Lord George Murray had, on this occasion, assumed the national dress. "I

was this day," he says "in my philibeg." Well might he, in after times,

when reviewing the events of the memorable campaign of 1745, dwell with

pride on the hardihood of those countrymen from whom he was for ever an

exile when he composed his journal. "All the bridges that were thrown

down in England," he remarks, "to prevent their advancing in their march

forwards, never retarded them a moment." Nor was the philibeg assumed

merely for the convenience of the passage over the Esk. "I did not

know," writes Lord George, "but the enemy might have come from Penrith

by Brampton, so shunned the water of Eden, to have attacked us in

passing this water of Esk; and nothing encouraged the men more, than

seeing their officers dressed like themselves, and ready to share their

fate."

Some ladies had forded the river on horseback immediately before the

Highland regiments. These fair, and bold equestrians might have given

intelligence; but luckily they did not. The General who had provided so

carefully and admirably for the safety of his troops, knew well how to

temper discipline with indulgence. Fires were instantly kindled to dry

the men as they quitted the water. The poor Highlanders, when they found

themselves on Scottish ground, forgot all the vexation of their retreat,

and broke out into expressions of joy;--of short lived continuance among

a slaughtered and hunted people. It was near night; yet the bagpipes

struck up a national air as the last of the Highland host passed the

river: and the Highlanders began dancing reels, "which," relates Lord

George, "in a moment dried them, for they had held up the tails of their

short coats in passing the river; so when their legs were dry, all was

right." This day, forming an epoch in the sorrowful narrative of the

insurrection of 1745, was the birthday of Prince Charles, who then

attained his twenty-fifth year. Many mercies had marked the expedition

into England, fruitless as it had proved. After six weeks' march, and

sojourn, in England, amid innumerable enemies, threatened by two

formidable armies in different directions, the Jacobite forces, entering

England on the eighth of November, and quitting it on the twentieth of

December, had returned without losing more than forty men, including the

twelve killed at Clifton Wall. They had traversed a country well-peopled

with English peasantry, without any attacks except upon such marauders

as strayed from their main body.

As soon as the army had passed the river, the Prince formed it into two

columns, which separated; the one, conducted by Charles Edward, took the

road to Ecclefechan; the other, under the command of Lord George Murray,

marched to Annan. In the disposition of these routes, the principal

object was to keep the English in a state of uncertainty as to the

direction in which the Jacobite army intended to go, and the towns which

they purposed to occupy: and the end was answered; for no just notion

was given of the movements of the Highlanders until after the subsequent

junction of the two columns; and time was thus gained.

There being no town within eight or ten miles from the river Esk, the

army were obliged to march nearly all night. The column conducted by the

Prince had to cross mossy ground, under a pouring rain, which had

continued ever since the skirmish at Clifton Wall. The guides who

conducted Lord George's division led them off the road; this was,

however, a necessary precaution in order to shun houses, the lights from

which might have tempted the drenched and hungry soldiers to stray, and

take shelter. Then the hardy and energetic general of his matchless

forces first felt the effects of this laborious march in unusual

debility, and fever.

At Moffat, this column halted; and divine service was performed in

different parts of the town, all the men attending. "Our people,"

remarks Lord George, "were very regular that way; and I remember, at

Derby, the day we halted, as a battle was soon expected, many of our

officers and people took the sacrament."[159]

On the twenty-fifth of December, Lord George arrived at Glasgow, having

passed through the towns of Hamilton and Douglas, and here, on the

following day, Charles Edward also arrived, with the other column. Lord

Elcho, who had conducted the cavalry through Dumfries, preceded the two

great divisions. It was resolved to give the army some days' rest after

the excessive fatigue which the men had uncomplainingly sustained. The

spirits of Charles Edward were now recruited, and his example

contributed not a little to the alacrity and energy of his force. Small,

indeed, did it appear, when he reviewed it on Glasgow-green, and found

how little he had suffered during his expedition into England. Hitherto

Charles had carefully concealed his weakness; but now, hoping in a few

days to double his army, he was not unwilling to show with what a

handful of men he had penetrated into England, and conducted an

enterprise, bold in its conception, and admirable in its performance.

At Glasgow, the melancholy fate of the brave garrison in Carlisle became

known to the Jacobite army. Two days after the Prince had left, the Duke

of Cumberland invested it, and began to batter that part of the wall

which is towards the Irish gate. The governor of the Castle, Mr.

Hamilton, determined to capitulate even before a breach had been made in

the walls; and his proposal was vainly resisted by the brave Francis

Townley and others, who were resolved to defend themselves to the last

extremity. "They were in the right."[160] They might have held out for

several days, and perhaps obtained better terms; but the governor

persisted in surrendering to the clemency of King George, promised by

his inhuman and dishonourable son. Assurances of intercession were given

by the Duke of Cumberland, and the garrison of three hundred men

surrendered. On the Duke's return to London, it was decided by the

British government that he was not bound to observe a capitulation with

rebels. The brave, and confiding prisoners perished, twelve of the

officers by the common hangman, at Kennington; others, at Carlisle--many

died in prison. Their fate reflected strongly upon the conduct of

Charles Edward; but the general character of that young Prince, his

hatred of blood, his love of his adherents, prove that it was not

indifference to their safety which actuated him in the sacrifice of the

garrison of Carlisle. He was possessed with an infatuation, believing

that he should one day, and that day not distant, re-enter England; he

was surrounded by favourites, who all encouraged his predilections, and

fostered the hereditary self-will of his ill-starred race. The blood of

Townley, and of his brave fellow-sufferers, rests not as a stain on the

memory of Lord George Murray; and the Prince alone must bear the odium

of that needless sacrifice to a visionary future. "We must draw a veil,"

says the Chevalier Johnstone, "over this piece of cruelty, being

altogether unable either to discover the motive for leaving this three

hundred men at Carlisle, or to find an excuse for it."[161]

On arriving at Glasgow, the Prince sent a gentleman to Perth to procure

a particular account of the state of affairs in that part of the

country; and on finding that his forces were so widely scattered that a

considerable time must elapse before they could reassemble, he gave up

the hope of returning to England, and determined upon the sieges of

Edinburgh and Stirling. On the fourth of January he marched from Glasgow

to Bannockburn, where he took up his quarters; and Lord George Murray,

with the clans, occupied Falkirk. Before the twelfth of the same month,

General Hawley, who had now formed a considerable army in Edinburgh,

resolved upon raising the siege of Stirling, before which the trenches

were opened.

Lord George Murray was, however, resolved to make a strong effort to

prevent this scheme of General Hawley's from taking effect. Hearing that

there was a provision made of bread and forage at Linlithgow for General

Hawley's troops, he resolved to surprise the town and to carry off the

provisions. He set out at four o'clock in the morning; was joined by

Lord Elcho and Lord Pitsligo, with their several bodies of horse, and

before sunrise Linlithgow was invested. The Jacobites were disturbed,

however, in their quarters by a party of General Hawley's dragoons; and

a report which prevailed that another body of horse and foot were also

approaching, induced Lord George to return to Falkirk. On the following

day he returned to Stirling; and the clans were quartered in the

adjacent villages. The reinforcements which had been so long expected

from the north were now near at hand; so that they could scarcely fail

to arrive before an engagement began. The clans were augmented in

number, and what was almost of equal importance, they had regained

confidence and health on returning to their native land. All were in

high spirits at the prospect of an engagement.

The Prince employed the fifteenth day of the month in choosing a field

of battle; on the sixteenth he reviewed the army. The plan of the

engagement was drawn out by Lord George Murray, according to his usual

practice. The army of the insurgents amounted to nine thousand men. On

that evening he learned that General Hawley had encamped on the plain

between that town and the river Carron: upon which a council was called,

and it was resolved the next day to attack the enemy.

The sympathies of the modern reader can scarcely fail to be enlisted in

the cause of the Jacobites, who appear henceforth in the character of

the valiant defenders of their hills and homes, their hereditary

monarchy, their national honour and rights. Whatever an Englishman may

have felt on beholding the incursions of a Highland force in his own

country, the sentiment is altered into one of respect and of compassion

when he views the scene of the contest changed, and sees the hopeless

struggle fought on Scottish ground.

Never were two parties more strongly contrasted than the Hanoverians and

the Jacobites. The very expressions which each party used towards the

other, as well as their conduct in the strife, are characteristic of the

coarse insolence of possession, and the gallant contest for restoration.

Nothing could present a more revolting contrast than that between the

individuals who headed the armies of Government, and the unfortunate

Prince Charles and his brave adherents. In opposition to his generosity

and forbearance stood the remorseless vengeance of the Duke of

Cumberland. In comparison with the lofty, honest, fearless Lord George

Murray, was the low instrument of Cumberland, the detestable Hawley. One

blushes to write his name an English word. Succeeding General Wade,

whose feeble powers had become nearly extinct in the decline of age,

General Hawley was the beloved officer, the congenial associate of the

young and royal commander-in-chief, who even at his early age could

select a man without love to man, or reverence to God, for his General.

These two were kindred spirits, worthy of an union in the task of

breaking the noblest hearts, and crushing and enslaving the finest

people that ever blessed a land of sublime beauty. Perhaps, if one may

venture to make so strong an assertion, the General was more odious than

his patron. It is, indeed, no easy point to decide towards which of

these two notorious, for I will not call them distinguished men, the

disgust of all good minds must be excited in the greater degree. In

contempt for their fellow men, in suspicion and distrust, they were

alike. In the directions for Hawley's funeral, he wrote in his will:

"The priest, I conclude, will have his fee: let the puppy take it. I

have written all this with my own hand; and this I did because I hate

priests of all professions, and have the worst opinion of all members of

the law."

To this low and ignorant contempt for the members of two learned

professions, Hawley added an utter disregard of every tie of honour; he

was wholly unconscious of the slightest emotion of humanity; he revelled

in the terrors of power. The citizens beheld, with disgust, gibbets

erected on his arrival there, to hang up any rebels who might fall into

his hands: the very soldiers detested the General who had executioners

to attend the army. The generous nature of Englishmen turned against the

man, who, as it has been well remarked, "deserved not the name of

soldier." They gave him the nick-name of the "Chief Justice;" and hated

him as a man unworthy to cope with brave and honourable foes.

General Hawley had all the contempt, fashionable in those days, for

Highland valour. "Give me but two regiments of horse," he said, "and I

will soon ride over the whole Highland army." He quickly, however,

learned his mistake; his contempt was, therefore, changed into a

fiendish abhorrence, exhibited in the most horrible forms of unmitigated

revenge.

It was decided by Charles and his Generals, in a council held on the

evening preceding the battle of Falkirk, to attack the Hanoverian troops

by break of day. The Tor Wood, formerly an extensive forest, but much

decayed, lay between the two armies. The high road from Stirling to

Falkirk, through Bannockburn, passes through what was once the middle of

the wood. About eleven in the morning the Jacobite army was seen,

marching in two columns, and advancing to the rising ground. Scarcely

had they begun their march than the sky was overcast, and a violent

storm blinded their enemy, who were, on the other hand, marching with

their bayonets fixed; the fury of the tempest was such, that they could

hardly secure their pieces from the rain.

Lord George Murray, with his drawn sword in his hand, and his target on

his arm, conducted the Macdonalds of Keppoch. This clan regiment

advanced very slowly that they might keep their ranks until they had

gained possession of the ground they wanted; they then turned their

backs to the wind, and formed into the line of battle. The field which

they intended to occupy was skirted by a deep morass as they came foot

by foot, within pistol shot of the enemy.

Meantime, General Ligonier, with three regiments of dragoons, began to

move towards the Highlanders: whilst Lord George Murray, riding along

the ranks of the Macdonalds, was forbidding them to fire until he gave

orders. The English came at last, on full trot, almost close up to the

line: then Lord George Murray gave the word of command to fire; the

dragoons were instantly repulsed and fled back; upon which Lord George

commanded the Macdonalds to keep within ranks, and stand firm. A total

rout of the King's troops ensued; and the field of battle presented a

strange spectacle. The English troops were, during the whole of the

battle, severely incommoded by the storm of wind and rain, which almost

blinded the enemy; but, independent of this accidental cause, their

usual valour was, on this day, called into question. They fled in every

direction. This famous battle did not last more than twenty minutes from

the first fire of the Macdonalds to the retreat of the last regiment of

dragoons. Before it grew dark General Hawley gave orders that his tents

should be burned; he then retreated to Linlithgow.

Many brave English officers fell in this ill-conducted engagement, and

their defeat was attributed at once to the arrogant confidence of

Hawley, and to the courage and discipline of the Macdonalds of Keppoch,

who, under the skilful command of Lord George Murray, are considered to

have won the day. "If the bravery of the Macdonald regiments were put

out of view," observes Mr. Chambers, "it might be said that the storm

had gained the Jacobites the battle."

But the rain, which lasted during the whole of the battle, prevented a

full advantage of the defeat being taken. The Highlanders, who do not

use cartridges, were unable to load again, but were forced to have

recourse to their broadswords; they were, however, out-lined by one-half

of the enemy's infantry, and one of the battalions wheeling about, they

were thrown into disorder by the force of a flank fire. They retreated

up the hill, and before they could be rallied, the English, who could

not be prevailed upon to stand a second attack of the Highland

broadswords, had begun an orderly retreat. Had the whole of the

Jacobite army been at hand, to rush headlong upon the enemy the moment

they turned their backs, few of their infantry would have escaped being

killed or taken.[162]

Lord George Murray, advancing with the Atholl men, who had kept the line

in perfect order, pursued the retreating army towards Falkirk. He had

arrived at the foot of the hill just as the English troops entered the

town, which was at the distance of a musket-shot from the place where he

stood. It was then proposed by most of the officers to retire towards

Dunnipace, in order to shelter the men from the incessant rain; but Lord

George opposed this proposition. He had observed the disorder of the

English: "Let them not have time," he remarked, "to rally, and to line

the houses, and clean their guns, so as to defend the town of Falkirk;

there is not a moment to be lost." He concluded with the expression of

Count Mercy at the battle of Parma--"I will either lie in the town, or

in Paradise."

Prince Charles coming up at the instant, approved of the resolution. A

singular difficulty now occurred; there were no bag-pipes to inspirit

the men with a warlike air; the pipers, as soon as a battle began, were

in the practice of giving their pipes into the keeping of boys, who had

to take care of themselves, and often disappeared with the instruments.

"The pipers, who," as Lord George remarks, "were commonly as good men as

any," then charged with the rest. This circumstance, which might appear

trifling, was in fact the cause why the Macdonalds and other Clans had

not rallied from the first.[163] Such was the importance of the

national music at this critical moment. In ancient days the bards shared

the office of encouragement to the Clans. It was their part to stimulate

valour, and, before the battle began they passed from tribe to tribe,

giving exhortations, and expatiating on the dishonour of retreat. They

familiarized the people with a notion of death, and took from it, in one

sense, its sting. When their voices could no longer be heard, they were

succeeded by the pipes, whose wailing and powerful strains kept alive

the enthusiasm which languished when those notes ceased to be

heard.[164]

Lochiel, Lord Ogilvy, Colonel Roy Stewart, and several other chiefs,

followed Lord George Murray into the town. On the ensuing day Charles

and most of the army entered it. All were disappointed not to overtake

the enemy; and Lord George Murray has left on record proofs of his

bitter disappointment at the fruitless issue of this gallant encounter,

much of which he attributes to want of decision and arrangement. Early

on the morning of the battle, he had given the Prince a scroll of the

line of battle, which was approved; he had requested that it might be

filled in with the names of officers appointed to command. "I never," he

observes, "heard that there was any appointment made that day." When it

was agreed to march towards the enemy between twelve and one, he asked

the Prince whether, since there was no other Lieutenant-General there,

he should march at the head of the army? He was answered in the

affirmative, after which he never received any other instructions until

the action was over. The difficulties which Lord George had, therefore,

to encounter, without knowing who were to command in the different

stations; with only two aides-de-camp, both on foot, whilst his personal

enemies were near the Prince in the time of the action, and did little

to advise or suggest, are strongly insisted upon in his narrative. "I

believe," he adds, after firmly but dispassionately stating all these

unhappy mistakes, "that my conduct was unexceptionable, and that in the

advantages we gained I had a considerable share."[165]

The day succeeding the victory of Falkirk was passed by the insurgents

in burying the slain, and in collecting the spoils. A deep pit was dug

by the country people, into which the English soldiers and the Highland

clansmen were precipitated into one common grave. The former were easily

distinguished by the frightful gashes of the broad-swords on their

breasts and limbs. The tomb contained a heap of human bodies; and long

after the event the spot of this rude sepulchre might be traced by a

deep hollow in the field.[166]

Charles Edward had now arrived at another crisis of his singular

destiny. The fate of a single day had once more rendered him victorious,

but it requires a superior and matured judgment to profit by success.

"One thing is certain," remarks an eye-witness of this contest, and that

is, "that the vanquished will always have great resources in the

negligence of the victorious party."

The battle of Falkirk struck terror into every English heart, and the

panic of the Black Monday again spread like a contagion throughout the

country. After the retreat from Derby, the higher ranks of society in

England, who had betrayed an unwonted degree of alarm, concluded that

they had nothing more to fear even from "a band of men so desperately

brave who had done so much with such little means." The victory at

Falkirk was, therefore, received with redoubled alarm; and at court,

during a ball which was held instantly after the event, only two persons

appeared with calm and cheerful countenances. These were the King, whose

personal courage was undoubted, and General Cope, who rejoiced that

Hawley's failure might in some measure excuse his own.[167]

Under these circumstances, and being assured that the panic in Edinburgh

equalled that in London, Prince Charles was strongly advised to repair

to Edinburgh and to resume the possession of the capital. He hesitated,

and the delay proved fatal to his interests. There was no time to be

lost;--the conduct of Hawley had inspired universal contempt not only

for his abilities, but for his cowardice. "General Hawley," wrote

General Wightman to Duncan Forbes, "is much in the same situation as

General Cope, and was never seen in the field during the battle; and

everything would have gone to wreck in a worse manner than at Preston,

if General Huske had not acted with judgment and courage, and appeared

everywhere."

Lord George Murray remained at Falkirk with the Clans until apprised,

through the secretary Murray, that the Duke of Cumberland was expected

at Edinburgh on the twenty-eighth of the month; and that it was

Charles's intention to attack him as soon as he arrived at Falkirk. At

the first news of the project, Lord George seemed to approve of it; he

drew up a plan of the battle, which he submitted to the ardent young

Chevalier, who was delighted to think that he was to have to oppose the

Duke of Cumberland in person. But this hope was transient; for on the

very same evening, a representation, signed at Falkirk, by Lord George

Murray and all the commanders of Clans, begging him to retreat, was

presented to the disappointed and indignant Charles Edward. The great

desertions which were daily taking place since the battle, was made the

chief plea of this unexpected address; two thousand men, it was alleged,

had gone off since that action, whilst the army of the enemy was

reinforced. Some of the battalions were said to be one-third weaker than

before the engagement at Falkirk.

The Prince received this address with a dissatisfaction even more

apparent than that which he had shown at Derby, when persuaded to

retreat. He dashed his head against the wall with violence, exclaiming,

"Good God! have I lived to see this?" As the event showed, it had

perhaps been wiser to have risked the event of an action at that time,

than to have awaited the mournful catastrophe of Culloden. At length,

although he never could be brought to approve of the step, Charles gave

a reluctant and sorrowful consent to that which all his chieftains

called upon him to adopt. The burden of the censure which was afterwards

cast upon this decision, was thrown upon the Lieutenant-General. "I was

told," writes Lord George, "that I was much blamed for it. I really

cannot tell who was the first that spoke of it, but this I am sure,

every one of us were unanimously of the same opinion." The siege of

Stirling had proved, indeed, wholly unsuccessful; that very morning the

battery, although it had been long in preparation, was silenced in a few

hours after it began to play. It was therefore determined to abandon it;

and it was decided that the time of the army would be more profitably

employed in driving Lord Loudon from Inverness, and in taking the forts

in the north, than in a rash engagement, or a hopeless siege. The spirit

of the enterprise was, indeed, gone; otherwise such a retreat could

never have been proposed and entertained. It was, however, fully

determined on. The deepest dejection prevailed among the army when it

was announced.

The Prince still remained at Bannockburn. On the thirty-first of the

month it was determined to have a general review of the troops; the

retreat was not to begin until ten o'clock. Early in the morning Charles

Edward, still hoping that the desertions were not so numerous as had

been represented, and that the "odious retreat" might be prevented, came

out to view his troops. There was hardly the appearance of an army to

receive him. On hearing the decision of the Prince, the men had risen at

day-break and had gone off to the Frews, many of them having arrived by

that time at that ford. There was nothing to be done; Lord George

Murray, who had now joined the Prince from Falkirk, and who was

quartered with some troops in the town of Stirling, was summoned. The

Prince marched off with some of the chiefs and the few troops he had

with him, and Lord George brought up the rear. A great portion of the

artillery was left behind; the heaviest pieces being nailed up and

abandoned. The retreat was thus precipitately commenced, and presented a

very different aspect to the withdrawal of the Prince's troops from

Derby.

Of this disorderly and disreputable march, Lord George Murray knew

nothing until it was begun. The very morning on which it took place, the

church of St. Ninian's, where the powder was lodged, was blown up. Lord

George Murray was in his quarters when he heard the great noise of the

explosion, and thought it was a firing from the Castle. "My surprise,"

he thus writes, "is not to be expressed.[168] I knew no enemy was even

come the length of Falkirk; so that, except the garrison of Stirling

Castle, nothing could hurt us. I imagined they had sallied, and made the

confusion I observed. I shall say no more about this; a particular

account of it is wrote. I believe the like of it never was heard of."

The destruction of St. Ninian's tower is attributed by most historians

to the awkwardness of the Highlanders, in attempting to destroy their

ammunition. "I am apt to think it was an accident," observes Maxwell,

"or, at least, the design of some very private person, for there was no

warning given to any body to get out of the way. Nine or ten country

people, and five of the Jacobite soldiers, perished from the explosion;

and the Prince, over whose existence a special Providence appeared to

have watched, was within being hurt when the explosion took place."[169]

The Highland army was quartered on the first night of their march at

Doune and Dumblain; and assembled the next day at Crieff. Here Charles

Edward again reviewed them, and to his surprise found that they had

mostly re-assembled, and that scarcely a thousand of the troops were

wanting. The young Prince, who had reluctantly consented to the retreat

upon the supposition that he had lost one half of his army, reproached

Lord George Murray with having advised that step. Many were the censures

heaped upon the General for his councils; and it must be acknowledged,

that the caution apparent in his character was, in this instance,

carried to an extreme. He excused himself on the plea of his opinion

having been that of the whole army; but exonerated himself from any

participation in the sudden departure, or, as he calls it, "the flight"

from Stirling. At the council which was then called, heats and

animosities rose to a height which had never before been witnessed, even

among the vehement and discordant advisers of the Prince. After many

fierce altercations, it was determined that Prince Charles should march

to Inverness by the Highland road; and that Lord George Murray, with his

horse, and the low country regiments, should proceed along the coast

road, by Montrose and Aberdeen to the same place.

During the last few months the Marquis of Tullibardine had been

stationary, employing himself in the fruitless endeavour to stimulate

the tenantry and the neighbourhood to join the army of Charles Edward.

After leaving Bannockburn he remained at Polmaise, a small village in

Stirlingshire, until urged by Lord George to repair to Blair Castle, to

garrison that place; for which purpose, according to his opinion, a body

of fifty men would be sufficient. In his letters to his brother, Lord

George recommends a degree of severity towards deserters which was not

consonant with the mild temper of Tullibardine: "Those who have gone

home without a special licence on furlough, must be exemplarily

punished, either in their persons or effects, or in both; for when our

all depends, lenity would be folly." After urging the Marquis to send

off the men to Blair by dozens, he adds, "If rewards and punishments do

not, I know not what will. By the laws of God and man you have both in

your power and your person:" thus alluding to the Marquis's position as

a chief.

But these decisive measures were impracticable. "I was ordered by the

Duke of Atholl" writes David Robertson from Blair, to his brother, an

officer in Lord George's regiment, "to take up and imprison all

deserters; but I might as well attempt to move a mountain, being left

here without money, or men capable of being made officers." Nor was the

Marquis's power more effectual. The most sincere desire to comply with

every wish or counsel of Lord George Murray's, actuated, indeed, this

estimable man. He seems, from his letters, to have felt the most

unbounded and affectionate admiration for his brother; a sentiment only

inferior to his devotion to the Prince; yet we can perceive a covert

allusion in some of his injunctions to those frequent disagreements with

Charles, of which the Marquis was probably not ignorant. "Pray, take

care of our young master's glory as well as your own, and the King's

service, which ought to be dear to all honest men who are above selfish

views. Excuse me," adds the aged nobleman, whose anxieties and

sufferings were soon to close in a prison, "for not writing with my own

hand; since seeing you, excessive rheumatick pains has rendered it

almost impossible."

By Robertson of Strowan, a man noted for his eccentricities, a very

gloomy view was taken of the proceedings of the generals and courtiers

who surrounded Charles. He was ordered by the Prince to stay at home,

and to stop all the deserters who came in his way. He obeyed the

command; but obeyed with the observation, that "all were running to the

devil, except the Duke of Atholl and the Laird of Strowan." He hinted in

his letters, that he could disclose much to the "Duke," respecting his

nearest relations, both as to their dislike to himself, and their

disrespect to his Grace. The friendly intercourse between Lord George

and his brother continued, nevertheless, unabated. The former on one

occasion congratulates his brother on the valour of the "Atholl men," at

the battle of Falkirk. The encomium was answered by the Marquis's

complaints of the sad change in the spirit and loyalty of the Clan since

the defection of their "unnatural brother James" from the Stuart cause.

Nothing but vexations and disappointments occurred to the Marquis on his

return to Blair. His rents were refused by his tenants on account of

their expenditure in the Prince's service, and the country around Perth

was left exposed to the enemy. For some time entreaties from Lord George

to his brother, that he would send men to replace those who were killed

at Falkirk of the Atholl men, were met by excuses too well grounded in

reason. All the "corners of the country" were searched by the Marquis's

agent, to raise the men in an "amicable way," but without avail. The

exertions of poor Tullibardine, nevertheless, continued indefatigable,

notwithstanding the truly Scottish complaints, sciatica and rheumatic

pains. "I omit," he writes, "nothing that lies in my power that can

contribute towards the public service. God knows what dilatory and

imposing evasions one has to struggle with amid a multitude of

refractory people in these parts." At length the sum of three hundred

pounds was sent to him by Secretary Murray in order to maintain the

recruits whom he had raised on his own estates.

Eventually the seeds of dissension were sown between Lord George Murray

and his brother. Nor can we wonder, however we may grieve, at such an

event. The aim of the one was personal glory, fame. The whole heart of

the other was centred in the success of the cause. When he suspected

that the intentions of that brother, of whom he was so proud, were less

disinterested than his own, a mild, but earnest and mournful reproof was

wrung from his kind and trusting heart.[170]

Until, however, the seat of war was transferred to the paternal home of

Lord George Murray--whilst his immediate interests were spared--the

Marquis of Tullibardine evinced the most sincere confidence in his

intentions, and admiration for his talents. Afterwards, suspicions,

which have been in a great measure dissipated by the testimony of brave

and honourable men, might disturb the repose, but could not,

eventually, sully the fame of Lord George Murray. In thus reverting to

the domestic concerns of this celebrated man, the position of his lady

and children naturally recur. Lady George Murray had resided during the

troubles of 1745 at Tullibardine, in the parish of Blackford, in

Perthshire. The castle of Tullibardine had been fortified by a portion

of the Earl of Mar's army in 1715: but was taken by the Earl of Argyle.

Until after the close of the last insurrection it was inhabited by Lady

George Murray; but when the fate of her husband was involved in the

general wreck, the old building was suffered to fall to ruin. From this

residence, such of Lady George Murray's letters to her husband as are

preserved in the Atholl correspondence are dated. They are chiefly

addressed to the Marquis of Tullibardine, and form the medium of

correspondence between him and his brother. Here, too, she gave birth,

after the battle of Falkirk, to a daughter named Katherine; and during

the confinement which followed this event, her Ladyship's office as

correspondent was fulfilled by her young daughter, who bore the name of

Amelia. To the letter of this child, Lord Tullibardine replies with his

accustomed courtesy and kindly feeling. "With extreme satisfaction I

received," he says, "a mighty well wrote letter from you, which could

not but charm me with your endearing merit. I rejoice in being able to

congratulate your mother and you on the glorious share my brother George

has again had in the fresh victory which Providence has given the Prince

Regent over his proud Hanoverian enemies! Dear child, I thank you kindly

for enquiring after my health." To these near, and, as it appears,

cherished ties, Lord George was probably re-united during the march to

Crieff. But whatever of domestic happiness he may have enjoyed, its

duration was transient; and he passed on to a service full of the

hardships of war, but in which he was doomed never more to possess the

laurels of victory.

From Crieff, Lord George Murray marched to Perth, and thence by Montrose

and Aberdeen to Inverness. During the inclemency of the winter many of

the cavalry lost their horses; but the troopers being, as Sir Walter

relates, "chiefly gentlemen, continued to adhere with fidelity to their

ill-omened standards."[171]

A storm of snow rendered the march from Aberdeen both dangerous and

tedious. Lord George had above three hundred carriages of artillery to

convey, although a great portion of the artillery was sunk in the river

Tay, at Perth. In forming a junction at Inverness, the Prince had three

objects in view--to reduce Fort-William and Fort-Augustus, on one side;

on the other to disperse the army with which Lord Loudon had opposed him

in the north; lastly, to keep possession of the east coast, from which

quarter reinforcements and supplies were expected to arrive from France.

It was, therefore, decided that Lord George Murray should continue along

the eastern coast, in order to intercept Lord Loudon's army, in case it

came that way. On the sixteenth of February he crossed the river Spey,

and proceeded by Elgin, Forres, and Nairn, to Culloden, where he arrived

the day before the castle of Inverness surrendered to Charles. Lord

George Murray then gave the Prince an account of his march, of which

even this hardy General speaks as of a journey of inconceivable trouble

and fatigue. Here discussions took place, in which, as usual, the Prince

differed in some important points from his Lieutenant-General. The plan

which Lord George proposed was, to procure five thousand bolls of meal

in Bamff, Murray, and Nairn, laying a tax in an equal manner on these

several shires, and to send this supply to the Highlands; so that in

case the Duke of Cumberland, who was now proceeding northwards, should

follow them thither, they could have subsistence. To this scheme Charles

objected; and the meal was lodged in Inverness. His confidence in his

General, notwithstanding the incessant displays of his ability, was now

wholly undermined. Charles's affairs were indeed rapidly declining;

money, the principal sinew of war, was wanting. "His little stock might

have held out a little longer," observes Mr. Maxwell, "had it been well

managed; but it is more than probable that his principal steward was a

thief from the beginning." The Secretary Murray, against whom this

charge is levelled, was not, perhaps, more faithless when he

appropriated to himself the funds of his unfortunate master, than when

he planted in the breast of Charles, misgivings of his friends, and

abused his influence to mislead a confiding nature. There was, however,

no proof against Murray of Broughton of dishonesty, "but there were very

strong presumptions; and his underlings, who suspected that their

opportunity would not last long, made the best of it, and filled their

pockets with the public money."[172]

By the officers and soldiers at Culloden, Lord George was received with

joy. They regretted his absence, and were pleased to say that had he

been with them they should have "given a good account of Lord Loudon and

his troops, whom they had been prevented from pursuing at Inverness."

Lord George soon found that these professions were sincere. The Prince

was induced to send him to Dingwall, that he might assist the Earl of

Cromartie in pursuing Lord Loudon, who had passed up to Tain. This

scheme having proved impracticable, he returned to Inverness.

Meantime the county of Atholl suffered under the unparalleled cruelties

of the English soldiery. The Duke of Cumberland had visited that

interesting district; and it requires little more to be said, to

comprehend that beauty was turned to desolation; that crimes hitherto

unheard of among a British army reflected dishonour on the conquerors,

and brought misery to the conquered. On the sixth of February, 1746, the

Duke had arrived at Perth. His first orders were to seize the Duchess of

Perth, the mother of the Duke, and the Viscountess Strathallan, and to

carry them to a small, wretched prison in Edinburgh, where they remained

nearly a year. The Duke of Cumberland was succeeded at Edinburgh by his

brother-in-law, the Prince of Hesse, who had landed at Leith with five

thousand infantry and five hundred huzzars in the pay of England. These

were stationed in the capital, ready to swarm into the country to subdue

its brave inhabitants.

Whilst Lord George Murray was still at Inverness, he heard that his

cherished home, the territory of his proud forefathers, the scenes of

his youth, were ravaged by a detachment of Cumberland's army. The houses

of such gentlemen as had assisted Prince Charles were burned; and their

families, after receiving every species of indignity that could palliate

the guilt of a future revenge, and that could break honest hearts, were

turned out to perish on the hills with cold and hunger. The very nature

of Englishmen appears to have been changed during this most mournful,

most disgraceful warfare; and never did the British army sink so low in

morals, in humanity, as during the German yoke of a Prince whom one

rejects as a countryman.[173]

Lord George was instantly ordered to go to Atholl. Little could he

suspect the construction afterwards placed on his conduct, and the snare

which was laid for him by his enemies, in the events of the next few

weeks.

Lord George marched with unheard of dispatch towards Atholl. Already had

the Duke of Cumberland placed at different parts, in that district,

bands of the Argyleshire Campbells, to the amount of three hundred in

number. A thousand more, it was reported, were coming from the same

quarter; and it was Lord George's aim to intercept this reinforcement.

He set off, followed by his brave "Atholl-men," conducting his march

through byeways across the mountains; and in one march, day and night,

he traversed a tract of thirty miles. It was, however, impossible to

transport cannon through these almost impassable solitudes; yet, with a

force not exceeding seven hundred men, Lord George contrived to surprise

the enemy at these posts. He entered Atholl in the early part of the

night; his detachment then separated, and, dividing itself into small

parties, each gentleman whose home had been invaded took the shortest

road to his own house. The English soldiers were surprised in their

sleep, and, according to the Chevalier Johnstone, lay murdered in their

beds; but this is contradicted by many authorities.[174] These Highland

gentlemen attacked, during that night, thirty of the posts in question,

and all of them were carried. Few of the Government troops were put to

the sword; about three hundred were taken prisoners, and between two and

three hundred barricaded themselves in the Castle of Blair.[175]

The Marquis of Tullibardine had, it appears, been driven from that

fortress some time previously. Misfortune was not new to one who had

joined in the insurrection of 1715.

"As the late Rothiemurcus,[176] your father," he writes to a

friend,[177] in a letter to which he dared not even state his place of

residence, "showed me particular friendship and kindness on just such an

unfortunate occasion as the present, makes me hope you will have no less

regard for me in taking care of some small concerns of mine; which

consists in taking care of two of three of my servants and some

baggage, which I send you, rather than it should fall into enemies'

hands; so that if you cannot keep it, and get it sent me in time and

place convenient, it may be of some use to yourself, whom I esteem on

your family and father's account; though we have not had the occasion of

a personal acquaintance, which I hope may yet agreeably happen, in

whatever bad situation our affairs may at present appear; then I may

agreeably be able to return you suitable thanks for such an obligation

as will for ever oblige,

"Sir,

"Your affectionate humble servant and cousin,

"ATHOLL."

14th March, 1746.

* * * * *

The Clan of Atholl was the largest that engaged in Prince Charles's

service, and numbered nearly fifteen hundred men. Lord George now

collected three hundred more of these vassals, and invested Blair

Castle. One difficulty he had in the deficiency of cannon; he obtained,

however, some field-pieces from Inverness, but his artillery was too

light to make an impression on the walls. There was an alternative,

which was, to reduce the castle by famine. Blair, as it happened, was

defended by a stout and sturdy veteran, Sir Andrew Agnew, who was

resolved only to yield upon extreme necessity his important charge.

During the siege, Lord George wrote on the subject of the enterprise to

his brother the Marquis of Tullibardine. The letter was answered in a

manner which shows that some want of candour had been evinced towards

the Marquis, who was regarded by all the Jacobites as the legitimate

owner of Blair. The epistle breathes the tone of mournful resentment.

"Since, contrary to the rules of right reason, you have been pleased to

tell me a sham story about the expedition to Blair," such are the

expressions used by the Marquis of Tullibardine, "you may now do what

the gentlemen of that country wish with the castle."[178] With the true

value of a high-born man for the memorials of his ancestors, the Marquis

grieved most for the loss of his great-great-grandfather's

grandfather's, and father's pictures. "They will be ane irreparable

loss." But every thing that could promote the public service was to be

resigned cheerfully and willingly for that cause. Not only did he

proffer the sacrifice of his castle, but he pointed out to his brother a

gate which had formerly been a portcullis, leading into it. This was at

that time half-built up, and boarded, with a hollow large enough to hold

a horse at rack and manger; and the Marquis suggested that this place

might be more easily penetrated than any other part of the wall, so as

to make an entrance into the vaulted room called "the Servants' Hall."

Whether or not Lord George decided to take advantage of this hint is

unknown. The attack made upon the Castle of Blair was conducted by him

in person, and was begun simultaneously with those headed by his

followers upon the various posts at Blairfitty, Kinachie side, and

several places near Blair. Upon the persons of the prisoners were found

copies of their orders from the Duke of Cumberland, and these were

signed by Colonel Campbell, and contained instructions to attack the

rebels wherever they should meet them; and in case of resistance, it was

the Duke's orders that _they should get no quarter_.[179] Stimulated by

these intercepted documents, Lord George, early on the morning of the

eighteenth of March, began the siege of Blair.

Many have been the accounts given, and various are the surmises upon the

motives of Lord George in not reducing the castle; but in estimating the

real difficulties of his undertaking, the testimony of a soldier and a

contemporary must be taken in evidence.

Blair was defended by a man of no ordinary character, Sir Andrew Agnew,

Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal North British Fusiliers, who had been

sent with a detachment from Perth by the route of Dunkeld, through the

pass of Killicrankie, to take possession of the Castle.

When Sir Andrew first posted himself in Blair no apprehensions of a

blockade were entertained; and no fear of a supply of provisions being

cut off was suggested. The quantity of garrison provisions sent into it

was therefore extremely small, as was also the store of ammunition. In

regard to water, the garrison were in a better condition. A draw-well in

the castle supplied them after the blockade: previously, the inhabitants

had usually fetched the water they required from a neighbouring barn or

brook, which formed itself into a pool in front of the house.[180]

Blair Castle was then an irregular and very high building, with walls

of great thickness, having a great tower, called Cumming's Tower,

projecting from the west end of the front of the house, which faces the

north. This tower could be defended by musket shot from its windows.

Adjoining to the eastern gavel of the old house a new building had been

begun, but had only been carried up a few feet at the time of the siege.

Since the year 1745, great alterations have been made in this building,

which has been lowered and modernized, and the Cumming's Tower wholly

taken away.

It was between nine and ten in the morning when Lord George Murray

appeared before Blair Castle, and planted his men so as to prevent the

garrison from sallying out, or from getting in provisions.[181] The

castle was soon so completely invested by the advanced guard of the

Jacobites, that they fired from behind the nearest walls and enclosures

at the picket guard of the besieged. Some horses were hurriedly taken

into the Castle with a small quantity of provender; and in such haste,

that one of these animals was put into the lower part of Cumming's Tower

without forage or water.

There was a great entrance and staircase on the east side of the Castle;

this was now barricaded, and a small guard placed near it; the garrison,

consisting of two hundred and seventy men, were then parcelled out into

different chambers, with a charge not to fire until actually attacked. A

sort of platform was laid over the new building of the Castle, and an

ensign with a guard of twenty-five soldiers placed on this to defend

that part from serving as a lodgement to the besiegers. There was also a

guard placed over the draw-well, to prevent the water being drawn up

except at a certain hour in the morning. Besides the garrison, there

were within the Castle, about seven servants of the Duke of Atholl's;

namely, a land steward, a female housekeeper, three maid servants, a

gardener, and a gamekeeper.

Lord George Murray having established his quarters in the village of

Blair, about a quarter of a mile from the north of the castle, soon sent

down a summons to Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart. to surrender, intimating that

"he should answer to the contrary at his peril."

Now Sir Andrew was reputed to be a man of an outrageous temper; and the

Highlanders, who could face the Duke of Cumberland's dragoons, shrank

from encountering the sturdy, imperious old soldier. The only person,

therefore, who could be prevailed upon to carry the summons, was a

maid-servant from the inn at Blair, who being a comely Highland girl,

and acquainted with some of the soldiers, conceived herself to be on so

friendly a footing with them that she might encounter the risk. The

summons was written on a very dirty piece of paper; and corresponded

well with the appearance of the herald who conveyed it. Provided with

this, the young woman set out; as she approached the Castle, she waived

the summons over her head several times, and drawing near one of the

windows on the basement story, made herself heard. She was received by

the officers with boisterous mirth; they assured her that they should

soon visit the village, and her master's house, again, and drive away

the Highlanders. But, when entreated by the girl to take her into Sir

Andrew's presence, they all at first refused; at last the summons was

reluctantly conveyed to the commandant by a lieutenant more venturesome

than the rest. This emissary soon, however, fled from the presence of

the baronet, who broke out with the most vehement expressions of rage on

reading the contents of the paper; uttered strong epithets against Lord

George Murray, and threatened to shoot any messenger who might dare to

convey any future communication.

The young girl returned to Blair. As she drew near the village, she

perceived Lord George Murray, Lord Nairn, Clunie Macpherson and other

officers standing in the churchyard of Blair; and observed that they

were evidently diverted by her errand, and its result.[182]

From that time Lord George Murray made no attempt to hold any parley

with the garrison, but continued to blockade the Castle. His men were

even posted close up against the walls, wherever they could not be

annoyed with the musketry; particularly at that part on which the

scaffold guard was placed, where they stood, heaving up stones from time

to time, and uttering their jokes against the veteran, Sir Andrew

Agnew.[183]

"The cannon," as Lord George Murray observes in his narrative, "were not

only small, but bad. One of them seldom hit the Castle, though not

half-musket shot from it."

Various schemes were formed by Lord George during this siege, but many

obstacles concurred to check them. It had indeed been proposed before

Lord George left Inverness, to blow up Blair Castle; but not only had

Lord George no orders to attempt that, but there seemed also to be a

difficulty from the situation of the place.

It appeared at one time his intention, also, to have set the building on

fire. "On the eighteenth," writes Lord Elcho, "Lord George began to fire

against the Castle with two four pounders; and as he had a furnace along

with him, finding his bullets were too small to damage the walls, he

endeavoured by firing red hot balls to set the house on fire, and

several times set the roof on fire, but by the care of the besieged it

was always extinguished. A constant fire of small arms was kept against

the windows, and the besieged kept a close fire from the castle with

their small arms." "As the castle," continues the same writer, "is

situated upon rocky ground, there was no blowing it up; so the only

chance Lord George had to get possession of it was to starve it, which

he had some hopes of, as there were so many mouths in it." From this

opinion, the judgment of Lord George Murray, in some measure, differed.

"It might, I believe," he says, "have been entered by the old stables,

under protection of which the wall could have been undermined, if I had

been furnished with proper workmen." But all his efforts, in both these

schemes, proved ineffectual. The red hot balls lodging in the solid

timbers of the roof, only charred, and did not ignite the beams; and

falling down, were caught up in iron ladles brought out of the Duke of

Atholl's kitchen, and thrown into water. Disappointed in this attempt,

Lord George removed his few field-pieces to a nearer position on the

south side of the Castle, where, however, his firing produced no better

effect than heretofore.

Never was there an officer more insensible to fear than the defender of

Blair. Whilst Lord George was thus ineffectually battering the walls of

the house, Sir Andrew Agnew looked out over the battlements; and seeing

the little impression that was made on the walls, he exclaimed, "Hout! I

daresay the man's mad, knocking down his own brother's house."

Meantime the siege lasted nearly a fortnight, and the garrison were

reduced to the greatest extremity for provisions. One hope, however, the

commandant had, and that was of sallying forth, and escaping. The Castle

of Menzies was then occupied by Colonel Webster, who was posted there in

order to secure the passage of the river Tay; and, as an alternative to

starvation, a scheme was suggested for stealing out from Blair in the

night time, and marching through a mountainous part of country to join

the king's troops at Castle Menzies.

Whilst this project was in contemplation, the brave garrison were

threatened with a new danger. During the blockade, there was heard a

noise of knocking, seemingly beneath the floor of the Castle, as if

miners were at work in its deep vaults, to blow it up. All the inmates

of Blair thought such must indeed be the case: for Lord George had now

gained possession of a bowling-green near the Castle, and also of a

house in which the bowls were kept: from this bowl-house a subterranean

passage might easily have been dug to the very centre of the ground

underneath the building, and a chamber or mine formed there for holding

barrels of gunpowder, sufficient to complete the work of destruction.

This scheme must have occurred to the mind of Lord George Murray, who

was born at Blair, and well acquainted with its construction. His

objections to pursue it appear, as has been stated, to have been

perceived and controverted by the Marquis of Tullibardine. They arose,

as he has himself declared, and as the English also appear to have

considered, from his want of workmen to perform the attempt. The plan of

undermining was not thought practicable; and the noise which so greatly

alarmed the garrison was proved to be only the reverberation of strokes

of an axe with which a soldier was cutting a block of wood which lay on

the floor of one of the uppermost rooms. The most unfavourable

suspicions were, however, eventually affixed to Lord George's neglect of

this mode of attack. Whether such conduct proceeded, on his part, from

an aversion to destroy the home of his youth, and his birthplace;

whether he had still hopes of reducing Sir Andrew to capitulate; or

whether, as it has been often vaguely asserted, a secret agreement

existed between himself and James, Duke of Atholl, that the Castle

should be saved, can only be determined by a far closer insight into

motives than human power can obtain. We may accord to Lord George

Murray, without a blemish on his fidelity, a pardonable reluctance to

level to the dust the pride of his family; that every effort was made to

subdue Blair, except the last, is evident from the testimony of all

contemporary historians.

Meantime the garrison had one source of confidence in their extremity,

on which sailors are more apt to reckon than landsmen. They trusted to

the _luck_ of their commandant. Never had the stout veteran who had

fought, in 1706, at Ramilies, been either sick, or wounded. He had never

been in any battle that the English did not win. Yet it was deemed

prudent not to allow any means of aid to be neglected, in so pressing a

danger as the state of the siege presented.

The Earl of Crawford was then supposed to be at Dunkeld, having the

command both of the British troops and of a body of Hessians who had

lately been marched from Edinburgh. It was resolved to send to that

nobleman for aid. The Duke of Atholl's gardener, a man named Wilson,

undertook that dangerous embassy; he was charged with a letter from Sir

Andrew to the Earl, and was allowed to take his choice of any horse in

the Castle.[184]

Before Sir Andrew and his starving garrison could gain intelligence of

the fate of Wilson, or could have heard the result of his enterprise, a

strange reverse in their affairs took place. On the morning of the first

of April, not a single Highlander was to be seen by any of the guards on

duty. All had vanished; and a visit from the young woman from the inn at

Blair shortly followed their disappearance. From her, the garrison heard

that Lord George had, in fear of the arrival of troops from Dunkeld,

suddenly withdrawn with all his followers. The old Sir Andrew,

nevertheless, fearful of some stratagem, would not allow his garrison to

sally out: they were shut up until the following day, when the Earl of

Crawford appeared before the castle, and relieved all fears. The

officers and soldiers were then drawn out, with Sir Andrew at the head

of it. "My Lord," cried the old soldier, "I am very glad to see you;

but, _by all that's good_, you are come too late, and we have nothing to

give you to eat!" To which Lord Crawford answered courteously; and

laughing, begged of Sir Andrew to partake of such provisions as he had

brought with him. That day Sir Andrew and the Earl, and their officers,

dined in the summer-house of the garden at Blair, in high spirits at the

result of the siege.

The disappearance of Lord George Murray was soon explained; nor can the

statement of those reasons which induced him to abandon the siege of

Blair be given in a more satisfactory manner than as they were stated by

Lord Elcho; to whom they must have appeared satisfactory, otherwise he

would not have left so clear and decisive a testimony in favour of Lord

George Murray's motives. It is worthy of remark, that Lord Elcho's

statement agrees in every particular with that addressed some years

afterwards by Lord George to Mr. Murray of Abercairney, and now

preserved in the Jacobite Memoirs by Forbes.[185]

"On the twenty-fourth of March, the Hessians from Perth and Crieff moved

to its relief. They encamped the first night at Nairn House, and next

night at Dunkeld, and there was some firing betwixt them and a party of

Lord George's across the river. Those that marched from Crieff encamped

at Tay Bridge on the twenty-seventh. Upon this motion of the Hessians,

Lord George sent an express to the Prince, to tell him that if he would

send twelve hundred men, he would pitch upon an advantageous ground and

fight them. The Prince sent him word he could not send him them in the

way his army was then situated. On the thirty-first the Earl of Crawford

marched with St. George's Dragoons, five hundred Hessians, and sixty

Hussars, and encamped at Dawallie, four miles north of Dunkeld, and next

day they advanced to Pittachrie. Both these days Lord George had several

skirmishes with the hussars; but although he laid several snares for

them, he never could catch but one of them, who was an officer and a

Swede, who had his horse shot under him. Lord George used him very

civilly, and sent him back with a letter of compliment which he wrote to

the Prince of Hesse. On the first of April Lord George Murray drew his

men up in battle opposite to Lord Crawford at Pittachrie, and then

retreated before him, in order to draw him into the pass of

Killicrankie; but Lord Crawford never moved, but sent for reinforcements

to the Prince of Hesse. Lord George, upon hearing of the march of that

reinforcement to sustain Lord Crawford, and that the body of Hessians

from Lay Bridge were marching to Blair by Kinachin, quitted the country

and marched his men to Strathspan, and from thence to Speyside. He

himself went to Inverness, where he found his enemies had persuaded the

Prince that he might have taken Blair Castle if he had had a mind, but

that he had spared it because it was his brother's house; and in short

they made the Prince believe, that in the letter he had wrote to the

Prince of Hesse, he had engaged to betray him the first opportunity; and

that by the Prince of Hesse and his brother's means, he was entirely

reconciled to the government. What Mr. Murray had insinuated to the

Prince about Lord George, on his first coming to Perth had made such an

impression, that the Prince always believed it, notwithstanding Lord

George's behaviour was such (especially in action) as to convince the

whole army of the falsity of such accusations. However it opened his

mind upon the matter of the Irish officers, so far as to make some of

them promise to watch Lord George's motions, particularly in case of a

battle, and they promised the Prince to shoot him, if they could find he

intended to betray him."

From the following letter addressed by Lord George Murray to his brother

the Marquis of Tullibardine, it is evident that he had had it in

contemplation during some time, to abandon the siege of Blair, and that

the sudden appearance of the body of Hessians six thousand strong,

within a day's march of Blair, was not the only cause of his raising a

siege which every one acknowledges must have terminated in favour of the

besiegers within a few days.

"Blair, 29th of March, 1746.

"Dear Brother,[186]

"I received your letter of the 26th; I am sorry you seem to think I

told you a sham story (as you express it) about our expedition here.

I told you we were to endeavour to take possession of Castle Grant,

and try to hinder that Clan taking party against us; this was done

so far as in our power. I also told you if we could contrive to

surprise any of the parties in this country we might attempt it; but

that depended so much upon incidents, that my very hopes could not

reach so far as we performed. Secrecy and expedition was our main

point, once we resolved upon the thing, which was not till I met

Clunie and Sheen in Badenoch. If the greatest fatigues, dangers, and

hard duties deserve approbation, I think some thanks are due to us,

and from none more than yourself; for my own part, I was once

seventy hours without three of sleep; but we undergo all hardships

for the good of common cause. You will ever find me, dear brother,

your most affectionate brother and faithful servant,

"GEORGE MURRAY."

"I am so ill supported with men, money, and every thing else, our

people here have no pay, that after all our endeavours, I'm afraid

we must abandon this country without the Castle."

This letter brought the following characteristic reply. It is dated from

Inverness, whither the Marquis had repaired.[187]

"Brother George.

"This evening I had yours of yesterday's date. As to any difference

betwixt you and I, without prejudice to passed expedition and

secrecy mentioned, at meeting it must be discussed the best way we

can, since lately behaving according to dutiful sentiments, nobody

is more satisfied than I am of your indefatigable activity for the

public service. Had you sent me your letters to the Secretary, who I

am very sorry to say is at Elgin dangerously ill, or any other of

the Ministry to whom expresses were addressed, I should have

directly endeavoured getting the most satisfactory answers could be

sent your pressing reale demands, which are not well understood if

much regarded by everybody here; I am informed by Mr. Hay and

Cruben, who were just now with me, that all the men who were with

you have been fully paid till Wednesday last; and that with some

necessary foresight and pains, you might have had a good deal of

provisions from below the Pass, whilst that expedient was

practicable; since you might have naturally known that money cannot

be soon sent from hence, but on an absolute necessity; you know that

meal can be still brought you from Kiliwhimen. With that I wrote to

you the twenty-sixth, in case the enemy could not be otherwise

forced out of my house, I gave Sir Thomas Sheridan an account to be

sent to you of a secret passage into it, which is here again

transmitted, in case of making any advantageous use of it has been

hitherto neglected; was it not hoped by this time you have near got

the better of these obstinate intruders into the Castle, at any rate

I should go myself and try if I could not usefully help towards

reducing them to a speedy surrendering of such unfortified, though

thick old walls as it is composed of. Pray continue your accustomed

vigilance on such a valuable occasion as will render you dear to all

honest men, as well as particularly giving me an opportunity of

showing with what esteem I am, dear brother,

Your most affectionate brother,

And most humble servant."

[No Signature.]

"Inverness, 30th of March, 1746."

In addition to the testimony of Lord Elcho, that of Maxwell of

Kirkconnel, has considerable weight in Lord George Murray's favour.

"He was censured," observes this excellent writer, "by his enemies as

being too tender of a family seat.[188] As I do not know the situation

of this Castle, I cannot determine whether it was in his power to blow

it up, or whether he had time to do it after he was informed of the

march of the Hessians. But he has been so calumniated by the Secretary

and his creatures, that nothing less than a direct proof ought to have

any weight against him. In this case it is absurd to suspect him,

because the family seat could never be in danger. If it was in his power

to blow it up, he had only to acquaint the Governor when the mine was

ready, and let him send one of his officers to view it; the Governor

would certainly have prevented the effecting it and saved the Castle."

"About the same time that the siege of Blair was abandoned, that of Fort

William was also raised. It was found, indeed, difficult to make the

Highlanders perform the regular duties of a siege; extremely brave in an

attack, when allowed to fight in their own way, they were not possessed

of that steady valour which is necessary to maintain a post; and it was

not easy to keep them long in their quarters, or even at their posts,

without action."[189]

The loss of Blair, and the failure of the siege of Fort William, were

followed by other misfortunes. Fatal mistakes in the vain endeavour to

retrieve a sinking cause ensued. In the midst of his adversity, the

young and gallant adventurer, for whom so much blood was shed, supported

his spirits in a wonderful manner, and acted, with a heavy heart, the

part of the gay and prosperous. He gave balls at Inverness, and even

danced himself, which he had declined doing when in the midst of his

prosperity at Edinburgh. Those who looked only on the surface of affairs

were deceived by his appearance of happiness; but the well informed knew

too well that the crisis which was to end the struggle was rapidly

approaching. To complete the sad summary of disappointments and

misfortunes, it was now ascertained that the expedition from Boulogne,

and that from Dunkirk, with which the false-hearted French had so long

amused the unfortunate Jacobites, were entirely and perfidiously

relinquished.

Lord George Murray, meantime, was ordered to march to Inverness. He was

now worn with fatigues, and by the protracted anxieties of his

situation. Foreseeing, as he must have done, many of the dangers and

difficulties of the contest; observing, on the one hand, his eldest

brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, the adherent of the Stuarts,

proscribed, impoverished, a nominal proprietor of his patrimonial

estates; on the other, beholding his second brother, the actual Duke of

Atholl, cherished by Government, prosperous, honours showered down upon

him; what impulses less strong than that of a generous, and fixed

principle of fidelity could have maintained his exertions in a service

so desperate as that in which he had engaged?

The great deficiency in Lord George Murray's character was the absence

of hope; but, independent of that vital defect, his attributes as a

soldier and a general cannot fail to excite admiration. His exertions

were unparalleled; besides the marching and fatigue that others had to

undergo, he had the vast responsibility of command. "Though others were

relieved and took their turns," he remarks, "I had none to relieve." On

first assuming the command, he received and despatched every express

himself; and saw the guards and sentinels settled. In gaining

intelligence he was indefatigable; and his discipline was such that the

country suffered but little from the visitations of his well-governed

forces. But the time was fast approaching when his great abilities,

which never ceased to be acknowledged by the whole army, his fortitude,

and personal valour were to be put to the severest test.

On the third of April, Lord George Murray joined Charles Edward at

Inverness. On the eleventh intelligence was received that the Duke of

Cumberland, who had been stationed for some time at Aberdeen, was

marching towards Inverness. At first the intelligence of the Duke's

approach was received with acclamations of joy; but the circumstances

under which the battle of Culloden was eventually fought, and the

fatigues and impediments by which it was prefaced, changed that

sentiment into one of distrust and despondency.[190]

Upon receiving intelligence of the Duke's approach, expresses were sent

in all directions in order to re-assemble the Jacobite forces. Those

troops which had been at the siege of Fort William were on their march

to Inverness; but Lord Cromartie and his detachment were still at a

great distance; the Duke of Perth and Lord John Drummond were at

Spey-side, with a considerable body of men and all the horse. These were

ordered to retire as Cumberland's army approached. Unhappily, many of

the Highlanders, it being now seed time, had slipped away to their

homes, and it was, indeed, no easy task to allure them back. The

influence of Lord George Murray over the forces continued, nevertheless,

unabated. His mode of managing this fine, but rude people, was well

adapted to his purpose, and proceeded from an intimate knowledge of

their character. "Fear" he considered as necessary as "love." "I was

told," he remarks, "that all the Highlanders were gentlemen, and never

to be beaten, but I was well acquainted with their tempers." Their

chiefs even inflicted personal chastisement upon them, which they

received without murmurs when conscious of an offence. But they would

only receive correction from their own officers, and never would the

chief of one Clan correct even the lowest soldier of another. "But I,"

observes Lord George, "had as much authority over them all as each had

amongst his own men; and I will venture to say that never an officer

was more beloved of the whole, without exception, than I was." At any

time when there was a post of more danger than another, Lord George,

possessing as he did this unbounded influence over the minds of his

countrymen, found it more difficult to restrain those who were too

forward, than in finding those who were willing to rush into peril.

On Sunday morning, the thirteenth of April, it became a matter of

certainty among the Jacobite forces that the enemy had passed the Spey.

On the following day, Lochiel joined the army; the Duke of Perth also

returned, and the Prince and his forces assembled on an open moor, near

Culloden. Many of the officers suggested that it would be desirable to

retire to a stronger position than this exposed plain, until the army

were all collected, but the baggage being at Inverness, this scheme was

rejected. The experienced eye of Lord George Murray soon perceived that

the ground which had been chosen was ill-adapted for the Highland mode

of warfare, and he proposed that the other side of the water of Nairn

should be reconnoitred. But objections were made to any change of

position; and, situated as Lord George now was, distrusted by the

Prince, and, perhaps, in some measure by others, since the failure at

Blair, he was in no condition to contest so important a point. It was

afterwards attempted to venture an attack by night. To this proposition

not only the Prince, but Lord George and most of the other officers were

at first favourable: but, in the evening, it being generally understood

that there was no provision for the subsistence of the men the next day,

a circumstance attributable to the negligence of the persons employed

for the purpose at Inverness, a number of men dispersed in search of

food. The forces being thus reduced, Lord George objected, in concert

with others, to the projected night march; but Charles Edward, trusting

to the bravery of his army, and being for fighting on all occasions, was

determined on the attempt. "What he had seen them do, and the justice of

his cause, made him too venturous."[191] The attack was, therefore,

agreed upon, and Lord George commanding the rear, after marching nearly

six miles, found that it would be impossible to attack the enemy before

day-break, and, therefore, gave it up, and returned to Culloden about

five in the morning.

Fatigued and hungry, the army awaited the approach of the English

forces. It was between ten and eleven in the morning when they drew up

on the moor, and were placed in order of battle by O'Sullivan. Again

Lord George observed to that officer, that the ground was unfavourable:

the reply was, that the moor was so interspersed with moss and deep

earth, that the enemy's horse and cannon could be of little service to

them; and that it was therefore well selected. By this time the young

and unfortunate Master of Lovat had joined the forces, but Lord

Cromartie was still, by a fatal mistake, absent; and Macpherson, of

Clunie, was at three or four miles distance, marching with all possible

expedition towards Culloden. The stragglers and others were also

collecting, so that, as Lord George conjectured, the army would have

been increased by two or three thousand more men that night, or the

next day. Stimulated by this reflection, he again looked wistfully to

the position beyond the water, and considered that if they passed there,

they would probably leave the moors to the enemy, and occupy a better

post. But he was overruled.

* * * * *

"I shall say little," writes Lord George Murray, in his journal, "of

this battle, which was so fatal." In a memoir, written by Colonel Ker,

of Gradyne, an officer of distinguished military reputation, a minute

and animated account is, however, given of all the incidents of the

eventful fifteenth of April.

Charles Edward having with some difficulty procured some bread and

whiskey at Culloden, reposed for a short time after marching all night.

In the morning intelligence was brought him that the enemy were in

sight. Whilst the army was forming, Colonel Ker was sent to reconnoitre

the enemy. On returning, he informed the Prince and Lord George Murray,

who was then with him, that the enemy were marching in three columns,

with their cavalry on the left, so that they would form their line of

battle in an instant. The Prince then ordered his men to draw up in two

lines, and the few horse which he had were disposed in the rear towards

the wings; the cannon was to be dispersed in the front; this was brought

up with difficulty from the want of horses. The ground which had been

occupied the day before was too distant for the army to reach; so that

they were drawn up a mile to the westward with a stone enclosure which

ran down to the water of Nairn, on the right of the first line.

The Highland soldiers, many of whom had been summoned from their sleep

among the woods of Culloden, were aroused from among the bushes, and

came drowsy, and half-exhausted to the field; yet they formed themselves

into order of battle with wonderful dispatch. Unhappily no council of

war was held upon the plain of Culloden in the hurry of that day. In

addition to the confusion, and want of concert which this omission

produced, was a still more injurious circumstance. The army, as has been

related, was drawn up in two lines; Lord George commanded the first,

which was composed of the Atholl brigade. This regiment was placed by

Lord George on the right of the line: unfortunately, the Clan Macdonald,

proud and fiery, claimed the precedence. They grounded their assertion

of right to the usage of time immemorial; and to their having had it

during the two previous battles. Lord George, on the other hand,

uncompromising as usual, insisted that in those actions even, his Atholl

men had the pre-eminence. The Prince, unable to decide, persuaded the

chief of the Macdonalds to waive his claim; but the pride of the Scotch

is never subdued; and whilst Macdonald yielded, their men were offended

and disgusted with his compliance.

The Duke of Cumberland formed his line of battle at a great distance,

and marched in battle order until he came within cannon shot, when he

halted, and placed his artillery in different parts in the front. His

army, to use a military phrase, outwinged that of Charles, both to the

right and left, without his cavalry.[192]

It is not, as Lord George Murray observes, "an easy task to describe a

battle." Most officers are necessarily taken up with what is near them,

and the confusion, noise, and agitation effectually impede observation.

The commencement of the battle of Culloden was obscured by a thick fall

of hail and snow, and on this occasion the tempestuous climate of

Scotland favoured her enemies, for the Prince's army faced the wind, and

encountered the snow-storm in their faces. It was expected that the Duke

would begin the attack; and a party of his horse were sent during the

interval to reconnoitre the Jacobite army. When they came within cannon

shot, loud hurras were heard on both sides; and voices (soon for ever to

be silenced) sent up to Heaven expressions of exultation and defiance.

The young Chevalier, whilst awaiting that event, rode along the lines to

encourage his men, placing himself in a post of danger, in which one of

his servants was killed by his side. After some few minutes of solemn

expectation, Lord George Murray, who commanded the right of the army,

sent Colonel Ker to the Prince to know if he should begin the attack? an

answer in the affirmative was returned. As the right was farther distant

than the left, Colonel Ker went first to the Duke of Perth who commanded

the left, and ordered him to begin; he then rode along the field until

he came to the right line, where Lord George Murray received from him a

similar command. The Prince then placed himself behind the centre of the

army, having the whole of his forces under his eye, and thus being able

to send orders on all exigencies.

The cannon of Prince Charles was first heard. It was returned with a

firing from the enemy of grape shot, which did great execution.

The Highlanders, who were forbidden to move until the word of command

was given, suffered that fire very impatiently. Some of them threw

themselves flat on the ground, and a few gave way and ran off.[193] The

artillery of the enemy was very well served; that of the Jacobites was

managed by common soldiers, the cannoniers belonging to one battery

being absent. The contest was in every way unequal; yet the brave

insurgents, although ready to drop with fatigue, seemed to forget all

their weariness and hunger when the enemy advanced.

At length, after some preliminary manoeuvres, the Prince sent orders

to Lord George Murray to march up to the enemy. It seemed, indeed, high

time to come to a close engagement; for the cannonading of the enemy,

which was directed chiefly towards the place which the Prince occupied

among the cavalry, was very destructive; yet still Lord George delayed

the attack, judging, as it is supposed, that the adversaries were still

at too great a distance, and that the strength of his men would be

exhausted before they could reach them. There appears also to have been

another reason for the delay; Lord George had, on his right, a

farm-house, and some old enclosure walls, which the enemy now occupied;

and he is conjectured to have been waiting until the Duke of

Cumberland's army came up to these walls, which would prevent him being

flanked by the dragoons, who were, he observed, mostly on the left. But

the Duke did not advance. The Highlanders, who were impatient at the

delay, called out loudly to be led on; and at last he gave the command

to attack.

His orders were obeyed. As his line began to move, the enemy began a

smart fire, which played chiefly upon the Atholl men, and was kept up by

a detachment of Campbells, who were stationed behind the enclosure

walls. It was the custom of the Highlanders to give a general discharge

of their fire-arms, and then to rush, sword in hand, upon their foes:

and the only chance of a victory for their party that day, was a general

shock of their whole line at once; for the fury and valour of these

northern warriors produced results almost incredible. Unhappily, several

circumstances destroyed this advantage. The two armies were not exactly

parallel to each other, the right of Prince Charles's being nearer to

the foe than the left. The impetuosity of the Highlanders was such, that

they broke their ranks before it was time to give their fire; their

eagerness to come up with an enemy that had so greatly the advantage of

them at such a distance, made them rush on with such violence, and in

such a confusion, that their fire-arms were of little service.[194]

This, it appears, was the disadvantage which Lord George had

apprehended. But there was still another inconvenience: the wind, which

had favoured the Jacobites at Falkirk, was now against them. They were

buried in a cloud of smoke, and felt their enemies without seeing them.

In spite of all these obstacles they went, sword in hand, and broke the

first line of the enemy; but the second advancing, and firing on them,

they gave way, leaving, says one who beheld the terrific scene, "many

brave fellows on the spot." The rout, which began on the right of the

army, soon became general. The right line was, in fact, beaten before

the centre could advance to support it: and the centre of the army gave

way, whilst the Macdonalds, who were advancing on the left, seeing

themselves abandoned on the right, and exposed to be flanked by enemies

who had nothing to oppose them in front, retired also.[195]

Lord George Murray behaved with incomparable valour, as indeed did the

whole of the line which he commanded, which was received by the enemy

with bayonets. These were the more destructive, as the Highlanders would

never be at the trouble, on a march, to carry targets. Yet the Duke's

line of battle was broken in several places, and two pieces of cannon

were taken.[196] The brave troops whom Lord George commanded marched up

to the very point of the bayonets, which they could not see until they

were upon them, on account of the smoke which was driven in their faces.

As the first line of the English army was broken, and as others were

brought up to their relief, some cannon, charged with cartouch shot from

their second line, caused Lord George Murray's horse to start and plunge

so much, that he thought the animal was wounded: he quitted his

stirrups, and was thrown. "After thus being dismounted, I brought up,"

writes Lord George, "two regiments of our second line, who gave them

fire, but nothing could be done; all was lost."[197] The only good

effect of the reinforcement was to arrest for a while the pursuit of the

cavalry, and thus to save many lives. The field of battle was soon

abandoned to the fury of an enemy, whose brutal thirst for vengeance

increased as the danger and opposition diminished. Some may consider

that the day of Culloden was a day of disgrace to the Highlanders; but

to them it was an event of honour, compared with the discredit which it

brought upon their foes. To England was the disgrace. It was, at all

events, even if we measure the standard of honour by the degree of

military success, an inglorious victory. Independent of the inequality

of numbers, was the inequality of circumstances; but greater, in many

senses, on this occasion, were the conquered, than their conquerors.

The Prince, seeing his army entirely routed, was at length prevailed

upon to retire. Most of his horse soldiers assembled round his person;

and he rode leisurely, and in good order, for the enemy advanced very

leisurely over the ground. "They made," observes Maxwell, "no attack

where there was any body of the Prince's men together, but contented

themselves with sabering such unfortunate people as fell in their way,

single and disarmed." "As the Duke's corps," Lord Elcho relates,

"continued to pursue in order of battle, always firing their cannon and

platoons in advancing, there were not so many people taken or killed as

there would have been had they detached corps to pursue; but every body

that fell into their hands got no quarter, except a few whom they

reserved for public punishment."

In the flight of the Prince's army, most of the left wing took the road

to Inverness; the right wing crossed the water of Nairn, and went to

Ruthven of Badenoch; the rest, to the number of five hundred, mostly

officers, followed the Prince into Stratherick, where he had stopped

about four miles from the field of Culloden. Of the Prince's conduct

after the battle, a very painful impression is given by Lord Elcho. "As

he had taken it into his head he had been betrayed, and particularly by

Lord George Murray, he seemed very diffident of everybody except the

Irish officers; and he appeared very anxious to know whether he had

given them all higher commissions than they had at their arrival, on

purpose that they might get them confirmed to them upon their return to

France. He neither spoke to any of the Scots' officers present, nor

inquired after any of the absent. Nor, indeed, at any of the preceding

battles did he ever inquire after any of the wounded officers. He

appeared very uneasy as long as the Scots were about him; and in a short

time ordered them all to go to Ruthven of Badenoch, where he would send

them orders; but before they had rode a mile, he sent Mr. Sheridan after

them, to tell them that they might disperse, and everybody shift for

himself the best way he could. Lord George Murray and Lord John Drummond

repeated the same orders to all the body of the army that had assembled

at Ruthven. The Prince kept with him some of Fitzjames's Horse, and went

that night to a house in the head of Stratherick, where he met Lord

Lovat and a great many other Scots' gentlemen, who advised him not to

quit the country, but to stay and gather together his scattered forces.

But he was so prejudiced against the Scots, that he was afraid they

would give him up to make their peace with the Government; for some of

the Irish were at pains to relate to him, in very strong terms, how the

Scots had already sold his great-grandfather to the English: and, as he

was naturally of a suspicious temper, it was not a difficult matter to

persuade him of it. And he always believed it until the fidelity of the

Highlanders shown to him during the long time he was hid in their

country, convinced him and everybody else of the contrary."[198]

This history of distrust and ingratitude is, however, to be contrasted

with very different statements. When the Prince heard from Colonel Ker,

after the battle, that Lord George Murray had been thrown from his

horse, but was not wounded, Charles, in the presence of all the officers

who were assembled around his person, desired Colonel Ker to find out

Lord George, and to "take particular care of him." Nor was there, among

the whole number of those writers who witnessed the battle of Culloden,

a dissentient voice with regard to the bravery of their

Lieutenant-General and to the admirable disposition of his troops. Had

he, like Lord Strathallan, sought and found his fate upon the field of

battle, his memory would have been exalted into that of a hero.

Two days after the defeat, the Duke of Perth, the Marquis of

Tullibardine, Lord George Murray, Lord Ogilvie, Lord Nairn, and several

other chieftains and officers met at Ruthven in Badenoch, and discussed

the events which had ended in the ruin of their cause. They were

unanimous in concluding that the night attack, upon which many persons

insisted as practicable, could not have been attempted.[199]

For some time after the battle, hopes were entertained of an effectual

rallying of the forces. By a letter from one of the Prince's

aides-de-camp, Alexander Macleod, to Clunie Macpherson, on the very day

of the battle, it appears that his party soon hoped, or pretended to

hope, "to pay Cumberland back in his own coin." A review of the fragment

of the army was projected at Fort-Augustus, on the seventeenth of April;

and amends were promised to be made for the "ruffle at Culloden."[200]

"For God's sake," wrote Mr. Macleod, "make haste to join us; and bring

with you all the people that can possibly be got together. Take care in

particular of Lumisden and Sheridan, as they carry with them the sinews

of war."

To this letter Lord George Murray added some lines, which prove how

hopeless, at that moment, he considered any project of rallying; and,

indeed, even before the epistle was dispatched to Clunie, the Prince had

left Gorteleg, and taken refuge in "Clanranald's country."

Notwithstanding the Prince's flight, Lord George Murray, presuming that

he could still make a stand, remained at Ruthven, where a force of

between two and three thousand men was assembled. It was found, however,

impossible, from the want of provisions, to keep such an army together;

and, in a few days, a message from Charles, ordering his ill-fated

adherents to disperse, decided their fate. At this epoch Lord George

Murray addressed a letter to Charles, certainly not calculated to soothe

the feelings of the unfortunate young man, nor to conciliate the bitter

spirit which afterwards, during the lapse of years, never abated towards

his former General. The letter began thus.[201]

"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, I cannot but be very deeply affected with our late

loss, and present situation; and I declare, that were your Royal

Highness's person in safety, the loss of the cause, and the

unfortunate and unhappy state 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."

After this preface Lord George, in no softened terms, pointed out what

he conceived to be the causes of the failure of the enterprise;--the

imprudence of having set up the standard without aid from France; the

deficiencies and blunders of Mr. O'Sullivan, whose business it was to

reconnoitre the field of battle, but who had not so much as viewed it

before the affair of Culloden. He next pointed out the negligence, if

not treachery, of Mr. Hay, who had the charge of the provisions. To the

disgraceful mismanagement of this important department might, indeed,

the ruin of the army be traced. "For my own part," added Lord George,

"I never had any particular discussion with either of them; but I ever

thought them incapable and unfit to serve in the stations they were

placed in."

After these too just remarks, Lord George formally resigned his

commission into the Prince's hands. It had, it appears, been his

intention to have done so after the failure at Blair; but he was

dissuaded by his friends. "I hope your Royal Highness will now accept of

my demission. What commands you may have for me in any other situation,

please honour me with them."

This letter was dated from Ruthven, two days after the battle of

Culloden. The inference which has been drawn from it was, that Lord

George did not contemplate the abandonment of the campaign. It appears

to have been his opinion that the Highlanders could have made a summer

campaign without any risk, marching, as they could, through places in

which no regular troops could follow them. They could never starve as

long as there were sheep and cattle in the country; and they might

probably have carried on an offensive, instead of a defensive war. But

Charles, disheartened, as men of over sanguine tempers usually are, in

misfortune, to the last degree, resolved on escaping to France. He

addressed a farewell letter to the Chiefs, and then commenced that long

and perilous course of wanderings in which his character rose to

heroism, and which presents one of the most interesting episodes in

history of which our annals can boast.

Lord George Murray was long a fugitive from place to place in his native

country, before he could find means to escape to the continent. In

December (1746) he visited, in private, his friends in Edinburgh, and

then embarking at Anstruther, in the Frith of Forth, he set sail for

Holland. Whether he ever returned to his native country is doubtful,

although it appears, from a letter among the Stuart papers, that he had

it in contemplation, in order to bring over his wife and family.

His fate in a foreign land, however embittered by the ingratitude and

hatred of Charles Edward, was cheered by the presence of his wife and

children, with the exception of his eldest son, who was retained in

Scotland, and educated under the auspices of James Duke of Atholl. His

first movement after reaching Holland, was to repair to Rome, there to

pay his respects to the Chevalier St. George, and to unfold to him the

motives of his conduct in the foregoing campaign of 1745. The Chevalier,

affectionately attached as he was to his eldest son, was aware of his

defects, and sensible of the pernicious influence which was exercised

over his mind by the enemies of Lord George Murray; James, who never

appears in a more amiable light than in his correspondence, endeavoured

to conciliate both parties. His letters to Charles Edward, treasured

among the Stuart papers, display kindness and great good sense. His

mediation in this instance was, however, wholly ineffectual. After the

treacherous conduct of Murray of Broughton, the Prince began even to

suspect that Lord George was concerned in the baseness of that

individual. This notion was urgently combated by James; at the same time

he recommended the Prince, not only as a matter of right, but of

policy, to conciliate Lord George, who "owned that he had been wrong

towards Charles, but insisted upon his zeal in the Prince's service."

"Persons," adds the politic Chevalier, "like him may do both good and

hurt; and it is prudent to manage them, and would manifestly be of

prejudice could they be able to say their former services had been

disregarded." But James addressed himself to one who could never

dissimulate. Whatever Charles's errors might be, they were not envenomed

by any portion of cunning, and no motive of prudence could soften him

towards one whom he unjustly disliked.

Lord George, who expected no favour from the English Government, was,

nevertheless, anxious to be "near home." He left Rome in May 1747, and

after remaining some time at Bologna, proceeded to Paris.[202] Here

Charles was playing that ill-judged and desperate game, which was better

suited to a rash impostor, than to the acknowledged descendant of a long

line of monarchs. Here he was rapidly effacing the remembrance of the

brave and generous wanderer who trusted to the honesty of the

Highlanders; who bore his misfortunes as if he had been born in that

land of heroes.

The first idea of Charles, upon hearing of Lord George Murray's arrival

in Paris, was to imprison him as a traitor. "I hope in God," writes his

father to the young Prince, "you will not think of getting Lord George

secured after all I wrote to you about him, and will at least receive

him civilly." But no intercessions could nullify the indignation of

Charles towards his former general.

It was far from Lord George Murray's intention, if we may believe the

Chevalier St. George, again to embroil himself in public affairs, or

even to remain in Paris. His intention was to live privately in Germany

or Flanders, in the hope of being rejoined by his wife. Upon reaching

Paris, he informed the Prince of his arrival; and proposed paying his

respects to him at St. Omer, where Charles was then living. Late on the

evening of the eleventh of July, 1747, a gentleman, who at first refused

to give his name, but who afterwards announced himself as Mr. Stafford,

called on Lord George to convey to him a message desiring him not to "go

near" the Prince, and ordering him to leave Paris immediately. An answer

was returned, signifying that the Prince's commands should be obeyed.

Lord George left Paris, and he and the unfortunate young man whom he had

served, met no more. It is possible that the irritation of Charles was

aggravated by the recent intelligence of his brother's having become a

cardinal: upon receiving the news of that event he shut himself up for

some hours alone. The name of his brother was no longer to be uttered in

his presence nor his health drunk at table.[203] Charles was at this

time in the power of both the Kellys, who are described by one of his

adherents as "false, ambitious, and sordidly avaricious."

After visiting Poland, where he was received by Marshall Belriski as a

relation, and where he endeavoured to negotiate the restitution of some

crown jewels to James, as in right of the Chevalier's wife, the Princess

Sobieski, Lord George settled at Cleves. He changed his name to that of

De Valignie, and here he remained in obscurity with his family. "My

wife," he writes to the Chevalier St. George, "came here on the tenth of

September, 1748, but was soon after seized with an intermitting fever,

which has not yet left her. She begs leave to throw herself at your

Majesty's feet." In 1750, Lord George removed to Emmerick; here he wrote

an account of his campaign, which he addressed to Mr. Hamilton of

Bangour; from this, repeated extracts have been given in this memoir of

his life. The kindness of James Stuart towards him continued unabated:

he recommended him to the notice of the court of France; and consulted

him as to the probable success of a future enterprise in Scotland. On

such a project Lord George Murray expressed himself cautiously, yet

somewhat encouragingly; and declared himself ready to shed the last drop

of his blood in the cause. Happily his zeal was not again put to the

test. Lord George appears, in his letters, to have cherished in his

retirement at Emmerick, a lingering hope that at some future day the

Stuarts might make another attempt. He was now in the decline of life,

and yearning to behold again the country which he was destined to see no

more. "How happily," he writes to Mr. Edgar,[204] "should you and I be

to sit over a bottle in Angus, or Perthshire, after a restoration, and

talk over old services. May that soon happen!"

Meantime some members of Lord George's family suffered the severest

distress. His uncle, Lord Nairn, had, it is true, escaped to France; but

Lady Nairn and her daughter, Lady Clementina, were reduced to the

utmost penury in Scotland. They remained in their native country,

probably with the hope of saving the wreck of their fortunes, until all

that the troops had spared was sold, and the money which accrued from

the sale was exhausted. Such was the rapacity of the plunderers, that

they took even Lady Nairn's watch and clothes. The Government, although

in possession of her estate, never gave her one farthing for

subsistence, but even made her pay a rent for the garden of one of Lord

Nairn's own houses in which she lived. But this is only one instance of

that catalogue of cruelties towards the Jacobites, which it would take

volumes to detail.

In 1751, Lord George Murray visited Dresden, where, owing to the

mediation of James Stuart, he was well received. His letters at this

period refer frequently to the exertions which he made for Lord Macleod,

the son of Lord Cromartie: to this young man a company was given in

Finland, in the Prussian service, and the Chevalier St. George furnished

him with his accoutrements and equipage.

The eldest son of Lord George Murray remained, as we have seen, in

Scotland; but the second was, through the favour of the Chevalier,

recommended to the especial notice of the court of Prussia. The visit of

Lord George to Dresden seems to have been chiefly designed to push the

interests of this young man, who was introduced to the Count and

Countess De Bruhl. The youth was to study the military science and

exercises at Dresden, and at the same time to enjoy, in the house of the

Pope's Nuncio, the advantage of seeing company, and of forming

connections.

Having arranged these affairs, Lord George returned to Emmerick. His

wife had left him for Scotland, in order to be confined there; and this

event, attended by so much inconvenience, and prefaced by a voyage of

twelve days, "put her," as Lord George observed, "somewhat out of

countenance, after twenty-three years' marriage." Her return was delayed

for some time. "I shall be pretty lonely this winter (1751)," writes Lord

George to Mr. Edgar, "for my wife, who was brought to bed of a daughter

the middle of September, recovered but very slowly, and now the season

of the year is too far advanced for her to venture so long a voyage;

besides, she has some thoughts that Lady Sinclair (his daughter) may

come with her in the spring." In his solitude, anxieties about his

patrimonial property added to the sorrows of the exile. "I am

told,"[205] he writes, "that the Duke of Atholl is desirous of selling

the roialty of the Isle of Man to the London Government, for which, they

say, he is offered fifteen thousand pounds sterling. Had it not been for

my situation, I believe he could not have done it without my consent;

but, I'm sorry to say it, and it is a truth, that he is full as much my

enemy as any of that Government. He has sent my eldest son abroad, but,

as I understand, with positive orders not to see nor correspond with me.

All this is the more extraordinary that, thirty years ago, before he

turned courtier, he seemed to have very different notions. Most people

in Britain now regard neither probity nor any other virtue--all is

selfish and vainal (venial). But how can I complean of such hard usage,

when my royal master has met with what is a thousand times more cruel:

he bears it like a Christian hero, and it would ill suit me to repine. I

thank the Almighty I never did, and I think it my greatest honour and

glory to suffer in so just and upright a cause." Hope, however, of one

day returning to Scotland, was not extinct. He thus continues: "Upon

receipt of the note you sent me, I have gott the carabin, for which I

return you many thanks. I expect to kill a wild bore with it; but I fain

hope Providence may still order it that I may make use of it at home,

and, if all succeeds to our wishes, how happy should I think myself to

send you, when you returned to Angus, a good fatt stagg, shott in the

forest of Atholl with your own gun."

Until five years before his death, Lord George still cherished the hope

that France would again find it her interest to support the claims of

the Stuarts. He had always considered that the support of the French

would be decisive of the success of the cause. "Had the ministers of the

court of Versailles, ten years ago, been persuaded that the supporting

of his Royal Highness the Prince, at the beginning of his attempt, in a

proper manner with the best measures they could take for the interest of

their master as well as that of the King, our gracious sovereign, I

think I do not say too much if I affirm that his Royal Highness would

not have failed of success. I had at that time opportunities of knowing

the sentiments and way of thinking of most people in Great Britain.

Many, very many, wished well to the cause. Great numbers would have

looked on, and would have turned to the side that had success. But there

is no recalling what is passed. I believe that in France they are

convinced now of the error they were in at the time. If ever they

resolve to espouse the cause of the royal family it must be in earnest,

and their main view must be that. Then there would be no difficulty in

adjusting limits in America. I have been much longer upon the subject

than I intended. Perhaps zeal has led me too far."

The period was now approaching when Lord George Murray was to close a

life of vicissitude and turmoil. He died in 1760 at Medenblinck, in

Holland, leaving three sons and two daughters. Upon the death of James

Duke of Atholl in 1764, John, the eldest son of Lord George Murray,

succeeded to the dukedom, and to the great possessions of the family. He

married his first cousin, Charlotte, only daughter and heiress of his

uncle, the Duke of Atholl; and in 1765 their Graces sold the sovereignty

of the Isle of Man, upon the disposal of which Lord George Murray had

expressed much solicitude, to the British Government. The present Duke

of Atholl, who succeeded his father in 1830, is the grandson of John,

third Duke of Atholl, and the great-grandson of Lord George Murray. The

descendants of this justly celebrated man have, therefore, shared a

happier fortune than those of many of the other attainted noblemen of

his party.

The attainder was not, however, set aside in favour of the son of Lord

George Murray without a petition to the King, upon which the House of

Lords gave a favourable report, and the objection was overcome.[206]

Besides his eldest son, Lord George left two others; James, of Strowan,

in right of his mother; George, of Pitkeathly, who became Vice-Admiral

of the White--and two daughters; Amelia, first married to Lord Sinclair,

and afterwards to James Farquharson, of Inverness; and Charlotte, who

died unmarried.

The mind of Lord George Murray was one of great original power, and less

dependent upon those circumstances which usually affect the formation of

character, than that of most men. He was determined and inflexible in

opinions, yet cautious in action. That he was sincere and honourable

there can now be little doubt. It was his consciousness of upright

intentions which inspired him with contempt for the littleness of

others; and with his love of superiority, his self-will and ambition,

there was wrought a strong conviction of his own worth, as opposed to

the hollowness of some of his party. Throughout all his letters, and in

his journal, there is a strong evidence of his confidence in his own

powers; of a self-sufficiency too lofty to be called vanity, but which

sometimes descends to egotism. To his courage, his energy and

perseverance, his military contemporaries have borne unanimous

testimony. They seem entirely to have comprehended a character which the

unfortunate Charles Edward could never appreciate. They felt the

justness of his ascendancy, and discriminated between the bluntness of

an ardent and honest mind, careless of ordinary forms, and the arrogance

of an inferior capacity. As a soldier, indeed, the qualities of Lord

George Murray rose to greatness: so enduring, and so fearless, so

careless of danger to himself, yet so solicitous for others. As a

general, some great defects may be pointed out in his composition,

without detracting from his merits as a private individual.

Let us first turn to the bright side of the picture. In activity and

exertion Lord George Murray has not been surpassed even by the more

fortunate, although, perhaps, not greater commanders of modern times. He

was indefatigable in business, and any one who desired access to him

could see him at any hour, whether at meals or in bed. "On some

occasions," he remarks, "I have been waked six times a night, and had

either orders to write, or letters to answer every time; for as I mostly

commanded a separate body of the army, I had many details that, in a

more regular army, would belong to different people." Every order, even

that which sent an officer to an out-post, was written by his own hand,

and explained by him; every contingency that might occur in the

execution was canvassed, and every objection that was suggested was

answered by himself. The officers, therefore, confiding in their

general, performed their duties with cheerfulness, and made their

reports with exactness. There was no confusion, nor misapprehension,

wherever Lord George presided. As a disciplinarian, he was pre-eminent;

no army ever quitted a country with so little odium, nor left behind

them such slight memorials of their march, as that of Charles Edward

when it returned from Derby. The greatest excess that the Highlanders

were known to commit was the seizing horses to carry their baggage, or

to carry their sick;--and these it was Lord George's endeavour always

to restore, even at a great inconvenience to the soldiers. Even with

every precaution it was impossible wholly to restrain plundering,

although the General undertook in person to control that evil. "How

often," he writes, "have I gone into houses on our marches to drive the

men out of them, and drubbed them heartily?"

This able man possessed another great requisite as a commander. He

thoroughly understood his materials, he was perfectly acquainted with

the temper and disposition of his soldiers. It was the attribute which

made Marlborough unconquerable; and, in an army chiefly of Highlanders,

it was one of the greatest value. By this Lord George acquired over the

members of every respective Clan as much influence as each Chief

separately had. His corrections were well applied, and never lessened

the confidence nor affections of the soldiery. From the highest to the

lowest, the men and officers had a confidence in him, which induced them

to apply to him for redress in grievances, and to consider him as an

umpire in disputes.

But Lord George was not only a disciplinarian; in his own person, he set

the example of a scrupulous honesty. "I never," he writes in his

explanation of his conduct, "took the least thing without paying the

full value. I thought that I could not reasonably find fault with others

in that, if I did not show them a good example."

To the sick and wounded Lord George invariably paid the utmost

attention; and, under his guidance, the Highlanders, heretofore so

fierce towards each other in their contests, were remarkable for a

degree of humanity which was disgracefully contrasted with the barbarity

of their conquerors. Such were his general attributes in his military

station. Whatever doubts may have existed in the mind of Charles Edward

as to the fidelity of his General, are silenced by the long and hopeless

exile of Lord George Murray, and by the continued friendship of the

Chevalier St. George. No overtures, as in the case of the Earl of Mar,

to the British Government, nor efforts on the part of his prosperous and

favoured brother, the Duke of Atholl, have transpired to show that in

saving Blair, there was a secret understanding that there should be a

future reward, nor that any surmise of treachery had opened a door to

reconciliation. Charles, be it remembered, was under that daily, hourly

influence, which weakens the judgment, and exasperates the passions. His

opinion of Lord George Murray must not be accepted as any evidence

against one who had redeemed the inconsistencies of his youth by the

great exertions of his manhood.

Some vital defects there were, nevertheless, in this General, of

powerful intellect, and of earnest and honourable intentions. His

character partook too largely of that quality which has raised his

country as a nation in all other countries, prudence. For his peculiar

situation he was far too cautious. Persevering and inflexible, he was

destitute of hope. If it be true, that he entered into the undertaking

with a conviction that the cause could never prosper, he was the last

man that should have been the general of an army whose ardour, when not

engaged in action, he invariably restrained. All contending opinions

seem to hesitate and to falter when they relate to the retreat from

Derby, the grand error of the enterprise; the fatal step, when the tide

served, and the wind was propitious, and an opportunity never to be

regained, was for ever lost.

In private society, Lord George Murray is reported to have been

overbearing and hasty; his fine person, and handsome countenance were

lessened in their agreeableness by a haughty deportment. He was simple,

temperate, and self-denying in his habits. In his relations of life, he

appears to have been respectable. His letters show him to have enjoyed,

at least, the usual means of education offered to a soldier, who entered

upon active service at sixteen, or to have improved his own

acquirements. They are clear and explicit, and bear the impress of

sincerity and good sense.

Distrusted as he was by Charles Edward, and misrepresented by others, we

may accord to Lord George Murray the indulgence which he claims from

posterity in these, the last words of his vindication:--

"Upon the whole, I shall conclude with saying, if I did not all the good

I would, I am sure I did all I could."