|
Bonnie Prince Charlie
A quarter of a century
elapsed before the sword was again drawn, for the
last time, in the cause of the Stuarts. No event
in Scottish history has been the subject of deeper
or more enduring interest than the rising of 1745.
It is full of incidents of personal daring and
romantic adventure, and it has all the pathetic
interest which attaches to the last struggle of a
lost cause. In more ways than one it was, like the
Union, the “end of an auld sang.” Prince Charlie’s
departure for France ended the history of old
Scotland – the tumultuous and impoverished
Scotland of the Middle Ages – “loitering in the
rear of civilsation,” to use Mr. Froude’s phrase.
Then began the history of modern Scotland, the
prosperous agricultural, manufacturing, and
commercial Scotland in which we live. So vast has
been the change that it is not easy to realize
that the period which has elapsed between the
battle of Culloden and our own day does not exceed
the span of two long lives. [For example, in July
1897 there died in Dundee William Robertson, aged
ninety-seven, who was in early life a servant to
Colonel Alexander Macdonnell of Glengarry. While
in that situation he frequently met and conversed
with Owen Macdonnell, who had fought at
Prestonpans, Falkirk, and Culloden. Owen was then
nearing a hundred years old, and was full of
stories of the campaign. –
Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, July 12, 1897.]
After the failure of
the Spanish expedition of 1719, James Stuart, as
we have seen, returned to Italy. His marriage with
Princess Clementina Sobieska, which has already
been celebrated by proxy, took place at
Montefiascone in Setember 1719. Two sons were the
issue of the marriage, Charles Edward Louis Philip
Casimir, born in 1720, and Henry Benedict Maria
Thomas, born in 1725. The former was the Prince
Charlie of the ’45.
Early in life the heir
of the lost cause showed that he had inherited not
only the personal charm of the Stuarts, but no
small share of the valour and capacity of John
Sobieski. As a lad of fourteen he gave proof of
his courage at the siege of Gaeta. John Walton,
the agent of the English Government at Rome,
speaks with frank admiration of his bravery and
talents. “Everybody,” he writes, “says that he
will be in time a far more dangerous enemy to the
present establishment of the Government of England
than ever his father was.” [State Paper, Tuscany,
Aug. 7, 1734. Walton’s letters are full of
information about the Prince’s youth. See the
extremely interesting early chapters of Mr. A. C.
Ewald’s
Life and Times of Prince Charles Stuart.]
During the years
between 1720 and 1740 the history of Jacobitism is
that of a succession of fruitless intrigues.
Jacobite agents hung about every Court in Europe,
and the little exiled Stuart Court at Rome and
Albano was full of busy plotters, hatching
projects which came to nothing. In Scotland
Lockhart organized a body of “Trustees” to take
charge of James’s interests. This body was
regarded with much jealousy by those who
surrounded James in his exile, and appears never
to have received his formal authorisation. “They
had an opportunity,” says Burton, “for quarrelling
with the Jacobite clergy, and seem only to have
been saved from deeper quarrels with the Court of
Albano because neither body could find anything to
do or to quarrel about.”
In the meantime the
Government was taking such measures as seemed best
calculated to reduce the Highlands to order and
submission. No serious steps were taken to punish
those who had taken part in the affair of 1719; it
was evidently desired that the whole thing should
be allowed to blow over. Two disarming Acts were
passed, but were very imperfectly carried into
effect. Naturally, they were but obeyed by the
clans which were in the interest of the
Government. The disaffected clans gave up large
quantities of worthless arms – it was said that
some were imported from abroad for the purpose –
but, as afterwards appeared, they retained an
ample supply of efficient weapons. The chief
result of the Acts was to deprive the Government
of such assistance as they might have received on
emergency from the Campbells and other Whig
clans.
At the same time was
begun the enterprise of opening up the Highlands
by the great system of roads which is associated
with the name of General Wade. The main roads
actually constructed by Wade himself were (I) the
great Highland Road, which goes by Dunkeld and
Blair Atholl to Inverness, familiar to all
travelers by the Highland Railway; (2) a road
running from Stirling to Crieff, through Glen
Almond, past Loch Tay, and so north to join the
Highland road at Dalnacardoch; and (3) a road from
Inverness to Fort William, along what is now the
line of the Caledonian Canal. This last road was
connected with the Highland Road by a branch
passing over Corryarrack. As we shall see, this
branch was, for military purposes, or more use to
the Jacobites that it ever was to the Government.
Since the beginning of
the eighteenth century a number of independent
Highland companies had been maintained as a kind
of police force in the service of the Government.
It was Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President
of the Court of Session, one of the wisest and
most patriotic of Scottish statesmen, who first
suggested the idea of utilising the dangerous
warlike spirit of the clans by raising Highland
regiments for foreign service. The Forty-third
Regiment, afterwards the Forty-second, was
embodied in Strathtay in May of 1740. It inherited
from the old independent companies their name of
the Black Watch, which it has since made
illustrious throughout the world.
In 1739, much against
his will, Walpole declared war against Spain. It
seemed to the Scottish Jacobites that war with
France was inevitable, and that their opportunity
was come at last. In the beginning of 1740 some of
their leaders met at Edinburgh and framed an
“Association” engaging themselves to take arms and
venture their lives and fortunes to restore the
family of Stuart, provided that the King of France
would send over a body of troops to their
assistance. This document was signed by Lord
Lovat, James Drummond, titular Duke of Perth, Lord
Traquair, Sir James Cambell of Auchinbreck,
Cameron of Lochiel, John Stewart, brother of Lord
Traquair, and Lord John Drummond, and was
entrusted to Drummond of Balhaldy to be carried to
Rome. The French Court was approached, and was
lavish in its promises of aid. Cardinal Tencin,
who, on the death of Cardinal Fleury in January
1743, became Prime Minister to Louis XV., was
actively friendly to the Stuart cause. John Murray
of Broughton, who had now been constituted James’s
Secretary for Scottish affairs, was sent to Paris
to arrange the details of an invasion of Great
Britain. It was ultimately arranged that 3000
French troops should be sent to Scotland under the
Earl Marischal, while 12,000 under Marshal Saxe
were to be landed in England and to march to
London. Murray then proceeded to Scotland to
prepare the Jacobite clans to support the
projected invasion. The troops were assembled at
Dunkirk; a fleet was prepared at Brest and
Rochefort; and Prince Charles, with his father’s
permission, came to France to accompany the
expedition. “I go, Sire,” said he at parting with
James, “ in search of three crowns, which I doubt
not but to have the honour and happiness of laying
at your Majesty’s feet. If I fail in the attempt
your next sight of me shall be in my coffin.”
“Heaven forbid,” answered James, bursting into
tears, “that all the crowns of the world should
rob me of my son. Be careful of yourself, my dear
Prince, for my sake, and I hope for the sake of
millions.”
Charles reached Paris
on January 20, 1744, and the expedition was at
once put into motion. The British Government were
greatly alarmed, as the greater part of their
troops were in Flanders, the fleet was in the
Mediterranean, and there were only six ships of
the line ready at Spithead. However, the
expedition was attended with the usual ill-luck of
all Jacobite enterprises. Its fate is thus
described by Home in his
History of the Rebellion: “Orders were
immediately given to fit out and man all the ships
of war in the different ports of the Channel;
never were orders better obeyed, for the French
fleet having been driven down the Channel by a
strong gale of easterly wind, before they could
get up again Sir John Norris with twenty-one ships
of the line and a good many frigates arrived in
the Downs, where he lay watching the motions of
the transports at Dunkirk from the 16th
to the 23rd of February. That day an
English frigate came into the Downs with the
signal for seeing an enemy’s fleet flying at her
masthead. The English ships unmoored and, having
the tide with them, beat down the Channel against
a fresh gale of westerly wind; at four in the
afternoon the English fleet caught sight of the
French ships lying at anchor near Dungeness, but
as the tide was spent they also were obliged to
come to anchor. While the two fleets were in this
position, Marshal Saxe, who with the young
Pretender had come to Dunkirk that very day, was
embarking his troops as fast as possible. In the
evening the wind changed to the east and blew a
storm. The French ships, sensible of their
inferiority, as soon as it was dark cut their
cables and ran down the Channel. During the night
all the ships of the English fleet, two excepted,
parted their cables and drove. Both the fleets
were far enough from Dunkirk, and if the weather
had been moderate Marshal Saxe might have reached
England before Sir John Norris could have returned
to the Downs; but when the storm rose it stopped
embarkation, several transports were wrecked, a
good many soldiers and seamen perished, and a
great quantity of war-like stores was lost; the
English fleet returned to the Downs and the French
troops were withdrawn from the coast.”
This attempt to invade
Britain was followed by the formal declaration of
war with France. Charles, deeply mortified by the
failure of the enterprise, retired to Gravelines,
where he lived incognito during the summer of 1744
awaiting events. In the beginning of the following
winter he went to Paris, but found the French
Government not disposed to renew the attempt at
invasion.
The defeat of the
British army at Fontenoy in May 1745 at last
decided Charles to carry out a project which had
long been forming in his mind, namely, to wait no
longer for foreign aid, but to come to Scotland
himself, to throw himself upon the loyalty of his
own people, and with their help to make an attempt
to recover the crown of his fathers. Charles’s
project was not communicated by him to the French
Government; whether they knew of it or not they
gave it no overt support, but they threw no
obstacle in his way. There were then in Paris two
merchants of Irish descent, named Ruttledge and
Walsh, sons of refugees who had followed the
fortunes of James II. They had obtained from the
French Government an old man-of-war of 60 guns
called the
Elizabeth, and had also purchased a 16 gun
brig, the
Doutelle, which vessels they had equipped
for privateering purposes. These vessels were
placed at the disposal of the Prince. He borrowed
180,000 livres from his bankers, pawned his
jewels, and procured what arms he could – 1500
muskets, 1800 broad-swords, 20 field guns, and
ammunition. These were placed on board the
Elizabeth.
Charles did not
communicate his wild project to his father until
he was on the eve of sailing, and it was too late
to prevent it. “Let what will happen,” he wrote,
“the stroke is struck, and I have taken a firm
resolution to conquer or to die, and stand my
ground as long as I shall have a man remaining
with me.”
On June 22, 1745, he
went on board the
Doutelle at Nantes, accompanied by the
Marquis of Tullibardine, Sir John Macdonald, Ǽneas
Macdonald, Colonel Strickland, Sir Thomas
Sheridan, Captain O’Sulivan, George Kelly, Mr
Buchanan, and Anthony Walsh, the owner of the
ship. On July 4 the
Doutelle was joined at Belleisle by the
Elizabeth, and on the 5th the
expedition finally set sail for Scotland. Four
days after leaving Belleisle the ships were
encountered by an English man-of-war, the
Lion, under Captain Brett, who engaged the
Elizabeth. After six hours of sever
fighting both vessels drew off; the
Elizabeth being so much damaged that she
had to run back into Bret, carrying with her the
bulk of the money, arms, and stores which had been
provided for the expedition. Charles repeatedly
urged Walsh, who was in command of the
Doutelle, to bear down to the aid of the
Elizabeth, but Walsh absolutely refused to
risk the person of the Prince, kept at a distance
from the fight, and after it was over made sail
for Scotland. On July 23 the Prince landed on the
island of Eriska in the Hebrides.
On the day after the
Prince’s landing, Alexander Macdonald of Boisdale,
brother of Macdonald of Clanranald, came to meet
him. When he found upon what errand the Prince and
his companions were come to Scotland, “he did all
he could,” says Ǽneas Macdonald, “to prevail upon
them to return to France without making any
attempt to proceed.” [Narrative,
Lyon in Mourning.] He pointed out to the
Prince the madness of attempting to attack the
Government without foreign support, and implored
him to abandon his enterprise. Charles was
resolute. “If I can only get a hundred good,
stout, honest-hearted fellows to join me,” he
said, “I’ll make a trail of what I can do.” The
result was that Boisdale prevented all
Clanranald’s men that lived in South Uist and the
other islands, to the number of 400 or 500, from
joining the insurrection. The Prince, in the
meantime, sent a messenger to Sir Andrew Macdonald
of Sleat. Ǽneas Macdonald crossed to the mainland
to summon his brother, Macdonald of
Kinlochmoidart.
On the 25th
Charles himself crossed to Lochnanuagh and landed
at Borradale in Arisaig. On the following day
young Clanranald, Glenaladale, and a number of
other chiefs came in, and messengers were sent out
to summon others. The opinion of the chiefs was
unanimous that the enterprise was hopeless, and
that Charles ought to return, but the Prince’s
courage and resolution overcame all objections.
There was no more zealous Jacobite in Scotland
than Cameron of Lochiel, but even he thought that
there was not the least prospect of success. He
determined not to take arms, but came to Borradale
for the purpose of waiting on the Prince. On his
way he called at the house of his brother, John
Cameron of Fassefern. Home, who had the incident
from Fassefern himself, narrates what passed
between the brothers. Fassefern asked Lochiel what
was the matter that had brought him there at so
early an hour? Lochiel told him that the Prince
was landed at Borradale and had sent for him.
Fassefern asked what troops the Prince had brought
with him, what money, what arms. Lochiel answered
that he believed the Prince had bought with him
neither troops, nor money, nor arms, and,
therefore, he was resolved not to be concerned in
the affair, and would do his utmost to prevent
Charles from making a rash attempt. Fassefern
approved his brother’s sentiments, and applauded
his resolution; advising him at the same time not
to go any further on the way to Borradale, but to
come into the house and impart his mind to the
Prince by letter. “No,” said Lochiel, “I ought at
least to wait upon him and give my reasons for
declining to join him, which admit of no reply.”
“Brother,” said Fassefern, “I know you better than
you know yourself. If this Prince once sets his
eyes upon you he will make you do whatever he
pleases.” Fassefern was right. When Lochiel
arrived at Borradale he implored Charles to
abandon his enterprise and return. When Charles
absolutely refused Lochiel then begged him to
remain hid where he was till some of his friends
should meet together and consult what was best to
be done. Charles answered that he was determined
to put all to the hazard. “In a few days,” said
he, “with the few friends I have, I will erect the
royal standard, and proclaim to the people of
Britain that Charles Stuart has come over to claim
the crown of his ancestors, to win it, or to
perish in the attempt. Lochiel, who my father has
often told me was our firmest friend, may stay at
home and learn from the newspapers the fate of his
Prince.” Lochiel yielded. “No,” said he, “I will
share the fate of my Prince, and so shall every
man over whom nature or fortune hath given me any
power.
On Lochiel’s decision
depended the fate of the insurrection. It seems
clear that had he persisted in his refusal to join
the Prince very few other chiefs would have done
so. As it was, his example was followed by all the
Jacobite clans.
It was determined to
raise the standard of insurrection on August 19.
The
Doutelle, having discharged her stores, put
to sea on the 4th. On the 11th
the Prince went by sea to Kinlochmoidart; there he
remained to the 17th. In the meantime
the first blow had been struck. An English officer
named Captain Switenham, when on his way to take
command at Fort-William, was taken prisoner on the
14th; and two days later two companies
of the Royal Scots, who were on the march from
Perth to Fort-William, were attacked on the shores
of Loch Lochy by a force under Macdonald of
Tiendrish and made prisoners. On the 19th
the Prince went from Kinlochmoidart to Glenfinnan,
and there the standard of King James VIII. was
unfurled by the Marquis of Tullibardine. In the
course of the day the standard was joined by
Lochiel at the head of seven or eight hundred men,
and by Macdonald of Keppoch with about 300. The
Prince remained till the 22nd at
Kinlochiel, thence he marched by Fassefern, Moy,
and Letterfinlay to Invergarry Castle, which he
reached on the 26th. There he was
joined by Ardshiel with 260 men of the Stewarts of
Appin. Murray of Broughton, the Judas of the
cause, had joined the Prince on the 18th
at Kinlochmoidart. On the 25th he was
appointed secretary. On the 26th, at
Invergarry, a document was drawn up and signed by
all the chiefs present, pledging themselves not to
lay down their arms or make peace separately
without consent of the whole.
In the meantime the
authorities were not idle. To the Government
Charles’s landing had come as a bolt from the
blue. The first rumour of it which had reached
them was contained in a letter written by Lord
President Forbes to Henry Pelham, the Prime
Minister, on August 2.
Sir John Cope, then
commanding the troops in Scotland, is described by
Home as “one of those ordinary men who are fitter
for anything than the chief command in war,
especially when opposed, as he was, to a new and
uncommon enemy.” His incapacity to deal with the
terrible emergency with which he was confronted
has earned for him an immortality of ridicule,
perhaps not altogether deserved. The troops which
were at his disposal at the outbreak of the
insurrection were thus described by himself at the
inquiry into his conduct which subsequently took
place. “As much as I can remember on the 2nd
of July the troops in Scotland were quartered
thus: -
“Gardener’s Dragoons
at Stirling, Linlithgow, Musselburgh, Kelso, and
Coldstream.
“Hamilton’s ditto at Haddington, Dunse, and the
adjacent Places.
“N. B. – Both Regiment at grass.
“Guise’s Regiment of Foot at Aberdeen and the
Coast-Quarters.
“Five Companies of Lee’s at Dumfries, Stranraer,
Glasgow, and Stirling.
“Murray’s in the Highland Barracks.
“Lascells’s at Edenburgh and Leith.
“Two additional Companies of the Royal at Perth.
“Two ditto of the Scotch Fuziliers at Glasgow.
“Two ditto of Lord Semple’s at Cupar in Fife.
“Three ditto of Lord John Murray’s Highland
Regiment at Crieff.
“Lord Loudon’s Regiment was beginning to be
raised; and, besides these, there were the
Standing garrisons of invalids in the
Castles.
“N. B. – As to the
additional Companies of the Royal, Scotch
Fuziliers, and Semple’s, by reason of the draughts
made from them, and the difficulty the officers
met with in getting men, I believe, I may safely
say, that upon an average they did not exceed 25
Men per Company, and those all new-raised Men. The
three additional Companies of Lord John Murray’s,
I believe, might be pretty near complete; of these
three last I soon after sent one to Inverary, and
the other two, which I took with me, mouldered
away by desertion upon the March northward.”
Map to illustrate the
Rising of 1745
The first intimation
of the Prince’s landing reached Cope on August 8.
He at once ordered as many troops as could be
spared from the garrisons to concentrate at
Stirling in readiness for a march into the
Highlands. On the 19th he himself left
Edinburgh to take command of this force, leaving
General Guest at Edinburgh Castle in command of
the whole of the troops in the Lowlands. In the
meantime the Lord President had gone north to
raise the loyal clans for the Government.
Cope left Stirling on
the 20th with five companies of Lee’s,
Murray’s Regiment, and two companies of Lord
Murray’s Highland Regiment. He halted over the 21st
at Crieff to wait for provisions, and there was
joined by eight companies of Lascelles’s. On the
22nd he resumed his march to Amulree,
encountering the utmost difficulties as to
transport. Tay Bridge, now Aberfeldy, was reached
on the 23rd, Trinifuir on the 24th,
Dalnacardoch on the 25th, and
Dalwhinnie on the 26th.
At Dalnacardoch he was
met by Captain Switenham, who had been released by
the insurgents. Switenham informed him that the
Prince’s force was now some 3000 strong, and that
it was his purpose to march over Corryarrack and
descend into the Lowlands.
Cope’s intention had
been to march to Fort Augustus by the Corryarrack
road, and his first idea now was to attempt to
force the pass, but he was soon satisfied that to
attempt to do so in face of a determined enemy
would be to court certain destruction. On the
morning of the 27th he held a council
of war, consisting of all the field-officers and
commanders of corps in his army, to consider what
ought to be done. The council were unanimously of
opinion that an attack upon the pass was out of
the question; that to return to Stirling would
spread the insurrection by encouraging the
disaffected in the north, and would in itself be a
dangerous movement; and that to remain where they
were would not prevent the enemy from reaching the
low county. In these circumstances, it was
determined to continue the march northwards to
Inverness. This was done, and Inverness was
reached on August 29.
The Prince’s way to
the Lowlands was thus left clear. On the 28th
he marched over Corryarrack to Garvemore. It was
at first proposed to pursue Cope, but it was
considered that he had too long a start, and,
accordingly, it was decided to continue the march
to the south by Dalwhinnie and Dalnacardoch. Blair
Castle was reached on August 31, Dunkeld on
September 3, and on the evening of the 4th
the Prince entered Perth, and there proclaimed
King James VIII. At Perth he was joined by many
leading Jacobites, including the titular Duke of
Perth, Lord George Murray, Lord Ogilvie, Oliphant
of Gask, and the Chevalier Johnstone, well known
as one of the historians of the insurrection. Many
recruits came in, including 200 of Robertsons of
Struan, and many others from Atholl and the
surrounding districts. Something was done to
organize the army and to make commissariat
arrangements. A sum of £500 was exacted from the
city of Perth [The money was much needed. It was
said that when he reached Perth the Prince had
only a guinea in his pocket.] Various staff
appointments were made. Lord George Murray and the
Duke of Perth were appointed lieutenant-generals.
The former was not only a devoted Jacobite, but a
man of great capacity and of considerable military
experience. To him was due no small measure of the
success which afterwards attended the Prince’s
arms.
At Perth information
was received that Cope was collecting shipping at
Aberdeen in order to convey his troop once more to
the south. It was according determined to press on
southwards, and, if possible, to anticipate his
return by seizing Edinburgh. On the 11th
the Prince marched out of Perth, and on the same
night reached Dunblane. Next day he marched to
Doune, and on the following day crossed the Forth
at the Fords of Frew. Linlithgow was reached at
six in the morning of Sunday, September 15.
When it became known
that Cope had refused battle to the Jacobite army,
and that Prince Charles was actually advancing on
the Lowlands, the greatest alarm and confusion
prevailed in Edinburgh. The Jacobites were almost
openly triumphant, while the friends of Government
were thrown into the utmost consternation.
Edinburgh was almost defenceless, though it was
still nominally a fortified city. In those days,
it must be remembered, the appearance of the city
was very different from that which it now
presents. Neither the new Town nor the southern
suburbs were then in existence. The city was
bounded and defended on the north side by the Nor’
Loch, a swampy lake which covered the ground now
occupied by Princes Street Gardens; on the west,
south, and east is was surrounded by the old
Flodden wall, which ran from the West port out by
the Vennel to Heriot’s Hospital, thence round by
Potterrow to the east end of the Cowgate, then up
the hill to the Netherbow Port, which crossed the
High Street a little below the Tron Church, and so
down to the Nor’ Loch, separating the old town of
Edinburgh proper from the Canongate, which was
then a separate burgh. This wall, which was just a
strong park dyke, varying from ten to twenty feet
in height, was of little use as a defence in
modern warfare. No guns were mounted upon it,
indeed there were no platforms upon which guns
could be mounted. The wall had no re-entering
angles or flanking bastions; in many places houses
were built up against it. In some cases these
houses were commanded by higher houses opposite to
them, and outside the city; a continuous row of
such houses ran from the Cowgate to the Netherbow
Port. “The condition of the men who might be
called upon to defend them,” says Home, “was
pretty similar to that of the walls.” There was a
body of civic troops called the Trained Bands,
which nominally amounted to sixteen companies of
from 80 to 100 each, but these warriors were not
likely to prove very formidable in the field. Sir
Walter Scott says of them that for many years
their officers “had practiced no other martial
discipline than was implied in a particular mode
of flourishing their wine glasses on festive
occasions, and it was well understood that if
these militia were called on, a number of them
were likely enough to declare for Prince Charles,
and a much larger proportion would be unwilling to
put their persons and properties in danger for
either the one or the other side of the cause.”
Besides these, the only troops available for
defence were the men of the Town Guard, the old
“Town’s Rats,” 126 in number, Gardiner’s dragoons,
who had been left at Stirling, and had retreated
before the advancing Jacobites, and Hamilton’s
dragoons, who were encamped on Leith Links.
Notwithstanding these
disadvantages, it was resolved to make some effort
to defend the city. A meeting was held, at which
it was decided to strengthen the walls as well as
time would permit, and to raise a regiment of
volunteers. The friends of Government were much
encouraged by the arrival of Captain Rogers,
aide-de-camp to Cope, who arrived from the north
with the news that Cope was going to march his
troops from Inverness down to Aberdeen, and bring
them south by sea, in time, if possible, to save
Edinburgh. Their object, therefore, was to defend
the city until his arrival.
On September 6 a
petition was presented to the Town Council by
about 100 citizens praying that they might be
authorized to associate as volunteers for the
defence of the city. The number of volunteers
rapidly increased, and on September 11, six
captains, nominated by the Provost, were appointed
to the regiment. On the following day the
volunteers assembled in the College yards and were
told off into companies, and had arms and
accoutrements served out to them. In the meantime,
fortifications were added to the walls under the
direction of Colin Maclaurin, Professor of
Mathematics in the University. The volunteers were
instructed with all possible speed in the
rudiments of drill, and guns were obtained from
the ships at Leith and mounted on the walls.
On Sunday, September
15, it was rumoured that the van of the insurgents
had reached Kirkliston. It was now proposed that
Hamilton’s dragoons should march up from Leith to
join Gardiner’s at Corstorphine, and that this
force, supported by the city volunteers, should
give battle to the Highlanders in the open. Lord
Provost Stewart offered the services of 90 of the
City Guard. Accordingly, orders were issued by
General Guest to Hamilton’s dragoons to march up
to Edinburgh.
What happened on that
Sunday morning is graphically described by Scott:
“The fire – bell, an ominous and ill – chosen
signal, tolled for assembling the volunteers, and
so alarming a sound, during the time of Divine
service, dispersed those assembled for worship,
and brought out a large crowd of the inhabitants
to the street. The dragoon regiment appeared
equipped for battle. They huzza’d and clashed
their swords at sight of the volunteers, their
companions in peril, of which neither party were
destined that day to see much. But other sounds
expelled these warlike greetings from the ears of
the civic soldiers. The relatives of the
volunteers crowded around them, weeping,
protesting, and conjuring them not to expose lives
so invaluable to their families to the broadswords
of the savage Highlanders. There is nothing of
which men in general are more easily persuaded,
than of the extreme value of their own lives; nor
are they apt to estimate them more lightly when
they see they are highly prized by others. A
sudden change of opinion took place among the
body. In some companies the men said that their
officers would not lead them on; in others, the
officers said that the privates would not follow
them. An attempt to march the corps towards the
West Port, which was their destined route for the
field of battle, failed. The regiment moved,
indeed, but the files grew gradually thinner and
thinner as they marched down the Bow and through
the Grassmarket, and not above forty-five reached
the West Port. A hundred more were collected with
some difficulty, but is seems to have been under a
tacit condition that the march to Corstorphine
should be abandoned, for out of the city not one
of them issued. The volunteers were led back to
their alarm post and dismissed for the evening,
when a few of the most zealous left the town, the
defence of which began no longer to be expected,
and sought other fields in which to exercise their
valour.”
“We remember,” says
Scott, “an instance of a stout Whig and a very
worthy man, a writing-master by occupation, who
had esconced his bosom beneath a professional
cuirass, consisting of two quires of long foolscap
writing-paper; and, doubtful that even this
defence might be unable to protect his valiant
heart from the claymores, amongst which his
impulses might carry him, had written on the
outside, in his best flourish “This is the body of
J--- M---, pray give it Christian burial.’ Even
this hero, prepared as one practiced how to die,
could not find it in his heart to accompany the
devoted battalion further than the door of his own
house, which stood conveniently open about the
head of the lawmarket.”
It is all very well
for Sir Walter to make fun of these worthy
citizens, but probably they acted in the most
judicious possible manner. They were not soldiers
in any sense; they were entirely unaccustomed to
discipline and to the use of arms; had they gone
forth to encounter Lochiel’s fierce swordsmen they
would have been cut to pieces in ten minutes, and
their sacrifice would not have averted the capture
of the city, or even delayed it by a single day.
On the forenoon of the
following day, Monday the 16th, a
message was brought from the Jacobite camp by a
Writer to the Signet names Alves, who said that he
had been taken prisoner by the Jacobites, that he
had seen the Duke of Perth, and had received from
him a message to the inhabitants of Edinburgh to
the effect that it they would admit the prince
peaceably into the city they should be civilly
dealt with; if not, they must lay their account
with military execution. This increased the alarm
of the townsfolk, who now petitioned the Provost
to call a meeting to consider what should be done.
This the Porvost refused to do, as he considered
that with the aid of the two regiments of dragoons
the defence of the city might still be prolonged.
On Tuesday morning the Jacobites advanced to
Corstorphine. The dragoons had been drawn up by
Colonel Gardiner at Coltbridge to dispute their
passage. When the two forces came in sight of each
other some “young people well mounted,” belonging
to the Prince’s force, were ordered to ride out
and reconnoiter the dragoons. These “young people”
rode close up to the dragoons and fired their
pistols at them. Then ensued the “Canter of
Coltbrig.” The dragoons were seized with a general
panic, their officers in vain tried to rally them.
The men turned their horses’ heads and fled in the
utmost confusion. Between three and four o’clock
in the afternoon they galloped through the fields
by the Lang Dykes, where the New Town now stands,
in full view of the citizens. They never stopped
till they reached Leith; there they only made a
short halt. They continued their flight by
Musselburgh, and prepared to bivouac for the night
in a field near Preston Grange, but a cry was
raised that the Highlanders were coming, and these
cowardly troopers again fled, and only stopped
when they reached Dunbar. Nobody had made any
attempt to pursue them.
The city being thus
left defenceless, the townsfolk were driven to
desperation. A meeting of the Town Council has
hastily convened. The Provost sent to request the
attendance of the Lord Justice Clerk, the Lord
Advocate, and the Solicitor-General, in order that
they might assist the Council with their advice;
but these functionaries had discreetly left the
city when the danger became imminent. Many of the
citizens crowded into the Goldsmith’ Hall, where
the Town Council were assembled, clamouring for
surrender. The meeting was adjourned to the New
Church aisle. While the discussion was proceeding
there, a letter addressed to the Lord Provost,
Magistrates, and Town Council was handed in at the
door. On being opened it was found to be
subscribed “CHARLES, P. R.” After some discussion
the letter was read. It contained a summons to
surrender the city; protection was promised to the
liberties of the city and to private property;
“but,” it was continued, “if any opposition be
made to us we cannot answer for the consequences,
being firmly resolved at any rate to enter the
city, and in that case if any of the inhabitants
are found in arms against us, they must not expect
to be treated as prisoners of war.”
When this letter had
been read the cry for surrender became louder than
ever. It was agreed that a deputation should be
sent to wait on the Prince at Gray’s Mill, about
two miles from Edinburgh, where he was, to request
that hostilities should be suspended, in order to
give the citizens an opportunity of considering
the letter.
The deputation was not
long gone when news arrived which entirely altered
the aspect of affairs. This was that Cope’s
transports had arrived from Aberdeen and were
lying off Dunbar, where he proposed to disembark
his troops and to march immediately to the relief
of Edinburgh. Messengers were at once dispatched
to recall the deputation, but they were unable to
overtake it. Many of the more zealous citizens
wished to continue the defence, so as to give Cope
time to come up. However, this idea was abandoned,
as it was remembered that several magistrates and
town councilors were in the power of the
Highlanders, who were regarded as mere ruthless
savages, and who, it was considered, would, in the
event of hostilities being commenced, probably
hang them all. About ten o’clock at night the
deputies returned with a peremptory answer. “His
Royal Highness the Prince Regent,” wrote Secretary
Murray, “thinks his manifesto and the King his
father’s declaration, already published, a
sufficient capitulation for all His Majesty’s
subjects to accept of with joy. His present
demands are to be received into the city as the
son and representative of the King his father, and
obeyed as such when there . . . He expects a
positive answer before two o’clock in the morning,
otherwise he will think himself obliged to take
measures conform.” The unlucky bailies could think
of nothing better than “to send out deputies once
more to beg a suspension of hostilities till nine
o’clock in the morning, that the magistrates might
have an opportunity of conversing with the
citizens, most of whom had gone to bed.” A second
deputation accordingly started for Gray’s Mill
about two in the morning in a hackney-coach. The
Prince refused to see them or to grant any further
delay, and they were briefly ordered to “get them
gone.”
While these
negotiations were going on, the Jacobites, well
knowing the value of time, were quietly making
preparations to take the city by a
coup de main. About midnight Cameron of
Lochiel ordered his men to get under arms, and
very early in the morning a detachment, about 500
strong, started by moonlight from the Borough
Muir, guided by Murray of Broughton. They marched
round by Hope Park to the Netherbow Port,
preserving the strictest silence and keeping well
out of sight of the Castle. When they reached the
Netherbow, Lochiel placed twenty Camerons on each
side of the gate, and hid the rest of his men in
St. Mary’s Wynd and the adjoining streets. He then
sent forward a man in a riding-coat and
hunting-cap, who represented himself as the
servant of an English officer of dragoons, and
asked to be admitted. The guard, however, refused
to open the gat, and ordered the man to withdraw,
threatening to fire upon him.
Day was now breaking,
and Murray proposed that the detachment should
retire to St. Leonard’s Hill, and there await
further orders; but, just as they were about to
leave, a piece of good fortune enabled them to
effect their purpose. It will be remembered that
the second deputation sent out to treat with the
prince went in a hackney-coach. They returned to
Edinburgh in the same coach, and were set down in
the High Street. The driver had his stables in the
Canongate, so, after bringing back the deputation,
he had to pass through the Netherbow Port in order
to get home. He was known to the man on guard, and
accordingly, after some discussion, the gate was
opened to let him pass. Lochiel’s men instantly
rushed in and overpowered, disarmed, and made
prisoners of the guard. Parties were at once
detached to seize the other gates and the town
guard-house. This was quickly and easily done,
without bloodshed; “as quietly as one guard
relieves another,” says Home. This took place
about five in the morning, and the citizens were
presently awakened by the sound of the pibrock, to
find that the Highlanders were masters of
Edinburgh. [Lord Provost Archibald Stewart was
brought to trial in 1747 for neglect of duty and
misbehaviour in the execution of his office in
allowing the city so easily to fall into the hands
of the insurgents. The evidence at his trial is a
valuable source of information as to what took
place.]
About ten o’clock the
main body of the insurgents, having marched round
the south side of Edinburgh, entered the King’s
Park and halted in the Hunter’s Bog. Shortly
afterwards Charles himself appeared. A great crowd
of people was assembled in the park, one of the
spectators being John Home, the historian. He
gives a graphic picture of Charles’s appearance at
the time. “The figure and presence of Charles
Stuart were not ill-suited to his lofty
pretensions. He was in the prime of youth, tall
and handsome, of a fair complexion; he had a
light-coloured periwig, with his own hair combed
over the front; he wore the Highland dress – that
is, a tartan short-coat without the plaid, a blue
bonnet on his head, and on his breast the Star of
the Order of St. Andrew.” After standing for some
time in the park to show himself to the people,
Charles mounted his horse and rode to the door of
Holyrood. He was ushered into the palace of his
fathers by James Hepburn of Keith, one of the most
devoted of Jacobites and the model of a
high-minded and patriotic Scottish gentleman of
the old school.
At mid-day King James
VIII. was solemnly proclaimed at the Cross, and
the Commission of Regency was read, with the
declaration issued at Rome in 1743, and a
manifesto in the name of Charles as Prince Regent,
dated at Paris, May 16, 1745.
The next two days were
spent in Edinburgh. In the meantime Cope had
reached Dunbar. The two regiments of dragoons
which had fled from Edinburgh had come there on
the morning of the 17th, “in a
condition not very respectable.” The
disembarkation of the troops, artillery, and
stores was completed on the 18th, and
Cope found himself at the head of a force of some
2000 men.
Home had made his way
to Dunbar, and by him Cope was furnished with
detailed information as to the strength and
condition of the Highland army. “He was
persuaded,” he said, “that the whole number of
Highlanders whom he saw within and without the
town did not amount to 2000 men; but he was told
that several bodies of men from the north were on
their way, and expected very soon to join them at
Edinburgh . . . Most of them seemed to be
strong, active, and hardy men; many of them were
of very ordinary size, and if clothed like our
countrymen would, in his opinion, appear inferior
to the King’s troops. But the Highland garb
favoured them much, as it showed their naked
limbs, which were strong and muscular: their stern
countenances and bushy, uncombed hair gave them a
fierce, barbarous, and imposing aspect. As to
their arms,” he said, “that they had no cannon or
artillery of any sort but one small iron gun,
which he had seen without a carriage, lying upon a
cart drawn by a little Highland horse. That about
1400 of them were armed with firelocks and
broadswords; that their firelocks were not similar
or uniform, but of all sorts and sized – muskets,
fusees, and fowling-pieces; that some of the rest
had firelocks without swords, and some of them
swords without firelocks; that many of their
swords were not highland broadswords, but French;
that a company or two (about 100 men) had each of
them in his hand a shaft or a pitchfork with the
blade of a scythe fastened to it, somewhat like
the weapon called the Lochaber axe, which the Town
Guard soldiers carry. But all of them,” he added,
“would be soon provided with firelocks, as the
arms belonging to the Trained Bands of Edinburgh
had faller into their hands.”
On the 19th
of September, Cope left Dunbar, and marched
towards Edinburgh. “The people of the county,”
says Home, “long unaccustomed to war and arms
flocked from all quarters to see an army going to
fight a battle in East Lothian.” That night Cope
encamped in a field to the west of Haddington.
The Jacobite leaders
were unanimously resolved to march out and give
battle to Cope in the open. On the morning of
September 20, the Jacobite camp at Duddingston was
struck, and the army commenced its march
eastwards. On the same morning Cope resumed his
march towards Edinburgh by the high road from
Haddington. At Huntington he left the high road,
and followed the road passing through St. Germains
and Seton until he reached the open ground between
Seton and Preston, close to the sea.
From Duddingston the
Prince marched to Musselburgh, and there crossed
the Esk by the ancient bridge. Lord George Murray,
having received intelligence of Cope’s
whereabouts, considered that it was all-important
to attack him if possible from higher ground, and,
accordingly, the line of march was inclined to the
right. The height near Falside was occupied. The
route was then directed downhill towards Tranent,
and the army took up its position to the east of
that village. The enemies were now within sight of
each other, about half a mile apart. Cope had
expected to be attacked from the west, but as soon
as he saw the enemy appear on his left he changed
his front from west to south. On his right were
the village of Preston and the wall of Erskine of
Grange’s park, on his left the village of Seton,
in his rear Cockenzie and the sea, in his front
the enemy and the town of Tranent. The armies were
separated by a piece of impassable boggy ground,
which rendered a direct attack possible.
Battle of Prestonpans
The Jacobite leaders
wished to attack Cope at once, and Lord George
Murray sent down an officer to reconnoiter the
marsh. He reported that it was impossible to cross
it and attack the enemy in front without serious
loss. The Jacobites then moved to their left, and
took up a position opposite Preston Tower,
whereupon Cope resumed his first position, facing
Preston, with his right to the sea. Afterwards the
Highlanders returned to their former position, and
Cope did the same.
Both armies lay on
their arms all night. Charles and his officers
held a council of war, and resolved to attack at
daybreak, across the east end of the marsh.
There was in the
Jacobite army a Mr Robert Anderson, son of
Anderson of Whitburgh in East Lothian, who knew
the ground well, as he had often shot over it.
After the council of war had broken up, Anderson
came to Hepburn of Keith, and told him that he
could undertake to point out the place at which
the marsh could be safely crossed by troops,
without their being exposed to the enemy’s fire.
Hepburn sent Anderson to Lord George Murray. Lord
George at once saw the importance of the
information, and wakened the Prince. It was
decided that Anderson’s proposal should be
adopted. Orders were sent to recall Lord Nairn,
who had been detached with 500 men towards
Preston, to head off Cope from the Edinburgh road.
Before daybreak on the 21st the troops
were quietly got under arms, and marched off in
column, three deep, under Anderson’s guidance.
They passed to the east of Ringanhead Farm, across
the marsh, and then marched directly north towards
the sea until the rear of the column was on firm
ground. There they halted, and formed into two
lines to the left.
The first line
consisted of the Clanranald, Glengarry, and
Keppoch Macdonalds, under the Duke of Perth, on
the right, and the Macgregors, the Appin Stewarts,
and Lochiel’s men, under Lord George Murray, on
the left. The second line was commanded by Lord
Nairn, and consisted of the Antholl men, the
Struan Robertsons, the Glencoe Macdonalds, and the
Maclachlans. Charles took his place between the
lines.
Cope was taken
entirely by surprise. As the Highlanders were
crossing the marsh they were seen by some of his
cavalry pickets, who at once galloped in to give
the alarm. When he discovered that he was about to
be attacked from the east, he hastily changed his
front. His line of battle, as originally arranged,
had been as follows: Five companies of Lee’s
regiment on the right, Murray’s regiment on the
left, eight companies of Lascelles’s regiment and
two of Guise’s in the centre, two squadrons of
Gardiner’s dragoons on the right, and two on the
left. Apparently there was considerable confusion
in taking up the new ground. “The disposition was
the same,” says Home, “and each regiment in its
former place in the line, but the outguards of the
foot, not having time to find out the regiments to
which they belonged, placed themselves on the
right of Lee’s five companies, and did not leave
sufficient room for the two squadrons of dragoons
to form; so that the squadron which Colonel
Gardiner commanded was drawn up behind the other
squadron commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney.
The artillery with its guard, which had been on
the left and very near the line, was now on the
right, a little farther from the line, and in the
front of Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney’s squadron.”
[It is very difficult to arrive at any accurate
estimate of the number of troops engaged at
Prestonpans. Cope’s returns were lost, and the
figures given by himself at his trial were given
from memory. The evidence as to the number of the
forces on both sides is very contradictory. It
will be found reviewed in the Notes to the
Chevalier.]
The harvest had just
been got in, and the ground between the armies was
a wide, level stubble field, without a bush or
tree upon it. As the line of the clansmen began to
move forward to the sound of the pipes, the field
was still covered with a thick mist, but presently
the sun rose, the mist lifted, and the opposing
forces became clearly visible to each other. “The
King’s army,” says Home, who was an eye-witness,
“made a most gallant appearance, both horse and
foot, with the sun shining upon their arms.” But
once again the spectacle was seen of a regular
army swept away in a moment by the terrible charge
of the claymores. The battle was a mere rout; it
did not last five minutes. Home thus describes the
scene: “As the left wing of the rebel army had
moved before the right, their line was somewhat
oblique, and the Camerons, who were nearest the
King’s army, came up directly opposite to the
cannon, firing at the guard as they advanced. The
people employed to work the cannon, who were not
gunners or artillerymen, fled instantly. [“When
Sir John Cope marched with his army to the north,
there were no gunners or matrosses to be had in
Scotland but one old man who had belonged to the
Scots train of artillery before the Union. This
gunner and three old soldiers belonging to the
company of invalids in the garrison at the Castle
of Edinburgh, Sir John Cope carried along with him
to Inverness. When the troops came to Dunbar, the
King’s ship that escorted the transports furnished
Sir John Cope with some sailors to work the
cannon; but when the Highlanders came on, firing
as they advanced, the sailors, the gunner, and the
three old invalids ran away, taking the powder
flasks with them, so that Colonel Whiteford, who
fired five of the field pieces, could not fire the
sixth for want of priming. Sir John Cope had only
four field-pieces when he came to Inverness, but
he ordered two field-pieces to be taken from the
Castle there and added to his train.” – Home, p.
113,
note. At Prestonpans there were only from
ten to fifteen rounds of ammunition per gun.
Evidence of Robert Jack, Cope’s Trial.] Colonel
Whiteford fired five of the six field-pieces with
his own hand, which killed one private man and
wounded an officer in Lochiel’s regiment. The line
seemed to shake, but the men kept going on at a
great pace; Colonel Whitney was ordered to advance
with his squadron and attack the rebels before
they came up to the cannon: the dragoons moved
on, and were very near the cannon when they
received some fire which killed several men and
wounded Lieutenant-Colonel Whitney. The squadron
immediately wheeled about, rode over the artillery
guard, and fled. The men of the artillery guard,
who had given one fire, and that a very
indifferent one, dispersed, the Highlanders going
on without stopping to make prisoners. Colonel
Gardiner was ordered to advance with his squadron
and attack them, disordered as they seemed to be
with running over the cannon and the artillery
guard. The Colonel advanced at the head of his
men, encouraging them to charge; the dragoons
followed him a little way; but as soon as the fire
of the Highlanders reached them they reeled, fell
into confusion, and went off as the other squadron
had done. When the dragoons on the right of the
King’s army gave way, the Highlanders, most of
whom had their pieces still loaded, advanced
against the foot, firing as they went on. The
soldiers, confounded and terrified to see the
cannon taken and the dragoons put to flight, gave
their fire, it is said, without orders; the
companies of the outgruard being nearest the
enemy, were the first that fired, and the fire
went down the line as far as Murray’s regiment.
The Highlanders threw down their muskets, drew
their swords and ran on; the line of foot broke as
the fire had been given from right to left;
Hamilton’s dragoons, seeing what had happened on
the right, and receiving some fire at a good
distance from the Highlanders advancing to attack
them, they immediately wheeled about and fled,
leaving the flank of the foot unguarded. The
regiment which was next them (Murray’s) gave their
fire and followed the dragoons. In a very few
minutes after the first cannon was fired, the
whole army, both horse and foot, were put to
flight; none of the soldiers attempted to load
their pieces again, and not one bayonet was
stained with blood. In this manner the battle of
Preston was fought and won by the rebels; the
victory was complete, for all the infantry of the
King’s army were either killed or taken prisoners,
except about 170, who escaped by extraordinary
swiftness, or early flight.”
Johnstone’s
Memoirs (Ed. 1822), p. 29
et seq. The following are the figures as
given by Mr Blaikie (Itinerary, pp. 90 and 91), probably as
accurate an estimate as can be reached:
SIR JOHN COPE’S ARMY.
EXCLUSIVE OF OFFICERS,
SERGEANTS, DRUMS, ETC.
Rank and File.
Three Squadrons Gardiner’s Dragoons (13th
H.) . . . .
Three “ Hamilton’s “
(14th H.) . . . . 1567
Five Companies Lee’s Regiment (44th)
. . . . . . . 291
Murray’s Regiment (46th) . .
. . . . . . . . . . 580
Eight Companies Lascelles’s Regiment (47th)
. . . .
Two “ Guise’s
“ (6th) . . . . .
1570
Five Weak Companies of Highlanders of Lord John
Murray’s Regiment (42nd), and Lord
Loudon’s Regiment 183
Drummond’s (Edinburgh) Volunteers . . . .
. . . . 16
2207
Add same proportion of officers, sergeants, drums,
etc., as recorded at Culloden (16 per
cent.) . . . 353
TOTAL 2560
Six guns and some cohorns (mortars).
They had no gunners; Lt. Colonel Whiteford
(Marines) served the guns with his own hands, and
Mr Griffith (Commissary) the cohorns.
THE PRINCE’S ARMY.
Clanranald . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 200
Lochiel . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 700
Keppoch . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 300
Stewart of Appin . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
260
Glengarry . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 400
Glencoe . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 120
Robertson of Struan . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 200
Duke of Perth . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 150
Maclochlans . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 150
Lord Nairn . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 150
Grants of Glenmoriston . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 100
Cavalry . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
50
2880
Less dismissed by Liochiel, August 30 . .
. . . . . . .
150
2730
Allowance for desertion by Keppoch’s men (Aug 27),
and a further allowance for leakage owing to
desertion, illness, guards, etc., less a few men
recruited in Edinburgh 150
|
