Scotland is cleft in sunder by a great valley running from the Beauley Firth in the north-east in a south-westerly direction to the salt-water lake Loch Eil. This valley, at present occupied by the Caledonian Canal, forms the basin of a chain of lakes, by far the largest of which is Loch Ness, occupying nearly half of the north-east end of the valley. Between its northern extremity and the sea lies the town of Inverness; at its southern end was Fort Augustus, one of the forts established to keep the Highlands in check, while, where the valley reaches Loch Eil, there was the still more lonely post of Fort William immediately under Ben Nevis. It was in the close neighbourhood of this fort that Charles's followers were first collected, and it was while trying to strengthen it that the royal troops had first come into collision with the insurgents. The tribes to the north of Inverness, as well as Sir Alexander Macdonald and Macleod, were either well-affected or held in neutrality chiefly by the influence of Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President, who had also contrived for the present to attach Lord Lovat, head of the Frasers, to the Government interest, so that it was with the western clans only that Charles began his expedition.
Cope marches against him.
The English military commander in Scotland was Sir John Cope, who had altogether about 3000 men under his command. All this time the King was absent from England, and orders had to be issued by the Lords Justices. They approved however of Cope's plan for immediately marching into the Highlands and crushing the insurgents if possible among the mountains. With this intention, leaving his dragoons behind him, Cope set out from Stirling along the direct north road towards Inverness. At Dalwhinnie, which is now a posting-station on the great north road, the military road made by Marshal Wade branched off to Fort Augustus, which it was Cope's object to reach and relieve; the main road passed onwards to Inverness. The mountain which forms the south-east side of the great valley in which Fort Augustus lies has to be crossed. It is called in this place Corrie-Arrack, and to cross it the road winds in steep zigzags. The Highlanders had got possession of this difficult pass, and intended to destroy Cope's army while ascending the zigzags. Their disappointment was great when they found that he had turned aside at Dalwhinnie, and was in hasty march for Inverness. By this means he probably hoped to strengthen the loyal clans of the north and to draw the Prince's army in pursuit. He however left the road towards the capital quite unguarded. Charles at once pushed on and crossed the Badenoch mountains to Blair Athol, from whence the great road runs, without any obstacle, through the Pass of Killiecrankie Charles avoids him, and gains Edinburgh. into the plains of Perthshire. He rested a few days at Perth, where he was joined by Drummond, Duke of Perth, and by Lord George Murray, the Duke of Athol's brother, a man of considerable military experience and capacity. He then crossed the Forth a little above Stirling, the dragoon regiments which had been left there retiring before him, and advanced rapidly towards Edinburgh. The Castle of Edinburgh was secure, but the town had no adequate fortifications, and the inhabitants doubted long and painfully as to whether they should open their gates or not. The news that Cope, on learning his mistake, had taken ship and had already reached Dunbar, encouraged them to think of resistance, but their determination vanished away after a skirmish called "the canter of Colt-Brig," when two regiments of dragoons ran away, and did not stop till they reached Dunbar. Negotiations were set on foot, but were cut short by the surprise of the town by the Highlanders. On the 17th of September Charles took possession of Holyrood House, and it seemed as if the inhabitants of Edinburgh were by no means sorry to Cope lands at Dunbar. receive him. He could not rest long, however, as Cope was marching along the Firth from Dunbar. He expected to meet his enemy between that town and Edinburgh, but the Prince marched along the hills to the south of the Firth, and Cope was surprised to find his enemy again beyond him. He was then near Prestonpans. He changed his face at once, and lay with his back to the Firth and his face to the hills, as he believed in an unassailable position, separated from the Highlanders by a morass. But Charles was bent on fighting, and a narrow pathway through the morass to the eastward was pointed out to him. Down this he led his forces so as to gain a position eastward of the English, who had again to change their face, looking now directly eastward, with their backs to Edinburgh. Their infantry were in the centre, their cavalry on Is defeated at Prestonpans. Sept. 21. either flank. The battle is said to have been decided in six minutes. The rush of the Highlanders renewed the panic among the dragoons, who all took to their heels. The infantry stood with their flanks exposed, and as their fire did not check the Highlanders, they were soon engaged at close quarters, where the Highland target parried the bayonet thrust, while the right hand was free to use the claymore. The line was soon broken, and it is said that not more than 170 escaped death or capture. The cavalry, taking Cope with them, did not draw bridle till they reached Berwick.
Indifference of England.
Some preparations had been made in England to withstand the advance of the rebels. Marshal Wade was at Newcastle with such troops as he could collect, the Dutch were called upon to supply, in accordance with their treaty, 6000 men, and some regiments were recalled from Flanders. But throughout the population of England there was now, and through the whole campaign, a strange carelessness as to which side should prove victorious. The Revolution had been, comparatively speaking, an aristocratic movement. It had moved the power from the Crown only to put it in the hands of the nobles. Parliament was so far from being an adequate representative body, that the disputes carried on in it excited no very warm interest in the nation at large. At times indeed it was necessary for the Opposition to excite the people by some national cry; but that Opposition had uniformly employed the most violent language against the Hanoverian influence and the minister of the Hanoverian King. Such partial views therefore as the people had been allowed of what was going on among their governors had all tended rather to direct the loyalty, which was then so inherent a characteristic of the English, towards the exiled house. Except in the matter of religion, the people at large were able to discover but little difference whether their king was a Stuart or a Guelph; and on this occasion the assurance had been carefully spread that the privileges of the Church of England would not be touched; indeed one of Charles's difficulties arose from the jealousy of his Protestant followers. The class who had gained by the Revolution was that class which Walpole and Walpole's policy had chiefly favoured—the middle class; but as usual the middle class was apathetic and slow to risk anything unless for some personal object. At first therefore it was the Government, unaided by the people, which had to check the insurrection. It will be seen that afterwards the aristocracy offered, though in a very selfish manner, to come forward, and that some towns, especially in Scotland, awoke to their responsibilities, but on the whole it was the Government alone which had to act by means of its soldiers, and England had been stripped of soldiers for its foreign wars. On the other hand, the Jacobites had seen the insurrection of 1715 so thoroughly futile, and had during Walpole's long administration so settled down under the existing Government, that only a few of the more enthusiastic took a real interest in the quarrel.
Charles marches into England as far as Derby,
Had Prince Charles advanced immediately after the battle of Prestonpans he would have found himself almost unopposed; but by the time he had collected some money, gathered in his reinforcements, organized his army, and persuaded the Highlanders to cross the border, Marshal Wade's army had increased to 10,000; the Dutch and English troops had come from abroad; there was a second army under the Duke of Cumberland formed in the centre of England; the guards and trained bands had marched out to Finchley and formed a third body, which the King declared he would himself lead. To turn the position of Wade at Newcastle it was determined, as in 1715, to march along behind the Cheviots and enter England by Carlisle; and the clans (about 6000 strong) crossed the Border on the 8th of November. Carlisle yielded without much difficulty, and on the recommendation of Lord George Murray, who now assumed the military command of the army, it was determined to advance into the heart of England. In two bodies they marched up the Eden over Shap Fell to Lancaster and to Preston; the Prince winning the heart of the Highlanders by wearing their dress and marching at the head of the second division, as strong and unwearied as the best among them, for he was gifted with a fine athletic body, which he had further trained by constant exercise. His carriage he insisted upon offering to the aged Lord Pitsligo. His care for his followers, of which this is an instance, tended much to endear him to them; he was at this part of his life adorned with many of the best graces of a king; his clemency was the constant complaint of his sterner counsellors. It is said indeed to have encouraged more than one attempt at assassination. Towards his enemy, the Elector as he called him, he was also studiously merciful and dignified. In all negotiations with his followers or with the French the safety of the Hanoverian Elector and his family was bargained for; and even when £30,000 was put upon his head, dead or alive, after entirely refusing to make a counter proclamation, he insisted on offering only £30. This was indeed afterwards overruled, and a larger reward offered, but he even then said he felt sure no follower of his was capable of winning it, and the proclamation ended: "Should any fatal accident happen from hence let the blame lie entirely at the door of those who first set the infamous example."
The army passed Preston, that ill-omened town to the Stuart cause, in all haste, entered Manchester, where they met with more recruits than usual, skilfully deceived the Duke of Cumberland into the idea that they were marching towards Wales, got past his army, and had nothing between them and London except the camp at Finchley. They reached Derby, but there Lord George Murray and all the commanders unanimously advised retreat. It was true that they had eluded both Wade and Cumberland, but those commanders with their armies were following them close; the slightest check before reaching London, and their little army of 5000 would be enveloped by 30,000 men; it would surely be better to fall back upon their supports in Scotland, where Lord Strathallan had a force of some 3000 or 4000 men. Charles was unable to hold out against these arguments, backed by all the men of military weight in his army, and very sullenly and unwillingly at length gave his consent to a retreat. It is plain that the Scotch chiefs had been thoroughly disappointed in the neutrality of the English population, were beginning to fear for their own heads, and thought it more prudent as well as more practicable to separate the two kingdoms, and establish but retreats, to the relief of the government. Charles at all events at first as King of Scotland. This determination was an immense relief to the Government. Whether a further march would have been successful or not, it is certain that the Government regarded its chances of success as very great, and London was stricken with panic; the Bank was reduced to pay in sixpences; the Duke of Newcastle is said to have seriously thought of declaring for the Pretender; the King sent some of his valuables to the river ready for embarkation. The camp at Finchley was by no means completed; Wade and Cumberland were so far behind that they scarcely hoped to come up with the Highlanders; the occupation of London would have been the signal for a French invasion, and probably for a great Jacobite rising in England. The day on which the news of the advance to Derby was known was called Black Friday.
The retreat was very rapid, and, as was natural, now that the soldiers were in bad humour, by no means orderly. The insurgents were closely pursued by the Duke of Cumberland, who came up with them, but was checked in a skirmish near Penrith, and passing through Carlisle, which was speedily recaptured by the English, reached Glasgow, where they established themselves, and by means of large requisitions succeeded in refreshing and reorganizing themselves Charles besieges Stirling. Jan. 3, 1746. after their rapid march. They had marched 580 miles in 56 days. After a week's rest they advanced to besiege the Castle of Stirling, which was defended by General Blakeney. Being joined by the Scotch army under Strathallan, with whom were some French soldiers, and Lord John Drummond, a general in the French service, the Pretender's army reached the number of 9000, the largest he ever commanded. Wade, who had grown slow from age, was superseded by General Hawley by the advice of the Duke of Cumberland. He was an officer of some experience, but little talent, and of a ferocious disposition. He was nicknamed the Lord Chief Justice, and as Horace Walpole tells us, "was brave and able, with no small bias to the brutal." He profoundly despised his enemies, and advancing to relieve Stirling Castle, took up his position at Falkirk without even ordinary military precaution. He was not even present with his army, but was enjoying, with some of his officers, the civilities of Callendar House, where the Countess of Wins the battle of Falkirk. Jan. 17. Kilmarnock, whose husband was with the Pretender, was entertaining and delaying them. There are two roads between Stirling and Falkirk; some troops were sent forward by the straight road to deceive the English, while the main body under Charles swept round to the south. They were then separated from the English by a high rugged heath called Falkirk Muir. When the news of their approach was brought to Hawley, he hastened to the field, and led his cavalry rapidly forward to try and secure the crest of this hill. It was a race between him and the Highlanders, and they succeeded in winning it. Hawley fell back to lower ground, and arranged his troops, with their right upon a broken ravine which descended to the plain. His artillery got hopelessly jammed in a morass. The battle began with a charge of the royal cavalry on the left, which was met by a steady fire from the Highlanders, from which the dragoons as usual fled, all but one regiment. The Highlanders, then rushing forward, entirely broke the centre and left of the royal army, but their rush was checked by the ravine on the right; the royal troops there held their own, and being joined by the one steady regiment of cavalry, were enabled to make an orderly retreat. One of the flying regiments had fought well at Fontenoy, and Lord John Drummond, who had been present at that battle, believed that their retreat was a feint, and by his advice further attack was suspended. Charles had shown considerable skill in bringing his troops with their back to the wind, so that the driving storm and cold January wind might beat full in the faces of the English troops.
Cumberland takes command of the army.