A.D. 1746.
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George II., 1727-1760.
Duke of Cumberland sent down to Scotland--Marches westward--Siege
of Stirling castle raised--Highland army retreats to the
north--Council held at Crieff--Duke of Cumberland pursues and
arrives at Perth--Arrival of Hessians--Rout of Moy--Capture
of the town and castle of Inverness by Charles--Duke of
Cumberland arrives at Aberdeen--Highlanders capture Fort
Augustus--Expedition against Lord Loudon--Expedition of Lord
George Murray into Athole--Duke of Cumberland’s movements--Takes
possession of Old Meldrum and Strathbogie--Insurgents retreat
across the Spey--Re-capture of the Hazard sloop-of-war--Siege of
Fort William by the insurgents--Siege abandoned.
Unwilling any longer to intrust the management of the war to a
general who had given such a signal proof of incapacity as Hawley
had done, the government, immediately on receipt of his despatches,
sent down the Duke of Cumberland to Scotland, to take the command
of the army, and to retrieve if possible the lost reputation of
the heroes of Dettingen and Fontenoy. The duke was beloved by the
army, and enjoyed its confidence, circumstances which rendered him
peculiarly fitted to supersede Hawley, who, after his return to
Edinburgh, had by his severities become unpopular with the soldiers.
Another reason for putting the duke at the head of the army opposed
to Prince Charles, was the favourable effect which, it was supposed,
the appearance of a prince of the blood would have upon the minds of
the people of Scotland, and which, it was expected, would neutralise
the influence of his kinsman. But apart from his rank as the son of
the king, Prince William had little to recommend him to the especial
notice of a nation, rather fastidious in its respect for princes.
His conduct while in Scotland showed that humanity, the brightest
ornament which can adorn the soldier hero, had no place in the
catalogue of his virtues. With a cruelty, partly the result, perhaps,
of the military school in which he was trained,[1122] and which
fortunately has few parallels among civilised nations, he pursued his
unfortunate victims, the misguided but chivalrous adherents of the
fallen dynasty, with a relentless perseverance which disgusted even
his own partisans.
[Illustration: WILLIAM DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.
A. Fullarton & C^o. London & Edinburgh.]
Having received his instructions, the duke lost no time in preparing
for his journey. He left London on the 25th of January, attended by
Lord Cathcart, Lord Bury, Colonels Conway and York his aides-de-camp,
and arrived at Holyrood House on the 30th. He was waited upon by the
state-officers, the magistrates of the city, the professors of the
university, and the clergy, all of whom were graciously received.
His royal highness was presented with the freedom of the city in a
gold box. In the afternoon he held a sort of drawing-room, which was
attended by a considerable number of ladies very richly dressed.
The most conspicuous among them was a Miss Ker, who wore a busk,
at the top of which was a crown done in bugles, surrounded with
this inscription, “Britain’s Hero, William, Duke of Cumberland.” To
celebrate his arrival the city was illuminated in the evening, but
although the Jacobites, from prudential motives, concurred in this
demonstration, their windows were broken by the mob.[1124]
In the course of the day the duke inspected the army. His appearance
revived the spirits of the soldiers, who, it is said, desired
nothing so much as an opportunity of wiping away the disgrace of
their late defeat. Such being the favourable disposition of the
troops, it was resolved in a council of war held in the evening to
march next morning to the relief of Stirling castle. Accordingly,
early in the morning the army, which, by recent reinforcements, had
been increased to fourteen battalions of foot, and four regiments
of dragoons, besides the Argyleshire men, left Edinburgh in two
divisions, preceded by Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s dragoons. One of
these divisions, comprising eight battalions, at the head of which
the duke was to place himself, proceeded towards Linlithgow, and the
other, consisting of six battalions under the command of Brigadier
Mordaunt, marched in the direction of Borrowstownness. The duke
himself left Holyrood House at nine o’clock in the morning, in
presence of a large assemblage of citizens, who, from curiosity,
had collected before the palace at an early hour to witness his
departure. He entered a splendid coach, which, with twelve beautiful
horses, had been presented to him by the Earl of Hopetoun, and was
accompanied in his progress through the city by many persons of
distinction, and by a crowd of citizens. On reaching Castlebarns, a
place about a quarter of a mile from the West-port, by which he left
the city, the duke mounted his horse, and taking off his hat thanked
the people for their attentions. He told them that he was in great
haste to fulfil the object of his mission, and concluded by wishing
them farewell. This short address was received with a loud huzza. The
duke then took leave of the nobility and gentry who surrounded him,
and at parting said, “Shall we not have one song?” He then began to
sing an old Scottish song:--
“Will ye play me fair?
Highland laddie, Highland laddie.”
But before he had finished the first stanza he stretched forth his
hand, and, putting spurs to his horse, went off at full gallop to
join the army.[1125]
The duke took up his quarters for the night at Linlithgow with the
eight battalions, and Mordaunt stopped at Borrowstowness with the
other division. The dragoons were quartered in the adjacent villages,
and the Argyleshire men were posted in front towards the river Avon.
Early next morning, the duke received intelligence that the main
body of the Highland army, quartered at Falkirk, had retired to
the Torwood, where, they gave out, they intended to make a stand.
Determined that no time should be lost in following the insurgents,
the duke, after reviewing his army in the morning, advanced
towards Falkirk. Several parties of the Highlanders, who were seen
hovering on the hills between Falkirk and Linlithgow, retired with
precipitation on his approach; but some stragglers were brought in
by his advanced scouts, who reported that the Highlanders, afraid to
risk another battle, on account of the increase of the royal army,
and the diminution of their own by desertion, were repassing the
Forth in great confusion. Two great explosions, like the blowing up
of magazines, which were heard from a distance, seemed to confirm
this intelligence. On reaching Falkirk, the duke found that all the
wounded soldiers who had been made prisoners in the late action,
had been left behind by the insurgents in their retreat. His royal
highness halted at Falkirk with the main body of his army, and
immediately detached Brigadier Mordaunt with the Argyleshire men and
all the dragoons, in pursuit of the Highlanders. The duke passed
the night in the house which Charles had occupied on the evening of
the late battle, and slept in the same bed on which the prince had
reposed. Next morning Prince William marched to Stirling, of which
Brigadier Mordaunt had taken possession the previous evening. He
complimented General Blakeney on his defence of the castle, and was
informed by the latter that, had the siege continued much longer,
he (Blakeney) must have surrendered for want of ammunition and
provisions.
In his march the duke was accompanied by several officers of the
English army, who had been taken prisoners at Preston, and who, under
the pretence of being forcibly released by armed parties of country
people in Angus and Fife, had broken their parole, and returned to
Edinburgh. The Duke of Cumberland, who appears to have thought it by
no means dishonourable to break faith with rebels, not only absolved
these officers from their parole, but sent circulars to all the other
officers, who continued prisoners of war, releasing them from the
solemn obligation they had undertaken not to serve against Prince
Charles for a certain time, requiring them to join their respective
regiments, and threatening with the loss of their commissions such of
them as should refuse to return immediately to the service. Only a
few officers had the virtuous courage to refuse compliance, declaring
their sense of the insult offered to men of an honourable profession,
by remarking that the duke was master of their commissions, but not
of their probity and honour.[1126]
It was not without considerable reluctance that Charles had been
induced to consent to a retreat. So late as the 28th of January, on
which day he received information at Bannockburn that the Duke of
Cumberland was expected at Edinburgh in a day or two, he had sent
Secretary Murray to Falkirk to acquaint Lord George Murray, that it
was his intention to advance and attack the Duke of Cumberland, when
he should reach Falkirk, and to request his lordship to remain there
till the duke came to Linlithgow. Lord George did not express any
disapprobation of Charles’s design, but immediately drew up a plan
of the battle in contemplation, which he carried to Bannockburn, and
showed to Charles. The prince, who was in high spirits, expressed
himself much pleased with the plan, which differed in some respects
from that he had sketched previous to the late battle; but, to his
utter astonishment, he received a packet from Lord George Murray by
an aide-de-camp, containing a representation by his lordship and all
the chiefs,[1127] who were with him at Falkirk, advising a retreat to
the north.
In this paper, after stating that they considered it their duty,
“in this critical juncture,” to lay their opinions in the most
respectful manner before his royal highness, they proceeded to say,
that they were certain that a vast number of his troops had gone
home since the battle of Falkirk, and that, notwithstanding all the
endeavours of the commanders of the different corps, they found that
the evil was hourly increasing, and that they had it not in their
power to prevent it,--that as they were afraid Stirling castle could
not be taken so soon as was expected, they could, from the inequality
of their numbers to that of the enemy, anticipate nothing but utter
destruction to the few troops that might remain behind, should the
enemy advance before the castle fell into Prince Charles’s hands. For
these reasons, they gave it as their opinion, that the only way to
extricate his royal highness, and those who remained with him, out of
the imminent danger which threatened them, was to retire immediately
to the Highlands, where the army could be usefully employed the
remainder of the winter in taking the forts in the north,--that they
were morally certain they could keep as many men together as would
answer that end, and would hinder the enemy from following them to
the mountains at that season of the year,--and that, in spring, they
had no doubt that an army of 10,000 effective Highlanders could be
brought together, who would follow his royal highness wherever he
might think proper. Such a plan, they maintained, would certainly
disconcert his enemies, and could not but be approved of by his royal
highness’s friends both at home and abroad, and that if a landing
should happen in the meantime, the Highlanders would immediately
rise either to join the invaders, or to make a powerful diversion
elsewhere. On considering the hard marches which the army had
undergone, the season of the year, and the inclemency of the weather,
his royal highness, they said, as well as his allies abroad and his
adherents at home, could not fail to approve of the proposal,--that
the greatest objection to the retreat was the difficulty of saving
the artillery, particularly the heavy cannon; but that it would be
better that some of these were thrown into the Forth, than that
his royal highness and the flower of his army should be exposed to
the risk they inevitably would, should the proposed retreat not be
agreed to, and put in execution without loss of time; and that they
thought that it would be the greatest imprudence to risk the whole
on so unequal a chance, when there were such hopes of succour from
abroad, besides the resources his royal highness would have from
his adherents at home. In conclusion, they informed the prince that
they had just been apprised, that numbers of their people had gone
off, and that many were sick, and not in a condition to fight. They
added, that nobody was privy to the address but the subscribers; and
they assured him that it was with great concern and reluctance they
found themselves obliged to declare their sentiments in so dangerous
a situation,--a declaration which nothing could have prevailed
upon them to make but the unfortunate diminution of the army by
desertion.[1128]
According to a statement made by John Hay, who occasionally acted
as secretary to the prince, Charles was so transported with rage,
after reading this paper, that he struck his head against the
wall of the room till he staggered, and exclaimed most violently
against Lord George Murray. To dissuade the subscribers from their
resolution, Charles sent Sir Thomas Sheridan to Falkirk, who, not
succeeding in his mission, returned to Bannockburn, accompanied
by Keppoch and several other chiefs. These argued the matter with
Charles himself, and ultimately prevailed upon him to consent to a
retreat.[1129] This retreat was condemned by some of the prince’s
flatterers; but the simple fact, stated by Patullo the muster-master
of the prince’s army, that, before the retreat, the army had been
diminished by desertion to 5,000 men, fully justifies the advice
given by Lord George Murray and the chiefs at Falkirk.[1130] Even Sir
Thomas Sheridan, the especial favourite of the prince, admitted the
necessity of the retreat, for reasons apart from the reduction of the
army.[1131]
In order to make the retreat with as little loss as possible, horses
and carriages were ordered in from all quarters, under the pretext
of carrying the field artillery and ammunition towards Edinburgh,
whither it was given out that the army was to march immediately.
The army, however, began to suspect the design, and every person,
not in the secret, looked dejected. During the 30th, a great deal of
bustle took place in the country in collecting horses and carriages,
but with little effect, as the country people, who also began to
conjecture that a retreat was intended, were not disposed to attend
to the order.[1132] At length the design of these preparations became
apparent when, in consequence of a previous arrangement, Lord George
Murray left Falkirk with the clans on the evening of the 31st for
Bannockburn, leaving behind him Elcho’s, Pitsligo’s, and Kilmarnock’s
horse, who were directed to patrol betwixt Falkirk and Linlithgow
till ten o’clock that night. Lord George continued at the prince’s
quarters till after twelve o’clock at night, when it was agreed
that the army should rendezvous at nine o’clock next morning near
St. Ninians; and a message was directed to be sent to the Duke of
Perth and Lord John Drummond, both of whom were at Stirling, to be
ready to march between nine and ten o’clock, but not to evacuate the
town without further orders. However, after Lord George had left
the prince’s quarters for his own, these orders were countermanded
without his knowledge, and orders were sent to Stirling to evacuate
it by break of day.[1133]
The appointed rendezvous at St. Ninians never took place, for the
private men, imagining when they first heard of the retreat that the
danger was much greater and nearer than it really was, had begun at
day-break to take the road to the Frews. Before the hour appointed
for assembling, many of them had arrived at that ford, so that when
Charles left his quarters for St. Ninians, scarcely a vestige of his
army was to be seen. Officers were sent after some parties, who were
still visible, for the purpose of stopping them, but without effect.
The troops in Stirling, in terms of the orders they had received,
after spiking their cannon, also marched to the Frews, so that the
prince and Lord George Murray found themselves almost deserted.
Charles finding it impossible to recall his troops, marched off with
some of the chiefs and the few troops that remained with him.[1134]
On the morning of the retreat the church of St. Ninians, in which
the insurgents had fifty barrels of gunpowder, blew up with a
terrible explosion, which was heard by the Duke of Cumberland’s
army at Linlithgow. Whether it happened from accident or design, is
a point which cannot be ascertained. If from design, it must have
been the act of some unknown individual, as there was no warning
given to any person to keep out of the way. That it could not have
been perpetrated by any person in the prince’s interest, seems very
evident from the fact, that Charles himself was near enough to have
suffered injury, and that some of the Highlanders, as well as several
of the inhabitants of the village, were killed.[1135] Yet, such was
the spirit of misrepresentation which prevailed at the time, that,
without the least assignable motive, the odium of the act was thrown
upon Charles.
When this explosion took place, Lord George Murray was still at
his head quarters. He thought the castle-guns had fired a volley;
and on repairing to the town about an hour after the explosion, he
was utterly amazed to find that the besiegers had disappeared. He,
therefore, sent an aide-de-camp to call off some horse he had posted
near Falkirk, and proceeded immediately, with the few troops that
remained with him, to the Frews.
The Highland army was quartered that night at Doune, Dunblane, and
adjacent villages, and continued to retire next day, the 2d of
February, in a very disorderly manner. The prince halted at Crieff,
where he reviewed his army, and, according to the statement of one
of his officers,[1136] his army was found not to have lost above
1,000 men by desertion. Charles, who had consented to a retreat on
the supposition that his army had lost a third of its numbers from
this cause, is said to have been deeply affected on this occasion.
Lord George Murray’s enemies did not let slip the opportunity of
reproaching him, and, indeed, all the chiefs who had signed the
representation, with deception; but the author above referred to
observes, that their mistake, if there really was a mistake, can be
easily accounted for, if people will divest themselves of prejudice,
and examine the circumstances impartially. He observes, that, from
the battle of Falkirk up to the time of the Duke of Cumberland’s
march from Edinburgh, the country being absolutely secure, the
Highlanders had indulged their restless disposition by roaming about
all the villages in the neighbourhood of their quarters, and that
numbers of them were absent several days from their colours--that
their principal officers knowing for certain that some had gone home,
imagined that such was also the case with all who were not to be
found in their respective quarters, but that all the stragglers had
got to Crieff and appeared at the review. Without questioning such a
respectable authority as Mr. Maxwell, who may be right in the main
fact, as to the number of the army at Crieff, it seems more likely
that the army had recruited its ranks on the retreat to Crieff, by
overtaking the deserters on their homeward route, than that 2,000 or
3,000 men should have been absent on a sojourn in the neighbourhood
of their camp.
After the review, the prince held a council of war, to deliberate
upon the course to be pursued. At no former meeting did heats and
party animosities break out to such an extent as at this council.
Lord George Murray complained greatly of the flight, and requested
to know the names of the persons who had advised it; but the prince
took the whole blame on himself. After a great deal of wrangling and
altercation, it was determined that the army should march north to
Inverness in two divisions,--that the horse and low-country regiments
should proceed along the coast road, and that the prince, at the
head of the clans, should take the Highland road.[1137] Lord George,
after other officers had refused, agreed to take the command of the
coast division, which arrived at Perth late that night. The prince
remained at Crieff, and passed the night at Fairnton, a seat of Lord
John Drummond, in the neighbourhood. Next day, being the 4th, Charles
marched from Crieff to Dunkeld, and thence to Blair Athole, where
he remained several days, till he heard of the arrival of the other
division at Aberdeen.
It would have been quite impossible, under almost any circumstances,
for the Duke of Cumberland’s army to have overtaken the Highlanders;
but slow as the movements of such an army necessarily were, it met
with an obstruction which retarded its progress nearly three days.
This was the impassable state of Stirling bridge, one arch of which
had, as formerly mentioned, been broken down by General Blakeney
to embarrass the intercourse between the Highland army when in the
south, and its auxiliaries in the north. It was not till the morning
of the 4th of February that the bridge was repaired, on which day
the English army passed over. The advanced guard, consisting of the
Argyleshire Highlanders and the dragoons, went on to Crieff, and the
foot were quartered in and about Dunblane, where the duke passed the
night. Next day he proceeded to Crieff, and on the 6th arrived at
Perth, of which his advanced guard had taken possession the previous
day.
Lord George Murray marched from Perth for Aberdeen with his division
on the 4th. He left behind thirteen pieces of cannon, which were
spiked and thrown into the Tay, a great quantity of cannon balls,
and fourteen swivel guns, that formerly belonged to the Hazard
sloop-of-war, which had been surprised and taken at Montrose by the
Highlanders. These pieces were taken out of the river next day by the
royal troops.
Having learned at Perth the different routes taken by the Highland
army, and that it had gained two or three days’ march in advance,
the Duke of Cumberland resolved to halt a few days to refresh his
men. From Perth parties were sent out to perambulate the neighbouring
country, who plundered the lands and carried off the effects of the
prince’s adherents. The Duchess Dowager of Perth and the Viscountess
of Strathallan were apprehended, carried to Edinburgh, and committed
to the castle.
Shortly after his arrival at Perth, the Duke of Cumberland received
an express announcing the arrival in the Frith of Forth of a force
of about 5,000 Hessians, under the command of the Prince of Hesse,
son-in-law of George II. These auxiliaries had been brought over from
the continent to supply the place of the Dutch troops, who had been
recalled by the states-general in consequence of the interference
of the French government, which considered the treaty entered into
between the King of Great Britain and Holland, by which the latter
agreed to furnish these troops to suppress the rebellion, as a
violation of the capitulations of Tournay and Dendermonde.
The fleet which conveyed the Hessian troops anchored in Leith roads
on the 8th of February, having been only four days from Williamstadt.
The troops were disembarked at Leith on the 9th and the following
day, and were cantoned in and about Edinburgh. On the 15th of
February the Duke of Cumberland paid a visit to the Prince of Hesse,
his brother-in-law, at Edinburgh. On that evening they held a council
of war in Milton-house, the residence of the lord-justice-clerk. In
consequence of the sudden and disorderly retreat of the Highlanders,
an opinion had begun to prevail among the friends of the government
at Edinburgh, that it was the intention of the insurgents to disperse
themselves, and that Charles would follow the example set by his
father in 1716, by leaving the kingdom. Impressed with this idea, the
generals who attended the council gave it as their unanimous opinion
that the war was at an end, and that the duke had nothing now to do
but to give orders to his officers to march into the Highlands, as
soon as the season would permit, and ferret the insurgents out of
their strongholds, as it appeared evident to them that they would
never risk a battle with an army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland.
After the officers had delivered their sentiments, the duke requested
Lord Milton to give his opinion, as he knew the Highlands and
Highlanders better than any person present. His lordship at first
declined doing so, as he was not a military man, but being pressed
by the duke, he began by expressing a hope that he might be mistaken
in the opinion he was about to give, but he felt himself bound to
declare, from all he knew of the Highlands and Highlanders, that the
war was not at an end, and that as the king’s troops could not follow
the Highlanders among their fastnesses in the winter season, they
would, though now divided and scattered, unite again, and venture
another battle before giving up the war. Acquiescing in the views of
Lord Milton, whose opinion turned out correct, the duke returned to
Perth next day to put his army in motion towards the north.[1138]
Meanwhile, the Highland army was proceeding in its march to
Inverness. After remaining a few days at Blair-Athole, Charles
marched to Ruthven in Badenoch, the barrack of which was taken
and blown up by a party under Gordon of Glenbucket, who made the
small garrison prisoners. He reached Moy castle, a seat of the
laird of Mackintosh, about ten miles from Inverness, on the 16th of
February, with an advanced guard of about 50 men. As Charles’s forces
were widely scattered, he resolved to halt at Moy till he should
concentrate a force sufficient to attack the Earl of Loudon, who was
posted at Inverness with 2,000 men.
Hearing of Charles’s arrival at Moy castle, and that he had not
above 500 or 600 men with him, Lord Loudon formed a design to seize
him during the night while off his guard. The better to conceal his
project, his lordship, at three o’clock in the afternoon, completely
invested Inverness on all sides, posting guards and a chain of
sentinels round the town, with positive orders not to suffer any
person to leave it on any pretext whatever. He ordered, at the
same time, 1,500 men to hold themselves in readiness to march at a
moment’s warning; and, having assembled them without noise, he put
himself at their head, and instantly set off, planning his march
so as he might arrive at the castle of Moy about eleven o’clock at
night.[1139]
Notwithstanding the secrecy, however, with which Lord Loudon
concocted his scheme, the plan was divulged by the imprudence or
perfidy of some persons intrusted with the secret. According to one
account (for there are several), the design was communicated to Lady
Mackintosh, a zealous Jacobite, by Fraser of Gorthleck, in a letter
which he sent to her, and in another letter which she received at
the same time from her mother, who, though a whig, felt a repugnance
to allow Charles to be made a prisoner in her daughter’s house, in
which he had taken up his residence as a guest.[1140] Another account
is, that while some English officers were drinking in a tavern in
Inverness, waiting the hour of their departure, a girl of thirteen
or fourteen years of age, who happened to wait on them, paid great
attention to their conversation, and, from certain expressions
dropped by them, discovered their design,--that she immediately left
the house, escaped from the town, notwithstanding the vigilance of
the sentinels, and immediately took the road to Moy, running as fast
as she was able, without shoes or stockings, which, to accelerate
her progress, she had taken off,--and that on arriving she informed
Lady Mackintosh of the design against the prince.[1141] The _Jacobite
Memoirs_, however, have furnished a third version of this affair,
which appears to be more correct in the details. It is there stated
that Lady Mackintosh’s mother, who lived in Inverness, having
received notice of Lord Loudon’s design, despatched a boy, about
fifteen years of age, named Lauchlan Mackintosh, to Moy, to apprise
the prince thereof,--that the boy, finding he could not pass by Lord
Loudon’s men without running the risk of being discovered, concealed
himself behind a wall till they had passed, when, taking a different
road, he reached Moy and gave the alarm. The prince, who was in bed,
was instantly awakened, and, jumping out, put on his clothes, left
the house with a guard of about thirty men, and disappeared in a
neighbouring wood.[1142]
[Illustration: Lady Anne Mackintosh, 1745. From original painting in
possession of The Mackintosh.]
As soon as Lady Mackintosh was informed of Lord Loudon’s design,
she sent five or six of her people, headed by a country blacksmith,
named Fraser, to watch the advance of Loudon’s troops. This man,
with a boldness almost incredible, formed the extraordinary design
of surprising the advancing party, in the expectation that they
would fall a prey to a panic. With this view, he posted his men on
both sides of the road to Inverness, about three miles from Moy,
and enjoined them not to fire till he should give directions, and
then not to fire together, but one after the other, in the order he
pointed out. After waiting for some time, the party was apprised
of the advance of Lord Loudon’s troops by the noise they made in
marching. When the head of the detachment, which consisted of 70
men under the laird of Macleod, was within hearing, the blacksmith
called out with a loud voice, “Here come the villains who intend to
carry off our prince; fire, my lads; do not spare them; give them
no quarter.” He thereupon discharged his piece in the direction of
the detachment, and his party, after following his example, ran
in different directions, calling upon the Macdonalds and Camerons
to advance on the right and left, and repeating aloud the names
of Lochiel and Keppoch. Impressed with the belief that the whole
Highland army was at hand, the advanced guard instantly turned
its back, and communicating its fears to the rear, a scene of
indescribable confusion ensued. The _sauve-qui-peut_ which burst
forth from the discomfited legions of Napoleon on the plains of
Waterloo, was not more appalling to the flying French than were the
names of the Camerons and Macdonalds to the ears of Lord Loudon’s
troops on the present occasion. In the hurry of their flight many
were thrown down and trodden upon, and so great was the panic with
which the fugitives were seized, that the flight continued till
they got near Inverness. The Master of Ross, who accompanied the
party, and was one of those who were overwhelmed, observed to Mr.
Home, that he had been in many perils, but had never found himself
in such a grievous condition as that in which he was at the rout of
Moy.[1143] In this affair the laird of Macleod’s piper, reputed the
best in Scotland, was shot dead on the spot. On the dispersion of
Lord Loudon’s party, Charles returned to the castle.
Having assembled his men next morning, Charles advanced upon
Inverness with the intention of attacking Lord Loudon, and taking
revenge for the attempt of the preceding night; but his lordship, not
feeling inclined to wait for the prince, retired into Ross-shire,
by crossing the Moray Frith at the ferry of Kessock. Charles took
immediate possession of Inverness, and laid siege to the castle then
named Fort George. This structure, which was situated on a hill to
the south-west of Cromwell’s fort, had been raised at the Revolution;
and had cost the government, since its erection, above £50,000. The
castle was fortified in the modern manner, being a regular square
with four bastions, and it commanded the town and the bridge over the
river Ness.
This fortress had a garrison of eighty regular troops; but, on
his departure from Inverness, Lord Loudon threw into it two of the
independent companies, one of Grants, and the other of Macleods. The
castle on the present occasion mounted sixteen pieces of cannon,
and was well provided with ammunition and provisions. The prince
summoned the fortress to surrender, but Grant of Rothiemurchus,
the governor, refused to comply. Though Charles had left his heavy
artillery behind, he found no difficulty in reducing this fort, as
the little hill on which it was built was so contiguous to the town
that it could be easily approached on that side, without exposure to
its fire. It was resolved to undermine the castle and blow it up;
but, after a siege of two days, and when the mine had been completed,
the garrison surrendered. This event took place on the 20th of
February. The prince, however, did not spare the fortress, which he
blew up immediately after the surrender; a sergeant in the French
artillery, who was charged with the operation, losing his life on the
occasion.[1144]
On the same day that Charles arrived at Moy, the division under Lord
George Murray had reached Spey side; and the day before Fort George
surrendered he had arrived with his men in the neighbourhood of
Inverness. In consequence of a great fall of snow, which took place
on the day Lord George marched from Aberdeen, his march had been most
fatiguing; and the French piquets and Lord John Drummond’s regiment
were obliged to halt a day at Kintore and Inverury. After giving
the prince an account of his march, Lord George, contemplating the
possibility of a retreat to the Highlands, mentioned a plan, devised
by him and Lord Pitsligo, to assess the shires of Banff, Moray,
and Nairn in 5,000 bolls of meal, for the use of the army; and he
proposed that the greater part of it should be sent to the Highlands
for subsistence, in case of retreat thither. The prince approved of
the plan; but directed that the whole of the meal, when collected,
should be brought to Inverness.[1145]
With the exception of two detachments, which took possession of Blair
and Castle Menzies, the army of the Duke of Cumberland lay inactive
at Perth till the 20th of February, on which day he put his army in
motion for the north, in four divisions. He sent notice to the Prince
of Hesse to march to Perth, and in his way to leave two battalions at
Stirling. At the same time he directed the remains of Ligonier’s and
Hamilton’s dragoons to be cantoned at Bannockburn, and St. George’s
dragoons to be posted at Bridge of Earn. With the assistance of these
cavalry regiments, which were placed under the command of the Earl of
Crawford, it was thought that the Prince of Hesse would be able to
check the insurgents, and prevent their progress south, should they
give the duke the slip. In marching north, the duke’s army took the
road along the coast, as Lord George Murray had done. On the 27th of
February the army arrived at Aberdeen, where the duke took up his
quarters, till the advance of spring should enable him to take the
field. A few days before his arrival, a vessel from France had landed
at Aberdeen three troops of Fitz-James’s horse, with five officers,
and a piquet of Berwick’s regiment. These troops, with a party of men
under Moir of Stonywood, left Aberdeen on the duke’s approach.
Compelled by circumstances to abandon, within the short space of
three weeks, the whole tract of low country from the Avon to the Don,
on which he chiefly relied for the subsistence of his army, followed
by a large army with powerful resources in its rear, which it could
render speedily available, and narrowly watched by the forces under
Lord Loudon, the situation of Charles now became very critical. The
fertile province of Moray and part of the adjacent territory had, by
the expulsion of Lord Loudon from Inverness, no doubt come into his
possession; but he could not expect to maintain his ground in this
district for any length of time without a precarious struggle. He had
it in his power, whenever he pleased, to retire into the neighbouring
Highlands, where his pursuers would scarcely venture to follow him;
but, without previously securing a supply of provisions from the Low
country, he could not keep his army together in a district where the
means of subsistence were extremely scanty. The possibility of such
a retreat was contemplated by Lord George Murray; but, from aversion
to such a design, or from want of foresight, Charles, as just stated,
over-ruled his lordship’s proposal to send a supply of provisions to
the Highlands.
Judging from the slowness of the Duke of Cumberland’s motions,
that a considerable time would elapse before he would venture to
cross the Spey, Charles resolved to employ the interval in carrying
through a series of operations which he and his friends projected.
The principal of these were the reduction of Fort Augustus and
Fort William, and the dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army. To secure
subsistence for his army, he cantoned the greater part of the
division which had marched by Aberdeen between that town and
Inverness; and, as after the retreat from Stirling he had directed
any supplies that might be sent him from France to be landed to the
north of Aberdeen, he occupied all the little towns along that coast.
As this district was generally disaffected to the government, it was
an easy matter to guard it with the few troops that were dispersed
over it; and no danger was to be apprehended till the English army
came up, when the various parties were directed to fall back from
post to post as the duke advanced.[1146]
The first enterprise that Charles undertook, after capturing Fort
George, was the siege of Fort Augustus. To reduce this fortress, and
with the ulterior view of laying siege to Fort William, Brigadier
Stapleton was sent into Stratherrick with the French piquets and a
detachment of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, and appeared before
Fort Augustus about the end of February. Without waiting for his
artillery, which consisted of a few pieces found at Fort George, he
attacked the old barrack and carried it immediately, the garrison
retiring to the fort. Mr. Grant, who had succeeded M. Mirabelle as
chief engineer, since the siege of Stirling, opened a trench upon the
3d of March. The garrison held out two days, when, in consequence
of the explosion of the powder magazine by the falling of a shell,
the fortress surrendered, and the garrison, which consisted of three
companies of Guise’s regiment, were made prisoners of war. Leaving
Lord Lewis Gordon with a few troops in command of the place, the
brigadier marched to Fort William, which he invested on the land
side.[1147]
Pursuant to his plan of operations, the prince, in the beginning
of March, sent Lord Cromarty with a detachment, consisting of his
own regiment, the Mackintoshes, Macgregors, and Barrisdale’s men,
to drive the forces under Lord Loudon out of Ross-shire. Finding
that his lordship was unable to accomplish the task which had been
assigned him, Charles despatched Lord George Murray to his assistance
with the Macdonalds of Clanranald and a battalion of Lochiel’s
regiment. He reached Dingwall the first night, where he found Lord
Cromarty’s detachment; but his lordship had been absent two days at
his own house with a strong guard of Mackenzies. Lord George marched
next day for Tain, where he understood Lord Loudon was posted; but on
the road he learned that his lordship had crossed the Dornoch Frith
to Sutherland, and had quartered his troops in the town of Dornoch
and the neighbourhood. Not having any boats to carry his men across
the frith, his lordship, after consulting his officers, returned
to Dingwall, where he quartered his men. The reason of retiring a
day’s march farther back was to throw Lord Loudon off his guard, as
it was contemplated to bring boats along the coast and attempt the
passage. There was nothing to prevent the detachment marching round
the head of the frith; but Lord Loudon having a sufficiency of boats,
might have eluded his pursuers by recrossing to Tain; and, as Lord
George would, by such a course, have been several days’ march from
Inverness, the main body of the Highland army would have been in a
critical situation, if the Duke of Cumberland’s army had reached the
neighbourhood of Inverness, while the corps under Lord George Murray
was on the north side of the Frith of Dornoch.[1148] After sending
notice to Lord Cromarty of the disposition of his forces, and that
the Duke of Perth would take the command, Lord George returned to
Inverness the following day, to execute a design he and Macpherson
of Cluny had concerted, to surprise the castle of Blair, and to
beat up the quarters of the government troops in Athole, who, from
information he had received, had committed great excesses in that
district.
To carry the enterprise against Lord Loudon into execution, all
the fishing boats that could be collected on the coast of Moray
were brought to Findhorn. A few gentlemen, to whom the charge of
collecting this small flotilla had been intrusted, had conducted
the matter with such secrecy and expedition, that no person in the
government interest was aware of it; but after the boats were all
in readiness, a difficulty presented itself in getting them across
the Moray frith without being perceived by the English cruisers that
were continually passing along the coast. Moir of Stonywood, however,
undertook to convey the boats to Tain, and he accordingly set out one
night with this little fleet, and arrived at his destination next
morning without being observed by the enemy.[1149] On the flotilla
reaching Tain, the Duke of Perth divided his force into two parts;
and while, with one of them, he marched about by the head of the
frith, he directed the other to cross in the boats. Under cover
of a thick fog this division landed without being discovered, and
the duke, having united his forces on the north side of the frith,
advanced upon Dornoch. When near that town, he came up with a party
of 200 men, who were on their march to join Lord Loudon. This party
instantly fled; but Major Mackenzie, who commanded it, with four
or five officers, and sixty privates, were made prisoners. Among
the officers was a son of Mr. Macdonald of Scothouse, who was taken
prisoner by his own father.[1150] The main body, under Lord Loudon,
abandoned Dornoch in great consternation, and fled north towards
Glenmore, pursued by the Jacobite forces. Both parties marched all
night; but the fugitives kept ahead of their pursuers. After a chase
of about thirty miles, the Duke of Perth discontinued the pursuit,
and halted at the head of Loch Shin. While following the enemy during
the night, great anxiety prevailed among the Macdonalds in the
Duke of Perth’s detachment, lest, in the event of an engagement,
they might not be able, notwithstanding their white cockades, to
distinguish themselves from the Macdonalds of Skye, who, like
the other Macdonalds, wore heather in their bonnets.[1151] Upon
reaching the head of Sutherland-shire, Lord Loudon separated his
army. Accompanied by the lord-president and the laird of Macleod, he
marched to the sea-coast with 800 of the Macdonalds and Macleods,
and embarked for the Isle of Skye. Part of his own regiment, with
several officers, took refuge in Lord Reay’s country. Finding that
Lord Loudon’s troops had dispersed, the Duke of Perth returned to
Inverness, leaving Lord Cromarty in Sutherland with a sufficient
force to keep Lord Sutherland and Lord Reay’s people in check. The
dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army was considered of such importance
by Charles, that he immediately despatched an officer to France with
the intelligence.[1152] In this expedition, several vessels in the
Frith of Dornoch, having some valuable effects on board, fell into
the hands of the insurgents.
Before Lord George Murray set out on his expedition into Athole,
Macpherson of Cluny had secured the passes between that country and
Badenoch, to prevent all communication between these districts. About
the middle of March Lord George left Inverness with 400 men of the
Athole brigade; and, on entering Badenoch, he was joined by Cluny
with 300 Macphersons. On the 16th of March the whole detachment set
out from Dalwhinnie in the dusk of the evening, and did not halt till
they reached Dalnaspidal, about the middle of Drummochter, where the
body was divided into a number of small parties, in each of which the
Athole men and the Macphersons were proportionally mixed.
Hitherto, with the exception of Macpherson of Cluny and Lord George,
no person in the expedition knew either its destination or object.
The time was now come for Lord George to explain his design, which
he said was to surprise and attack before day-light, and as nearly
as possible at the same time, all the posts in Athole occupied by
the royal forces. As an encouragement, he offered a reward of a
guinea to every man who should surprise a sentinel at his post.
There were about thirty posts in all, including the different houses
at which the royal troops were quartered; but the principal posts,
more especially selected for attack, were Bun-Rannoch, the house of
Keynnachin, the house of Blairfettie, the house of Lude, the house
of Faskally, and the inn at Blair, where, as Lord George Murray
was informed, several officers of the twenty-first regiment were
quartered. After the different parties had discharged their duty by
attacking the posts assigned them, they were ordered to meet at the
bridge of Bruar, about two miles north from Blair, as the general
rendezvous for the detachment.
Having received their instructions, the different parties set out
immediately: and so well was the scheme of attack laid, that betwixt
three and five o’clock in the morning, the whole posts, though many
miles distant from one another, were carried. At Bun-Rannoch, where
there was a late-wake held that night, the sentinel was surprised,
and the whole of the party, (Argyleshire men,) while engaged in
that festivity, were taken prisoners, without a shot being fired on
either side. The sentinel at Keynnachin being more upon his guard,
discharged his piece and alarmed his friends, who defended themselves
for a short time by firing from the windows, till the party broke
into the house, and killing one man, made prisoners of the rest. At
Blairfettie, where there were fifty Argyleshire men stationed, the
sentinel was surprised, and the party, with the proprietor of the
mansion at their head, entered the house before the soldiers within
knew that they were attacked. They endeavoured to defend themselves,
but were obliged to surrender. Lady Blairfettie was in bed at the
time, and knew nothing of the affair, till informed by a servant that
her husband was below, and wished to see her immediately. On coming
down stairs she found the garrison disarmed, the prisoners in the
dining-room, and about a dozen of her husband’s tenants and servants
standing over them with drawn swords. Blairfettie, thinking that his
wife had been harshly treated, desired her to point out any of the
prisoners who had used her ill; but she answered that she had no
other complaint to make than this, that the prisoners had eaten all
her provisions, and that she and her children were starving.[1153]
The parties at Faskally, at Lude, and the bridge of Tilt, were also
taken; but that in the inn of Blair, after some resistance, escaped
to the castle. Three hundred prisoners were taken by Lord George’s
parties, without the loss of a single man. While beating up the
different posts, a party, by order of Lord George, secured the pass
of Killiecrankie.[1154]
Having been apprised, by the arrival of the party from the inn of
Blair, of the presence of the enemy, Sir Andrew Agnew, who held
the castle of Blair, instantly got his men under arms, and left
the castle to ascertain who they were that had attacked his posts.
Information of this circumstance was brought about daybreak by an
inhabitant of the village to Lord George Murray, who was then at
the bridge of Bruar with a party of twenty-five men only and a
few elderly gentlemen, waiting for the different parties he had
despatched the previous night. This intelligence was of the utmost
importance to Lord George and his party, all of whom would otherwise
have probably fallen into the hands of the garrison. Lord George
immediately consulted the gentlemen around him as to the course they
should pursue. Some advised an immediate retreat in the direction
of Dalwhinnie, but others were for crossing the nearest hills, and
retiring by roads along which it would be difficult for the garrison
to follow them. His lordship, however, was opposed to both opinions,
as by quitting his post he was afraid that his different parties, as
they came to the appointed place of rendezvous, would be surprised,
and made prisoners. While pondering how to extricate himself from
the dilemma in which he was placed, he espied a long unfinished
turf-wall which ran across a field near the bridge. An idea at once
occurred to him, that by disposing the few men that were with him
behind this wall at a considerable distance from one another, and by
displaying the colours of both regiments in front, he might deceive
Sir Andrew Agnew’s detachment, by inducing them to believe that they
were to be opposed by a large body of men. Having disposed his small
party in the way described, Lord George directed the pipers, (for
luckily he had with him the whole pipers of his detachment,) to keep
their eyes fixed upon the road to Blair, and the moment they saw any
military appear in that direction, to strike up at once with all
their bagpipes. Just as the sun was rising above the horizon, Sir
Andrew Agnew’s men appeared, and their ears were instantly saluted by
the noise of the bagpipes, when the pipers commenced playing one of
their most noisy pibrochs. The party behind the wall then drew their
swords, and, as they had been previously ordered by Lord George, kept
brandishing them above their heads. This _ruse_ succeeded completely,
and Sir Andrew, alarmed by the noise and the spectacle before him,
at which he took only a short glance, ordered his men to the right
about, and retired into the castle.[1155]
[Illustration: Blair Castle as it stood in 1745-6 before being
dismantled. Copied by permission from an old drawing in possession of
His Grace the Duke of Athole.]
Being now relieved from all apprehension of attack, Lord George
remained at his post till joined by about 300 of his men,
when he marched to Blair, and invested the castle. Having no
battering-cannon, and only two small field-pieces, which could make
no impression on walls that were seven feet thick, he resolved to
blockade the castle, which he expected would be forced to surrender
in two or three weeks for want of provisions. To cut off the
communication between the castle and the neighbouring country, Lord
George placed a guard of 300 men at the village of Blair, where he
was himself stationed, and another near the Mains, at some stables
which had been recently erected. Being joined by 400 or 500 men
belonging to the district, who had been formerly in the Highland
army, Lord George detached a party to Dunkeld, where they remained
till the approach of the Hessians from Perth. This party then
retreated to Pitlochrie, two miles below the pass of Killiecrankie,
where they remained several days, during which time repeated
skirmishes took place between them and the hussars, and some of St.
George’s dragoons. During the time the Athole men kept possession of
Pitlochrie, Lord George Murray went there generally twice every day
to ascertain the state of matters. The Hessians showed no disposition
to leave Dunkeld, where they had taken up their quarters, till the
13th of March, on which day a large body of them came up as far as
the Haugh of Dalskean, about two miles from Pitlochrie. The dragoons
and hussars continuing to advance, the Athole men retired to the
foot of the pass of Killiecrankie, where they halted to dispute the
passage; but after remaining six hours waiting for the Hessians, they
were informed that a great part of them had returned to Dunkeld.[1156]
At this time the garrison of Blair castle was reduced to great
distress from the want of provisions, and if the blockade had
been continued a few days longer they must have surrendered; but,
fortunately for the besieged, Lord George Murray was ordered to
return immediately to Inverness, in consequence of the expected
advance of the Duke of Cumberland. Accordingly, on the 31st of March,
Lord George sent off his two pieces of cannon, that he might not be
impeded in his march, and about ten o’clock at night he drew off the
party from the pass to Blair, taking his departure for Inverness,
at two o’clock next morning. Finding the pass clear, Lord Crawford
went through it the same morning, but the Hessians, alarmed at the
dreadful aspect which it presented, positively refused to enter the
pass. As, from the expresses which Lord George Murray received, he
was led to infer that the Duke of Cumberland was about to leave
Aberdeen, his lordship made a most rapid march, having performed
the journey in seventy hours, four only of which he devoted to
sleep. Cluny’s men were left at Ruthven, to guard Badenoch from the
incursions of the royal troops in Athole.[1157]
To facilitate his march to the north, and to clear as much of the low
country as possible from the presence of the insurgents, the Duke
of Cumberland sent several detachments from Aberdeen, to scour the
country, and possess themselves of certain posts between the Don and
the Spey. One of these detachments, consisting of four battalions of
infantry, the Duke of Kingston’s horse, and Cobham’s dragoons, under
the command of General Bland, left Aberdeen on the 12th of March, and
took possession of Old Meldrum, Inverury, and Old Rayne. Bland was
preceded on his march by the Argyleshire men, and 100 of the laird of
Grant’s followers under the eldest son of that chief. At this time
the insurgent forces on the east of the river Spey, which had been
placed under the command of Lord John Drummond, were stationed as
follows. Lord Strathallan’s horse, which had been lately separated
from Lord Kilmarnock’s, and the hussars, occupied Cullen; part of
the battalions of Roy Stewart and Gordon of Avochy, consisting of
about 400 men, with 50 horse, were quartered at Strathbogie, and
the remainder were cantoned in Fochabers, and the villages along the
Spey.[1158]
Having received intelligence of the occupation of Strathbogie by
the Highlanders, the Duke of Cumberland sent orders on the 16th, to
General Bland to march thither with all the troops under his command,
and endeavour to surprise the forces there assembled, and failing
in that design, to attack them and drive them across the river. To
sustain General Bland, should occasion require, Brigadier Mordaunt
marched by break of day next morning to Old Meldrum, with four
battalions and four pieces of cannon. About the same time General
Bland left Old Meldrum for Strathbogie, and almost succeeded in
surprising the insurgents, who were ignorant of his approach till he
came near the place. At the time the news of General Bland’s march
reached Strathbogie some of the Highlanders were absent, having
been sent the preceding night for the purpose of intercepting the
young laird of Grant, who was returning to his own country with
a commission to raise a regiment out of his clan, and who was to
pass within a few miles of Strathbogie. The party, however, did not
succeed, as Mr. Grant got the start of them, and took up his quarters
for the night in a strong castle belonging to Lord Forbes, which they
found it impossible to force without artillery. This party returned
to Strathbogie about one o’clock in the afternoon, greatly fatigued
from want of rest, and found that intelligence had been received of
Bland’s advance. This news was fully confirmed by the arrival of some
scouts, who came back at full speed with information that a large
body of horse and foot was at hand.[1159]
Alarmed at the unexpected approach of the enemy, the officers at
Strathbogie were at first at a loss how to act. There was danger in
retreat as well as in attempting to remain. It was impossible that
the men, who were in want of sleep and refreshment, could march far
without halting; and as they had left several stragglers behind,
it appeared certain that, in the event of a retreat, these would
be picked up by Bland’s cavalry. On the other hand, from the vast
numerical superiority of the English forces, it was dreaded that the
small party would not be able to make an effectual resistance, and
that in the event of a defeat the whole would easily fall into the
enemy’s hands. In this dilemma it was resolved to remain an hour at
Strathbogie, to give time to the stragglers to come up, and then
to retreat. At this time the van of Bland’s detachment had begun
to appear, and before the hour had elapsed the whole was in sight,
and the van within a quarter of a mile of the village. The small
party of guards then marched out towards the enemy, and while they
formed between the village and the bridge of Bogie, as if intending
to dispute the passage of the bridge, the foot left the village.
After they had cleared the village, and the enemy’s cavalry had
begun to file along the bridge, the small body of horse retired
after the foot, towards the river Deveron, which they crossed. They
thereupon formed again on the other side of the river to stop the
enemy’s horse, who had pursued them at full speed from Strathbogie
to the river side, but they did not at first attempt the passage,
a circumstance which enabled the foot to gain the adjoining hill
without molestation, where, from the narrowness of the road and the
rockiness of the ground on each side of it, they were perfectly
safe from the attacks of cavalry. With the exception of some
volunteers among the cavalry, who followed half-way up the hill, and
skirmished with a few of the guards who were left behind to observe
their motions, the rest of the cavalry gave over the pursuit. The
Highlanders, however, did not halt till they reached Fochabers. Next
day they crossed the Spey, along with the other troops which had been
cantoned on the east side, and took up their quarters in the villages
on the opposite side.[1160]
From Strathbogie, General Bland sent forward a detachment of 70
Campbells, and 30 of Kingston’s horse, to occupy Keith, but they
were not allowed to hold this post long. Major Glasgow, an Irish
officer in the service of France, having offered to the prince to
carry it with a detachment of 200 men, he was allowed to attempt the
enterprise, and succeeded, the village having been invested on all
sides before the enemy was aware of the attempt. On this occasion
they became the victims of a little stratagem. After recrossing the
Spey, Lord John Drummond sent a body of horse and foot across every
morning. The foot remained generally all day at Fochabers, and the
horse patrolled on the road between that village and Keith. On the
20th of March, a small party of Bland’s light horse having appeared
on the top of the hill that overlooks Fochabers, the party occupying
the village, apparently alarmed, left it in a hurry, much earlier
than usual, and repassed the river. The design in thus repairing
across the river before the usual time, was to throw the party at
Keith off their guard, who, fancying themselves secure, took no
precautions against surprise. After it had grown quite dark, Glasgow
crossed the Spey with his detachment, consisting of 200 foot and 40
horse, and marching direct to Keith, arrived there unperceived about
one o’clock in the morning. The Campbells, who were quartered in the
church, formed in the church-yard, and a smart fire was kept up for
some time between them and their assailants; but upon being promised
quarter, if they submitted, they laid down their arms. Of the whole
party, including the horse, not above five or six escaped. Captain
Campbell who commanded the detachment, a non-commissioned officer,
and five privates were killed. Glasgow had twelve of his men killed
or wounded.
The advantages obtained by the insurgents in their expeditions into
Athole and Sutherland, and by the reduction of Fort Augustus, were
in some degree balanced by the loss of the Prince Charles, formerly
the Hazard sloop of war, and the capture of some treasure and warlike
stores which she had brought from France for the use of Charles’s
army; and by the abandonment of the siege of Fort William.
Early in November the Hazard, a vessel mounting sixteen guns and some
swivels, with a crew of 80 men, had anchored at Ferriden, opposite
Montrose. The object of her commander, in taking this station, was
to prevent the insurgents from taking possession of the town. At
this time a party of Lord Ogilvy’s men, under the command of Captain
David Ferrier, held Brechin, of which Ferrier had been appointed
deputy-governor by the prince before his march into England; and
to hinder the approach of this party towards Montrose, a fire was
kept up at intervals for three days and nights from the Hazard, the
only effect of which was to annoy the inhabitants exceedingly. To
put an end to such a state of matters, Ferrier formed the design of
capturing the vessel by raising a battery at the entrance of the
river, and thereby to prevent her getting out to sea. In pursuance
of this plan he entered Montrose one night, and possessed himself
of the island on the south side of the town, opposite to where the
Hazard lay. Next day the Hazard attempted to dislodge the party from
the isle by her fire, but without success. In the afternoon of the
following day a vessel carrying French colours was observed at sea,
standing in towards the river; this turned out to be a transport from
France, with a party of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, some Irish
piquets, and six pieces of artillery. On observing this vessel, the
Hazard fired a gun to leeward as a decoy; but, upon a signal from the
party on the island, the commander of the French vessel ran her on
shore out of reach of the Hazard’s guns. The crew then landed the six
guns, and a fire was opened from them upon the Hazard next morning
from both sides of the river, on each of which three of the pieces
had been planted. With the exception, however, of having some of her
rigging cut, she sustained no damage. Before the arrival of Ferrier’s
party, Captain Hill, the commander of the Hazard, had taken four
six-pounders, and two four-pounders, belonging to the town, which
he had put on board a vessel in the harbour; but, by oversight, he
left this vessel at the quay, and the consequence was, that she fell
into the hands of the insurgents. This circumstance was fatal to the
Hazard; for, finding that the guns lately landed were not sufficient
to force the Hazard to surrender, Captain Ferrier carried the four
six-pounders to the Dial hill, from which he fired upon her; and her
commander, seeing escape hopeless, after hoisting a flag of truce,
and making an ineffectual attempt for permission to leave the river,
surrendered.[1161]
This vessel, being a first-rate sailer, was a great acquisition
to the insurgents, and had made several trips to France. On the
present occasion the Prince Charles, as the Hazard was now named by
the Highlanders, was returning from France, having on board several
officers and some privates, a supply of arms and ammunition, and
a quantity of gold coin, amounting to between £12,000 and £13,000
sterling. She was observed, on the 24th of March, off the Banffshire
coast, by the Sheerness man-of-war, which immediately gave chase.
The Prince Charles taking a north-west course, endeavoured to escape
by entering the Pentland frith; but the Sheerness followed her into
that dangerous gulf; and after a running fight, in which the Prince
Charles is said to have lost 36 men, the latter ran ashore on the
sands of Melness, on the west side of Tongue bay, near the house of
Lord Reay, on the 25th of March. The officers, soldiers, and crew,
immediately landed with the treasure, which was contained in small
boxes, and carried it to the house of William Mackay of Melness,
where it remained during the night. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s
forces, an event which was considered at the time highly favourable
to the interests of Charles in the north, turned out, in the present
instance, to be very prejudicial. Part of them, as has been stated,
had, upon their dispersion, retired into that wild and barren region
called Lord Reay’s country; and when the Prince Charles arrived
in Tongue bay, there was a party of these troops quartered in the
neighbourhood. On receiving notice of the landing, Lord Reay sent
some persons in a boat across the bay, to ascertain the strength
of the party that had disembarked; and, on being informed that it
was not numerous, it was concerted between him and some of Lord
Loudon’s officers, to attack the party next morning with such forces
as they could collect. Early next morning the French, conducted by
George Mackay, younger of Melness, who had undertaken to lead them
to Inverness, left Melness; but they had not proceeded far, when
they were attacked, two hours after day-break, by a body of men,
consisting of fifty of Lord Reay’s people headed by his lordship’s
steward and a similar number of Lord Loudon’s troops. After a short
resistance, during which four or six of their men were killed and
as many wounded, the whole party, consisting of 20 officers and 120
soldiers and sailors, surrendered.
As Charles’s coffers were almost exhausted at this time, the loss
of such a large sum of money pressed with peculiar severity upon
the army, which he had, in consequence, great difficulty in keeping
together. Though sparing in his troops, the King of France had
not been remiss in sending Charles pecuniary supplies, nor had
the King of Spain been unmindful of him; but the remittances sent
by these sovereigns did not all reach their destination, some of
them having been intercepted by British cruisers on their way.
Reckoning, however, the sums drawn and received from various sources,
Charles must have got no inconsiderable sum; but he appears to have
paid little attention to his pecuniary concerns, and a system of
peculation is said to have been practised by the persons intrusted
with the management, which told heavily upon his means. His principal
steward in particular, to whom the administration of the finances was
committed, is alleged not to have been scrupulously honest, and he
is said to have contrived matters so as to prevent open detection.
His underlings did not omit the opportunity which occasion offered,
of filling their pockets: a system of imposition was also practised
by means of false musters.[1162] Under such circumstances the early
exhaustion of Charles’s military chest is not to be wondered at. In
this situation, seeing the impossibility of recruiting his finances
at Inverness, he had resolved to return to the south country; but
other circumstances induced him to forego his intention.
Judging from the unfortunate result of the siege of Stirling castle,
neither Lord George Murray nor Brigadier Stapleton had any hopes
of reducing Fort William, which, besides being a strong place, was
regularly fortified; but, as Lochiel, Keppoch, and other chiefs,
whose properties lay in its neighbourhood, were very desirous to
obtain possession of a fortress which perpetually annoyed them,
and the garrison of which had, during the prince’s expedition into
England, made frequent sallies, and burnt the houses of the country
people, and carried off their cattle, they did not object to the
siege.[1163]
To assist the troops under Stapleton, the Camerons and the Macdonalds
of Keppoch were ordered to Fort William. Mr. Grant the engineer
proposed to begin the siege by erecting a battery on a small hill,
called the Sugar-loaf, which overlooked the fortress about 800 yards
off; and as he observed that one of the bastions projected so far
that it could not be defended by the fire of the first, he proposed
to arrive at it by a trench and blow it up; but, while in the act of
reconnoitring, he received a violent contusion from a cannon-ball,
which completely disabled him. Brigadier Stapleton, having no other
engineer, was obliged to send to Inverness for M. Mirabelle, the
singular personage formerly alluded to. Meanwhile, the besieged
heightened the parapets of the walls on the side where they dreaded
an attack, and raised the two faces of the bastions seven feet
high.[1164]
For several days a skirmishing was kept up between the garrison and
two sloops of war stationed in the river, on the one side, and the
besiegers on the other, with varied success; but the insurgents
having completed a battery on the Sugar-loaf on March 20th, opened
the siege that evening. On account of its distance from the
fortress, and the smallness of the cannon, which consisted of six
and four-pounders only, little execution was done. Next day the
besiegers erected a new battery at the foot of the Cowhill, within
half the distance of the other, which was also opened, but with
little better effect. On the 22d, Brigadier Stapleton sent a drummer
to Captain Scott, the commanding officer, with a letter, requiring
him to surrender, but his answer was, that he would defend the place
to the last extremity. The bombardment was thereupon renewed on
both sides for some hours, but at last the garrison silenced the
besiegers by beating down their principal battery. The besiegers then
erected a third battery, and the bombardment continued, with little
intermission, till the 31st, when the garrison made a sally, forced
one of the batteries erected upon a place called the Craigs, about a
hundred yards from the walls, and captured several pieces of cannon
and two mortars. Notwithstanding this disaster, they continued to
annoy the besieged from five cannon which they had still mounted,
but with no other damage to the garrison than the destruction of the
roofs of most of the houses. At length, on the 3d of April, Brigadier
Stapleton, in consequence of instructions he had received from the
prince to join him immediately, raised the siege, and, after spiking
his heavy cannon, marched for Inverness with the piquets, taking his
field pieces along with him. He left the Highlanders behind, on the
understanding that they were to follow him with as little delay as
possible. The loss sustained on either side was trifling.[1165]
Abounding as the prince’s enterprise did, in many brilliant points,
there is, unquestionably, no part of it more deserving of admiration
than that which now presents itself, near the end of his short,
but very eventful career. At Gladsmuir and at Falkirk, almost the
whole of the prince’s energies were directed to a single point, but
at Inverness he projected a number of expeditions, attacks, and
sieges, and conducted them with an energy and promptitude which
astonished the government. The whole force he was able to collect,
after his retreat to the north, did not exceed 8,000 men; and,
although there was no certainty that the Duke of Cumberland might
not advance immediately from Aberdeen, which is only a hundred miles
from Inverness, yet he separated his forces, and, while with one
detachment he kept General Bland in check, he, almost at the same
time, carried on a series of operations with the isolated parts
of his army in the distant territories of Athole, Lochaber, and
Sutherland.
FOOTNOTES:
[1122] “But the Duke was no common man. He belonged to an age when
high command was in a great measure a royal science, which men of
inferior rank had scanty opportunities of studying. He was connected
with the cluster of German princes, among whom, after the enticing
example of the house of Brandenburg, a knowledge of the art of war
was deemed a good speculation as a means of enlarging their dominions
in the tangled contests created among the German states by every
European war. After Frederick himself, perhaps none of these princes
would have been so capable of successful appropriations of territory
as the young man whose warlike pursuits were thrown into a different
channel by his connection with the British throne. Though the subject
of a constitutional government, however, he retained the spirit of
the German soldier-prince. Military law was the first of all laws;
and to military necessity everything must yield. He followed the
course which, perhaps, most men brought up in his school would have
followed, if in possession of the same power; but in a constitutional
country it had the character of brutal severity, and after having, as
he deemed it, done his stern duty, he left behind him an execrating
country to find that his little nephews ran away and hid themselves,
in terror of his notorious cruelty.”[1123]--Burton’s _Scotland_,
(1689-1748), vol. ii. p. 507.
[1123] “The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland,” says the first
historian of our day, “was such as distinguished him even among the
princes of his brave house. The indifference with which he rode about
amidst musket-balls and cannon-balls, was not the highest proof of
his fortitude. Hopeless maladies--horrible surgical operations--far
from unmanning him, did not even discompose him. With courage, he had
the virtues which are akin to courage. He spoke the truth, was open
in enmity and friendship, and upright in all his dealings. But his
nature was hard; and what seemed to him justice, was rarely tempered
with mercy. He was therefore, during many years, one of the most
unpopular men in England. The severity with which he treated the
rebels after the battle of Culloden, had gained him the name of ‘the
butcher.’ His attempts to introduce into the army of England, then
in a most disorderly state, the rigorous discipline of Potsdam, had
excited still stronger disgust. Nothing was too bad to be believed
of him. Many honest people were so absurd as to fancy that if he
were left regent during the minority of his nephews, there would be
another smothering in the tower.”--_Macaulay’s Essays--Chatham._
[1124] Marchant, p. 328.
[1125] Marchant, p. 329.
[1126] _Kirkconnel MS._ Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 167. Among the
honourable few were Sir Peter Halket, lieutenant-colonel of Lee’s
regiment; Mr. Ross, son of Lord Ross; Captain Lucy Scott; Lieutenants
Farquharson and Cumming; and Mr. Home has been justly censured for
suppressing in his history this fact, and others equally well known
to him.
[1127] These were Lochiel, Keppoch, Clanranald, Ardshiel, Lochgary,
Scothouse, and the Master of Lovat.
[1128] No. 39 of Appendix to Home.
[1129] No. 40 of Idem.
[1130] No. 30 of Idem.
[1131] Vide Letter from Sir Thomas in _Stuart Papers_, dated from the
Castle of Blair, 8th December, 1746.
[1132] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1133] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 100.
[1134] Idem.
[1135] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1136] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.
[1137] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1138] Home, p. 194.
[1139] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 145.
[1140] Home, p. 197.
[1141] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 145.
[1142] Stewart’s Statement in _Jacobite Memoirs_. The statement given
by Mr. Hume,--that Lady Mackintosh concealed Lord Loudon’s design
from the prince, and that he knew nothing of his lordship’s march
till next morning, is certainly erroneous. He says that “without
saying a word to Charles or any of his company, she (Lady Mackintosh)
ordered five or six of her people, well armed, under the conduct of a
country smith, to watch the road from Inverness, and give notice if
they should perceive any number of men coming towards Moy;” and that
“Charles, for whose safety the lady had provided so effectually, knew
nothing of Lord Loudon’s march till next morning; for he was up and
dressed when the smith and his party came to Moy, and gave an account
of their victory.” It is clear, however, that the blacksmith and his
party were sent out by Lady Mackintosh before the arrival of the boy,
as Gib, the prince’s master of the household, who was sleeping in his
clothes in the Castle of Moy when the boy arrived, says expressly
that the blacksmith’s adventure “happened much about the time when
the boy (Lauchlan Mackintosh) arrived at Moy to give the alarm. It is
probable, however, that the blacksmith and his party were sent out by
Lady Mackintosh without the prince’s knowledge.”
[1143] Home, p. 198.
[1144] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 149.
[1145] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 104.
[1146] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1147] Home, p. 199. _Kirkconnel MS._
[1148] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 105.
[1149] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1150] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 164. Johnstone gives an affecting
account of the paternal anxiety of Scothouse when ordered to set out
as one of the detachment to attack Lord Loudon. Not anticipating the
landing of the prince in Scotland, he had applied for and obtained a
commission for his son in Lord Loudon’s regiment, and his alarm now
was lest his son should fall by his own hands.
[1151] _Lockhart Papers_, vol. ii. p. 305.
[1152] Vide Letter from Colonel Warren to the Chevalier de St.
George, of 9th May, 1746, in the _Stuart Papers_.
[1153] Note by the Editor of Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 155.
[1154] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 107.
[1155] Home, p. 205.
[1156] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 109.
[1157] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 110.
[1158] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1159] Idem.
[1160] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1161] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 112.
[1162] _Kirkconnel MS._
[1163] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 106. _Kirkconnel MS._
[1164] Idem.
[1165] _Scots Magazine._ Home, p. 212. _Kirkconnel MS._