Having received intelligence of the occupation of Strathbogie by the Highlanders, the Duke of Cumberland sent orders on the 16th, to General Bland to march thither with all the troops under his command, and endeavour to surprise the forces there assembled, and failing in that design, to attack them and drive them across the river. To sustain General Bland, should occasion require, Brigadier Mordaunt marched by break of day next morning to Old Meldrum, with four battalions and four pieces of cannon. About the same time General Bland left Old Meldrum for Strathbogie, and almost succeeded in surprising the insurgents, who were ignorant of his approach till he came near the place. At the time the news of General Bland’s march reached Strathbogie some of the Highlanders were absent, having been sent the preceding night for the purpose of intercepting the young laird of Grant, who was returning to his own country with a commission to raise a regiment out of his clan, and who was to pass within a few miles of Strathbogie. The party, however, did not succeed, as Mr. Grant got the start of them, and took up his quarters for the night in a strong castle belonging to Lord Forbes, which they found it impossible to force without artillery. This party returned to Strathbogie about one o’clock in the afternoon, greatly fatigued from want of rest, and found that intelligence had been received of Bland’s advance. This news was fully confirmed by the arrival of some scouts, who came back at full speed with information that a large body of horse and foot was at hand.[1159]
Alarmed at the unexpected approach of the enemy, the officers at Strathbogie were at first at a loss how to act. There was danger in retreat as well as in attempting to remain. It was impossible that the men, who were in want of sleep and refreshment, could march far without halting; and as they had left several stragglers behind, it appeared certain that, in the event of a retreat, these would be picked up by Bland’s cavalry. On the other hand, from the vast numerical superiority of the English forces, it was dreaded that the small party would not be able to make an effectual resistance, and that in the event of a defeat the whole would easily fall into the enemy’s hands. In this dilemma it was resolved to remain an hour at Strathbogie, to give time to the stragglers to come up, and then to retreat. At this time the van of Bland’s detachment had begun to appear, and before the hour had elapsed the whole was in sight, and the van within a quarter of a mile of the village. The small party of guards then marched out towards the enemy, and while they formed between the village and the bridge of Bogie, as if intending to dispute the passage of the bridge, the foot left the village. After they had cleared the village, and the enemy’s cavalry had begun to file along the bridge, the small body of horse retired after the foot, towards the river Deveron, which they crossed. They thereupon formed again on the other side of the river to stop the enemy’s horse, who had pursued them at full speed from Strathbogie to the river side, but they did not at first attempt the passage, a circumstance which enabled the foot to gain the adjoining hill without molestation, where, from the narrowness of the road and the rockiness of the ground on each side of it, they were perfectly safe from the attacks of cavalry. With the exception of some volunteers among the cavalry, who followed half-way up the hill, and skirmished with a few of the guards who were left behind to observe their motions, the rest of the cavalry gave over the pursuit. The Highlanders, however, did not halt till they reached Fochabers. Next day they crossed the Spey, along with the other troops which had been cantoned on the east side, and took up their quarters in the villages on the opposite side.[1160]
From Strathbogie, General Bland sent forward a detachment of 70 Campbells, and 30 of Kingston’s horse, to occupy Keith, but they were not allowed to hold this post long. Major Glasgow, an Irish officer in the service of France, having offered to the prince to carry it with a detachment of 200 men, he was allowed to attempt the enterprise, and succeeded, the village having been invested on all sides before the enemy was aware of the attempt. On this occasion they became the victims of a little stratagem. After recrossing the Spey, Lord John Drummond sent a body of horse and foot across every morning. The foot remained generally all day at Fochabers, and the horse patrolled on the road between that village and Keith. On the 20th of March, a small party of Bland’s light horse having appeared on the top of the hill that overlooks Fochabers, the party occupying the village, apparently alarmed, left it in a hurry, much earlier than usual, and repassed the river. The design in thus repairing across the river before the usual time, was to throw the party at Keith off their guard, who, fancying themselves secure, took no precautions against surprise. After it had grown quite dark, Glasgow crossed the Spey with his detachment, consisting of 200 foot and 40 horse, and marching direct to Keith, arrived there unperceived about one o’clock in the morning. The Campbells, who were quartered in the church, formed in the church-yard, and a smart fire was kept up for some time between them and their assailants; but upon being promised quarter, if they submitted, they laid down their arms. Of the whole party, including the horse, not above five or six escaped. Captain Campbell who commanded the detachment, a non-commissioned officer, and five privates were killed. Glasgow had twelve of his men killed or wounded.
The advantages obtained by the insurgents in their expeditions into Athole and Sutherland, and by the reduction of Fort Augustus, were in some degree balanced by the loss of the Prince Charles, formerly the Hazard sloop of war, and the capture of some treasure and warlike stores which she had brought from France for the use of Charles’s army; and by the abandonment of the siege of Fort William.
Early in November the Hazard, a vessel mounting sixteen guns and some swivels, with a crew of 80 men, had anchored at Ferriden, opposite Montrose. The object of her commander, in taking this station, was to prevent the insurgents from taking possession of the town. At this time a party of Lord Ogilvy’s men, under the command of Captain David Ferrier, held Brechin, of which Ferrier had been appointed deputy-governor by the prince before his march into England; and to hinder the approach of this party towards Montrose, a fire was kept up at intervals for three days and nights from the Hazard, the only effect of which was to annoy the inhabitants exceedingly. To put an end to such a state of matters, Ferrier formed the design of capturing the vessel by raising a battery at the entrance of the river, and thereby to prevent her getting out to sea. In pursuance of this plan he entered Montrose one night, and possessed himself of the island on the south side of the town, opposite to where the Hazard lay. Next day the Hazard attempted to dislodge the party from the isle by her fire, but without success. In the afternoon of the following day a vessel carrying French colours was observed at sea, standing in towards the river; this turned out to be a transport from France, with a party of Lord John Drummond’s regiment, some Irish piquets, and six pieces of artillery. On observing this vessel, the Hazard fired a gun to leeward as a decoy; but, upon a signal from the party on the island, the commander of the French vessel ran her on shore out of reach of the Hazard’s guns. The crew then landed the six guns, and a fire was opened from them upon the Hazard next morning from both sides of the river, on each of which three of the pieces had been planted. With the exception, however, of having some of her rigging cut, she sustained no damage. Before the arrival of Ferrier’s party, Captain Hill, the commander of the Hazard, had taken four six-pounders, and two four-pounders, belonging to the town, which he had put on board a vessel in the harbour; but, by oversight, he left this vessel at the quay, and the consequence was, that she fell into the hands of the insurgents. This circumstance was fatal to the Hazard; for, finding that the guns lately landed were not sufficient to force the Hazard to surrender, Captain Ferrier carried the four six-pounders to the Dial hill, from which he fired upon her; and her commander, seeing escape hopeless, after hoisting a flag of truce, and making an ineffectual attempt for permission to leave the river, surrendered.[1161]
This vessel, being a first-rate sailer, was a great acquisition to the insurgents, and had made several trips to France. On the present occasion the Prince Charles, as the Hazard was now named by the Highlanders, was returning from France, having on board several officers and some privates, a supply of arms and ammunition, and a quantity of gold coin, amounting to between £12,000 and £13,000 sterling. She was observed, on the 24th of March, off the Banffshire coast, by the Sheerness man-of-war, which immediately gave chase. The Prince Charles taking a north-west course, endeavoured to escape by entering the Pentland frith; but the Sheerness followed her into that dangerous gulf; and after a running fight, in which the Prince Charles is said to have lost 36 men, the latter ran ashore on the sands of Melness, on the west side of Tongue bay, near the house of Lord Reay, on the 25th of March. The officers, soldiers, and crew, immediately landed with the treasure, which was contained in small boxes, and carried it to the house of William Mackay of Melness, where it remained during the night. The dispersion of Lord Loudon’s forces, an event which was considered at the time highly favourable to the interests of Charles in the north, turned out, in the present instance, to be very prejudicial. Part of them, as has been stated, had, upon their dispersion, retired into that wild and barren region called Lord Reay’s country; and when the Prince Charles arrived in Tongue bay, there was a party of these troops quartered in the neighbourhood. On receiving notice of the landing, Lord Reay sent some persons in a boat across the bay, to ascertain the strength of the party that had disembarked; and, on being informed that it was not numerous, it was concerted between him and some of Lord Loudon’s officers, to attack the party next morning with such forces as they could collect. Early next morning the French, conducted by George Mackay, younger of Melness, who had undertaken to lead them to Inverness, left Melness; but they had not proceeded far, when they were attacked, two hours after day-break, by a body of men, consisting of fifty of Lord Reay’s people headed by his lordship’s steward and a similar number of Lord Loudon’s troops. After a short resistance, during which four or six of their men were killed and as many wounded, the whole party, consisting of 20 officers and 120 soldiers and sailors, surrendered.
As Charles’s coffers were almost exhausted at this time, the loss of such a large sum of money pressed with peculiar severity upon the army, which he had, in consequence, great difficulty in keeping together. Though sparing in his troops, the King of France had not been remiss in sending Charles pecuniary supplies, nor had the King of Spain been unmindful of him; but the remittances sent by these sovereigns did not all reach their destination, some of them having been intercepted by British cruisers on their way. Reckoning, however, the sums drawn and received from various sources, Charles must have got no inconsiderable sum; but he appears to have paid little attention to his pecuniary concerns, and a system of peculation is said to have been practised by the persons intrusted with the management, which told heavily upon his means. His principal steward in particular, to whom the administration of the finances was committed, is alleged not to have been scrupulously honest, and he is said to have contrived matters so as to prevent open detection. His underlings did not omit the opportunity which occasion offered, of filling their pockets: a system of imposition was also practised by means of false musters.[1162] Under such circumstances the early exhaustion of Charles’s military chest is not to be wondered at. In this situation, seeing the impossibility of recruiting his finances at Inverness, he had resolved to return to the south country; but other circumstances induced him to forego his intention.
Judging from the unfortunate result of the siege of Stirling castle, neither Lord George Murray nor Brigadier Stapleton had any hopes of reducing Fort William, which, besides being a strong place, was regularly fortified; but, as Lochiel, Keppoch, and other chiefs, whose properties lay in its neighbourhood, were very desirous to obtain possession of a fortress which perpetually annoyed them, and the garrison of which had, during the prince’s expedition into England, made frequent sallies, and burnt the houses of the country people, and carried off their cattle, they did not object to the siege.[1163]
To assist the troops under Stapleton, the Camerons and the Macdonalds of Keppoch were ordered to Fort William. Mr. Grant the engineer proposed to begin the siege by erecting a battery on a small hill, called the Sugar-loaf, which overlooked the fortress about 800 yards off; and as he observed that one of the bastions projected so far that it could not be defended by the fire of the first, he proposed to arrive at it by a trench and blow it up; but, while in the act of reconnoitring, he received a violent contusion from a cannon-ball, which completely disabled him. Brigadier Stapleton, having no other engineer, was obliged to send to Inverness for M. Mirabelle, the singular personage formerly alluded to. Meanwhile, the besieged heightened the parapets of the walls on the side where they dreaded an attack, and raised the two faces of the bastions seven feet high.[1164]
For several days a skirmishing was kept up between the garrison and two sloops of war stationed in the river, on the one side, and the besiegers on the other, with varied success; but the insurgents having completed a battery on the Sugar-loaf on March 20th, opened the siege that evening. On account of its distance from the fortress, and the smallness of the cannon, which consisted of six and four-pounders only, little execution was done. Next day the besiegers erected a new battery at the foot of the Cowhill, within half the distance of the other, which was also opened, but with little better effect. On the 22d, Brigadier Stapleton sent a drummer to Captain Scott, the commanding officer, with a letter, requiring him to surrender, but his answer was, that he would defend the place to the last extremity. The bombardment was thereupon renewed on both sides for some hours, but at last the garrison silenced the besiegers by beating down their principal battery. The besiegers then erected a third battery, and the bombardment continued, with little intermission, till the 31st, when the garrison made a sally, forced one of the batteries erected upon a place called the Craigs, about a hundred yards from the walls, and captured several pieces of cannon and two mortars. Notwithstanding this disaster, they continued to annoy the besieged from five cannon which they had still mounted, but with no other damage to the garrison than the destruction of the roofs of most of the houses. At length, on the 3d of April, Brigadier Stapleton, in consequence of instructions he had received from the prince to join him immediately, raised the siege, and, after spiking his heavy cannon, marched for Inverness with the piquets, taking his field pieces along with him. He left the Highlanders behind, on the understanding that they were to follow him with as little delay as possible. The loss sustained on either side was trifling.[1165]