, several detachments were sent out by the duke from his camp at Inverness in different directions, and as he was desirous that Charles should not fall alive into his hands, his instructions to the commanders of the detachments were to make no prisoners. One of these detachments, under Colonel Cockayne, proceeded to Moy castle, and after shooting some fugitives who had taken refuge in that mansion, and massacring some old men, women and children, returned to Inverness, carrying along with them Lady Mackintosh, who, on her arrival there, was committed to custody by the duke. Another party went to castle Downie, the seat of Lord Lovat, which they burnt to the ground, having previously secured a large quantity of booty, which they carried to Inverness. A body of 600 Grants was sent into the Frasers’ country to reduce and disarm that powerful clan; and the Monroes, Mackays, and Sutherlands, were scattered over the shires of Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, and Caithness, to keep the disaffected in these counties in check. To secure the passages to the isles, Lord Fortrose, son of the Earl of Seaforth, proceeded to raise the Mackenzies, and orders were given along the coast to prevent any suspicious persons from making their escape by sea. Cobham’s and Lord Mack Ker’s dragoons were posted along the east coast, and bodies of militia were stationed at the passes leading into the Highlands to intercept all persons who might attempt to escape to the lowlands. The pass of Stirling was also guarded by a detachment posted at the Fords of the Frew, and the Edinburgh regiment was spread along the south side of the Frith of Forth, to apprehend such of the insurgents as might attempt to cross that arm of the sea. Besides these different detachments, a body of 1,700 militia, under the Earl of Loudon, the laird of Macleod, and Sir Alexander Macdonald, the last of whom had raised his men before the battle of Culloden, and another body of 800 Argyleshire men under General Campbell, afterwards Duke of Argyle, spread themselves over Lochaber, all eager to secure the person of the prince. In short, no means were neglected to attain this object; and the eager pursuers required no other stimulus to urge them on than the splendid reward of £30,000, which had been offered for the capture of the royal fugitive.
The departure of Charles from Lochnanuagh was not known at Inverness till some days after he had sailed, and the place of his destination become a matter of interesting speculation. No doubt could exist that he designed to seek refuge among the western islands, and as St. Kilda is the most distant and the least frequented of the whole, it was supposed that Charles had repaired thither. Acting on this supposition, General Campbell collected some sloops of war and transports, and having embarked a considerable body of troops, set sail for St. Kilda.[1230] After touching at Barra and some other islands, and searching for the prince, he approached St. Kilda, the inhabitants of which, alarmed at the sight of the fleet, fled and concealed themselves in the cliffs of the rocks. Landing with some of his forces, the general inquired at some of the inhabitants, whom he discovered in their recesses, what had become of the “Pretender;” but these people answered, with great simplicity, that they had never heard of such a person,--that they had indeed been informed that their laird (Macleod) had lately been at war with a woman a great way abroad, and that he had overcome her. This, they added, was all they knew of the affairs of the world. General Campbell, however, not satisfied with this statement, made a search over the island, but not finding any strangers, returned to the main land after visiting South Uist.
Anticipating the utter ruin which awaited them and their followers, if no attempt was made to resist the meditated designs of the Duke of Cumberland, several chiefs and others[1231] held a meeting at Mortlaig on the 8th of May, at which they entered into a bond for their mutual defence, and agreed never to lay down their arms, or make a general peace, without the consent of the whole. They may be supposed to have come to this resolution the more readily, as a sum of 35,000 louis d’ors had been received a few days before by two French frigates which had arrived on the west coast. By the bond of association, the chiefs agreed, and solemnly promised, with the utmost expedition, to raise in behalf of the prince and in defence of their country, as many able-bodied armed men as they could on their respective properties, and they further promised and agreed, that the following clans, viz., Lochiel, Glengarry, Clanranald, Stewarts of Appin, Keppoch, Barisdale, Mackinnons and Macleods, should assemble on Thursday, the 15th of May, at Auchnacarry, in the braes of Lochaber. To facilitate the junction of the different corps with all possible speed, it was agreed that the Frasers of Aird and the other Jacobite clans on the north side of the river Ness, should join the people of Glenmoriston and Glengarry, and that the Frasers of Stratherrick, the Mackintoshes and Macphersons, should assemble and meet at the most convenient place in Badenoch on the same day;--that the Macgregors, and Menzies’ and Glenlyon’s people should march to Rannoch and join the Rannoch and Athole men, and be kept in readiness to receive intelligence and orders to meet the main body in the braes of Mar, or at any other place that might be considered convenient,--that Gordon of Glenbucket and Colonel Roy Stewart should intimate the resolutions of the meeting to Lord Lewis Gordon, Lords Ogilvy and Pitsligo, the Farquharsons, and the other principal gentlemen in the north, who were to be directed to fix a place of rendezvous among themselves, and that Macpherson of Cluny and Colonel Roy Stewart should advertise the principal gentlemen of the Mackintoshes of the resolutions adopted by the meeting. The better to conceal their designs from the Duke of Cumberland, the assembled chiefs agreed not to discover or reveal to any of their men or inferior officers, the agreement they had entered into, nor the day and place of rendezvous, till they had assembled their respective corps. It was finally agreed, that should any one engaged in the association make separate terms for himself, he should be looked upon as a traitor to the prince, and be treated by his associates as an enemy.[1232]
The associated chiefs had been too sanguine in their expectations, not one of them being able, for various reasons, to meet on the day appointed. Clanranald’s people refused to leave their own country, and many of Glengarry’s had delivered up their arms. Lochgarry came with a small party to Invermely on the 20th of May; but, after staying one night, he crossed Loch Arkaig and did not return. Lochiel and Barisdale met at Auchnacarry, the place of rendezvous, on the 21st or 22d of May, but with very few men, and they were almost surprised by a large party of the government forces on the morning of the 23d, who took an officer and two of Lochiel’s men prisoners. The Highlanders immediately dispersed, and Lochiel, seeing no chance of making an effectual stand under existing circumstances, wrote a circular to his brother chiefs, advising them to disperse their people; but, as great expectations were entertained that the French king would send assistance, he requested them to preserve their arms as long as possible.
Conceiving that the only effectual mode of suppressing the rebellion was to march into the Highlands with the whole of his army, the Duke of Cumberland began, about the middle of May, to make preparations for his journey. He had in the beginning of that month issued a proclamation, ordering the insurgent clans to deliver up their arms; but little attention was paid to this mandate, and the continuance of considerable armed parties convinced him that the Highlands could never be reduced without the presence of a considerable army stationed in a central district. Having pitched upon Fort Augustus for his new head-quarters, the duke left Inverness, on the 23d of May, with eleven battalions of foot and Kingston’s horse, and reached Fort Augustus next day. Charles had intended to make this place a rallying point in case of a defeat; but his plan was rejected by the chiefs, and, that it might not be serviceable to the royal troops, the buildings had been blown up. No accommodation being therefore found for the duke’s army, a camp was formed in the neighbourhood, and a turf hut with doors and windows, and covered with green sods and boughs, was erected by Lord Loudon’s Highlanders for the use of his royal highness.[1233]
Resolving to inflict a signal chastisement upon the rebels, the duke sent, from his camp at Fort Augustus, detachments of his troops in all directions, which devastated the country with fire and sword, and committed excesses scarcely paralleled in history, resembling, though perhaps on a minor scale, those committed by the hosts of Hyder Ali, when that merciless destroyer burst into the Carnatic. The seats of Lochiel, Glengarry, Kinlochmoidart, Keppoch, Cluny, Glengyle, and others, were plundered and burnt to the ground, and great numbers of the houses of the common people shared the same fate.[1234] Major Lockhart, whose name, by his cruelties on this occasion, has obtained an infamous notoriety, marched with a detachment into the country of the Macdonalds of Barisdale, and laid waste and destroyed their dwellings. Some of these poor people had obtained protections from Lord Loudon; but the major disregarded them, and told the people who had them, that not even a warrant from heaven should prevent him from executing his orders. Another corps, under Lord George Sackville, ravaged the country about the glens of Moidart, while others carried fire and desolation through other districts. Not contented with destroying the country, these bloodhounds either shot the men upon the mountains, or murdered them in cold blood. The women, after witnessing their husbands, fathers, and brothers murdered before their eyes, were subjected to brutal violence, and then turned out naked, with their children, to starve on the barren heaths. A whole family was inclosed in a barn, and consumed to ashes. So alert were these ministers of vengeance, that in a few days, according to the testimony of a volunteer who served in the expedition, neither house, cottage, man, nor beast, was to be seen within the compass of fifty miles: all was ruin, silence, and desolation. Deprived of their cattle and their small stock of provisions by the rapacious soldiery, the hoary-headed matron and sire, the widowed mother and her helpless offspring, were to be seen dying of hunger, stretched upon the bare ground, and within view of the smoking ruins of their dwellings.
It may seem surprising that the Highlanders did not avenge themselves upon their oppressors, by assassinating such stragglers as fell in their way. It cannot be supposed that men in whose bosoms the spirit of revenge must have taken deep root, would have spared their relentless adversaries from any scruple as to the mode of despatching them; nor can it be imagined that the Highlanders could not have selected fit occasions when they might have inflicted vengeance upon individuals. The reason of their forbearance probably was, that such a system of warfare, if adopted, would lead to acts of retaliation on the part of the military, and thus increase their calamities. Only one instance is known where an injured person attempted to avenge himself. This was the case of a Highlander who had his house burned, his cattle plundered, and his son killed, while defending his family, who were turned out in the snow. Vowing revenge, he watched the officer who was the author of this inhuman outrage, and who, he was informed, was to be distinguished by a cloak of a particular kind. This officer riding one day with Captain George Munro of Culcairn in a shower of rain, lent him his cloak; and while marching in it with a party of men along the side of Loch Arkaig, the captain was shot by the enraged Highlander, who perceived the cloak, but could not distinguish the difference of person. The man escaped, and although he was well known, and might have been afterwards apprehended, he was allowed to pass unpunished.[1235]
Of the immense quantity of cattle carried off by Cumberland’s troops, some idea may be formed from the fact mentioned in a journal of the period,[1236] that there were sometimes 2,000 in one drove. Intelligence of such a vast accumulation of live stock reaching the ears of the graziers of the south, numbers of them went to Fort Augustus well provided with money, which they laid out to great advantage. Some of the people, impelled by starvation, repaired to the camp to solicit from the spoilers some of their flocks, to preserve an existence; but their supplications were unheeded, and they were doomed to behold their cattle sold and driven away, while famine stared them in the face.
The atrocities committed by the English must have been revolting to the humane mind of Lord President Forbes. On paying his respects to the duke at Inverness, he hinted to his highness that the laws of the country should be observed even by his army; but the duke, who entertained very different ideas, not relishing such an intrusion upon his authority, cut the worthy president short with this exclamation, “The laws of the country, my Lord! I’ll make a brigade give laws, by God!” Judging farther remonstrance to be vain, Forbes dropped the subject, and was compelled to deplore in silence the cruelties which he could not prevent. He might have represented the matter to the government; but he was perhaps unwilling to run the risk of incurring its displeasure, and thereby deprive himself of the chance of being afterwards useful in saving many families from ruin.[1237]
The enormities of the lawless soldiery were not confined to the Highlands, but extended to all the adjoining lowland districts where the spirit of disaffection was known to exist. The houses of the low country Jacobite gentry were plundered and destroyed, and the chapels of the nonjurant episcopal clergy, as well as the more humble and secluded places of worship belonging to the Catholics, were either razed or burnt to the ground. “Rebel-hunting” was the term adopted by the ruffians of the British army to designate their bloody occupation.
To complete the work of extermination, the duke issued a proclamation, denouncing the punishment of death, by hanging, against every person who should harbour the insurgents, and a similar fate was declared to await such as should conceal arms, ammunition, or any other thing belonging to them, or should not immediately deliver up to persons authorized by the duke to receive the same, any property or effects in their possession belonging to the rebels. In compliance with a requisition made by the duke, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, about the end of May, enjoined the ministers of the different parishes to read a proclamation from the pulpits, in which they themselves, and every well affected person, were ordered by his royal highness to use every exertion to discover and seize the unfortunate fugitives; and to facilitate their discovery and apprehension, the clergy were required to furnish lists of the names of all persons in their respective parishes who had had any share in the insurrection. Many clergymen, including those of Edinburgh, with feelings of humanity and independence which did them honour, refused to read this proclamation, or to comply with the order requiring them to give in the names of such of their parishioners as had been engaged in the rebellion. The government, equally intent with its sanguinary general upon the destruction of the unfortunate adherents of the house of Stuart, offered rewards for apprehending such of the fugitives as might land in Ireland, and instructions were sent to the British ministers at foreign courts in alliance with George II., to seize all who might seek refuge in the territories of such powers.
The guilt of all these acts of bloodshed and rapine has been laid to the charge of the Duke of Cumberland, and the single fact that he issued no orders to put an end to the enormities which were daily committed, almost under his own eyes, and with his perfect knowledge, seems of itself sufficient to justify the charge. But when taken in connexion with his sanguinary order not to make prisoners, the proofs of his criminality, or rather unconstitutional severity, are evident. Though the foul stain of wanton cruelty must ever attach to the British army on the present occasion, from the commander down to the private, there were some redeeming exceptions among the officers, who alleviated the sufferings, and, in some instances, saved the lives of the devoted Highlanders. “I think myself,” says Mr. Maxwell, “bound in justice to let the reader know that there were in the duke of Cumberland’s army officers of all ranks, whom neither the prospect of ingratiating themselves and making their fortunes, nor the contagion of bad example were able to corrupt. Some of those that had done the government the most essential services were as conspicuous now for their humanity as formerly for their courage and conduct. It might be indiscreet to be particular at present; but their names, which are written with indelible characters in the hearts of those poor people that owe to them the preservation of their being, will be carefully handed down to posterity. They are already known, and even, in the worst of times, meet with the applause they deserve from all those that have a fellow-feeling for their species.”
With the honourable exceptions here alluded to, neither the duke nor the submissive slaves of his tyrannical will ever appear to have felt the least compunction for the miseries they inflicted upon the unfortunate Highlanders. On the contrary, they seem to have revelled amidst the ruin and desolation which they spread around; and when their occupation of “rebel-hunting” was gone, by the destruction of their victims, they endeavoured to relieve the ennui of repose by ludicrous and indecent diversions. Horse and foot races were instituted by the royal duke, who did not think it beneath his dignity to induce the women of the camp to enter the lists, and to expose themselves in a way at which decency revolts.[1238] This species of amusement produced great insubordination in the army, for the soldiers got very fond of it, and, according to a volunteer, most of them had horses, which they bought and sold with one another at a low price, and on which they rode about, neglecting their duty, and consequently it became necessary to publish an order to part with them, otherwise they were all to be shot. “I saw,” continues the same writer, “a soldier riding on one of these horses, when, being met by a comrade, he asked him, ‘Tom, what hast thou given for the Galloway?’ Tom answered, ‘Half-a-crown.’ To which the other replied, with an oath, ‘He is too dear; I saw a better bought for eighteen-pence.’ Notwithstanding the low price, the vast quantities of cattle, such as oxen, horses, sheep, and goats, taken from the rebels, and bought up by the lump by the jockies and farmers from Yorkshire and the south of Scotland, came to a great deal of money, all which was divided amongst the men that brought them in, who were sent out in parties in search of the Pretender; and they frequently came to rebels’ houses, which they had left, as their owners would not be reduced to obedience. These our soldiers commonly plundered and burnt, so that many of them grew rich by their share of spoil.”
When the zeal and activity of the military in pursuing the leading fugitives on the one hand, and the great care of the government to prevent their escape to the continent on the other, are considered, it is surprising that so many succeeded in their attempts to leave the kingdom. Besides the Earls of Cromarty and Kilmarnock, and Lord Macleod, the only other Jacobite chiefs who fell into the hands of the government were the Marquis of Tullibardine, Lords Balmerino and Lovat, and Secretary Murray. The Marquis being unable, from the bad state of his health, to bear the fatigue of running from covert to covert, surrendered himself, on the 27th of April, to a Dumbartonshire gentleman, who committed him to the castle of Dumbarton; and Lord Balmerino, by the advice of Mr. Grant, younger of Rothiemurchus, most unwisely delivered himself up at Inverness, two days after the battle of Culloden. After having the mortification of witnessing, from the summit of a mountain, the conflagration of his seat of Castle Downie by the king’s troops, Lord Lovat took refuge in the western parts of Inverness-shire, and finally concealed himself in the hollow of a tree which grew on a small island in Loch Morar, where he was apprehended early in June by a party from the Furnace sloop of war. When discovered, he was wrapt up in a blanket; and, though he had between five and six hundred guineas in his pocket, had been obliged to live twelve days in his miserable retreat on oatmeal and water. Being unable, from his great age and infirmity, to ride, he was carried in a litter to the royal camp at Fort Augustus. Secretary Murray contrived to escape from the Highlands, and sought for safety in the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Hunter of Polmood, in Peebles-shire; but information having been given of his retreat, he was apprehended on the morning of Saturday, the 28th of June, by a party of St. George’s dragoons, carried to Edinburgh, and committed the same evening a prisoner to the castle.
Macdonald of Barisdale and his son were also taken prisoners, but were almost immediately set at liberty. That a man who had taken such an active part in the insurrection as Barisdale did should have been liberated unconditionally is very improbable; and it was generally understood that he had entered into an engagement to apprehend the prince, and deliver him up to the Duke of Cumberland. So strong were the suspicions of Charles and his friends of Barisdale’s treachery, that when Colonel Warren arrived in the West Highlands for the purpose of transporting Charles to France, he actually seized Barisdale and his son, and carried them along with him to that country as prisoners. A list of charges, in the shape of interrogatories, was afterwards drawn up by Charles at Paris, to each of which Barisdale was required to make a direct and particular answer in writing; but the nature of his answers, if he made any, is not known. There may have been no foundation for these grave charges; but well or ill founded, an opinion long prevailed in the Highlands that Barisdale had been unfaithful.
If Glengarry’s apprehension proceeded upon the information of the gentlemen of his own clan, they must have had better grounds for taking the extraordinary step they are alleged to have done than the mere assertion of Barisdale; but the charge against Glengarry seems highly improbable, as it is scarcely credible, if, as stated, they had letters from him in their possession, advising them to take up arms in support of Charles, while he himself kept back, that he would, by such a perfidious act, have put himself in their power. Glengarry, after his apprehension, was sent to London, and, along with the other chief prisoners, was committed to the Tower, where he suffered a long and tedious confinement. Young Glengarry had been taken up some months previously and sent to the Tower, in which he was kept a close prisoner for twenty months.
Notwithstanding the sanguinary ferocity with which Cumberland’s soldiers hunted down the unfortunate fugitives, the lives of a considerable number of those who were taken or surrendered themselves were saved from immediate destruction by the interference of a few humane persons, who did everything in their power to put a stop to the exterminating system of these bloodhounds. Though they thus escaped the merciless sword of the destroyer, they were nevertheless doomed to suffer the most extraordinary privations. After having been cooped up in the loathsome prisons of the north, without any attention to their wants, many of them were afterwards huddled together in the holds of ships, where they were condemned unheeded to pine away, and, amidst a mass of filth and corruption, to inhale the seeds of pestilence and death. Of 157 persons who were immured for eight months in the hold of one transport, only 49 survived the cruel treatment they received.[1239]
Meanwhile several of the chiefs of the insurrection succeeded in effecting their escape to the Continent. The Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, Lords Elcho and Nairne, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and others, embarked at Lochnanuagh, on board one of the French ships which arrived on the western coast about the end of April. The Duke of Perth, who had been long in bad health, died on the voyage. Another party of twelve or thirteen persons, including Lords Pitsligo and Ogilvy, and Hunter of Burnside, after skulking some time in Buchan, got a vessel which conveyed them to Bergen in Norway. The British consul applied to the governor to have them secured, but he disregarded the application, and the party proceeded to Sweden. Stewart of Ardshiel, and General O’Sullivan also succeeded in reaching France. Old Glenbucket, after being hunted from place to place, eluded his pursuers by assuming the garb of a beggar, and allowing his beard to grow. In the month of November he escaped to Norway in a Swedish vessel. Lord George Murray remained in concealment in Scotland till the month of December, when, after paying a private visit to his friends at Edinburgh, he took shipping at Anstruther in the Frith of Forth, and reached Holland in safety.
FOOTNOTES:
[1166] The publication of the Forbes Papers has brought to light the meanness and rapacity of the Duke of Cumberland and General Hawley. The duke lived, all the time he was at Aberdeen, in the house of Mr. Alexander Thomson, advocate, and, although he made use of every kind of provisions he found in the house, and of the coals and candles, he did not pay Mr. Thomson a single farthing, nor did he even thank him. He left, however, six guineas for the servants, a boy and two women, one of whom had washed and dressed his linen. Mrs. Gordon of Hallhead was induced to yield possession of her house in the town to General Hawley, under a promise that the greatest care would be taken of every thing in the house. Having represented that she was unable to furnish linen and other necessaries for Hawley and his suite, Mrs. G. was informed, that as the general would bring every thing with him, she might lock up all she had, and that all that was wanted was the use of two of her maid-servants to do the work of the house. Mrs. G. accordingly secured her effects under lock and key; but Hawley had not been above a day in the house when he sent a messenger to Mrs. G. demanding delivery of all her keys, and threatening, in case of delay, to break open all the locks. Having received the keys, the general sent Major Wolfe, one of his aides-de-camp, to Mrs. G. in the evening, who intimated to her that she was deprived of every thing except the clothes on her back. The poor lady then desired to have her tea, but the major told her that it was very good, and that tea was scarce in the army. She next asked for her chocolate, and the same answer was returned. She expressed a wish to get other things, particularly her china, but the gallant major told her that she had a great deal of it, that it was very pretty, and that the general and his friends were very fond of china themselves; but perhaps she might get back some of it. Mrs. G. petitioned the Duke of Cumberland to order her property to be restored to her. The duke, it is said, promised to grant the prayer of the petition, but no prohibitory order was issued, and General Hawley proceeded to pack up every thing in the least portable, and shipped the best things off to Edinburgh a fortnight before he left Aberdeen. Mrs. Gordon gives a very minute catalogue of the effects carried off, which she values at £600. Among those abstracted were the whole of her husband’s body-clothes, three wigs, “with several shirts and night-gowns of Bob’s,” (Mr. Gordon’s son). He carried off all the china and other crockery ware, and did not leave a single teacup or plate,--all the wine glasses and decanters,--the linens and table napery, and even the kitchen towels. He stript the beds of every thing, and left the bare posts standing. In short, he cleared the house of almost every thing,--of empty bottles, larding pens, iron skewers, flutes, music books, two canes with china heads, wash-balls, &c. &c. Mrs. Gordon insinuates that the Duke of Cumberland participated in the spoil. In a letter written by Thomas Bowdler, Esq. of Ashley, near Bath, brother of Mrs. Gordon, to the Rev. Robert Lyon, who lived in Lady Cotton’s family in London, he observes, that a Mrs. Jackson, who knew Mrs. Gordon’s china well, recognised part of it one day in the window of a china shop in London, and having the curiosity to inquire of the shopkeeper from whom he had bought it, was informed that he had purchased it from a woman of the town, who told him that the Duke of Cumberland had given it to her.
[1167] Ray, p. 313.
[1168] Home, App. No. 41.
[1169] Jacobite Memoirs, p 120.
[1170] Kirkconnel MS.
[1171] Kirkconnel MS. Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 507.
[1172] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 518.
[1173] A Particular Account of the Battle of Culloden. In a letter from an officer (Lord George Murray) of the Highland army to his friend in London. London, 1749, p. 4. No. 42 of Appendix to Home. Jacobite Memoirs, p. 121.
[1174] Kirkconnel MS. Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 518.
[1175] Particular Account of the Battle of Culloden, p. 6.
[1176] Idem, p. 9.
[1177] Particular Account, p. 10.
[1178] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 508.
[1179] Particular Account, p. 10.
[1180] Appendix to Home, No. 42.
[1181] Home, Appendix, No. 42. True Account, &c. p. 11.
[1182] In the letter which Lord George, under the signature of De Valignie, addressed to his friend Hamilton of Bangour, dated from Emerick, 5th August, 1749, he thus justifies himself for having ordered a retreat without the prince’s orders:--“They say, why return from Kilraick without the Prince’s positive orders? he was general, and without his immediate orders no person should have taken so much upon him. My answer to this is, (waiving what Mr. O’Sullivan said from the Prince,[1183]) that all the officers were unanimous;--that as it could not be done by surprise, and before day-break, as had been proposed and undertaken with no other view, it was impossible to have success; for it was never imagined by any one that it was to be attempted but by a surprise. Whatever may be the rules in a regular army, (and it is not to be supposed I was ignorant of them,) our practice had all along been, at critical junctures, that the commanding officers did every thing to their knowledge for the best. At Gladsmuir (the plan of which attack I had formed,) I was the last that passed the defile of the first line, and the first that attacked; and gained in going on a good part of the ground we had left betwixt us and the main ditch, by the front having, on account of the darkness, marched a little too far. When I came up with the enemy’s cannon, I did not stay to take them, but went on against both foot and dragoons, being very quickly followed by our right. I received no orders (nor did I wait for any, otherwise the opportunity would have been lost,) from the time I passed the defile till the battle was over. At Clifton, where I expected to have been supported by all our army, John Roy Stuart brought me orders from the Prince to retreat, for he had ordered the march for Carlisle, which was begun. The officers who were with me agreed in my opinion, that to retreat when the enemy were within less than musket-shot would be very dangerous, and we would probably be destroyed before we came up with the rest of our army. We had nothing for it but a brisk attack; and therefore, after receiving the enemy’s fire, we went sword in hand and dislodged them; after which we made our retreat in good order. I own I disobeyed orders; but what I did was the only safe and honourable measure I could take, and it succeeded. At the battle of Falkirk I never received an order or message from his Royal Highness after I passed the water at Dunipace till the battle was over. I could say much more on this subject; all I shall now add is, that at the time we returned from Kilravock there was no officer of any distinction with the prince, (except Sir Thomas Sheridan be reckoned one,) they being all in the van. Brigadier Stapleton was indeed in the rear, but he knew nothing of the ground there, and his people were only to have been a corps de reserve, and not in the attack.”
[1183] “Mr. O’Sullivan said, (he had just come up to the front,) he had just then come from the Prince, who was very desirous the attack should be made: but as Lord George Murray led the van, and could judge of the time, he left it to him whether to do it or not.”--Particular Account, p. 12.
[1184] Particular Account, &c. p. 12.
[1185] Mr. John Hay’s account of the Retreat, No. 43 of Appendix to Home’s Rebellion. This statement has been hitherto supposed to rest upon the single authority of Hay; and Mr. Home has been blamed for making it, as it was not confirmed by others. The same statement, however, is also made by Mr. Maxwell of Kirkconnel, a much more respectable authority than Hay. Mr. Home had the Kirkconnel MS. in his possession when writing his history, but seldom refers to it. Mr. Maxwell’s words are: “The prince was incensed beyond expression at a retreat, begun in direct contradiction to his inclination and express orders. In the first moments he was convinced he was betrayed, and expressed himself to that purpose. He was confirmed in this opinion by those who never missed an opportunity of loading Lord George Murray, but when he knew that this step had been taken in concert with Lochiel and others, whom he had never distrusted, he did not know what to think or what to do: thus perplexed he arrived with the army at Culloden.” See also narrative by the Rev. George Innes in Jacobite Memoirs, who says, (p. 289,) that some persons positively said, that when the prince met the Duke of Perth’s regiment returning, he cried out, “I am betrayed; what need I give orders, when my orders are disobeyed.”
[1186] Answer by the Prince to Mr. Home’s query, Home’s Rebellion, No. 44 of the Appendix.
[1187] Kirkconnel MS. Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 519. Particular Account, p. 14.
[1188] Kirkconnel MS.
[1189] Particular Account, p. 14.
[1190] Home, p. 226.
[1191] Boyse, p. 155.
[1192] Boyse, p. 156. English official account of the battle.
[1193] See a curious and interesting letter in the Stuart Papers, from Lord George Murray to the prince, written from Ruthven the day after the battle.
[1194] Particular Account, p. 15.
[1195] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 510.
[1196] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 510.--Kirkconnel MS.
[1197] These guards were originally a body of cavalry, called the horse-grenadiers, but they were dismounted, and their horses were given to the men of Fitz-James’s regiment, who had landed in Scotland without horses.
[1198] “The great object of the duke, before recommencing his march, had been to prepare his men for a firm reception of the Highland charge. He knew that on this all depended, and that the two previous disasters had been caused by the men not being rightly disciplined to receive the novel mode of attack. Some writers on military tactics had, in the meantime, proposed alterations on the complex infantry movements of the day, for the purpose of evading the Highlander’s target, by directing the bayonet against his right breast. The men were trained during the winter, in some measure, to such a change of motion, but it appears to have rather been for the purpose of giving them a confidence that might make them steady, than from any belief in the absolute efficacy of the change.”--Burton’s Scotland from Revolution, vol. ii. p. 519.
[1199] Boyse, p. 159.
[1200] Boswell’s Tour to the Hebrides, p. 228.
[1201] Kirkconnel MS.
[1202] Mr. Home says that about a hundred men were stationed in the inclosure, who were put to the sword by the dragoons when they entered; but he is certainly mistaken. Mr. Maxwell of Kirkconnel, from whom Mr. Home took his description of the battle, does not mention such an occurrence. In the memoir by a Highland officer, (Colonel Ker,) printed among the Lockhart Papers, it is stated, (p. 520,) that to guard against any attempts that might be made to break down the walls of the inclosure, there were two battalions placed facing outward, covering the right of the two lines, to observe the motions of the English; and that “when the attack began, the Campbells threw down a great part of the wall of the inclosure for the dragoons on the duke’s left, to pass to the rear of the prince’s army, which they did without receiving one shot from the two battalions that were placed to observe their motions.”--P. 521.
[1203] Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 521.
[1204] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.
[1205] In retiring from the field, Captain Roy Macdonald received a musket bullet, which passed in at the sole of the left foot and came out at the buckle. With difficulty he reached Bun Chraobg, two miles beyond Inverness, where he procured a horse and set off for the Isle of Skye, but his foot had swelled so much that he could not put it in the stirrup.--Jacobite Memoirs, p. 425.
[1206] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 196.
[1207] One of the duke’s sycophants says, that after the fatigue of the battle was over, his royal highness retired to a place near the field to refresh himself; and that, after sitting a short time, he rose and took “a serious walk to view the multitudes that lay dead on the ground. He was followed by some of his attendants, who observed him in deep meditation. He laid his hand upon his breast, and with his eyes lifted up to heaven, was heard to say, Lord, what am I! that I should be spared? when so many brave men lie dead upon the spot!--an expression of such deep humility towards God, and compassion towards his fellow creatures, as is truly worthy a Christian hero!!!”--Marchant, p. 396.
[1208] Cromek’s Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 200.--Henderson’s History, p. 60.
[1209] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 124.
[1210] Chambers’s Rebellion, and authorities referred to there.
[1211] The ground was totally unsuited to Highland tactics. “It is impossible to look on this waste, with the few green patches still marking the graves where the slain were covered up in heaps, without a feeling of compassion for the helplessness of a Highland army in such a place. It is a wide flat muir, with scarcely a curve, where the mountaineers had nothing to aid their peculiar warfare, in high or rugged ground. A better field for steady disciplined troops could not exist. They could see everywhere around, and it was impossible either to surprise them, or subject them, as at Killiecrankie or Falkirk, to a rush from the higher ground.”--Burton after Revolution, vol. ii. p. 518.
[1212] Scots Mag. vol. viii. p. 192.
[1213] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 129.
[1214] Idem, p. 236.
[1215] Boyse, p. 164.
[1216] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 203.
[1217] “It is not necessary to believe all the Jacobite stories tending to show a wanton and fiendish indulgence, by the duke and his most distinguished followers, in cruelty and any kind of bloody work for its own sake; nor to admit that he ridiculed President Forbes as the old woman who spoke about humanity and the laws. What he did was, we may be assured from his character, not done in a spirit of wantonness, but after a sense of duty. But that duty led him to severity. He was a soldier according to the German notions of a soldier, and a rebel province was a community to be subjected to martial law. Many of the insurgents, attempting to escape or hide themselves when detected by well-known peculiarities, were put to death by the soldiery, who, even when they made a mistake and slew the wrong man, could not easily be punished. The duke, brought up in the German military school, seems to have been unable to distinguish between a rebellion suppressed in constitutional Britain, where all men are supposed to be innocent but those proved to be guilty,--and a revolted German province, where every accorded grace to the unfortunate people proceeds from the will of the conqueror. Thus there was a propensity to subject all the northern districts to something too closely resembling military law or license.”--Burton’s Scotland after Revolution, v. ii. pp. 522, 523.
[1218] Letter from a gentleman in London to his friend in Bath. Bath, 1751, reprinted in Jacobite Memoirs.
[1219] Idem.
[1220] Letter from a gentleman in London, &c.
[1221] Life of George, Earl of Cromarty: London, 1746. Boyse, p. 155.
[1222] From the Stuart Papers.
[1223] Account of the Battle of Culloden, &c.; Lond. 1749.
[1224] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.
[1225] Stuart Papers.
[1226] From a copy among the Stuart Papers thus quoted on the back in Charles’s own hand:--“The Prince’s Letter to ye Chiefs in parting from Scotland, 1746.”
[1227] Macleod’s Narrative in Jacobite Memoirs.
[1228] Kirkconnel MS.
[1229] Genuine and True Journal of the most miraculous Escape of the young Chevalier, by an Englishman. London, 1749. Macleod’s Narrative.
[1230] Genuine and True Journal, p. 7. Home, p. 245.
[1231] There were twelve or thirteen gentlemen present; among whom were Lochiel, young Clanranald, Barisdale, Dr. Cameron, John Roy Stewart, old Glenbucket, Secretary Murray, and Cameron of Dungallon. Lord Lovat was also present, but by accident.
[1232] Appendix to Home, No. xlvii.
[1233] Boyse, p. 169.
[1234] The booty taken must have been considerable, as in one instance, that of Glengarry House, the party who plundered it, consisting of 200 men, had the following allowances made as their shares, viz., every captain, £11 5s.; each subaltern, £5 18s.; a sergeant, £1 10s.; a corporal, £1; and every common soldier, 15s., clear of all deductions.--Boyse, p. 169.
[1235] “Colonel Grant of Moy, who died in April, 1822, in his 90th year, was walking along the road with a gun on his shoulder when Culcairn was shot. A turn of the road concealed him from the soldiers at the moment, but when he came in sight with his gun, they immediately seized him upon suspicion, and carried him to Fort William. After a short confinement he was released. Colonel Grant entered the 42d as a volunteer or soldier of fortune, and afterwards got a cadetship in India, from which he returned with a handsome fortune nearly fifty years ago.”--Stewart’s Sketches, vol. i. note p. 280.
[1236] Scots Magazine, vol. viii. p. 287.
[1237] How far any remonstrance on the part of the president would have been attended to may be judged from the following statement:--“When he visited London in the end of the year, (1746,) for the purpose of settling the accounts he had run with the loyal Highland militia, he, as usual, went to court. The king, whose ear had been offended with repeated accounts of the conduct of the military, thus addressed him:--‘My lord-president, you are the person I most wished to see. Shocking reports have been circulated of the barbarities committed by my army in the north; your lordship is, of all men, the best able to satisfy me.’ ‘I wish to God,’ replied the president, ‘that I could, consistently with truth, assure your majesty that such reports are destitute of foundation.’ The king, as was his custom, turned abruptly away from the president; whose accounts, next day, were passed with difficulty; and, as report says, the balance, which was immense, never fully paid up.”--Antijacobin Review, vol. xiii. Review of Home’s History of the Rebellion.
[1238] A letter from Fort Augustus, dated June 27, 1746, which made the round of the public journals at the time, thus describes these pastimes:--“Last Wednesday the duke gave two prizes to the soldiers to run heats for on bare-backed Galloways taken from the rebels, when eight started for the first, and ten for the second prize. These Galloways are little larger than a good tup, and there was excellent sport. Yesterday his royal highness gave a fine Holland smock to the soldiers’ wives, to be run for on these Galloways, also bare-backed, and riding with their limbs on each side of the horse like men. Eight started, and there were three of the finest heats ever seen. The prize was won, with great difficulty, by one of the Old Buff’s ladies. In the evening, General Hawley and Colonel Howard run a match for twenty guineas on two of the above shelties: which General Hawley won by about four inches.”
[1239] Jacobite Memoirs, p. 300. William Jack, one of the prisoners, in a letter to his friends in Elgin (Memoirs, p. 299), says that the sailors used to amuse themselves by hoisting the prisoners up to the yard-arm and dropping them into the sea, and that they would tie them to the mast and flog them; that for several months they had no bed-clothes, and that they used to dig holes among the ship’s ballast, consisting of black earth and small stones, to keep themselves warm. John Farquharson of Aldlerg, himself a prisoner, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Forbes, published among the Forbes papers, gives an appalling description of the miseries of his fellow prisoners on their voyage from Inverness to London. He says that from hunger, bad usage, and exposure “to all weathers, they were seized with a kind of plague which carried them off by dozens;” and that “a good many of those who would have outlived their sickness, were wantonly murdered by the sailors, by dipping them in the sea in the crisis of their fevers.” After arriving in the Thames, the common prisoners were put into Tilbury Fort, and would have perished for want had not some humane people supported them. The officers were marched rank and file to Southwark jail, amid the hootings of a tumultuous mob, who loaded them with scornful epithets, and assailed them with brickbats, stones, and other missiles.