[1120] Home, p. 180.
[1121] Johnstone’s Memoirs, p. 118.
[CHAPTER XXXV.]
A.D. 1746.
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:—George II., 1727–1760.
Duke of Cumberland sent down to Scotland—Marches westward—Siege of Stirling castle raised—Highland army retreats to the north—Council held at Crieff—Duke of Cumberland pursues and arrives at Perth—Arrival of Hessians—Rout of Moy—Capture of the town and castle of Inverness by Charles—Duke of Cumberland arrives at Aberdeen—Highlanders capture Fort Augustus—Expedition against Lord Loudon—Expedition of Lord George Murray into Athole—Duke of Cumberland’s movements—Takes possession of Old Meldrum and Strathbogie—Insurgents retreat across the Spey—Re-capture of the Hazard sloop-of-war—Siege of Fort William by the insurgents—Siege abandoned.
Unwilling any longer to intrust the management of the war to a general who had given such a signal proof of incapacity as Hawley had done, the government, immediately on receipt of his despatches, sent down the Duke of Cumberland to Scotland, to take the command of the army, and to retrieve if possible the lost reputation of the heroes of Dettingen and Fontenoy. The duke was beloved by the army, and enjoyed its confidence, circumstances which rendered him peculiarly fitted to supersede Hawley, who, after his return to Edinburgh, had by his severities become unpopular with the soldiers. Another reason for putting the duke at the head of the army opposed to Prince Charles, was the favourable effect which, it was supposed, the appearance of a prince of the blood would have upon the minds of the people of Scotland, and which, it was expected, would neutralise the influence of his kinsman. But apart from his rank as the son of the king, Prince William had little to recommend him to the especial notice of a nation, rather fastidious in its respect for princes. His conduct while in Scotland showed that humanity, the brightest ornament which can adorn the soldier hero, had no place in the catalogue of his virtues. With a cruelty, partly the result, perhaps, of the military school in which he was trained,[1122] and which fortunately has few parallels among civilised nations, he pursued his unfortunate victims, the misguided but chivalrous adherents of the fallen dynasty, with a relentless perseverance which disgusted even his own partisans.
