Carlisle, from Stanwix Bank—1745.
In his retreat, the chief danger the prince had to apprehend was from the army of Wade, who, by marching straight across the country into Cumberland, might have reached Penrith a day at least before the prince; but by the information he received of the route taken by Wade’s cavalry, he saw that the danger now was that the united cavalry of both armies might fall upon his rear before he could reach Carlisle. He therefore left Lancaster on the 15th; but the rear of his army was scarcely out of the town when some of the enemy’s horse entered it. The town bells were then rung, and the word being given from the rear to the front, that the enemy was approaching, the Highlanders formed in order of battle; but the alarm turning out to be false, the army continued its march to Kendal. The enemy’s horse, however, followed for two or three miles, and appeared frequently in small parties, but attempted nothing. The army entered Kendal that night, where they were met by the Duke of Perth and his party. In his way north, the duke had been attacked in this town by a mob, which he soon dispersed by firing on them; but in the neighbourhood of Penrith he met with a more serious obstruction, having been attacked by a considerable body of militia, both horse and foot, and being vastly outnumbered, was obliged to retreat to Kendal.[1058]
As Lord George Murray considered it impossible to transport the four-wheeled waggons belonging to the army to Shap, he proposed to the prince to substitute two-wheeled carts for them,[1059] and as he was afraid that no provisions could be obtained at Shap, he suggested that the men should be desired to provide themselves with a day’s provision of bread and cheese. Orders were accordingly issued agreeably to these suggestions, but that regarding the waggons seems not to have been attended to; and by some oversight, the order about the provisions was not communicated to many of them till they were on their march next morning. The consequence was, that the men who were unprovided returned to the town, and much confusion would have ensued, had not Lord George Murray sent some detachments of the rear with officers into the town to preserve order, and to see the men return to the army. This omission retarded considerably the march of the army. The difficulties which Lord George Murray had anticipated in transporting the waggons across the hills were realised, and by the time he had marched four miles and got among the hills, he was obliged to halt all night, and take up his quarters at a farm house about a gun-shot off the road. The Glengarry men were in the rear that day, and though reckoned by his lordship not the most patient of mortals, he says he “never was better pleased with men in his life,” having done all that was possible for men to do.[1060]
With the exception of the Glengarry regiment, the army passed the night between the 16th and 17th at Shap.[1061] On the morning of the 17th, Lord George received two messages from Charles, ordering him upon no account to leave the least thing, not so much as a cannon ball behind, as he would rather return himself than that any thing should be left. Though his lordship had undertaken to conduct the retreat on the condition that he should not be troubled with the charge of the baggage, ammunition, &c., he promised to do all in his power to carry every thing along with him. To lighten the ammunition waggons, some of which had broken down, his lordship prevailed upon the men to carry about 200 cannon balls, for which service he gave the bearers sixpence each. With difficulty the rear-guard reached Shap that night at a late hour. Here he found most of the cannon, and some of the ammunition with Colonel Roy Stuart and his battalion.[1062] The same night, the prince with the main body arrived at Penrith. Some parties of militia appeared at intervals; but they kept at a considerable distance, without attempting hostilities.[1063]
Early in the morning of the 18th, the rear-guard left Shap; but as some of the small carriages were continually breaking, its march was much retarded. It had not proceeded far when some parties of English light-horse were observed hovering at some distance on the eminences behind the rear-guard. Lord George Murray notified the circumstance to the prince at Penrith; but as it was supposed that these were militia, the information was treated lightly. No attempt was made to attack the rear-guard, or obstruct its progress, till about mid-day, when a body of between 200 and 300 horse, chiefly Cumberland people, formed in front of the rear-guard, behind an eminence near Clifton Hall, and seemed resolved to make a stand. Lord George Murray was about to ascend this eminence, when the party was observed marching two and two abreast on the top of the hill. They suddenly disappeared to form themselves in order of battle behind the eminence, and made a great noise with trumpets and kettle-drums. At this time two of the companies of Roy Stuart’s regiment, which the Duke of Perth had attached to the artillery, were at the head of the column. The guns and ammunition waggons followed, behind the two other companies of the same regiment. The Glengarry regiment, which marched with Lord George Murray at its head, was in the rear of the column. Believing, from the great number of trumpets and kettle-drums, that the English army was at hand, the rear-guard remained for a short time at the bottom of the hill, as if at a loss how to act in a conjuncture which appeared so desperate. It was the opinion of Colonel Brown, an officer of Lally’s regiment, who was at the head of the column, that they should rush upon the enemy sword in hand, and either open a passage to the army at Penrith, or perish in the attempt. The men of the four companies adopting this opinion, immediately ran up the hill, without informing Lord George Murray of their resolution; and his lordship, on observing this movement, immediately ordered the Glengarry men to proceed across the inclosure, and ascend the hill from another quarter, as they could not conveniently pass the waggons which had almost blocked up the roads. The Glengarry men, throwing off their plaids, reached the summit of the hill almost as soon as the head of the column, on gaining which, both parties were agreeably surprised to find, that the only enemy in view was the light horse they had observed a few minutes before, and who, alarmed at the appearance of the Highlanders, galloped off in disorder. One of the fugitives fell from his horse, and was cut to pieces in an instant by the Highlanders.[1064]
The rear-guard resumed its march, and on reaching the village of Clifton, Lord George Murray sent the artillery and heavy baggage forward to Penrith under a small escort. Being well acquainted with all the inclosures and parks about Lowther Hall, the seat of Lord Lonsdale, about the distance of a mile from Clifton, Lord George Murray, at the head of the Glengary regiment and some horse, examined these parks and inclosures in the hope of falling in with the light horse; but, although he saw several of them, he only succeeded in making two prisoners. By these prisoners Lord George was informed that the duke himself, with a body of 4,000 horse, was about a mile behind him. As Clifton was a very good post, Lord George Murray resolved to remain there; and on his return to the village he sent Colonel Roy Stuart with the two prisoners to Penrith, to inform Charles of the near approach of the duke, and that he would remain at Clifton till further orders. In the event of the prince approving of his intention of making a stand at Preston, his lordship requested that 1,000 men might be sent him from Penrith. On returning to Clifton from Lowther parks, Lord George found the Duke of Perth there; and, besides Colonel Roy Stuart’s men, who amounted to about 200, he also found the Macphersons with their chief, Cluny Macpherson, and the Stewarts of Appin, headed by Stewart of Ardshiel.[1065]
