In fixing the order of his retreat, Mackay adopted the plan he had been accustomed to follow, that he might not excite the jealousy of the dragoons, or make them suspect that he was distrustful of them. Accordingly, as was his usual practice, he divided the dragoons into two bodies, one of which, consisting of Major and Captain Balfour’s companies, he placed in the rear, and the other four companies commanded by the disaffected officers he placed in the front, that he might overawe them by his own presence. Immediately before the two troops of dragoons which formed the rear-guard, Mackay placed 200 foot, chiefly grenadiers of the three Scoto-Dutch regiments, and next to them the English horse, then scarcely 70 men strong, and between those horse and the four companies of dragoons which were led by Sir Thomas Livingston, he posted 200 of Lord Reay’s and Balnagowan’s Highlanders, having previously dismissed Grant’s men, whom he had informed their chief he would leave behind to protect their own country from Dundee’s stragglers.
There were three ways by which Mackay could retreat,—either towards Inverness, or through Strathdown and Glenlivet, a movement which would bring him near his expected reinforcements, or down Strathspey. Of these routes Mackay would have preferred the southern; but as the population of Strathdown and Glenlivet was Catholic, and of course hostile to him, and as the ground in those districts was unfavourable to the operations of cavalry in case of attack, he resolved to march down Strathspey. But as he was desirous to conceal his route from Dundee, he did not begin his march till nightfall, at which time Dundee was within three miles of his camp. In his course down Speyside he passed by the house of Grant of Ballindalloch, who was serving under Dundee, and arrived early the following morning at Balveny, where he halted to refresh his men and procure a supply of provisions. There he met Sir George Gordon of Edinglassie, from whom he obtained some men to act as intelligencers. Some of these he despatched back in the direction he had come, to ascertain if Dundee still remained in the Strath; but apprehensive that Dundee would take a southerly course, by crossing the Strath, with the view of throwing himself between Mackay and his reinforcements, he sent off others in that direction. These scouts soon returned with intelligence that Dundee was still in Strathspey. This information was satisfactory to Mackay, and relieved him from a state of the most painful anxiety; but he was still greatly perplexed by the want of provisions, which, though hourly expected, had not yet arrived.
Desirous, however, to wait for supplies as long as consistent with safety, he again despatched some of Gordon’s men in the direction he supposed Dundee would take, and at the same time sent a sergeant with a party of 12 dragoons back by the course he had marched, to bring him notice of Dundee’s motions. Mackay waited with the greatest impatience till about five o’clock in the evening for the return of the dragoons, without any signs of their appearance, a circumstance which alarmed him so much, that although a quantity of provisions and oats had just reached his camp, he would not allow time for baking bread or feeding the horses, but gave orders for an immediate march. Accordingly, the whole party moved off in the same order as before, and passed a small river about a mile above the place where they had been encamped; but they had scarcely advanced half a mile when Sir Thomas Livingston, who happened to be a little behind, observed the enemy on the other side of the river they had just passed, marching towards the ford by which Mackay’s men had crossed. On being informed of this, Mackay, after ordering Lieutenant-colonel Livingston, who was at the head of the vanguard, to continue at a pretty quick pace; galloped to the rear, and having despatched Sir Thomas Livingston to the front to lead the party, with instructions to keep up a constant pace, but without wearying the troops, he posted himself upon a rising ground with about 50 or 60 horse and dragoons in view of Dundee’s army, where he was joined by the Master of Forbes with about 50 horse.
When Dundee observed the party of dragoons drawn up on the hillock he immediately halted, drew in his stragglers, and marshalled his men into battalions, keeping up the usual distinction of the clans. In the meantime Mackay sent off his nephew, Major Mackay, to a hill which lay about a quarter of a mile to his left, from which he could obtain a nearer and more correct view of Dundee’s force and his motions. The viscount’s horse immediately passed the river, and drew up along the bank to protect the passage of the foot, who in their turn also formed till the baggage was brought over. It was now after sunset, but the viscount continued to advance. Mackay, who was nearly two miles behind his rear; thereupon began to ride off with his party, but he had not proceeded far when a cry of “halt!” met his ears. On turning round he observed galloping after him, Major Mackay, who, having observed a party of horse which he supposed to belong to Dundee, moving along the face of a hill to the General’s left, and which from the twilight appeared more numerous than it really was, had hastened to acquaint the General of the circumstance. It turned out, however, that this party which had occasioned such alarm was no other than the sergeant with the 12 dragoons of Livingston’s regiment which had been sent out by Mackay in the morning to reconnoitre. It was afterwards ascertained that this sergeant was concerned in the plot, and that he was the same individual in blue, whom Captain Forbes had met with within a mile of Dundee’s camp. This man pretended, however, that he had run great danger of capture; and that he had taken such a round-about way merely to avoid the enemy, though he and his party had been with Dundee the whole day, and had conducted him over the ground which Mackay had passed on the preceding day. The government forces continued their march all night till they crossed the river of Bogie, where, from pure exhaustion, they halted at four o’clock in the morning. The General then ordered the provisions which had reached the camp previous to his retreat, to be distributed among his troops, and desired the horsemen to lead their horses into an adjoining corn-field and feed them. When the men were refreshing themselves Mackay received the agreeable intelligence that Barclay and Leslie’s regiments would join him that day, but “to play sure game,” as he himself says, after allowing his men two hours’ rest, he marched three miles further down towards his succours, and took up a position at the foot of Suy-hill upon the common road from the south to the north, by which he expected the two regiments would march.
General Hugh Mackay of Scourie.
Having sent a pressing order to Barclay and Leslie to hasten their march, Mackay had the satisfaction of being joined by the former at twelve o’clock noon, and by the latter at six o’clock in the evening, after a long and fatiguing march. Resolved that no time should be lost in turning the chase upon Dundee before he should be aware of these reinforcements, Mackay put his army in marching order, and advanced towards him after ten o’clock at night. But his designs were made known to Dundee by two dragoons who had been despatched by their officers. These men, on the departure of Dundee, were discovered in a wood, and the general being satisfied that the sergeant before mentioned had had a conference with Dundee, and the two dragoons having confessed nearly as much themselves, he immediately put Lieutenant-colonel Livingston and the other suspected officers under arrest. He thereupon continued his march, and arrived at Balveny that night; and on the following day reached Colmnakill, which he had left only five days before. Here having received notice that a party of Dundee’s men was on the other side of the adjoining river, he sent orders to Sir Thomas Livingston to cross with 200 dragoons and drive them away; but Sir Thomas having been previously informed that the laird of Grant was sorely pressed by the retiring forces of Dundee, had anticipated the general’s orders, and had advanced two miles beyond the river with a greater force, in pursuit of a body of Highlanders. These were, according to Balcarras, Sir John Maclean’s men, who were on their way to join Dundee, and who, alarmed at the appearance of such a large number of dragoons, threw away their plaids and betook themselves to an adjoining hill, where they formed. They are stated by the last-mentioned author to have amounted only to 200 men, but Mackay, in his memoirs,[562] states the number at 500. Mackay observes, that but for the indiscretion of Livingston’s adjutant, who by riding a quarter of a mile in advance, gave the Highlanders timeous notice of the approach of the dragoons, not one of them would have escaped, but being thereby enabled to gain the top of the hill before the dragoons came up with them, they sustained a loss of only 80 or 100 men. In this skirmish, a captain of Barclay’s regiment and six dragoons were killed, and some wounded.
Having been joined by Ramsay’s detachment, which during the occupancy of Strathspey by the hostile armies, had, unknown to Mackay, penetrated through Athole and Badenoch and reached Inverness, Mackay continued to pursue Dundee into Badenoch; but as the latter retired into Lochaber, Mackay gave over the pursuit on learning that Dundee had dismissed the greater part of his forces. Mackay, thereupon, marched to Inverness with Livingston’s dragoons, Leslie’s foot, and a party of Leven’s and Hastings’ regiments, and 200 Highlanders, and sent Barclay’s regiment to Strathbogie, and the three Dutch regiments to Elgin. From Inverness, Mackay despatched an express to the Duke of Hamilton, urging upon him the necessity of placing “a formidable garrison” at Inverlochy, and small ones in other places in the north, without which he considered that it would be utterly impossible to subdue the Highlanders, who, on the approach of an army, for which a fortnight’s subsistence could not be found in their mountainous regions, could easily retire to difficult passes and other places inaccessible to regular troops. He, therefore, requested that his grace and the parliament would consider the matter before the season was farther spent, and provide the necessary means for carrying such a design into effect against his arrival in the south, whither he intended to proceed in a few days.
On his way to the south, Mackay despatched 50 horse, as many of Barclay’s dragoons, and 60 foot, to take possession of the house of Braemar, into which he intended to place a garrison to keep the Braemar men in check, and to cover the county of Aberdeen; and he ordered the captain of dragoons, after putting 20 of his men into the house, to march forward, without halting, before break of day, to the house of Inverey, about three miles farther off, for the purpose of seizing Inverey and some other gentlemen who had lately been with Dundee. But, fortunately for Inverey and his guests, the officer trifled off his time in Braemar house, refreshing his horses, till the dawn of the morning, and the approach of him and his party being perceived, Inverey and his friends escaped in their shirts to a neighbouring wood. Disappointed of their prey, the party retired to the house of Braemar, where, after setting their horses loose to graze, they laid themselves down to repose; but they were soon wakened from their slumbers by some firing from a party on a rock above, which had so alarmed the horses that they were found galloping to and fro in the adjoining fields. As soon as the dragoons had caught their horses, which they had some difficulty in doing, they galloped down the country. The party on the rock was headed by Inverey, who had collected a number of his tenantry for the purpose of expelling the dragoons from his bounds, and who, on their retreat, set fire to Braemar house, which was consumed.