THE ENGLISH TAKE CAPE BRETON
The naval transactions of Great Britain were in the course of this year remarkably spirited. In the Mediterranean, admiral Rowley had succeeded Matthews in the command; Savona, Genoa, Final, St. Remo, with Bastia, the capital of Corsica, were bombarded; several Spanish ships were taken; but he could not prevent the safe arrival of their rich Havannah squadron at Corunna. Commodore Barnet, in the East Indies, made prize of several French ships richly laden; and commodore Townshend, in the latitude of Martinico, took about thirty merchant ships belonging to the enemy, under convoy of four ships of war, two of which were destroyed. The English privateers likewise met with uncommon success. But the most important achievement was the conquest of Louisbourg on the isle of Cape Breton, in North America; a place of great consequence, which the French had fortified at a prodigious expense. The scheme of reducing this fortress was planned in Boston, recommended by their general assembly, and approved by his majesty, who sent instructions to commodore Warren, stationed off the Leeward Islands, to sail for the northern parts of America, and co-operate with the forces of New England in this expedition. A body of six thousand men was formed under the conduct of Mr. Pepperel, a trader of Piscataquay, whose influence was extensive in that country; though he was a man of little or no education, and utterly unacquainted with military operations. In April Mr. Warren arrived at Canso with ten ships of war; and the troops of New England being embarked m transports, sailed immediately for the isle of Cape Breton, where they landed without opposition. The enemy abandoned their grand battery, which was detached from the town; and the immediate seizure of it contributed in a good measure to the success of the enterprise. While the American troops, reinforced by eight hundred marines, carried on their approaches by land, the squadron blocked up the place by sea in such a manner that no succours could be introduced. A French ship of the line, with some smaller vessels destined for the relief of the garrison, were intercepted and taken by the British cruisers; and, indeed, the reduction of Louisbourg was chiefly owing to the vigilance and activity of Mr. Warren, one of the bravest and best officers in the service of England. The operations of the siege were wholly conducted by the engineers and officers who commanded the British marines; and the Americans, being ignorant of war, were contented to act under their directions. The town being considerably damaged by the bombs and bullets of the besiegers, and the garrison despairing of relief, the governor capitulated on the seventeenth day of June, when the city of Louisbourg, and the isle of Cape Breton, were surrendered to his Britannic majesty. The garrison and inhabitants engaged that they would not bear arms for twelve months against Great Britain or her allies; and being-embarked in fourteen cartel ships, were transported to Rochefort. In a few days after the surrender of Louisbourg, two French East India ships, and another from Peru, laden with treasure, sailed into the harbour on the supposition that it still belonged to France, and were taken by the English squadron.
The news of this conquest being transmitted to England, Mr. Pepperel was preferred to the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain, and congratulatory addresses were presented to the king on the success of his majesty’s arms. The possession of Cape Breton was, doubtless, a valuable acquisition to Great Britain. It not only distressed the French in their fishery and navigation, but removed all fears of encroachment and rivalship from the English fishers on the banks of Newfoundland. It freed New England from the terrors of a dangerous neighbour; overawed the Indians of that country; and secured the possession of Acadia to the crown of Great Britain. The plan of this conquest was originally laid by Mr. Auchmuty, judge-advocate of the court of admiralty in New England. He demonstrated, that the reduction of Cape Breton would put the English in sole possession of the fishery of North America, which would annually return to Groat Britain two millions sterling, for the manufactures yearly shipped to the plantations; employ many thousand families that were otherwise unserviceable to the public; increase the shipping and mariners; extend navigation; cut off all communication between France and Canada by the river St. Lawrence; so that Quebec would fall of. course into the hands of the English, who might expel the French entirely from America, open a correspondence with the remote Indians, and render themselves masters of the profitable fur-trade, which was now engrossed by the enemy. The natives of New England acquired great glory from the success of this enterprise. Britain, which had in some instances behaved like a step-mother to her own colonies, was now convinced of their importance; and treated those as brethren whom she had too long considered as aliens and rivals. Circumstanced as the nation is, the legislature cannot too tenderly cherish the interests of the British plantations in America. They are inhabited by a brave, hardy, industrious people, animated with an active spirit of commerce; inspired with a noble zeal for liberty and independence. The trade of Great Britain, clogged with heavy taxes and impositions, has for some time languished in many valuable branches. The French have undersold our cloths, and spoiled our markets in the Levant. Spain is no longer supplied as usual with the commodities of England; the exports to Germany must be considerably diminished by the misunderstanding between Great Britain and the house of Austria; consequently, her greatest resource must be in her communication with her own colonies, which consume her manufactures, and make immense returns in sugar, rum, tobacco, fish, timber, naval stores, iron, furs, drugs, rice, and indigo. The southern plantations likewise produce silk; and with due encouragement, might furnish every thing that could be expected from the most fertile soil and the happiest climate. The continent of North America, if properly cultivated, will prove an inexhaustible fund of wealth and strength to Great Britain; and perhaps it may become the last asylum of British liberty. When the nation is enslaved by domestic despotism or foreign dominion; when her substance is wasted, her spirit broke, and the laws and constitution of England are no more; then those colonies, sent off by our fathers, may receive and entertain their sons as hapless exiles and ruined refugees.
PROJECT OF AN INSURRECTION IN GREAT BRITAIN.
While the continent of Europe and the isles of America were thus exposed to the ravages of war, and subjected to such vicissitudes of fortune, Great Britain underwent a dangerous convulsion in her own bowels. The son of the chevalier de St. George, fired with ambition, and animated with the hope of ascending the throne of his ancestors, resolved to make an effort for that purpose, which, though it might not be crowned with success, should at least astonish all Christendom. The Jacobites in England and Scotland had promised, that if he would land in Britain at the head of a regular army, they would supply him with provisions, carriages, and horses, and a great number of them declared they would take up arms and join his standard; but they disapproved of his coming over without forces, as a dangerous enterprise, that would in all probability end in the ruin of himself and all his adherents. This advice, including an exact detail of his father’s interest, with the dispositions of his particular friends in every town and county, was transmitted to London in January, in order to be forwarded to prince Charles; but the person with whom it was intrusted could find no safe method of conveyance; so that he sent it back to Scotland, from whence it was despatched to France; but before it reached Paris, Charles had left that kingdom. Had the paper come to his hands in due time, perhaps he would not have embarked in the undertaking, though he was stimulated to the attempt by many concurring motives. Certain it is, he was cajoled by the sanguine misrepresentations of a few adventurers, who hoped to profit by the expedition. They assured him that the whole nation was disaffected to the reigning family; that the people could no longer bear the immense load of taxes, which was daily increasing; and that the most considerable persons of the kingdom would gladly seize the first opportunity of crowding to his standard. On the other hand, he knew the British government had taken some effectual steps to alienate the friends of his house from the principles they had hitherto professed. Some of them had accepted posts and pensions; others were preferred in the army; and the parliament were so attached to the reigning family, that he had nothing to hope from their deliberations. He expected no material succour from the court of France; he foresaw that delay would diminish the number of his adherents in Great Britain; and, therefore, resolved to seize the present occasion, which in many respects was propitious to his design. Without doubt, had he been properly supported, he could not have found a more favourable opportunity of exciting an intestine commotion in Great Britain; for Scotland was quite unfurnished with troops; king George was in Germany; the duke of Cumberland, at the head of the British army, was employed in Flanders, and great part of the highlanders were keen for insurrection. Their natural principles were on this occasion stimulated by the suggestions of revenge. At the beginning of the war a regiment of those people had been formed, and transported with the rest of the British troops to Flanders. Before they were embarked, a number of them deserted with their arms, on pretence that they had been decoyed into the service by promises and assurances that they should never be sent abroad; and this was really the case. They were overtaken by a body of horse, persuaded to submit, brought back to London pinioned like malefactors, and tried for desertion. They were shot to death in terrorem; and the rest were sent in exile to the plantations. Those who suffered were persons of some consequence in their own country; and their fate was deeply resented by the clans to which they belonged. It was considered as a national outrage; and the highlanders, who are naturally vindictive, waited impatiently for an opportunity of vengeance.
THE ELDEST SON OF THE CHEVALIER DE ST. GEORGE LANDS IN SCOTLAND.
The young pretender being furnished with a sum of money, and a supply of arms, on his private credit, with-out the knowledge of the French court, wrote letters to his friends in Scotland, explaining his design and situation, intimating the place where he intended to land, communicating a private signal, and assuring them he should be with them by the middle of June. These precautions being taken, he embarked on board of a small frigate at Port St. Nazaire, accompanied by the marquis of Tullibardine, sir Thomas Sheridan, sir John Macdonald, with a few other Irish and Scottish adventurers; and setting sail on the fourteenth of July, was joined off Belleisle by the Elizabeth, a French ship of war, mounted with sixty-six guns, as his convoy. *
* The Elizabeth, a king’s ship, was procured as a convoy, by the interest of Mr. Walsh, an Irish merchant at Nantes; and on board of her fifty French young gentlemen embarked as volunteers.
Their design was to sail round Ireland, and land in the western part of Scotland; but falling in with the Lion, an English ship of the line, a very obstinate and bloody action ensued. The Elizabeth was so disabled that she could not prosecute the voyage, and with difficulty reached the harbour of Brest; but the Lion was shattered to such a degree, that she floated like a wreck upon the water. The disaster of the Elizabeth was a great misfortune to the adventurer, as by her being disabled he lost a great quantity of arms, and about one hundred able officers, who were embarked on board of her for the benefit of his expedition. Had this ship arrived in Scotland, she could easily have reduced Fort William, situated in the midst of the clans attached to the Stuart family. Such a conquest, by giving lustre to the prince’s arms, would have allured many to his standard, who were indifferent in point of principle; and encouraged a great number of highlanders to join him, who were restricted by the apprehension, that their wives and families would be subject to insults from the English garrison of this fortress. Prince Charles, in the frigate, continued his course to the western isles of Scotland. After a voyage of eighteen days he landed on a little island between Barra and South-Inst, two of the Hebrides; then he re-embarked, and in a few days arrived at Borodale in Amsacy, on the confines of Lochnannach, where he was in a little time joined by a considerable number of hardy mountaineers, under their respective chiefs and leaders. On the nineteenth day of August, the marquis of Tullibardine erected the pretender’s standard at Glensinnan. Some of those, however, on whom Charles principally depended, now stood aloof, either fluctuating in their principles, astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, or startled at the remonstrances of their friends, who did not fail to represent, in aggravated colours, all the danger of embarking in such a desperate enterprise. Had the government acted with proper vigour when they received intelligence of his arrival, the adventurer must have been crushed in embryo, before any considerable number of his adherents could have been brought together; but the lords of the regency seemed to slight the information, and even to suspect the integrity of those by whom it was conveyed. They were soon convinced of their mistake. Prince Charles having assembled about twelve hundred men, encamped in the neighbourhood of Fort William; and immediately hostilities were commenced. A handful of Keppoch’s clan, commanded by major Donald Macdonald, even before they joined the pretender, attacked two companies of new raised soldiers, who, with their officer, were disarmed after an obstinate dispute; another captain of the king’s forces, falling into their hands, was courteously dismissed with one of the pretender’s manifestoes, and a passport for his personal safety. The administration was now effectually alarmed. The lords of the regency issued a proclamation offering a reward of thirty thousand pounds to any person who should apprehend the prince-adventurer. The same price was set upon the head of the elector of Hanover, in a proclamation published by the pretender. A courier was despatched to Holland to hasten the return of his majesty, who arrived in England about the latter end of August. A requisition was made of the six thousand Dutch auxiliaries; and several British regiments were recalled from the Netherlands. A loyal address was presented to the king by the city of London; and the merchants of this metropolis resolved to raise two regiments at their own expense. Orders were issued to keep the trained bands in readiness; to array the militia of Westminster; and instructions to the same effect were sent to all the lords-lieutenants of the counties throughout the kingdom. The principal noblemen of the nation made a tender of their services to their sovereign; and some of them received commissions to levy regiments towards the suppression of the rebellion. Bodies of volunteers were incorporated in London and many other places; associations were formed, large contributions raised in different towns, counties, and communities; and a great number of eminent merchants in London agreed to support the public credit, by receiving, as usual, bank-notes in payment for the purposes of traffic. The protestant clergy of all denominations exerted themselves with extraordinary ardour, in preaching against the religion of Rome and the pretender; and the friends of the government were encouraged, animated, and confirmed in their principles, by several spiritual productions published for the occasion.
In a word, the bulk of the nation seemed unanimously bent upon opposing the enterprise of the pretender, who, nevertheless, had already made surprising progress. His arrival in Scotland was no sooner confirmed, than sir John Cope, who commanded the troops in that kingdom, assembled what force he could bring together, and advanced against the rebels. Understanding, however, that they had taken possession of a strong pass, he changed his route, and proceeded northwards as far as Inverness, leaving the capital and the southern parts of North Britain wholly exposed to the incursions of the enemy. The highlanders forthwith marched to Perth, where the chevalier de St. George was proclaimed king of Great Britain, and the public money seized for his use; the same steps were taken at Dundee and other places. Prince Charles was joined by the nobleman who assumed the title of the duke of Perth, the viscount Strathallan, lord Nairn, lord George Murray, and many persons of distinction, with their followers. The marquis of Tullibardine, who had accompanied him from France, took possession of Athol, as heir of blood to the titles and estates which his younger brother enjoyed in consequence of his attainder; and met with some success in arming the tenants for the support of that cause which he avowed. The rebel army being considerably augmented, though very ill-provided with arms, crossed the Forth in the neighbourhood of Stirling, and advanced towards Edinburgh, where they were joined by lord Eleho, son of the earl of Wemyss, and other persons of some distinction. On the sixteenth day of September Charles summoned the town to surrender. The inhabitants were divided by faction, and distracted by fear; the place was not in a posture of defence, and the magistrates would not expose the people to the uncertain issue of an assault. Several deputations were sent from the town to the pretender, in order to negotiate terms of capitulation. In the meantime, one of the gates being opened for the admission of a coach, Cameron of Lochiel, one of the most powerful of the highland chiefs, rushed into the place with a party of his men, and secured it without opposition. Next morning the whole rebel army entered, and their prince took possession of the royal palace of Holyrood-house in the suburbs. Then he caused his father to be proclaimed at the market-cross; there also the manifesto was read, in which the chevalier de St. George declared his son Charles regent of his dominions, promised to dissolve the union, and redress the grievances of Scotland. His being in possession of the capital encouraged his followers, and added reputation to his arms; but the treasure belonging to the two banks of that kingdom had been previously conveyed into the castle, a strong fortress, with a good garrison, under the command of general Guest, an old officer of experience and capacity.
During these transactions, sir John Cope marched back from Inverness to Aberdeen, where he embarked with his troops, and on the seventeenth day of September landed at Dunbar, about twenty miles to the eastward of Edinburgh. Here he was joined by two regiments of dragoons which had retired with precipitation from the capital at the approach of the highland army. With this reinforcement, his troops amounted to near three thousand men; and he began his march to Edinburgh, in order to give battle to the enemy. On the twentieth day of the month, he encamped in the neighbourhood of Prestonpans, having the village of Tranent in his front, and the sea in his rear. Early next morning he was attacked by the young pretender, at the head of about two thousand four hundred highlanders, half-armed, who-charged them sword in hand with such impetuosity, that in less than ten minutes after the battle began, the king’s troops were broken and totally routed. The dragoons fled in the utmost confusion at the first onset; the general officers having made some unsuccessful efforts to rally them, thought proper to consult their own safety by an expeditious retreat towards Coldstream on the Tweed. All the infantry were either killed or taken; and the colours, artillery, tents, baggage, and military chest, fell into the hands of the victor, who returned in triumph to Edinburgh. Never was victory more complete, or obtained at a smaller expense; for not above fifty of the rebels lost their lives in the engagement. Five hundred of the king’s troops were killed on the field of battle; and among these colonel Gardiner, a gallant officer, who disdained to save his life at the expense of his honour. When abandoned by his own regiment of dragoons, he alighted from his horse, joined the infantry, and fought on foot, until he fell covered with wounds, in sight of his own threshold. Prince Charles bore his good fortune with moderation; he prohibited all rejoicings for the victory he had obtained; the wounded soldiers were treated with humanity; and the officers were sent into Fife and Angus, where they were left at liberty on their parole, which the greater part of them shamefully broke in the sequel. From this victory the pretender reaped manifold and important advantages. His followers were armed, his party encouraged, and his enemies intimidated. He was supplied with a train of field artillery, and a considerable sum of money, and saw himself possessed of all Scotland, except the fortresses, the reduction of which he could not pretend to undertake without proper implements and engineers. After the battle he was joined by a small detachment from the highlands; and some chiefs, who had hitherto been on the reserve, began to exert their influence in his favour. But he was not yet in a condition to take advantage of that consternation which his late success had diffused through the kingdom of England.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
EFFORTS OF THE FRIENDS OF GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND.
Charles continued to reside in the palace of Holyrood-house; * and took measures for cutting off the communication between the castle and the city.
* While he resided at Edinburgh, some of the presbyterian clergy continued to preach in the churches of that city, and publicly prayed for king George, without suffering the least punishment or molestation. One minister in particular, of the name of Mac Vicar, being solicited by some highlanders to pray for their prince, promised to comply with their request, and performed his promise in words to this effect— “And as for the young prince, who is come hither in quest of an earthly crown, grant, O Lord, that he may speedily receive a crown of glory.”
General Guest declared that he would demolish the city, unless the blockade should be raised, so that provisions might be carried into the castle. After having waited the return of an express which he had found means to despatch to court, he began to put his threats in execution by firing upon the town. Some houses were beaten down, and several persons killed even at the market-cross. The citizens, alarmed at this disaster, sent a deputation to the prince, entreating him to raise the blockade; and he complyed with their request. He levied a regiment in Edinburgh and the neighbourhood. He imposed taxes; seized the merchandize that was deposited in the king’s warehouses at Leith and other places; and compelled the city of Glasgow to accommodate him with a large sum, to be repaid when the peace of the kingdom should be re-established. The number of his followers daily increased, and he received considerable supplies of money, artillery, and ammunition, by single ships that arrived from France, where his interest seemed to rise in proportion to the success of his arms. The greater and richer part of Scotland was averse to his family and pretensions; but the people were unarmed and undisciplined, consequently passive under his dominion. By this time, however, the prince-pretender was joined by the earl of Kilmarnock, the lords Eleho, Balmerino, Ogilvie, Pitsligo; and the eldest son of lord Lovat had begun to assemble his father’s clan, in order to reinforce the victor, whose army lay encamped at Duddingston, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. Kilmarnock and Balmarinowere men of broken and desperate fortune; Elcho and Ogilvie were sons to the earls of Wemyss and Airly; so that their influence was far from being extensive. Pitsligo was a nobleman of very amiable character, as well as of great personal interest; and great dependence was placed upon the power and attachment of lord Lovat, who had entered into private engagements with the chevalier de St. George, though he still wore the mask of loyalty to the government, and disavowed the conduct of his son when he declared for the pretender. This old nobleman is the same Simon Fraser whom we have had occasion to mention as a partisan and emissary of the court of St. Germain’s, in the year one thousand seven hundred and three. He had renounced his connexions with that family; and, in the rebellion immediately after the accession of king George I., approved himself a warm friend to the protestant succession. Since that period he had been induced, by disgust and ambition, to change his principles again, and was in secret an enthusiast in jacobitism. He had greatly augmented his estate, and obtained a considerable interest in the highlands, where, however, he was rather dreaded than beloved. He was bold, enterprising, vain, arbitrary, rapacious, cruel, and deceitful; but his character was chiefly marked by a species of low cunning and dissimulation, which, however, overshot his purpose, and contributed to his own ruin.*
*He solicited, and is said to have obtained of the chevalier de St. George the patent of a duke, and a commission for being lord-lieutenant of all the highlands.
While Charles resided at Edinburgh, the marquis de Guil-les arrived at Montrose, as envoy from the French king, with several officers, some cannon, and a considerable quantity of small arms for the use of that adventurer.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN IN ENGLAND.
While the young pretender endeavoured to improve the advantages he had gamed, the ministry of Great Britain took every possible measure to retard his progress. Several powerful chiefs in the highlands were attached to the government, and exerted themselves in its defence. The duke of Argyle began to arm his vassals; but not before he had obtained the sanction of the legislature. Twelve hundred men were raised by the earl of Sutherland; the lord Rae brought a considerable number to the field; the Grants and Monroes appeared under their respective leaders for the service of his majesty; sir Alexander Macdonald declared for king George, and the laird of Macleod sent two thousand hardy islanders from Skye to strengthen the same interest. These gentlemen, though supposed to be otherwise affected, were governed and directed by the advice of Duncan Forbes, president of the college of justice at Edinburgh, a man of extensive knowledge, agreeable manners, and unblemished integrity. He procured commissions for raising twenty independent companies, and some of these he bestowed upon individuals who were either attached by principle, or engaged by promise, to the pretender. He acted with indefatigable zeal for the interest of the reigning family; and he greatly injured an opulent fortune in their service. He confirmed several chiefs who began to waiver in their principles; some he actually converted by the energy of his arguments, and brought over to the assistance of the government, which they had determined to oppose; others he persuaded to remain quiet, without taking any share in the present troubles. Certain it is, this gentleman, by his industry and address, prevented the insurrection of ten thousand highlanders, who would otherwise have joined the pretender; and, therefore, he may be said to have been one great cause of that adventurer’s miscarriage. The earl of Loudon repaired to Inverness, where he completed his regiment of highlanders; directed the conduct of the clans who had taken arms in behalf of his majesty; and, by his vigilance, overawed the disaffected chieftains of that country, who had not yet openly engaged in the rebellion. Immediately after the defeat of Cope, six thousand Dutch troops* arrived in England, and three battalions of guards, with seven regiments of infantry, were recalled from Flanders, for the defence of the kingdom.
* They were composed of the forces who had been in garrison at Tournay and Dendermonde when those places were taken, and engaged by capitulation, that they should not perform any military function before the first day of January, in the year 1747; so they could not have acted in England without the infringement of a solemn treaty.
They forthwith began their march to the north, under the command of general Wade, who received orders to assemble an army, which proceeded to Newcastle. The parliament meeting on the sixteenth day of October, his majesty gave them to understand, that an unnatural rebellion had broke out in Scotland, towards the suppression of which he craved their advice and assistance. He found both houses cordial in their addresses, and zealous in their attachment to his person and government. The commons forthwith suspended the habeas-corpus act; and several persons were apprehended on suspicion of treasonable practices. Immediately after the session was opened, the duke of Cumberland arrived from the Netherlands, and was followed by another detachment of dragoons and infantry. The train-bands of London were reviewed by his majesty; the county regiments were completed; the volunteers, in different parts of the kingdom, employed themselves industriously in the exercise of arms; and the whole English nation seemed to rise up as one man against this formidable invader. The government being apprehensive of a descent from France, appointed admiral Vernon to command a squadron in the Downs, to observe the motions of the enemy by sea, especially in the harbours of Dunkirk and Boulogne; and his cruisers took several ships laden with soldiers, officers, and ammunition, destined for the service of the pretender in Scotland.
This enterprising youth, having collected about five thousand men, resolved to make an irruption into England, which he accordingly entered by the west border on the sixth day of November. Carlisle was invested, and in less than three days surrendered; the keys were delivered to him at Brampton, by the mayor and aldermen on their knees. Here he found a considerable quantity of arms; his father was proclaimed king of Great Britain, and himself regent, by the magistrates in their formalities. General Wade being apprized of his progress, decamped from Newcastle, and advanced across the country as far as Hexham, though the fields were covered with snow, and the roads almost impassable. There he received intelligence that Carlisle was reduced, and forthwith returned to his former station, In the meantime, orders were issued for assembling another army in Staffordshire, under the command of sir John Ligonier. Prince Charles, notwithstanding this formidable opposition, determined to proceed. He had received assurances from France, that a considerable body of troops would be landed on the southern coast of Britain, to make a diversion in his favour; and he never doubted but that he should be joined by all the English malcontents, as soon as he could penetrate into the heart of the kingdom. Leaving a small garrison in the castle of Carlisle, he advanced to Penrith, marching on foot in the highland garb, at the head of his forces; and continued his route through Lancaster and Preston to Manchester, where on the twenty-ninth day of the month, he established his head quarters. There he was joined by about two hundred Englishmen, who were formed into a regiment under the command of colonel Townley. The inhabitants seemed to receive him with marks of affection; and his arrival was celebrated by illuminations and other public rejoicings. His supposed intention was to prosecute his march by the way of Chester into Wales, where he hoped to find a great number of adherents; but all the bridges over the river Mersey being broken down, he chose the route to Stockport, and forded the river at the head of his division, though the water rose to his middle. He passed through Macclesfield and Congleton; and on the fourth day of December entered the town of Derby, in which his army was quartered and his father proclaimed with great formality. He had now advanced within one hundred miles of the capital, which was filled with terror and confusion. Wade lingered in Yorkshire; the duke of Cumberland had assumed the command of the other army assembled in the neighbourhood of Lichfield. He had marched from Stafford to Stone; so that the rebels, in turning off from Ashbourne to Derby, had gained a march between him and London. Had Charles proceeded in his career with that expedition which he had hitherto used, he might have made himself master of the metropolis, where he would have been certainly joined by a considerable number of his well wishers, who waited impatiently for his approach; yet this exploit could not have been achieved without hazarding an engagement, and running the risk of being enclosed within three armies, each greatly superior to his own in number and artillery. Orders were given for forming a camp on Finchley-common, where the king resolved to take the field in person, accompanied by the earl of Stair, field-marshal and commander-in-chief of the forces in South-Britain. Some Romish priests were apprehended; the militia of London and Middlesex were kept in readiness to march; double watches were posted at the city-gates, and signals of alarm appointed. The volunteers of the city were incorporated into a regiment; the practitioners of the law, headed by the judges, weavers of Spitalfields, and other communities, engaged in associations; and even the managers of the theatres offered to raise a body of their dependents for the service of the government. Notwithstanding these precautions and appearances of unanimity, the trading part of the city, and those concerned in the money corporations, were overwhelmed with fear and dejection. They reposed very little confidence in the courage or discipline of their militia and volunteers; they had received intelligence that the French were employed in making preparations at Dunkirk and Calais for a descent upon England; they dreaded an insurrection of the Roman-catholics, and other friends of the house of Stuart; and they reflected that the highlanders, of whom by this time they had conceived a most terrible idea, were within four days’ march of the capital. Alarmed by these considerations, they prognosticated their own ruin in the approaching revolution; and their countenances exhibited the plainest marks of horror and despair. On the other hand, the Jacobites were elevated to an insolence of hope, which they were at no pains to conceal; while many people, who had no private property to lose, and thought no change would be for the worse, waited the issue of this crisis with the most calm indifference.
THE REBELS RETREAT INTO SCOTLAND.
This state of suspense was of short duration. The young pretender found himself miserably disappointed in his expectations. He had now advanced into the middle of the kingdom, and except a few that joined him at Manchester, not a soul appeared in his behalf; one would have imagined that all the Jacobites of England had been annihilated. The Welch took no step to excite an insurrection in his favour; the French made no attempt towards an invasion; his court was divided into factions; the highland chiefs began to murmur, and their clans to be unruly; he saw himself with a handful of men hemmed in between two considerable armies, in the middle of winter, and in a country disaffected to his cause. He knew he could not proceed to the metropolis without hazarding a battle, and that a defeat would be attended with the inevitable destruction of himself and all his adherents; and he had received information that his friends and officers had assembled a body of forces in the North, superior in number to those by whom he was attended. He called a council at Derby; and proposed to advance towards London: the proposal was supported by lord Nairn with great vehemence; but, after violent disputes, the majority determined that they should retreat to Scotland with all possible expedition. Accordingly, they abandoned Derby on the sixth day of December, early in the morning, and measured back the route by which they had advanced. On the ninth their vanguard arrived at Manchester; on the twelfth they entered Preston, and continued their march northwards. The duke of Cumberland, who was encamped at Meriden, when first apprized of their retreat, detached the horse and dragoons in pursuit of them; while general Wade began his march from Ferry-bridge in Lancashire, with a view of intercepting them in their route; but at Wakefield he understood that they had already reached Wigan; he therefore repaired to his old post at Newcastle, after having detached general Oglethorpe, with his horse and dragoons, to join those who had been sent off from the duke’s army. They pursued with such alacrity, that they overtook the rear of the rebels, with which they skirmished in Lancashire. The militia of Cumberland and Westmoreland were raised and armed by the duke’s order, to harass them in their march. The bridges were broken down, the roads damaged, and the beacons lighted to alarm the country. Nevertheless, they retreated regularly with their small train of artillery. They were overtaken at the village of Clifton, in the neighbourhood of Penrith, by two regiments of dragoons. These alighted, and lined the hedges, in order to harass part of the enemy’s rear-guard, commanded by lord John Murray; who, at the head of the Macphersons, attacked the dragoons sword in hand, and repulsed them with some loss. On the nineteenth day of the month, the highland army reached Carlisle, where the majority of the English in the service of the pretender were left, at their own desire. Charles, having reinforced the garrison of the place, crossed the rivers Eden and Solway into Scotland, having thus accomplished one of the most surprising retreats that ever was performed. But the most remarkable circumstance of this expedition, was the moderation and regularity with which those ferocious people conducted themselves in a country abounding with plunder. No violence was offered; no outrage committed; and they were effectually restrained from the exercise of rapine. Notwithstanding the excessive cold, the hunger, and fatigue to which they must have been exposed, they left behind no sick, and lost a very few stragglers; but retired with deliberation, and carried off their cannon in the face of their enemy. The duke of Cumberland invested Carlisle with his whole army on the twenty-first day of December, and on the thirtieth the garrison surrendered on a sort of capitulation made with the duke of Richmond. The prisoners, amounting to about four hundred, were imprisoned in different gaols in England, and the duke returned to London.
The pretender proceeded by the way of Dumfries to Glasgow, from which last city he exacted severe contributions, on account of its attachment to the government, for whose service it had raised a regiment of nine hundred men under the command of the earl of Home. Having continued several days at Glasgow, he advanced towards Stirling, and was joined by some forces which had been assembled in his absence by lords Lewis Gordon and John Drummond, brothers to the dukes of Gordon and Perth. This last nobleman had arrived from France in November, with a small reinforcement of French and Irish, and a commission as general of these auxiliaries, he fixed his head quarters at Perth, where he was reinforced by the earl of Cromartie and other clans, to the number of two thousand, and he was accommodated with a small train of artillery. They had found means to surprise a sloop of war at Montrose, with the guns of which they fortified that harbour. They had received a considerable sum of money from Spain. They took possession of Dundee, Dumblane, Downcastle, and laid Fife under contribution. The earl of Loudon remained at Inverness, with about two thousand highlanders in the service of his majesty. He convoyed provisions to Fort-Augustus and Fort-William; he secured the person of lord Lovat, who still temporized, and at length this cunning veteran accomplished his escape. The laird of Macleod, and Mr. Monro of Culcairn, being detached from Inverness towards Aberdeenshire, were surprised and routed by lord Lewis Gordon at Inverary; and that interest seemed to preponderate in the north of Scotland. Prince Charles being joined by lord John Drummond, invested the castle of Stirling, in which general Blakeney commanded; but his people were so little used to enterprises of this kind, that they made very little progress in their operations.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
THE KING’S TROOPS UNDER HAWLEY ARE WORSTED AT FALKIEK.
By this time, a considerable body of forces was assembled at Edinburgh, under the conduct of general Hawley, who determined to relieve Stirling-castle, and advanced to Linlithgow on the thirteenth day of January; next day his whole army rendezvoused at Falkirk, while the rebels were cantoned about Bannockburn. On the seventeenth day of the month, they began then-march in two columns to attack the king’s forces, and had forded the water of Carron, within three miles of Hawley’s camp, before he discovered their intention. Such was his obstinacy, self-conceit, or contempt of the enemy, that he slighted the repeated intelligence he had received of their motions and design, firmly believing they durst not hazard an engagement. At length perceiving that they had occupied the rising ground to the southward of Falkirk, he ordered his cavalry to advance and drive them from the eminence; while his infantry formed, and were drawn up in order of battle. The highlanders kept up their fire, and took aim so well, that the assailants were broke by the first volley; they retreated with precipitation, and fell in amongst the infantry, which were likewise discomposed by the wind and rain beating with great violence in their faces, wetting their powder, and disturbing their eyesight. Some of the dragoons rallied, and advanced again to the charge, with part of the infantry which had not been engaged; then the pretender marched up at the head of his corps de reserve, consisting of the regiment of lord John Drummond, and the Irish piquets. These reinforcing the Camerons and the Stuarts in the front line, immediately obliged the dragoons to give way a second time, and they again disordered the foot in their retreat. They set fire to their camp, and abandoned Falkirk with their baggage and train, which last had never reached the field of battle. The rebels followed their first blow, and great part of the royal army, after one irregular discharge, turned their backs and fled in the utmost consternation. In all probability few or none of them would have escaped, had not general Huske, and brigadier Cholmondeley, rallied part of some regiments, and made a gallant stand, which favoured the retreat of the rest to Falkirk, from whence they retired in confusion to Edinburgh, leaving the field of battle, with part of their tents and artillery, to the rebels; but their loss of men did not exceed three hundred, including sir Robert Monro, colonel Whitney, and some other officers of distinction. It was at this period, that the officers who had been taken at the battle of Prestonpans, and conveyed to Angus and Fife, finding themselves unguarded, broke their parole, and returned to Edinburgh, on pretence of their having been forcibly released by the inhabitants of those parts.*
* Sir Peter Halket, captain Lucy Scott, lieutenants Farquharson and Cumming, with a few other gentlemen, adhered punctually to their parole, and their conduct was approved by his majesty.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND COMMANDS THE ROYAL TROOPS.
General Hawley, who had boasted that, with two regiments of dragoons, he would drive the rebel army from one end of the kingdom to the other, incurred abundance of censure for the disposition he made, as well as for his conduct before and after the action; but he found means to vindicate himself to the satisfaction of his sovereign. Nevertheless, it was judged necessary that the army in Scotland should be commanded by a general in whom the soldiers might have some confidence; and the duke of Cumberland was chosen for this purpose. Over and above his being beloved by the army, it was suggested, that the appearance of a prince of the blood in Scotland might have a favourable effect upon the minds of the people in that kingdom; he therefore began to prepare for his northern expedition. Meanwhile, the French minister at the Hague having represented to the states-general, that the auxiliaries which they had sent into Great Britain were part of the garrisons of Tournay and Dendermonde, and restricted by the capitulation from bearing arms against France for a certain term, the states thought proper to recall them, rather than come to an open rupture with his most christian majesty. In the room of those troops six thousand Hessians were transported from Flanders to Leith, where they arrived in the beginning of February, under the command of their prince, Frederick of Hesse, son-in-law to his Britannic majesty. By this time the duke of Cumberland had put himself at the head of the troops in Edinburgh, consisting of fourteen battalions of infantry, two regiments of dragoons, and twelve hundred highlanders from Argyle-shire, under the command of colonel Campbell.
1746
On the last day of January, his royal highness began his march to Linlithgow; and the enemy, who had renewed the siege of Stirling-castle, not only abandoned that enterprise, but crossed the river Forth with precipitation. Their prince found great difficulty in maintaining his forces, that part of the country being quite exhausted. He hoped to be reinforced in the Highlands, and to receive supplies of all kinds from France and Spain; he therefore retired by Badenoch towards Inverness, which the earl of Loudon abandoned at his approach. The fort was surrendered to him almost without opposition, and here he fixed his head-quarters. His next exploit was the siege of Fort-Augustus, which he in a little time reduced. The duke of Cumberland having secured the important posts of Stirling and Perth with the Hessian battalions, advanced with the army to Aberdeen, where he was joined by the duke of Gordon, the earls of Aberdeen and Findlater, the laird of Grant, and other persons of distinction.
THE REBELS UNDERTAKE THE SIEGE OF FORT-WILLIAM.
While he remained in this place, refreshing his troops, and preparing magazines, a party of the rebels surprised a detachment of Kingston’s horse, and about seventy Argyleshire highlanders, at Keith, who were either killed or taken. Several advanced parties of that militia met with the same fate in different places. Lord George Murray invested the castle of Blair, which was defended by sir Andrew Agnew, until a body of Hessians marched to its relief, and obliged the rebels to retire. The prince-pretender ordered all his forces to assemble, in order to begin their march for Aberdeen to attack the duke of Cumberland; but, in consequence of a remonstrance from the clans, who declined leaving their families at the mercy of the king’s garrison in Fort-William, he resolved previously to reduce that fortress, the siege of which was undertaken by brigadier Stapleton, an engineer in the French service; but the place was so vigorously maintained by captain Scot, that in the beginning of April they thought proper to relinquish the enterprise. The earl of Loudon had retired into Sutherland, and taken post at Dornoch, where his quarters were beat up by a strong detachment of the rebels, commanded by the duke of Perth; a major and sixty men taken prisoners; and the earl was obliged to take shelter in the Isle of Skye. These little checks were counterbalanced by some advantages which his majesty’s arms obtained. The sloop of war which the rebels had surprised at Montrose was retaken in Sutherland, with a considerable sum of money, and a great quantity of arms on board, which she had brought from France for the use of the pretender. In the same county, the earl of Cromartie fell into an ambuscade, and was taken by the militia of Sutherland, who likewise defeated a body of the rebels at Goldspie. This action happened on the very day which has been rendered famous by the victory obtained at Culloden.