Arrival of Charles II.—Cromwell invades Scotland—Attacks the Scotch army near Edinburgh—His further movements—The Dunfermline Declaration—Retreat of Cromwell—Battle of Dunbar—Declaration and Warning of the kirk—Flight of the king from Perth—Insurrections in the Highlands—Proceedings of Cromwell—Conduct of the western army—Cromwell marches north—Enters Perth—Scotch army invades England—Battle of Worcester—Operations of Monk in Scotland—Administration of affairs committed to him—Earl of Glencairn’s insurrection in the Highlands—Chiefs of the insurrection submit to Monk—Cameron of Lochiel—State of the country—Restoration of Charles II.
Having arranged with the commissioners the conditions on which he was to ascend the Scottish throne, Charles, with about 500 attendants, left Holland on the 2d of June, in some vessels furnished him by the Prince of Orange, and after a boisterous voyage of three weeks, during which he was daily in danger of being captured by English cruizers, arrived in the Moray frith, and disembarked at Garmouth, a small village at the mouth of the Spey, on the 23d of that month. Before landing, however, Charles readily gave his signature to the Covenant, which subsequent events showed he had no intention of observing longer than suited his purpose.
The news of the king’s arrival reached Edinburgh on the 26th of June. The guns of the castle were fired in honour of the event, and the inhabitants manifested their joy by bonfires and other demonstrations of popular feeling. The same enthusiasm spread quickly throughout the kingdom, and his majesty was welcomed with warm congratulations as he proceeded on his journey towards Falkland, which had been fixed upon by parliament as the place of his residence. The pleasure he received from these professions of loyalty was, however, not without alloy, as he was obliged, at the request of the parliament, to dismiss from his presence some of his best friends, both Scotch and English, particularly the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Lauderdale, and other “engagers,” who, by an act passed on the 4th of June against “classed delinquents,” were debarred from returning to the kingdom, or remaining therein, “without the express warrant of the Estates of parliament.”[424] Of the English exiles the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Wilmot, and seven gentlemen of the household were allowed to remain with him.[425] In fact, with these exceptions, every person even suspected of being a “malignant,” was carefully excluded from the court, and his majesty was thus surrounded by the heads of the Covenanters and the clergy. These last scarcely ever left his person, watched his words and motions, and inflicted upon him long harangues, in which he was often reminded of the misfortunes of his family.
The rulers of the English commonwealth, aware of the negotiations which had been going on between the young king and the Scots commissioners in Holland, became apprehensive of their own stability, should a union take place between the Covenanters and the English Presbyterians, to support the cause of the king, and they therefore resolved to invade Scotland, and by reducing it to their authority extinguish for ever the hopes of the king and his party. Fairfax was appointed commander-in-chief, and Cromwell lieutenant-general of the army destined for this purpose; but as Fairfax considered the invasion of Scotland as a violation of the solemn league and covenant which he had sworn to observe, he refused, notwithstanding the most urgent entreaties, to accept the command, which in consequence devolved upon Cromwell.
The preparations making in England for the invasion of Scotland were met with corresponding activity in Scotland, the parliament of which ordered an army of 30,000 men to be immediately raised to maintain the independence of the country. The nominal command of this army was given to the Earl of Leven, who had become old and infirm; but David Leslie his relative, was in reality the commander. The levies went on with considerable rapidity, but before they were assembled Cromwell crossed the Tweed on the 22d of July at the head of 16,000 well appointed and highly disciplined troops. On his march from Berwick to Musselburgh a scene of desolation was presented to the eyes of Cromwell, far surpassing anything he had ever before witnessed. With the exception of a few old women and children, not a human being was to be seen, and the whole country appeared as one great waste over which the hand of the ruthless destroyer had exercised its ravages. To understand the cause of this it is necessary to mention, that, with the view of depriving the enemy of provisions, instructions had been issued to lay waste the country between Berwick and the capital, to remove or destroy the cattle and provisions, and that the inhabitants should retire to other parts of the kingdom under the severest penalties. To induce them to comply with this ferocious command, appalling statements of the cruelties of Cromwell in Ireland were industriously circulated among the people; that he had given orders to put all the males between 16 and 60 to death, to cut of the right hands of all the boys between 6 and 16, and to bore with red-hot irons the breasts of all females of age for bearing children.[426] Fortunately for his army Cromwell had provided a fleet in case of exigency, which kept up with him in his march along the coast, and supplied him with provisions.
The English general continued his course along the coast till he arrived at Musselburgh, where he established his head-quarters. Here he learnt that the Scots army, consisting of upwards of 30,000 men, had taken up a strong position between Edinburgh and Leith, and had made a deep entrenchment in front of their lines, along which they had erected several batteries. Cromwell reconnoitered this position, and tried all his art to induce the Scots to come to a general engagement; but as Leslie’s plan was to act on the defensive, and thus force Cromwell either to attack him at a considerable disadvantage, or to retreat back into England after his supply of provisions should be exhausted, he kept his army within their entrenchments.
As Cromwell perceived that he would be soon reduced to the alternative of attacking the Scots in their position, or of retracing his steps through the ruined track over which his army had lately passed, he resolved upon an assault, and fixed Monday the 29th of July for advancing on the enemy. By a singular coincidence, the king, at the instigation of the Earl of Eglinton, but contrary to the wish of his council and the commanders, visited the army that very day. His presence was hailed with shouts of enthusiasm by the soldiers, who indulged in copious libations to the health of their sovereign. The soldiers in consequence neglected their duty, and great confusion prevailed in the camp;[427] but on the approach of Cromwell sufficient order was restored, and they patiently waited his attack. Having selected the centre of the enemy’s position, near a spot called the Quarry Holes, about half-way between Edinburgh and Leith, as appearing to him the most favourable point for commencing the operations of the day, Cromwell led forward his army to the assault; but after a desperate struggle he was repulsed with the loss of a considerable number of men and horses.[428] Cromwell renewed the attack on the 31st, and would probably have carried Leslie’s position but for a destructive fire from some batteries near Leith. Cromwell retired to Musselburgh in the evening, where he was unexpectedly attacked by a body of 2,000 horse and 500 foot, commanded by Major-General Montgomery, son of the Earl of Eglinton, and Colonel Strachan, which had been despatched at an early part of the day by a circuitous route to the right, for the purpose of falling on Cromwell’s rear. If Balfour is to be credited, this party beat Cromwell “soundlie,” and would have defeated his whole army if they had had an additional force of 1,000 men; but an English writer informs us, that the Scots suffered severely.[429] According to the first-mentioned author the English had 5 colonels and 500 men killed, while the latter states the loss of the Scots to have been about 100 men, and a large number of prisoners. On the following day, Cromwell, probably finding that he had enough of mouths to consume his provisions, without the aid of prisoners, offered to exchange all those he had taken the preceding day, and sent the wounded Scots back to their camp.
These encounters, notwithstanding the expectations of the ministers, and the vaunts of the parliamentary committee of their pretended successes, inspired some of Leslie’s officers with a salutary dread of the prowess of Cromwell’s veterans. An amusing instance of this feeling is related by Balfour in the case of the earl of W. (he suppresses the name) who “being commandit the nixt day (the day after the last mentioned skirmish) in the morning, to marche out one a partey, saw he could not goe one upone service untill he had his brackefaste. The brackefaste was delayed above four hours in getting until the L. General being privily advertissed by a secrett frind, that my Lord was peaceably myndit that morning, sent him expresse orders not to marche, to save his reputation. One this, the gallants of the army raissed a proverbe, ‘That they wold not goe out one a partey until they gate ther brackefaste.’”[430]
For several days Cromwell remained inactive in his camp, during which the parliamentary committee subjected the Scots army to a purging operation, which impaired its efficiency, and, perhaps, contributed chiefly to its ruin. As the Solemn League and Covenant was considered by the Covenanters a sacred pledge to God, which no true Christian could refuse to take, they looked upon those who declined to subscribe it as the enemies of religion, with whom it would be criminal in the eye of Heaven to associate. Before the purgation commenced, the king received a hint, equivalent to a command, from the heads of the Covenanters to retire to Dunfermline, an order which he obeyed “sore against his own mind,”[431] by taking his departure on Friday the 2d of August, after spending the short space of two hours at a banquet, which had been provided for him by the city of Edinburgh. No sooner had the king departed than the purging process was commenced, and on the 2d, 3d, and 5th of August, during which the committee held their sittings, no less than 80 officers, all men of unquestionable loyalty, besides a considerable number of common soldiers, were expelled from the army.[432]
Cromwell retired with his army to Dunbar on the 5th of August. Here he found the few inhabitants who had remained in the town in a state of starvation. Touched with commiseration, he generously distributed among them, on his supplies being landed, a considerable quantity of wheat and pease.[433]