1689
The accession of the Prince and Princess of Orange to the throne having met with some opposition in Scotland, the regiment was ordered thither; and on arriving at Edinburgh, in the spring of 1689, it was employed in the blockade of the castle, which the Duke of Gordon held for King James; at the same time Viscount Dundee was arousing the clans to arms.
While the regiment was at Edinburgh, Major-General Hugh Mackay, commanding-in-chief in Scotland, was watching the motions of Viscount Dundee, and he sent orders for Colonel Ramsay to join him with six hundred men of the Scots Brigade, in the Dutch service. The colonel commenced his march, but was intimidated by the menacing attitude of the Athol men, and returned to Perth; when a hundred men of Berkeley’s (now Fourth) dragoons, a hundred of the Thirteenth foot, and two hundred of Leven’s newly-raised regiment (now Twenty-fifth), were ordered to join him. Thus reinforced, the Colonel commenced his march through Athole and Badenoch for Inverness; and with the aid of this detachment, Major-General Mackay chased the clans, under Viscount Dundee, from the low country, and compelled them to take refuge in the wilds of Lochaber: the detachment of the Thirteenth foot was afterwards stationed at Inverness; and the regiment was relieved from the blockade of Edinburgh Castle by the surrender of that fortress on the 13th of June.
After forcing Viscount Dundee to take refuge in Lochaber, Major-General Mackay proceeded to Edinburgh, where he learned that the clans expected to be joined by a reinforcement from Ireland, and would probably soon descend from the hilly country; the major-general, therefore, assembled the Thirteenth foot, and several other corps, and marched from Edinburgh, to watch the motions of the insurgent Highlanders. Arriving at Dunkeld, he received an express from Lord Murray, son of the Marquis of Athol, stating that part of Viscount Dundee’s army had arrived at Blair; and in consequence of this information, he commenced his march at daybreak on the morning of Saturday, the 27th of July, towards the pass of Killicrankie,[6] to confront his opponents, and on this occasion the Thirteenth foot, commanded by their colonel, Ferdinando Hastings, formed the rear-guard, to cover the march of twelve hundred pack-horses, which carried the baggage of the army.
Entering the pass of Killicrankie, the troops moved along the east bank of the river Garry, by a narrow road, confined between a range of craggy precipices on one hand, and on the other the river, considerably below the road, rushing from rock to rock with a murmuring sound; and as the Thirteenth regiment emerged from this difficult defile with the baggage, the royal army was seen in order of battle, on some rising ground at the foot of a hill, on the summit of which appeared the insurgent host, under Viscount Dundee. The Thirteenth foot formed on the right of the line, the grenadier company on the flank, with a supply of hand-grenades, the musketeers formed two wings; and the pikemen stood in column in the centre. During two tedious hours of a bright summer evening the armies stood looking at each other; and about half an hour before sunset, the Highlanders moved slowly down the hill, barefooted, and stripped to their shirts, to commence the battle: as they descended, they quickened their pace, uttered a loud shout, and commenced an irregular fire of musketry, which produced little effect. The King’s troops reserved their fire until the clans came within a few paces, and then by a regular discharge, with a sure aim, produced great havoc on the thick masses opposed to them; but at that moment the Highlanders threw down their muskets, drew their swords, and closed upon their opponents, who had not time to fix their bayonets in the muzzles of their muskets,[7] and being thus attacked, under peculiar disadvantages, many of the king’s troops gave way.
The Thirteenth foot, commanded by Colonel Hastings, stood their ground with great gallantry, and the Highlanders were unable to make any impression on this brave regiment. After being repulsed in their attack on its front, the Highlanders attempted to turn its right flank, when Colonel Hastings wheeled his pikemen to the right, and by a determined charge routed the clans at that point. As the conquering pikemen of the Thirteenth were returning to their post in the centre of the regiment, they discovered that the other corps of the royal army were overpowered, and the soldiers flying in every direction; at the same time the Highlanders had discontinued the pursuit, to plunder the baggage. At that moment Major-General Mackay galloped to the regiment; he collected the fragments of other corps to it, and retreated. In his memoirs of this war, published in 1833, Major-General Mackay commends the conduct of this regiment;[8] and in his life, published in 1836, the author (John Mackay, Esq., of Rockfield) states, ‘Hastings, on the right, sustained the reputation of the English lion, but all to no purpose, so far had the panic extended.’ Yet it was to great purpose, for one corps was preserved entire, which enabled the commander-in-chief to make good his retreat to Stirling.
Viscount Dundee was killed in the action; and the loss of the clans, in killed and wounded, was much greater than that of the king’s troops. Major-General Mackay called to his aid additional corps, resumed the offensive, and by a series of active and skilful operations, restricted the movements of the Highlanders so much, that they separated to their homes.
In the meantime King James had arrived in Ireland with a body of French troops, and all the country, excepting Inniskilling and Londonderry, was subjected to his dominion. To rescue Ireland from his power, an army was sent to that country, under the veteran Marshal Duke Schomberg, and the Thirteenth foot were ordered to take part in this enterprise.