Origins of the 'Forty-five

by Unknown

Rebels’ Artifice

This day too, they had tried a strategem to raise a mutiny among the McLeods by bribing a tenant’s son of McLeod’s (who had been staying with a Nonjurant Minister, teaching his children Latin and so had imbibed all the Jacobite notions) to go to Inverury and see to persuade the men that they were engaged in an unjust cause, that their enemies were very numerous and powerful, and that Lord Loudon had purposely sent them up to be cut off in a strange country. As this fellow had their language, was their namesake and countryman, they readily listened to him and it was taking among them like lightening, till the fellow was found out and apprehended, but the impression still stuck to them, till McLeod drew them all out, and very particularly showed them the roguery.

The Rebels march

On Monday the 23rd, about 9 of clock in the morning, the Rebels marched from Aberdeen, in order to surprise the McLeods in two columns. The main body being about 900 was commanded by Lord Lewis (though one Major Cuthbert,[361] a French Officer, did all the business), crossed the Bridge of Don, and took a round about and indirect road on the North side of the Don. The other column consisting of their Strathboggy Battallion, and commanded by Major Gordon, a French Officer, and Avachy, took the high road on the south side of the river. As they had all along guarded the avenues from the town very carefully, they did it now so effectually that there was no possibility of sending any intelligence of their march, till they were actually gone. When they were marching they all along kept advance parties before their main bodies came in sight, so that when they were observed, these parties prevented any persons getting past with information. As the body that marched the high road had by far the nearest way, they halted and concealed themselves in the Church and church-yard of Kinellar about three miles from Inverury, till the corps on the other side were suitably advanced, and meantime had their advanced party concealed in some houses in a low part of the road near Kintore.

This party seized the minister of Kintore, who had got some confused notice of their march, and going out for more certain intelligence, and observing nothing on the road, had come that length where he was made prisoner, as also at the very same time were no less than three people with intelligence of the Rebels’ march from the town, who had got out when their Guards were taken off, and escaped the main body by byeways, till being so near Inverury they had (to shorten the way) come in there to the high road, never doubting but they’d have met with some of the McLeods advanced parties to protect them, as those had done that came out the former day. The column that marched on the north side of Don had Scouts concealed among Planting of the Earl of Kintore’s on a rising ground that overlooked Inverury, and though some while before the enemy came up they were observed going backwards and forwards from the Park, and pointed out to McLeod and Culkairn as looking very suspicious, yet by some fatality they neglected to send up and see what they were doing. Immediately as they marched, the minister of Rayne, who happened to be in town, rode out by the Deeside Road, the only one left unguarded, to see if it was possible this way to get before them; but this was so greatly about, and the road when he came to cross the country so excessively bad that the firing was begun or he reached Kintore. So that the first intelligence they got of them was the Main Body being observed by their sentry, marching down by the Earl of Kintore’s parks within a quarter of a mile of Inverury.

McLeods draw out

McLeod, Culkairn, and all the officers with the few men they had in town got together very resolutely, and all of them discovered a great deal of courage on this occasion, nay, to think at all of standing against such superior numbers bespoke no little bravery. And indeed had they thought of sending down a party to line the Church yard of Inverury, and had others rightly posted on a little hull, called the Bass, both which were within a pistol shot of the Boat and Ford of Ury where the Main body behoved to pass, and also on the Ford of Don where Avachy, etc., passed, they certainly had done great execution among them in their passages, and if they had not stopped them altogether, would at least have retarded them till the men that were canton’d at a distance had got up to their assistance, for the Rebels had no cannon, but two old rusty ones they had taken from ships, which got not up till long after the skirmish was over, and though they had, would not probably have done great execution. But the confusion and surprise of the McLeods at the unexpected coming of the enemy made them neglect all these advantages, and stand on the Rigs on the east side at the south end of the town, at almost an equal distance from the Foords of Don and Ury, but at so great a distance as to be able to do execution at neither; and their standing here too was probably not a little owing to their then discovering the other body of the enemy coming upon the other side of Don, which made them irresolute how to dispose of themselves till so many of the Rebels crossed the Ury as put it out of their power to stop their passage there. It was also a vast loss to these Highlanders, who were none of them disciplined, that they had only firelocks and bayonets, and wanted their darling weapon, the Broadsword, which is always their chief confidence.

Rebels pass the Foords

The van of the Rebels’ main body consisted of the French and some picked men and was lead only by Major Cuthbert, these with all the gentlemen, the volunteers, and some of the common men crossed the Ury, very alertly, and as they passed, drew up behind the Bass, and the Churchyard. But many of their common men ran off and skulked by dike-sides till the action was over and could neither be brought out by threats nor entreaties till then. Major Gordon and Avachy with about 50 or 60 of their men crossed the Don very briskly, and behaved well, but the rest of the Corps took shelter among the Broom, till they saw the event.

The action began near an hour after sunset with a clear moonshine, by some passing shots from some ten or twelve of the McLeods who advanced so far, some to the one Foord and some to the other, and fired on the enemy as they were passing and killed two or three men in the water, and immediately retired. The Body that crossed Ury moved up first to attack, but were received with two or three fires from the McLeods, which they returned indeed two for one, but both were at too great a distance to do great execution. But as the party from Don was by this time coming to attack them in flanks, and as the French were advancing with a close regular fire and like to bear very hard on them, the McLeods found themselves unable to stand this shock, and accordingly gave way; yet not so but that a party of them loaded their pieces retiring, and finding some of their men, especially the wounded, like to fall in the enemy’s hands, they wheeled about before they were half way up the town, and made another fire, but immediately ran off. On this the French advanced through the town with an incessant street fire, and the rest divided themselves and went firing up each side of it, being too by this time joined by most of their skulking companions. After this, as some of the McLeods were running off on the stubble ground on the North end of the town, some person gave a cry that McLeod was taken, on which they turned about again and made another fire but immediately marched off. The Rebels meanwhile being at a considerable distance and not observing them so exactly going off, but seeing a ridge with a few furrows in it, amidst a great deal of unploughed stubble ground, and taking it by the moonlight for a row of men, they fired once or twice into it very successfully. And thus in whole the firing continued for more than twenty minutes. The companies of McLeods and Monroes that were cantonn’d out of the town, had unluckily no Officers with them; these happened to be with McLeod in Inverury, and went out to engage along with the men that were there (which by the bye as there were thirty of them on guard, and many straggling through the country seeking provisions did not much exceed three hundred), these therefore having no body to draw them together, ran up different ways on hearing the firing till they met some of their friends flying, or were informed of the event, and then they ran off. But had their officers been with them to bring them together, and lead them up in a body to meet their friends at the north end of the town and support them, they very possibly might have turned the scale in their favours.