[590] Letter i. p. 379.
[591] Brigadier-General Thomas Fowke was the officer left by Cope in command of the cavalry stationed at Stirling and Edinburgh when he went on his march to the Highlands. Fowke fled with the cavalry on the approach of the Jacobite army, and joined Cope at Dunbar. He was present, second in command, at Prestonpans. His conduct, along with that of Cope and Colonel Peregrine Lascelles, was investigated by a military court of inquiry, presided over by Field-Marshal Wade in 1746. All were acquitted.
[592] I have failed to find this narrative, but it matters little, as all that Grossett had to say was probably given in his evidence at the trial of Lord Provost Stewart, an account of which was printed in Edinburgh, 1747. It is accessible in public libraries.
[593] See ante, p. 127.
[594] This refers to the capture of Charles Spalding of Whitefield, Strathardle in Atholl, a captain in the Atholl brigade. He was sent from Moffat on 7th November by William, (Jacobite) Duke of Atholl, to Perthshire with despatches, and carried a large number of private letters, which are preserved in the Record Office. He was made prisoner near Kilsyth. There is no mention of Grossett’s presence in the journals of the day, the credit of the capture being given to Brown, the factor of Campbell of Shawfield. (Chron. Atholl and Tullibardine, iii. 86; Scots Mag., vii. 540.) Spalding was tried for his life at Carlisle the following October and acquitted.
[595] The Lord Justice-Clerk had retired to Berwick when the Jacobite army occupied Edinburgh. That army left Edinburgh for good on 1st November, but the Justice-Clerk and the officers of State did not return until the 13th.
[596] Lieut.-Gen. Roger Handasyde superseded Lieut.-Gen. Guest as Commander-in-Chief in Scotland on his arrival in Edinburgh on 14th November, and held that office until December 5th, when he returned to England. Guest again acted as Commander-in-Chief until relieved by Lieut.-General Hawley, who arrived in Edinburgh on 6th January 1746.
The two infantry regiments that accompanied Handasyde were Price’s (14th) and Ligonier’s (48th). They remained at Edinburgh until December, but after the landing at Montrose of Lord John Drummond with the French Auxiliaries (22nd November), it was felt necessary to guard the passage of the Forth with a stronger force, and the Edinburgh garrison was sent to Stirling, Price’s on 6th December and Ligonier’s on the 9th, where they were joined by the Glasgow and the Paisley militia. The cavalry were also sent to the neighbourhood of Stirling, and Edinburgh was left with no defence but some volunteers and afterwards by an Edinburgh regiment enlisted for three months’ service, of which Lord Home was commandant.
[597] Letters ii.-iv. pp. 379-382.
[598] Letter v. p. 383.