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.