CHAPTER XXXV.

A.D. 1746.

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

Duke of Cumberland sent down to Scotland--Marches westward--Siege of Stirling castle raised--Highland army retreats to the north--Council held at Crieff--Duke of Cumberland pursues and arrives at Perth--Arrival of Hessians--Rout of Moy--Capture of the town and castle of Inverness by Charles--Duke of Cumberland arrives at Aberdeen--Highlanders capture Fort Augustus--Expedition against Lord Loudon--Expedition of Lord George Murray into Athole--Duke of Cumberland’s movements--Takes possession of Old Meldrum and Strathbogie--Insurgents retreat across the Spey--Re-capture of the Hazard sloop-of-war--Siege of Fort William by the insurgents--Siege abandoned.

Unwilling any longer to intrust the management of the war to a general who had given such a signal proof of incapacity as Hawley had done, the government, immediately on receipt of his despatches, sent down the Duke of Cumberland to Scotland, to take the command of the army, and to retrieve if possible the lost reputation of the heroes of Dettingen and Fontenoy. The duke was beloved by the army, and enjoyed its confidence, circumstances which rendered him peculiarly fitted to supersede Hawley, who, after his return to Edinburgh, had by his severities become unpopular with the soldiers. Another reason for putting the duke at the head of the army opposed to Prince Charles, was the favourable effect which, it was supposed, the appearance of a prince of the blood would have upon the minds of the people of Scotland, and which, it was expected, would neutralise the influence of his kinsman. But apart from his rank as the son of the king, Prince William had little to recommend him to the especial notice of a nation, rather fastidious in its respect for princes. His conduct while in Scotland showed that humanity, the brightest ornament which can adorn the soldier hero, had no place in the catalogue of his virtues. With a cruelty, partly the result, perhaps, of the military school in which he was trained,[1122] and which fortunately has few parallels among civilised nations, he pursued his unfortunate victims, the misguided but chivalrous adherents of the fallen dynasty, with a relentless perseverance which disgusted even his own partisans.

Having received his instructions, the duke lost no time in preparing for his journey. He left London on the 25th of January, attended by Lord Cathcart, Lord Bury, Colonels Conway and York his aides-de-camp, and arrived at Holyrood House on the 30th. He was waited upon by the state-officers, the magistrates of the city, the professors of the university, and the clergy, all of whom were graciously received. His royal highness was presented with the freedom of the city in a gold box. In the afternoon he held a sort of drawing-room, which was attended by a considerable number of ladies very richly dressed. The most conspicuous among them was a Miss Ker, who wore a busk, at the top of which was a crown done in bugles, surrounded with this inscription, “Britain’s Hero, William, Duke of Cumberland.” To celebrate his arrival the city was illuminated in the evening, but although the Jacobites, from prudential motives, concurred in this demonstration, their windows were broken by the mob.[1124]

In the course of the day the duke inspected the army. His appearance revived the spirits of the soldiers, who, it is said, desired nothing so much as an opportunity of wiping away the disgrace of their late defeat. Such being the favourable disposition of the troops, it was resolved in a council of war held in the evening to march next morning to the relief of Stirling castle. Accordingly, early in the morning the army, which, by recent reinforcements, had been increased to fourteen battalions of foot, and four regiments of dragoons, besides the Argyleshire men, left Edinburgh in two divisions, preceded by Hamilton’s and Ligonier’s dragoons. One of these divisions, comprising eight battalions, at the head of which the duke was to place himself, proceeded towards Linlithgow, and the other, consisting of six battalions under the command of Brigadier Mordaunt, marched in the direction of Borrowstownness. The duke himself left Holyrood House at nine o’clock in the morning, in presence of a large assemblage of citizens, who, from curiosity, had collected before the palace at an early hour to witness his departure. He entered a splendid coach, which, with twelve beautiful horses, had been presented to him by the Earl of Hopetoun, and was accompanied in his progress through the city by many persons of distinction, and by a crowd of citizens. On reaching Castlebarns, a place about a quarter of a mile from the West-port, by which he left the city, the duke mounted his horse, and taking off his hat thanked the people for their attentions. He told them that he was in great haste to fulfil the object of his mission, and concluded by wishing them farewell. This short address was received with a loud huzza. The duke then took leave of the nobility and gentry who surrounded him, and at parting said, “Shall we not have one song?” He then began to sing an old Scottish song:--

“Will ye play me fair? Highland laddie, Highland laddie.”

But before he had finished the first stanza he stretched forth his hand, and, putting spurs to his horse, went off at full gallop to join the army.[1125]

The duke took up his quarters for the night at Linlithgow with the eight battalions, and Mordaunt stopped at Borrowstowness with the other division. The dragoons were quartered in the adjacent villages, and the Argyleshire men were posted in front towards the river Avon. Early next morning, the duke received intelligence that the main body of the Highland army, quartered at Falkirk, had retired to the Torwood, where, they gave out, they intended to make a stand. Determined that no time should be lost in following the insurgents, the duke, after reviewing his army in the morning, advanced towards Falkirk. Several parties of the Highlanders, who were seen hovering on the hills between Falkirk and Linlithgow, retired with precipitation on his approach; but some stragglers were brought in by his advanced scouts, who reported that the Highlanders, afraid to risk another battle, on account of the increase of the royal army, and the diminution of their own by desertion, were repassing the Forth in great confusion. Two great explosions, like the blowing up of magazines, which were heard from a distance, seemed to confirm this intelligence. On reaching Falkirk, the duke found that all the wounded soldiers who had been made prisoners in the late action, had been left behind by the insurgents in their retreat. His royal highness halted at Falkirk with the main body of his army, and immediately detached Brigadier Mordaunt with the Argyleshire men and all the dragoons, in pursuit of the Highlanders. The duke passed the night in the house which Charles had occupied on the evening of the late battle, and slept in the same bed on which the prince had reposed. Next morning Prince William marched to Stirling, of which Brigadier Mordaunt had taken possession the previous evening. He complimented General Blakeney on his defence of the castle, and was informed by the latter that, had the siege continued much longer, he (Blakeney) must have surrendered for want of ammunition and provisions.

In his march the duke was accompanied by several officers of the English army, who had been taken prisoners at Preston, and who, under the pretence of being forcibly released by armed parties of country people in Angus and Fife, had broken their parole, and returned to Edinburgh. The Duke of Cumberland, who appears to have thought it by no means dishonourable to break faith with rebels, not only absolved these officers from their parole, but sent circulars to all the other officers, who continued prisoners of war, releasing them from the solemn obligation they had undertaken not to serve against Prince Charles for a certain time, requiring them to join their respective regiments, and threatening with the loss of their commissions such of them as should refuse to return immediately to the service. Only a few officers had the virtuous courage to refuse compliance, declaring their sense of the insult offered to men of an honourable profession, by remarking that the duke was master of their commissions, but not of their probity and honour.[1126]

It was not without considerable reluctance that Charles had been induced to consent to a retreat. So late as the 28th of January, on which day he received information at Bannockburn that the Duke of Cumberland was expected at Edinburgh in a day or two, he had sent Secretary Murray to Falkirk to acquaint Lord George Murray, that it was his intention to advance and attack the Duke of Cumberland, when he should reach Falkirk, and to request his lordship to remain there till the duke came to Linlithgow. Lord George did not express any disapprobation of Charles’s design, but immediately drew up a plan of the battle in contemplation, which he carried to Bannockburn, and showed to Charles. The prince, who was in high spirits, expressed himself much pleased with the plan, which differed in some respects from that he had sketched previous to the late battle; but, to his utter astonishment, he received a packet from Lord George Murray by an aide-de-camp, containing a representation by his lordship and all the chiefs,[1127] who were with him at Falkirk, advising a retreat to the north.

In this paper, after stating that they considered it their duty, “in this critical juncture,” to lay their opinions in the most respectful manner before his royal highness, they proceeded to say, that they were certain that a vast number of his troops had gone home since the battle of Falkirk, and that, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the commanders of the different corps, they found that the evil was hourly increasing, and that they had it not in their power to prevent it,--that as they were afraid Stirling castle could not be taken so soon as was expected, they could, from the inequality of their numbers to that of the enemy, anticipate nothing but utter destruction to the few troops that might remain behind, should the enemy advance before the castle fell into Prince Charles’s hands. For these reasons, they gave it as their opinion, that the only way to extricate his royal highness, and those who remained with him, out of the imminent danger which threatened them, was to retire immediately to the Highlands, where the army could be usefully employed the remainder of the winter in taking the forts in the north,--that they were morally certain they could keep as many men together as would answer that end, and would hinder the enemy from following them to the mountains at that season of the year,--and that, in spring, they had no doubt that an army of 10,000 effective Highlanders could be brought together, who would follow his royal highness wherever he might think proper. Such a plan, they maintained, would certainly disconcert his enemies, and could not but be approved of by his royal highness’s friends both at home and abroad, and that if a landing should happen in the meantime, the Highlanders would immediately rise either to join the invaders, or to make a powerful diversion elsewhere. On considering the hard marches which the army had undergone, the season of the year, and the inclemency of the weather, his royal highness, they said, as well as his allies abroad and his adherents at home, could not fail to approve of the proposal,--that the greatest objection to the retreat was the difficulty of saving the artillery, particularly the heavy cannon; but that it would be better that some of these were thrown into the Forth, than that his royal highness and the flower of his army should be exposed to the risk they inevitably would, should the proposed retreat not be agreed to, and put in execution without loss of time; and that they thought that it would be the greatest imprudence to risk the whole on so unequal a chance, when there were such hopes of succour from abroad, besides the resources his royal highness would have from his adherents at home. In conclusion, they informed the prince that they had just been apprised, that numbers of their people had gone off, and that many were sick, and not in a condition to fight. They added, that nobody was privy to the address but the subscribers; and they assured him that it was with great concern and reluctance they found themselves obliged to declare their sentiments in so dangerous a situation,--a declaration which nothing could have prevailed upon them to make but the unfortunate diminution of the army by desertion.[1128]

According to a statement made by John Hay, who occasionally acted as secretary to the prince, Charles was so transported with rage, after reading this paper, that he struck his head against the wall of the room till he staggered, and exclaimed most violently against Lord George Murray. To dissuade the subscribers from their resolution, Charles sent Sir Thomas Sheridan to Falkirk, who, not succeeding in his mission, returned to Bannockburn, accompanied by Keppoch and several other chiefs. These argued the matter with Charles himself, and ultimately prevailed upon him to consent to a retreat.[1129] This retreat was condemned by some of the prince’s flatterers; but the simple fact, stated by Patullo the muster-master of the prince’s army, that, before the retreat, the army had been diminished by desertion to 5,000 men, fully justifies the advice given by Lord George Murray and the chiefs at Falkirk.[1130] Even Sir Thomas Sheridan, the especial favourite of the prince, admitted the necessity of the retreat, for reasons apart from the reduction of the army.[1131]

In order to make the retreat with as little loss as possible, horses and carriages were ordered in from all quarters, under the pretext of carrying the field artillery and ammunition towards Edinburgh, whither it was given out that the army was to march immediately. The army, however, began to suspect the design, and every person, not in the secret, looked dejected. During the 30th, a great deal of bustle took place in the country in collecting horses and carriages, but with little effect, as the country people, who also began to conjecture that a retreat was intended, were not disposed to attend to the order.[1132] At length the design of these preparations became apparent when, in consequence of a previous arrangement, Lord George Murray left Falkirk with the clans on the evening of the 31st for Bannockburn, leaving behind him Elcho’s, Pitsligo’s, and Kilmarnock’s horse, who were directed to patrol betwixt Falkirk and Linlithgow till ten o’clock that night. Lord George continued at the prince’s quarters till after twelve o’clock at night, when it was agreed that the army should rendezvous at nine o’clock next morning near St. Ninians; and a message was directed to be sent to the Duke of Perth and Lord John Drummond, both of whom were at Stirling, to be ready to march between nine and ten o’clock, but not to evacuate the town without further orders. However, after Lord George had left the prince’s quarters for his own, these orders were countermanded without his knowledge, and orders were sent to Stirling to evacuate it by break of day.[1133]

The appointed rendezvous at St. Ninians never took place, for the private men, imagining when they first heard of the retreat that the danger was much greater and nearer than it really was, had begun at day-break to take the road to the Frews. Before the hour appointed for assembling, many of them had arrived at that ford, so that when Charles left his quarters for St. Ninians, scarcely a vestige of his army was to be seen. Officers were sent after some parties, who were still visible, for the purpose of stopping them, but without effect. The troops in Stirling, in terms of the orders they had received, after spiking their cannon, also marched to the Frews, so that the prince and Lord George Murray found themselves almost deserted. Charles finding it impossible to recall his troops, marched off with some of the chiefs and the few troops that remained with him.[1134]

On the morning of the retreat the church of St. Ninians, in which the insurgents had fifty barrels of gunpowder, blew up with a terrible explosion, which was heard by the Duke of Cumberland’s army at Linlithgow. Whether it happened from accident or design, is a point which cannot be ascertained. If from design, it must have been the act of some unknown individual, as there was no warning given to any person to keep out of the way. That it could not have been perpetrated by any person in the prince’s interest, seems very evident from the fact, that Charles himself was near enough to have suffered injury, and that some of the Highlanders, as well as several of the inhabitants of the village, were killed.[1135] Yet, such was the spirit of misrepresentation which prevailed at the time, that, without the least assignable motive, the odium of the act was thrown upon Charles.

When this explosion took place, Lord George Murray was still at his head quarters. He thought the castle-guns had fired a volley; and on repairing to the town about an hour after the explosion, he was utterly amazed to find that the besiegers had disappeared. He, therefore, sent an aide-de-camp to call off some horse he had posted near Falkirk, and proceeded immediately, with the few troops that remained with him, to the Frews.

The Highland army was quartered that night at Doune, Dunblane, and adjacent villages, and continued to retire next day, the 2d of February, in a very disorderly manner. The prince halted at Crieff, where he reviewed his army, and, according to the statement of one of his officers,[1136] his army was found not to have lost above 1,000 men by desertion. Charles, who had consented to a retreat on the supposition that his army had lost a third of its numbers from this cause, is said to have been deeply affected on this occasion. Lord George Murray’s enemies did not let slip the opportunity of reproaching him, and, indeed, all the chiefs who had signed the representation, with deception; but the author above referred to observes, that their mistake, if there really was a mistake, can be easily accounted for, if people will divest themselves of prejudice, and examine the circumstances impartially. He observes, that, from the battle of Falkirk up to the time of the Duke of Cumberland’s march from Edinburgh, the country being absolutely secure, the Highlanders had indulged their restless disposition by roaming about all the villages in the neighbourhood of their quarters, and that numbers of them were absent several days from their colours--that their principal officers knowing for certain that some had gone home, imagined that such was also the case with all who were not to be found in their respective quarters, but that all the stragglers had got to Crieff and appeared at the review. Without questioning such a respectable authority as Mr. Maxwell, who may be right in the main fact, as to the number of the army at Crieff, it seems more likely that the army had recruited its ranks on the retreat to Crieff, by overtaking the deserters on their homeward route, than that 2,000 or 3,000 men should have been absent on a sojourn in the neighbourhood of their camp.

After the review, the prince held a council of war, to deliberate upon the course to be pursued. At no former meeting did heats and party animosities break out to such an extent as at this council. Lord George Murray complained greatly of the flight, and requested to know the names of the persons who had advised it; but the prince took the whole blame on himself. After a great deal of wrangling and altercation, it was determined that the army should march north to Inverness in two divisions,--that the horse and low-country regiments should proceed along the coast road, and that the prince, at the head of the clans, should take the Highland road.[1137] Lord George, after other officers had refused, agreed to take the command of the coast division, which arrived at Perth late that night. The prince remained at Crieff, and passed the night at Fairnton, a seat of Lord John Drummond, in the neighbourhood. Next day, being the 4th, Charles marched from Crieff to Dunkeld, and thence to Blair Athole, where he remained several days, till he heard of the arrival of the other division at Aberdeen.

It would have been quite impossible, under almost any circumstances, for the Duke of Cumberland’s army to have overtaken the Highlanders; but slow as the movements of such an army necessarily were, it met with an obstruction which retarded its progress nearly three days. This was the impassable state of Stirling bridge, one arch of which had, as formerly mentioned, been broken down by General Blakeney to embarrass the intercourse between the Highland army when in the south, and its auxiliaries in the north. It was not till the morning of the 4th of February that the bridge was repaired, on which day the English army passed over. The advanced guard, consisting of the Argyleshire Highlanders and the dragoons, went on to Crieff, and the foot were quartered in and about Dunblane, where the duke passed the night. Next day he proceeded to Crieff, and on the 6th arrived at Perth, of which his advanced guard had taken possession the previous day.

Lord George Murray marched from Perth for Aberdeen with his division on the 4th. He left behind thirteen pieces of cannon, which were spiked and thrown into the Tay, a great quantity of cannon balls, and fourteen swivel guns, that formerly belonged to the Hazard sloop-of-war, which had been surprised and taken at Montrose by the Highlanders. These pieces were taken out of the river next day by the royal troops.

Having learned at Perth the different routes taken by the Highland army, and that it had gained two or three days’ march in advance, the Duke of Cumberland resolved to halt a few days to refresh his men. From Perth parties were sent out to perambulate the neighbouring country, who plundered the lands and carried off the effects of the prince’s adherents. The Duchess Dowager of Perth and the Viscountess of Strathallan were apprehended, carried to Edinburgh, and committed to the castle.

Shortly after his arrival at Perth, the Duke of Cumberland received an express announcing the arrival in the Frith of Forth of a force of about 5,000 Hessians, under the command of the Prince of Hesse, son-in-law of George II. These auxiliaries had been brought over from the continent to supply the place of the Dutch troops, who had been recalled by the states-general in consequence of the interference of the French government, which considered the treaty entered into between the King of Great Britain and Holland, by which the latter agreed to furnish these troops to suppress the rebellion, as a violation of the capitulations of Tournay and Dendermonde.

The fleet which conveyed the Hessian troops anchored in Leith roads on the 8th of February, having been only four days from Williamstadt. The troops were disembarked at Leith on the 9th and the following day, and were cantoned in and about Edinburgh. On the 15th of February the Duke of Cumberland paid a visit to the Prince of Hesse, his brother-in-law, at Edinburgh. On that evening they held a council of war in Milton-house, the residence of the lord-justice-clerk. In consequence of the sudden and disorderly retreat of the Highlanders, an opinion had begun to prevail among the friends of the government at Edinburgh, that it was the intention of the insurgents to disperse themselves, and that Charles would follow the example set by his father in 1716, by leaving the kingdom. Impressed with this idea, the generals who attended the council gave it as their unanimous opinion that the war was at an end, and that the duke had nothing now to do but to give orders to his officers to march into the Highlands, as soon as the season would permit, and ferret the insurgents out of their strongholds, as it appeared evident to them that they would never risk a battle with an army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. After the officers had delivered their sentiments, the duke requested Lord Milton to give his opinion, as he knew the Highlands and Highlanders better than any person present. His lordship at first declined doing so, as he was not a military man, but being pressed by the duke, he began by expressing a hope that he might be mistaken in the opinion he was about to give, but he felt himself bound to declare, from all he knew of the Highlands and Highlanders, that the war was not at an end, and that as the king’s troops could not follow the Highlanders among their fastnesses in the winter season, they would, though now divided and scattered, unite again, and venture another battle before giving up the war. Acquiescing in the views of Lord Milton, whose opinion turned out correct, the duke returned to Perth next day to put his army in motion towards the north.[1138]

Meanwhile, the Highland army was proceeding in its march to Inverness. After remaining a few days at Blair-Athole, Charles marched to Ruthven in Badenoch, the barrack of which was taken and blown up by a party under Gordon of Glenbucket, who made the small garrison prisoners. He reached Moy castle, a seat of the laird of Mackintosh, about ten miles from Inverness, on the 16th of February, with an advanced guard of about 50 men. As Charles’s forces were widely scattered, he resolved to halt at Moy till he should concentrate a force sufficient to attack the Earl of Loudon, who was posted at Inverness with 2,000 men.

Hearing of Charles’s arrival at Moy castle, and that he had not above 500 or 600 men with him, Lord Loudon formed a design to seize him during the night while off his guard. The better to conceal his project, his lordship, at three o’clock in the afternoon, completely invested Inverness on all sides, posting guards and a chain of sentinels round the town, with positive orders not to suffer any person to leave it on any pretext whatever. He ordered, at the same time, 1,500 men to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s warning; and, having assembled them without noise, he put himself at their head, and instantly set off, planning his march so as he might arrive at the castle of Moy about eleven o’clock at night.[1139]

Notwithstanding the secrecy, however, with which Lord Loudon concocted his scheme, the plan was divulged by the imprudence or perfidy of some persons intrusted with the secret. According to one account (for there are several), the design was communicated to Lady Mackintosh, a zealous Jacobite, by Fraser of Gorthleck, in a letter which he sent to her, and in another letter which she received at the same time from her mother, who, though a whig, felt a repugnance to allow Charles to be made a prisoner in her daughter’s house, in which he had taken up his residence as a guest.[1140] Another account is, that while some English officers were drinking in a tavern in Inverness, waiting the hour of their departure, a girl of thirteen or fourteen years of age, who happened to wait on them, paid great attention to their conversation, and, from certain expressions dropped by them, discovered their design,--that she immediately left the house, escaped from the town, notwithstanding the vigilance of the sentinels, and immediately took the road to Moy, running as fast as she was able, without shoes or stockings, which, to accelerate her progress, she had taken off,--and that on arriving she informed Lady Mackintosh of the design against the prince.[1141] The _Jacobite Memoirs_, however, have furnished a third version of this affair, which appears to be more correct in the details. It is there stated that Lady Mackintosh’s mother, who lived in Inverness, having received notice of Lord Loudon’s design, despatched a boy, about fifteen years of age, named Lauchlan Mackintosh, to Moy, to apprise the prince thereof,--that the boy, finding he could not pass by Lord Loudon’s men without running the risk of being discovered, concealed himself behind a wall till they had passed, when, taking a different road, he reached Moy and gave the alarm. The prince, who was in bed, was instantly awakened, and, jumping out, put on his clothes, left the house with a guard of about thirty men, and disappeared in a neighbouring wood.[1142]

As soon as Lady Mackintosh was informed of Lord Loudon’s design, she sent five or six of her people, headed by a country blacksmith, named Fraser, to watch the advance of Loudon’s troops. This man, with a boldness almost incredible, formed the extraordinary design of surprising the advancing party, in the expectation that they would fall a prey to a panic. With this view, he posted his men on both sides of the road to Inverness, about three miles from Moy, and enjoined them not to fire till he should give directions, and then not to fire together, but one after the other, in the order he pointed out. After waiting for some time, the party was apprised of the advance of Lord Loudon’s troops by the noise they made in marching. When the head of the detachment, which consisted of 70 men under the laird of Macleod, was within hearing, the blacksmith called out with a loud voice, “Here come the villains who intend to carry off our prince; fire, my lads; do not spare them; give them no quarter.” He thereupon discharged his piece in the direction of the detachment, and his party, after following his example, ran in different directions, calling upon the Macdonalds and Camerons to advance on the right and left, and repeating aloud the names of Lochiel and Keppoch. Impressed with the belief that the whole Highland army was at hand, the advanced guard instantly turned its back, and communicating its fears to the rear, a scene of indescribable confusion ensued. The _sauve-qui-peut_ which burst forth from the discomfited legions of Napoleon on the plains of Waterloo, was not more appalling to the flying French than were the names of the Camerons and Macdonalds to the ears of Lord Loudon’s troops on the present occasion. In the hurry of their flight many were thrown down and trodden upon, and so great was the panic with which the fugitives were seized, that the flight continued till they got near Inverness. The Master of Ross, who accompanied the party, and was one of those who were overwhelmed, observed to Mr. Home, that he had been in many perils, but had never found himself in such a grievous condition as that in which he was at the rout of Moy.[1143] In this affair the laird of Macleod’s piper, reputed the best in Scotland, was shot dead on the spot. On the dispersion of Lord Loudon’s party, Charles returned to the castle.

Having assembled his men next morning, Charles advanced upon Inverness with the intention of attacking Lord Loudon, and taking revenge for the attempt of the preceding night; but his lordship, not feeling inclined to wait for the prince, retired into Ross-shire, by crossing the Moray Frith at the ferry of Kessock. Charles took immediate possession of Inverness, and laid siege to the castle then named Fort George. This structure, which was situated on a hill to the south-west of Cromwell’s fort, had been raised at the Revolution; and had cost the government, since its erection, above £50,000. The castle was fortified in the modern manner, being a regular square with four bastions, and it commanded the town and the bridge over the river Ness.

This fortress had a garrison of eighty regular troops; but, on his departure from Inverness, Lord Loudon threw into it two of the independent companies, one of Grants, and the other of Macleods. The castle on the present occasion mounted sixteen pieces of cannon, and was well provided with ammunition and provisions. The prince summoned the fortress to surrender, but Grant of Rothiemurchus, the governor, refused to comply. Though Charles had left his heavy artillery behind, he found no difficulty in reducing this fort, as the little hill on which it was built was so contiguous to the town that it could be easily approached on that side, without exposure to its fire. It was resolved to undermine the castle and blow it up; but, after a siege of two days, and when the mine had been completed, the garrison surrendered. This event took place on the 20th of February. The prince, however, did not spare the fortress, which he blew up immediately after the surrender; a sergeant in the French artillery, who was charged with the operation, losing his life on the occasion.[1144]

On the same day that Charles arrived at Moy, the division under Lord George Murray had reached Spey side; and the day before Fort George surrendered he had arrived with his men in the neighbourhood of Inverness. In consequence of a great fall of snow, which took place on the day Lord George marched from Aberdeen, his march had been most fatiguing; and the French piquets and Lord John Drummond’s regiment were obliged to halt a day at Kintore and Inverury. After giving the prince an account of his march, Lord George, contemplating the possibility of a retreat to the Highlands, mentioned a plan, devised by him and Lord Pitsligo, to assess the shires of Banff, Moray, and Nairn in 5,000 bolls of meal, for the use of the army; and he proposed that the greater part of it should be sent to the Highlands for subsistence, in case of retreat thither. The prince approved of the plan; but directed that the whole of the meal, when collected, should be brought to Inverness.[1145]

With the exception of two detachments, which took possession of Blair and Castle Menzies, the army of the Duke of Cumberland lay inactive at Perth till the 20th of February, on which day he put his army in motion for the north, in four divisions. He sent notice to the Prince of Hesse to march to Perth, and in his way to leave two battalions at Stirling. At the same time he directed the remains of Ligonier’s and Hamilton’s dragoons to be cantoned at Bannockburn, and St. George’s dragoons to be posted at Bridge of Earn. With the assistance of these cavalry regiments, which were placed under the command of the Earl of Crawford, it was thought that the Prince of Hesse would be able to check the insurgents, and prevent their progress south, should they give the duke the slip. In marching north, the duke’s army took the road along the coast, as Lord George Murray had done. On the 27th of February the army arrived at Aberdeen, where the duke took up his quarters, till the advance of spring should enable him to take the field. A few days before his arrival, a vessel from France had landed at Aberdeen three troops of Fitz-James’s horse, with five officers, and a piquet of Berwick’s regiment. These troops, with a party of men under Moir of Stonywood, left Aberdeen on the duke’s approach.

Compelled by circumstances to abandon, within the short space of three weeks, the whole tract of low country from the Avon to the Don, on which he chiefly relied for the subsistence of his army, followed by a large army with powerful resources in its rear, which it could render speedily available, and narrowly watched by the forces under Lord Loudon, the situation of Charles now became very critical. The fertile province of Moray and part of the adjacent territory had, by the expulsion of Lord Loudon from Inverness, no doubt come into his possession; but he could not expect to maintain his ground in this district for any length of time without a precarious struggle. He had it in his power, whenever he pleased, to retire into the neighbouring Highlands, where his pursuers would scarcely venture to follow him; but, without previously securing a supply of provisions from the Low country, he could not keep his army together in a district where the means of subsistence were extremely scanty. The possibility of such a retreat was contemplated by Lord George Murray; but, from aversion to such a design, or from want of foresight, Charles, as just stated, over-ruled his lordship’s proposal to send a supply of provisions to the Highlands.

Judging from the slowness of the Duke of Cumberland’s motions, that a considerable time would elapse before he would venture to cross the Spey, Charles resolved to employ the interval in carrying through a series of operations which he and his friends projected. The principal of these were the reduction of Fort Augustus and Fort William, and the dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army. To secure subsistence for his army, he cantoned the greater part of the division which had marched by Aberdeen between that town and Inverness; and, as after the retreat from Stirling he had directed any supplies that might be sent him from France to be landed to the north of Aberdeen, he occupied all the little towns along that coast. As this district was generally disaffected to the government, it was an easy matter to guard it with the few troops that were dispersed over it; and no danger was to be apprehended till the English army came up, when the various parties were directed to fall back from post to post as the duke advanced.[1146]

The first enterprise that Charles undertook, after capturing Fort George, was the siege of Fort Augustus. To reduce this fortress, and with the ulterior view of laying siege to Fort William, Brigadier Stapleton was sent into Stratherrick with the French piquets and a detachment of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, and appeared before Fort Augustus about the end of February. Without waiting for his artillery, which consisted of a few pieces found at Fort George, he attacked the old barrack and carried it immediately, the garrison retiring to the fort. Mr. Grant, who had succeeded M. Mirabelle as chief engineer, since the siege of Stirling, opened a trench upon the 3d of March. The garrison held out two days, when, in consequence of the explosion of the powder magazine by the falling of a shell, the fortress surrendered, and the garrison, which consisted of three companies of Guise’s regiment, were made prisoners of war. Leaving Lord Lewis Gordon with a few troops in command of the place, the brigadier marched to Fort William, which he invested on the land side.[1147]

Pursuant to his plan of operations, the prince, in the beginning of March, sent Lord Cromarty with a detachment, consisting of his own regiment, the Mackintoshes, Macgregors, and Barrisdale’s men, to drive the forces under Lord Loudon out of Ross-shire. Finding that his lordship was unable to accomplish the task which had been assigned him, Charles despatched Lord George Murray to his assistance with the Macdonalds of Clanranald and a battalion of Lochiel’s regiment. He reached Dingwall the first night, where he found Lord Cromarty’s detachment; but his lordship had been absent two days at his own house with a strong guard of Mackenzies. Lord George marched next day for Tain, where he understood Lord Loudon was posted; but on the road he learned that his lordship had crossed the Dornoch Frith to Sutherland, and had quartered his troops in the town of Dornoch and the neighbourhood. Not having any boats to carry his men across the frith, his lordship, after consulting his officers, returned to Dingwall, where he quartered his men. The reason of retiring a day’s march farther back was to throw Lord Loudon off his guard, as it was contemplated to bring boats along the coast and attempt the passage. There was nothing to prevent the detachment marching round the head of the frith; but Lord Loudon having a sufficiency of boats, might have eluded his pursuers by recrossing to Tain; and, as Lord George would, by such a course, have been several days’ march from Inverness, the main body of the Highland army would have been in a critical situation, if the Duke of Cumberland’s army had reached the neighbourhood of Inverness, while the corps under Lord George Murray was on the north side of the Frith of Dornoch.[1148] After sending notice to Lord Cromarty of the disposition of his forces, and that the Duke of Perth would take the command, Lord George returned to Inverness the following day, to execute a design he and Macpherson of Cluny had concerted, to surprise the castle of Blair, and to beat up the quarters of the government troops in Athole, who, from information he had received, had committed great excesses in that district.

To carry the enterprise against Lord Loudon into execution, all the fishing boats that could be collected on the coast of Moray were brought to Findhorn. A few gentlemen, to whom the charge of collecting this small flotilla had been intrusted, had conducted the matter with such secrecy and expedition, that no person in the government interest was aware of it; but after the boats were all in readiness, a difficulty presented itself in getting them across the Moray frith without being perceived by the English cruisers that were continually passing along the coast. Moir of Stonywood, however, undertook to convey the boats to Tain, and he accordingly set out one night with this little fleet, and arrived at his destination next morning without being observed by the enemy.[1149] On the flotilla reaching Tain, the Duke of Perth divided his force into two parts; and while, with one of them, he marched about by the head of the frith, he directed the other to cross in the boats. Under cover of a thick fog this division landed without being discovered, and the duke, having united his forces on the north side of the frith, advanced upon Dornoch. When near that town, he came up with a party of 200 men, who were on their march to join Lord Loudon. This party instantly fled; but Major Mackenzie, who commanded it, with four or five officers, and sixty privates, were made prisoners. Among the officers was a son of Mr. Macdonald of Scothouse, who was taken prisoner by his own father.[1150] The main body, under Lord Loudon, abandoned Dornoch in great consternation, and fled north towards Glenmore, pursued by the Jacobite forces. Both parties marched all night; but the fugitives kept ahead of their pursuers. After a chase of about thirty miles, the Duke of Perth discontinued the pursuit, and halted at the head of Loch Shin. While following the enemy during the night, great anxiety prevailed among the Macdonalds in the Duke of Perth’s detachment, lest, in the event of an engagement, they might not be able, notwithstanding their white cockades, to distinguish themselves from the Macdonalds of Skye, who, like the other Macdonalds, wore heather in their bonnets.[1151] Upon reaching the head of Sutherland-shire, Lord Loudon separated his army. Accompanied by the lord-president and the laird of Macleod, he marched to the sea-coast with 800 of the Macdonalds and Macleods, and embarked for the Isle of Skye. Part of his own regiment, with several officers, took refuge in Lord Reay’s country. Finding that Lord Loudon’s troops had dispersed, the Duke of Perth returned to Inverness, leaving Lord Cromarty in Sutherland with a sufficient force to keep Lord Sutherland and Lord Reay’s people in check. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s army was considered of such importance by Charles, that he immediately despatched an officer to France with the intelligence.[1152] In this expedition, several vessels in the Frith of Dornoch, having some valuable effects on board, fell into the hands of the insurgents.

Before Lord George Murray set out on his expedition into Athole, Macpherson of Cluny had secured the passes between that country and Badenoch, to prevent all communication between these districts. About the middle of March Lord George left Inverness with 400 men of the Athole brigade; and, on entering Badenoch, he was joined by Cluny with 300 Macphersons. On the 16th of March the whole detachment set out from Dalwhinnie in the dusk of the evening, and did not halt till they reached Dalnaspidal, about the middle of Drummochter, where the body was divided into a number of small parties, in each of which the Athole men and the Macphersons were proportionally mixed.

Hitherto, with the exception of Macpherson of Cluny and Lord George, no person in the expedition knew either its destination or object. The time was now come for Lord George to explain his design, which he said was to surprise and attack before day-light, and as nearly as possible at the same time, all the posts in Athole occupied by the royal forces. As an encouragement, he offered a reward of a guinea to every man who should surprise a sentinel at his post. There were about thirty posts in all, including the different houses at which the royal troops were quartered; but the principal posts, more especially selected for attack, were Bun-Rannoch, the house of Keynnachin, the house of Blairfettie, the house of Lude, the house of Faskally, and the inn at Blair, where, as Lord George Murray was informed, several officers of the twenty-first regiment were quartered. After the different parties had discharged their duty by attacking the posts assigned them, they were ordered to meet at the bridge of Bruar, about two miles north from Blair, as the general rendezvous for the detachment.

Having received their instructions, the different parties set out immediately: and so well was the scheme of attack laid, that betwixt three and five o’clock in the morning, the whole posts, though many miles distant from one another, were carried. At Bun-Rannoch, where there was a late-wake held that night, the sentinel was surprised, and the whole of the party, (Argyleshire men,) while engaged in that festivity, were taken prisoners, without a shot being fired on either side. The sentinel at Keynnachin being more upon his guard, discharged his piece and alarmed his friends, who defended themselves for a short time by firing from the windows, till the party broke into the house, and killing one man, made prisoners of the rest. At Blairfettie, where there were fifty Argyleshire men stationed, the sentinel was surprised, and the party, with the proprietor of the mansion at their head, entered the house before the soldiers within knew that they were attacked. They endeavoured to defend themselves, but were obliged to surrender. Lady Blairfettie was in bed at the time, and knew nothing of the affair, till informed by a servant that her husband was below, and wished to see her immediately. On coming down stairs she found the garrison disarmed, the prisoners in the dining-room, and about a dozen of her husband’s tenants and servants standing over them with drawn swords. Blairfettie, thinking that his wife had been harshly treated, desired her to point out any of the prisoners who had used her ill; but she answered that she had no other complaint to make than this, that the prisoners had eaten all her provisions, and that she and her children were starving.[1153] The parties at Faskally, at Lude, and the bridge of Tilt, were also taken; but that in the inn of Blair, after some resistance, escaped to the castle. Three hundred prisoners were taken by Lord George’s parties, without the loss of a single man. While beating up the different posts, a party, by order of Lord George, secured the pass of Killiecrankie.[1154]

Having been apprised, by the arrival of the party from the inn of Blair, of the presence of the enemy, Sir Andrew Agnew, who held the castle of Blair, instantly got his men under arms, and left the castle to ascertain who they were that had attacked his posts. Information of this circumstance was brought about daybreak by an inhabitant of the village to Lord George Murray, who was then at the bridge of Bruar with a party of twenty-five men only and a few elderly gentlemen, waiting for the different parties he had despatched the previous night. This intelligence was of the utmost importance to Lord George and his party, all of whom would otherwise have probably fallen into the hands of the garrison. Lord George immediately consulted the gentlemen around him as to the course they should pursue. Some advised an immediate retreat in the direction of Dalwhinnie, but others were for crossing the nearest hills, and retiring by roads along which it would be difficult for the garrison to follow them. His lordship, however, was opposed to both opinions, as by quitting his post he was afraid that his different parties, as they came to the appointed place of rendezvous, would be surprised, and made prisoners. While pondering how to extricate himself from the dilemma in which he was placed, he espied a long unfinished turf-wall which ran across a field near the bridge. An idea at once occurred to him, that by disposing the few men that were with him behind this wall at a considerable distance from one another, and by displaying the colours of both regiments in front, he might deceive Sir Andrew Agnew’s detachment, by inducing them to believe that they were to be opposed by a large body of men. Having disposed his small party in the way described, Lord George directed the pipers, (for luckily he had with him the whole pipers of his detachment,) to keep their eyes fixed upon the road to Blair, and the moment they saw any military appear in that direction, to strike up at once with all their bagpipes. Just as the sun was rising above the horizon, Sir Andrew Agnew’s men appeared, and their ears were instantly saluted by the noise of the bagpipes, when the pipers commenced playing one of their most noisy pibrochs. The party behind the wall then drew their swords, and, as they had been previously ordered by Lord George, kept brandishing them above their heads. This _ruse_ succeeded completely, and Sir Andrew, alarmed by the noise and the spectacle before him, at which he took only a short glance, ordered his men to the right about, and retired into the castle.[1155]

Being now relieved from all apprehension of attack, Lord George remained at his post till joined by about 300 of his men, when he marched to Blair, and invested the castle. Having no battering-cannon, and only two small field-pieces, which could make no impression on walls that were seven feet thick, he resolved to blockade the castle, which he expected would be forced to surrender in two or three weeks for want of provisions. To cut off the communication between the castle and the neighbouring country, Lord George placed a guard of 300 men at the village of Blair, where he was himself stationed, and another near the Mains, at some stables which had been recently erected. Being joined by 400 or 500 men belonging to the district, who had been formerly in the Highland army, Lord George detached a party to Dunkeld, where they remained till the approach of the Hessians from Perth. This party then retreated to Pitlochrie, two miles below the pass of Killiecrankie, where they remained several days, during which time repeated skirmishes took place between them and the hussars, and some of St. George’s dragoons. During the time the Athole men kept possession of Pitlochrie, Lord George Murray went there generally twice every day to ascertain the state of matters. The Hessians showed no disposition to leave Dunkeld, where they had taken up their quarters, till the 13th of March, on which day a large body of them came up as far as the Haugh of Dalskean, about two miles from Pitlochrie. The dragoons and hussars continuing to advance, the Athole men retired to the foot of the pass of Killiecrankie, where they halted to dispute the passage; but after remaining six hours waiting for the Hessians, they were informed that a great part of them had returned to Dunkeld.[1156]

At this time the garrison of Blair castle was reduced to great distress from the want of provisions, and if the blockade had been continued a few days longer they must have surrendered; but, fortunately for the besieged, Lord George Murray was ordered to return immediately to Inverness, in consequence of the expected advance of the Duke of Cumberland. Accordingly, on the 31st of March, Lord George sent off his two pieces of cannon, that he might not be impeded in his march, and about ten o’clock at night he drew off the party from the pass to Blair, taking his departure for Inverness, at two o’clock next morning. Finding the pass clear, Lord Crawford went through it the same morning, but the Hessians, alarmed at the dreadful aspect which it presented, positively refused to enter the pass. As, from the expresses which Lord George Murray received, he was led to infer that the Duke of Cumberland was about to leave Aberdeen, his lordship made a most rapid march, having performed the journey in seventy hours, four only of which he devoted to sleep. Cluny’s men were left at Ruthven, to guard Badenoch from the incursions of the royal troops in Athole.[1157]

To facilitate his march to the north, and to clear as much of the low country as possible from the presence of the insurgents, the Duke of Cumberland sent several detachments from Aberdeen, to scour the country, and possess themselves of certain posts between the Don and the Spey. One of these detachments, consisting of four battalions of infantry, the Duke of Kingston’s horse, and Cobham’s dragoons, under the command of General Bland, left Aberdeen on the 12th of March, and took possession of Old Meldrum, Inverury, and Old Rayne. Bland was preceded on his march by the Argyleshire men, and 100 of the laird of Grant’s followers under the eldest son of that chief. At this time the insurgent forces on the east of the river Spey, which had been placed under the command of Lord John Drummond, were stationed as follows. Lord Strathallan’s horse, which had been lately separated from Lord Kilmarnock’s, and the hussars, occupied Cullen; part of the battalions of Roy Stewart and Gordon of Avochy, consisting of about 400 men, with 50 horse, were quartered at Strathbogie, and the remainder were cantoned in Fochabers, and the villages along the Spey.[1158]

Having received intelligence of the occupation of Strathbogie by the Highlanders, the Duke of Cumberland sent orders on the 16th, to General Bland to march thither with all the troops under his command, and endeavour to surprise the forces there assembled, and failing in that design, to attack them and drive them across the river. To sustain General Bland, should occasion require, Brigadier Mordaunt marched by break of day next morning to Old Meldrum, with four battalions and four pieces of cannon. About the same time General Bland left Old Meldrum for Strathbogie, and almost succeeded in surprising the insurgents, who were ignorant of his approach till he came near the place. At the time the news of General Bland’s march reached Strathbogie some of the Highlanders were absent, having been sent the preceding night for the purpose of intercepting the young laird of Grant, who was returning to his own country with a commission to raise a regiment out of his clan, and who was to pass within a few miles of Strathbogie. The party, however, did not succeed, as Mr. Grant got the start of them, and took up his quarters for the night in a strong castle belonging to Lord Forbes, which they found it impossible to force without artillery. This party returned to Strathbogie about one o’clock in the afternoon, greatly fatigued from want of rest, and found that intelligence had been received of Bland’s advance. This news was fully confirmed by the arrival of some scouts, who came back at full speed with information that a large body of horse and foot was at hand.[1159]

Alarmed at the unexpected approach of the enemy, the officers at Strathbogie were at first at a loss how to act. There was danger in retreat as well as in attempting to remain. It was impossible that the men, who were in want of sleep and refreshment, could march far without halting; and as they had left several stragglers behind, it appeared certain that, in the event of a retreat, these would be picked up by Bland’s cavalry. On the other hand, from the vast numerical superiority of the English forces, it was dreaded that the small party would not be able to make an effectual resistance, and that in the event of a defeat the whole would easily fall into the enemy’s hands. In this dilemma it was resolved to remain an hour at Strathbogie, to give time to the stragglers to come up, and then to retreat. At this time the van of Bland’s detachment had begun to appear, and before the hour had elapsed the whole was in sight, and the van within a quarter of a mile of the village. The small party of guards then marched out towards the enemy, and while they formed between the village and the bridge of Bogie, as if intending to dispute the passage of the bridge, the foot left the village. After they had cleared the village, and the enemy’s cavalry had begun to file along the bridge, the small body of horse retired after the foot, towards the river Deveron, which they crossed. They thereupon formed again on the other side of the river to stop the enemy’s horse, who had pursued them at full speed from Strathbogie to the river side, but they did not at first attempt the passage, a circumstance which enabled the foot to gain the adjoining hill without molestation, where, from the narrowness of the road and the rockiness of the ground on each side of it, they were perfectly safe from the attacks of cavalry. With the exception of some volunteers among the cavalry, who followed half-way up the hill, and skirmished with a few of the guards who were left behind to observe their motions, the rest of the cavalry gave over the pursuit. The Highlanders, however, did not halt till they reached Fochabers. Next day they crossed the Spey, along with the other troops which had been cantoned on the east side, and took up their quarters in the villages on the opposite side.[1160]

From Strathbogie, General Bland sent forward a detachment of 70 Campbells, and 30 of Kingston’s horse, to occupy Keith, but they were not allowed to hold this post long. Major Glasgow, an Irish officer in the service of France, having offered to the prince to carry it with a detachment of 200 men, he was allowed to attempt the enterprise, and succeeded, the village having been invested on all sides before the enemy was aware of the attempt. On this occasion they became the victims of a little stratagem. After recrossing the Spey, Lord John Drummond sent a body of horse and foot across every morning. The foot remained generally all day at Fochabers, and the horse patrolled on the road between that village and Keith. On the 20th of March, a small party of Bland’s light horse having appeared on the top of the hill that overlooks Fochabers, the party occupying the village, apparently alarmed, left it in a hurry, much earlier than usual, and repassed the river. The design in thus repairing across the river before the usual time, was to throw the party at Keith off their guard, who, fancying themselves secure, took no precautions against surprise. After it had grown quite dark, Glasgow crossed the Spey with his detachment, consisting of 200 foot and 40 horse, and marching direct to Keith, arrived there unperceived about one o’clock in the morning. The Campbells, who were quartered in the church, formed in the church-yard, and a smart fire was kept up for some time between them and their assailants; but upon being promised quarter, if they submitted, they laid down their arms. Of the whole party, including the horse, not above five or six escaped. Captain Campbell who commanded the detachment, a non-commissioned officer, and five privates were killed. Glasgow had twelve of his men killed or wounded.

The advantages obtained by the insurgents in their expeditions into Athole and Sutherland, and by the reduction of Fort Augustus, were in some degree balanced by the loss of the Prince Charles, formerly the Hazard sloop of war, and the capture of some treasure and warlike stores which she had brought from France for the use of Charles’s army; and by the abandonment of the siege of Fort William.

Early in November the Hazard, a vessel mounting sixteen guns and some swivels, with a crew of 80 men, had anchored at Ferriden, opposite Montrose. The object of her commander, in taking this station, was to prevent the insurgents from taking possession of the town. At this time a party of Lord Ogilvy’s men, under the command of Captain David Ferrier, held Brechin, of which Ferrier had been appointed deputy-governor by the prince before his march into England; and to hinder the approach of this party towards Montrose, a fire was kept up at intervals for three days and nights from the Hazard, the only effect of which was to annoy the inhabitants exceedingly. To put an end to such a state of matters, Ferrier formed the design of capturing the vessel by raising a battery at the entrance of the river, and thereby to prevent her getting out to sea. In pursuance of this plan he entered Montrose one night, and possessed himself of the island on the south side of the town, opposite to where the Hazard lay. Next day the Hazard attempted to dislodge the party from the isle by her fire, but without success. In the afternoon of the following day a vessel carrying French colours was observed at sea, standing in towards the river; this turned out to be a transport from France, with a party of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, some Irish piquets, and six pieces of artillery. On observing this vessel, the Hazard fired a gun to leeward as a decoy; but, upon a signal from the party on the island, the commander of the French vessel ran her on shore out of reach of the Hazard’s guns. The crew then landed the six guns, and a fire was opened from them upon the Hazard next morning from both sides of the river, on each of which three of the pieces had been planted. With the exception, however, of having some of her rigging cut, she sustained no damage. Before the arrival of Ferrier’s party, Captain Hill, the commander of the Hazard, had taken four six-pounders, and two four-pounders, belonging to the town, which he had put on board a vessel in the harbour; but, by oversight, he left this vessel at the quay, and the consequence was, that she fell into the hands of the insurgents. This circumstance was fatal to the Hazard; for, finding that the guns lately landed were not sufficient to force the Hazard to surrender, Captain Ferrier carried the four six-pounders to the Dial hill, from which he fired upon her; and her commander, seeing escape hopeless, after hoisting a flag of truce, and making an ineffectual attempt for permission to leave the river, surrendered.[1161]

This vessel, being a first-rate sailer, was a great acquisition to the insurgents, and had made several trips to France. On the present occasion the Prince Charles, as the Hazard was now named by the Highlanders, was returning from France, having on board several officers and some privates, a supply of arms and ammunition, and a quantity of gold coin, amounting to between £12,000 and £13,000 sterling. She was observed, on the 24th of March, off the Banffshire coast, by the Sheerness man-of-war, which immediately gave chase. The Prince Charles taking a north-west course, endeavoured to escape by entering the Pentland frith; but the Sheerness followed her into that dangerous gulf; and after a running fight, in which the Prince Charles is said to have lost 36 men, the latter ran ashore on the sands of Melness, on the west side of Tongue bay, near the house of Lord Reay, on the 25th of March. The officers, soldiers, and crew, immediately landed with the treasure, which was contained in small boxes, and carried it to the house of William Mackay of Melness, where it remained during the night. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s forces, an event which was considered at the time highly favourable to the interests of Charles in the north, turned out, in the present instance, to be very prejudicial. Part of them, as has been stated, had, upon their dispersion, retired into that wild and barren region called Lord Reay’s country; and when the Prince Charles arrived in Tongue bay, there was a party of these troops quartered in the neighbourhood. On receiving notice of the landing, Lord Reay sent some persons in a boat across the bay, to ascertain the strength of the party that had disembarked; and, on being informed that it was not numerous, it was concerted between him and some of Lord Loudon’s officers, to attack the party next morning with such forces as they could collect. Early next morning the French, conducted by George Mackay, younger of Melness, who had undertaken to lead them to Inverness, left Melness; but they had not proceeded far, when they were attacked, two hours after day-break, by a body of men, consisting of fifty of Lord Reay’s people headed by his lordship’s steward and a similar number of Lord Loudon’s troops. After a short resistance, during which four or six of their men were killed and as many wounded, the whole party, consisting of 20 officers and 120 soldiers and sailors, surrendered.

As Charles’s coffers were almost exhausted at this time, the loss of such a large sum of money pressed with peculiar severity upon the army, which he had, in consequence, great difficulty in keeping together. Though sparing in his troops, the King of France had not been remiss in sending Charles pecuniary supplies, nor had the King of Spain been unmindful of him; but the remittances sent by these sovereigns did not all reach their destination, some of them having been intercepted by British cruisers on their way. Reckoning, however, the sums drawn and received from various sources, Charles must have got no inconsiderable sum; but he appears to have paid little attention to his pecuniary concerns, and a system of peculation is said to have been practised by the persons intrusted with the management, which told heavily upon his means. His principal steward in particular, to whom the administration of the finances was committed, is alleged not to have been scrupulously honest, and he is said to have contrived matters so as to prevent open detection. His underlings did not omit the opportunity which occasion offered, of filling their pockets: a system of imposition was also practised by means of false musters.[1162] Under such circumstances the early exhaustion of Charles’s military chest is not to be wondered at. In this situation, seeing the impossibility of recruiting his finances at Inverness, he had resolved to return to the south country; but other circumstances induced him to forego his intention.

Judging from the unfortunate result of the siege of Stirling castle, neither Lord George Murray nor Brigadier Stapleton had any hopes of reducing Fort William, which, besides being a strong place, was regularly fortified; but, as Lochiel, Keppoch, and other chiefs, whose properties lay in its neighbourhood, were very desirous to obtain possession of a fortress which perpetually annoyed them, and the garrison of which had, during the prince’s expedition into England, made frequent sallies, and burnt the houses of the country people, and carried off their cattle, they did not object to the siege.[1163]

To assist the troops under Stapleton, the Camerons and the Macdonalds of Keppoch were ordered to Fort William. Mr. Grant the engineer proposed to begin the siege by erecting a battery on a small hill, called the Sugar-loaf, which overlooked the fortress about 800 yards off; and as he observed that one of the bastions projected so far that it could not be defended by the fire of the first, he proposed to arrive at it by a trench and blow it up; but, while in the act of reconnoitring, he received a violent contusion from a cannon-ball, which completely disabled him. Brigadier Stapleton, having no other engineer, was obliged to send to Inverness for M. Mirabelle, the singular personage formerly alluded to. Meanwhile, the besieged heightened the parapets of the walls on the side where they dreaded an attack, and raised the two faces of the bastions seven feet high.[1164]

For several days a skirmishing was kept up between the garrison and two sloops of war stationed in the river, on the one side, and the besiegers on the other, with varied success; but the insurgents having completed a battery on the Sugar-loaf on March 20th, opened the siege that evening. On account of its distance from the fortress, and the smallness of the cannon, which consisted of six and four-pounders only, little execution was done. Next day the besiegers erected a new battery at the foot of the Cowhill, within half the distance of the other, which was also opened, but with little better effect. On the 22d, Brigadier Stapleton sent a drummer to Captain Scott, the commanding officer, with a letter, requiring him to surrender, but his answer was, that he would defend the place to the last extremity. The bombardment was thereupon renewed on both sides for some hours, but at last the garrison silenced the besiegers by beating down their principal battery. The besiegers then erected a third battery, and the bombardment continued, with little intermission, till the 31st, when the garrison made a sally, forced one of the batteries erected upon a place called the Craigs, about a hundred yards from the walls, and captured several pieces of cannon and two mortars. Notwithstanding this disaster, they continued to annoy the besieged from five cannon which they had still mounted, but with no other damage to the garrison than the destruction of the roofs of most of the houses. At length, on the 3d of April, Brigadier Stapleton, in consequence of instructions he had received from the prince to join him immediately, raised the siege, and, after spiking his heavy cannon, marched for Inverness with the piquets, taking his field pieces along with him. He left the Highlanders behind, on the understanding that they were to follow him with as little delay as possible. The loss sustained on either side was trifling.[1165]

Abounding as the prince’s enterprise did, in many brilliant points, there is, unquestionably, no part of it more deserving of admiration than that which now presents itself, near the end of his short, but very eventful career. At Gladsmuir and at Falkirk, almost the whole of the prince’s energies were directed to a single point, but at Inverness he projected a number of expeditions, attacks, and sieges, and conducted them with an energy and promptitude which astonished the government. The whole force he was able to collect, after his retreat to the north, did not exceed 8,000 men; and, although there was no certainty that the Duke of Cumberland might not advance immediately from Aberdeen, which is only a hundred miles from Inverness, yet he separated his forces, and, while with one detachment he kept General Bland in check, he, almost at the same time, carried on a series of operations with the isolated parts of his army in the distant territories of Athole, Lochaber, and Sutherland.

FOOTNOTES:

[1122] “But the Duke was no common man. He belonged to an age when high command was in a great measure a royal science, which men of inferior rank had scanty opportunities of studying. He was connected with the cluster of German princes, among whom, after the enticing example of the house of Brandenburg, a knowledge of the art of war was deemed a good speculation as a means of enlarging their dominions in the tangled contests created among the German states by every European war. After Frederick himself, perhaps none of these princes would have been so capable of successful appropriations of territory as the young man whose warlike pursuits were thrown into a different channel by his connection with the British throne. Though the subject of a constitutional government, however, he retained the spirit of the German soldier-prince. Military law was the first of all laws; and to military necessity everything must yield. He followed the course which, perhaps, most men brought up in his school would have followed, if in possession of the same power; but in a constitutional country it had the character of brutal severity, and after having, as he deemed it, done his stern duty, he left behind him an execrating country to find that his little nephews ran away and hid themselves, in terror of his notorious cruelty.”[1123]--Burton’s _Scotland_, (1689-1748), vol. ii. p. 507.

[1123] “The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland,” says the first historian of our day, “was such as distinguished him even among the princes of his brave house. The indifference with which he rode about amidst musket-balls and cannon-balls, was not the highest proof of his fortitude. Hopeless maladies--horrible surgical operations--far from unmanning him, did not even discompose him. With courage, he had the virtues which are akin to courage. He spoke the truth, was open in enmity and friendship, and upright in all his dealings. But his nature was hard; and what seemed to him justice, was rarely tempered with mercy. He was therefore, during many years, one of the most unpopular men in England. The severity with which he treated the rebels after the battle of Culloden, had gained him the name of ‘the butcher.’ His attempts to introduce into the army of England, then in a most disorderly state, the rigorous discipline of Potsdam, had excited still stronger disgust. Nothing was too bad to be believed of him. Many honest people were so absurd as to fancy that if he were left regent during the minority of his nephews, there would be another smothering in the tower.”--_Macaulay’s Essays--Chatham._

[1124] Marchant, p. 328.

[1125] Marchant, p. 329.

[1126] _Kirkconnel MS._ Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 167. Among the honourable few were Sir Peter Halket, lieutenant-colonel of Lee’s regiment; Mr. Ross, son of Lord Ross; Captain Lucy Scott; Lieutenants Farquharson and Cumming; and Mr. Home has been justly censured for suppressing in his history this fact, and others equally well known to him.

[1127] These were Lochiel, Keppoch, Clanranald, Ardshiel, Lochgary, Scothouse, and the Master of Lovat.

[1128] No. 39 of Appendix to Home.

[1129] No. 40 of Idem.

[1130] No. 30 of Idem.

[1131] Vide Letter from Sir Thomas in _Stuart Papers_, dated from the Castle of Blair, 8th December, 1746.

[1132] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1133] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 100.

[1134] Idem.

[1135] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1136] Maxwell of Kirkconnel.

[1137] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1138] Home, p. 194.

[1139] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 145.

[1140] Home, p. 197.

[1141] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 145.

[1142] Stewart’s Statement in _Jacobite Memoirs_. The statement given by Mr. Hume,--that Lady Mackintosh concealed Lord Loudon’s design from the prince, and that he knew nothing of his lordship’s march till next morning, is certainly erroneous. He says that “without saying a word to Charles or any of his company, she (Lady Mackintosh) ordered five or six of her people, well armed, under the conduct of a country smith, to watch the road from Inverness, and give notice if they should perceive any number of men coming towards Moy;” and that “Charles, for whose safety the lady had provided so effectually, knew nothing of Lord Loudon’s march till next morning; for he was up and dressed when the smith and his party came to Moy, and gave an account of their victory.” It is clear, however, that the blacksmith and his party were sent out by Lady Mackintosh before the arrival of the boy, as Gib, the prince’s master of the household, who was sleeping in his clothes in the Castle of Moy when the boy arrived, says expressly that the blacksmith’s adventure “happened much about the time when the boy (Lauchlan Mackintosh) arrived at Moy to give the alarm. It is probable, however, that the blacksmith and his party were sent out by Lady Mackintosh without the prince’s knowledge.”

[1143] Home, p. 198.

[1144] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 149.

[1145] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 104.

[1146] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1147] Home, p. 199. _Kirkconnel MS._

[1148] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 105.

[1149] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1150] Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 164. Johnstone gives an affecting account of the paternal anxiety of Scothouse when ordered to set out as one of the detachment to attack Lord Loudon. Not anticipating the landing of the prince in Scotland, he had applied for and obtained a commission for his son in Lord Loudon’s regiment, and his alarm now was lest his son should fall by his own hands.

[1151] _Lockhart Papers_, vol. ii. p. 305.

[1152] Vide Letter from Colonel Warren to the Chevalier de St. George, of 9th May, 1746, in the _Stuart Papers_.

[1153] Note by the Editor of Johnstone’s _Memoirs_, p. 155.

[1154] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 107.

[1155] Home, p. 205.

[1156] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 109.

[1157] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 110.

[1158] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1159] Idem.

[1160] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1161] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 112.

[1162] _Kirkconnel MS._

[1163] _Jacobite Memoirs_, p. 106. _Kirkconnel MS._

[1164] Idem.

[1165] _Scots Magazine._ Home, p. 212. _Kirkconnel MS._