“I question much whether there are many of our generals who dare undertake to pass a plain with a body of infantry before a numerous cavalry, and flatter himself that he could hold his ground for several hours, with fifteen or twenty battalions in the middle of an army, as did the English at Fontenoy, without any change being made to shake them, or make them throw away their fire. This is what we have all seen, but self-love makes us unwilling to speak of it, because we are well aware of its being beyond our imitation.”
Taking advantage of the disasters which had crowded upon the allied arms in the Netherlands, Prince Charles Edward had stirred up a formidable Rebellion in Scotland, chiefly among the Highland clans, in favour of his pretensions, as the representative of the House of Stuart, to the British throne. This untoward event occasioned the recall of many regiments from the Continent, and required those left behind to confine themselves to the defence of strongly-fortified lines. The Twenty-fifth was one of those that returned. With the Twenty-first Royal North British Fusiliers, it formed the rear guard of the Royal army, advancing in pursuit of the rebels into Scotland. Too late to take any part in the battle of Falkirk, the regiment was stationed in Edinburgh, until the Duke of Cumberland arriving, gave the signal for an immediate advance upon the enemy, then prosecuting the siege of Stirling. Interrupted in their enterprise by the near approach of the Royal army, the rebels retreated precipitately, until, hemmed in, they made a last and fatal stand on Culloden Moor, where they were utterly routed with great slaughter. The most distinguished service performed by a detachment of 300 men of the Twenty-fifth is thus graphically described in the biography of General Melville:—
“The second detachment, consisting of 300 men, commanded by Sir Andrew Agnew, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal North British Fusiliers, was sent by the route of Dunkeld, through the Pass of Killiecrankie, to take post in Blair Castle, the seat of James, Duke of Athole—a very faithful subject of his Majesty. The garrison was frittered away in small detachments, for the purpose of intercepting traitorous correspondence. Early on the morning of the 17th March, the rebels, in a considerable body, surprised and made prisoners of several of the outposts, and by break of day closely invested the castle on all sides, firing upon the out-picquet, which retired with some difficulty, bringing with it some horses belonging to the officers, and a small quantity of provisions. Blair Castle was a very high, irregular building, the walls of great thickness—having what was called Cumming’s Tower projecting from the west end of the front of the house, which faces the north. Adjoining the east gable of the old castle, a square new building had been begun, but only carried up a few feet above the beams fixed for the first floor. The great door in the staircase having been barricaded, and a small guard placed at it, the garrison was mustered and found to consist of about 270 rank and file, having only nineteen rounds of ammunition per man. The men were immediately posted throughout the castle in the manner best adapted for its defence, with instructions not to fire unless actually attacked. For the protection of the new, unfinished building before mentioned, to which the only communication from the castle was by ten or twelve steps of a ladder, from a door in the east end; a platform of loose boards was hastily laid on the joists, and Ensign Robert Melville (afterwards General Melville) of the Twenty-fifth regiment, with 25 men, was posted on it, who was not relieved during the whole of the blockade, which ended 1st April. On the 17th March, a little after noon, Lord George Murray, a general to the Pretender, wrote a summons of surrender to Sir Andrew Agnew, which he could not find a Highlander to deliver, on account of the well-known outrageousness of Sir Andrew’s temper, but a pretty girl, who was acquainted with the garrison, undertook the task, but could hardly find an officer to receive it, for the reason before mentioned; however, after much entreaty, one was bold enough to convey the summons, when Sir Andrew, in so loud a voice, that he was heard distinctly by the girl outside the castle, desired him to be gone, and tell Lord George that the ground would, before long, be too hot for him to stand upon, and any future messenger would be hanged or shot if sent upon such an errand. Lord George took the hint, sent no other messenger, but endeavoured to reduce the castle by famine, knowing it was short of provisions. The rebels had two field-pieces, from which they fired hot shot upon the castle, with so little effect that, though some stuck in the roof, they fell out before the house took fire, and were lifted off the floors by an iron ladle, which was found in the Duke’s kitchen, and deposited in the cellars in tubs of wine, as water could not be spared. The King’s troops, in dread of being starved, endeavoured to apprise the Earl of Craufurd at Dunkeld of the state in which they were placed, but they were so closely hemmed in, that, with great difficulty, the Duke’s gardener, a loyal man, stole out during the ninth night of the blockade and rode off through the enemy, fired at from several places by the Highlanders, from whom he escaped, having fallen from his horse, and gone on foot to Dunkeld and apprised the Earl, which was not known for some time; in the meantime, the garrison had great faith in the good luck of Sir Andrew, concerning whom many strange stories were told—such as, that he never was wounded nor sick, nor in any battle wherein the English were not victorious; therefore, they were the less surprised when, at break of day on the 1st of April, not a single Highlander could be seen—Lord George having taken the alarm and decamped, to avoid encountering the Earl of Craufurd from Dunkeld. On the morning of the 2d, an officer arrived and announced that the Earl was within an hour’s march of the castle with a force of cavalry, when Sir Andrew drew up his men to receive his Lordship, and after the usual compliments, thus addressed him—‘My Lord, I am glad to see you; but, by all that is good, you have been very dilatory, and we can give you nothing to eat.’ To which his Lordship jocosely replied, with his usual good humour, ‘I assure you, Sir Andrew, I made all the haste I could, and I hope you and your officers will dine with me to-day;’ which they accordingly did, in the summer-house of the Duke’s garden, where they had a plentiful meal and good wines. The Earl made so favourable a report of the conduct of Sir Andrew and the garrison of Blair Castle, that the Duke of Cumberland thanked them, in public orders, for their steady and gallant defence, and the gallant commandant was promoted to the command of a regiment of marines (late Jeffries’). A Highland pony, belonging to Captain Wentworth of the Fourth foot, which had been seventeen days (without food) in a dungeon of the castle, being still alive, was recovered by care and proper treatment, and became in excellent condition.”
Having thus effectually suppressed the Rebellion, the Twenty-fifth, and most of the other regiments, returned to the Netherlands. Defeated at the battle of Roucoux, the allies were on the point of falling into confusion, when Houghton’s British brigade, composed of the Eighth, Thirteenth, and Twenty-fifth, arriving from Maestricht, immediately formed as the rear guard, their steady valour effectually withstanding every attempt of the enemy to break in upon our line of retreat. In the sanguinary battle of Val, our Borderers bore a more prominent part with equal credit. This disastrous war terminated in 1747, with the unsuccessful defence of Bergen-op-Zoom, which was ultimately taken by the French. The regiment encountered a variety of misadventures on its passage home. One transport, containing six and a-half companies, being shipwrecked on the French coast, yet all escaping to land, were kindly treated by their recent foes. The regiment, at length reaching England, was removed to and variously quartered throughout Ireland.
CHAPTER XV.
“He’s brave as brave can be;
He wad rather fa’ than flee;
But his life is dear to me,
Send him hame, send him hame.