II.
Treatment of the Vanquished.
1. After Preston Pans.
Source.—Lockhart Papers. Quoted in Jesse, Memoirs of the Pretenders, p. 187.
(a) After the battle of Preston Pans,—when one of the Prince's followers congratulated him on the victory which he had obtained, and, pointing to the field of battle, exclaimed, "Sir, there are your enemies at your feet!"—Charles is said not only to have refrained from joining in the exultation of the moment, but to have warmly expressed the sincerest compassion for those whom he termed "his father's deluded subjects." Previous to the battle, he had strongly exhorted his followers to adopt the side of mercy; and when the victory was gained, his first thoughts were for the unhappy sufferers, and his first hours employed in providing for the comfort of his wounded adversaries as well as his friends. His exhortations and example produced the happiest effects. In the words of one of his gallant followers,—"Not only did I often hear our common clansmen ask the soldiers if they wanted quarter, and not only did we, the officers, exert our utmost pains to save those who were stubborn or who could not make themselves understood, but I saw some of our private men, after the battle, run to Port Seton for ale and other liquors to support the wounded. As one proof for all, of my own particular observation, I saw a Highlander, carefully and with patient kindness, carry a poor wounded soldier on his back into a house, where he left him with a sixpence to pay his charges. In all this we followed not only the dictates of humanity, but also the orders of our Prince, who acted in everything as the true father of his country."
Source.—The MS. of Lord George Murray, Commander-in-Chief. Printed by Bishop Forbes in his Jacobite Memoirs, Edinburgh, 1834, p. 29.
(b) His Royal Highness caused take the same care of their wounded as of his own.... In the evening I went with the officer prisoners to a house in Musselburgh, that was allotted for them. Those who were worst wounded, were left at Colonel Gardner's house, where surgeons attended them; the others walked, as I did alongst with them, without a guard, (as they had given me their parole;) and to some, who were not well able to walk, I gave my own horses. It was a new finished house that was got for them, where there was neither table, bed, chair, or chimney grate. I caused buy some new thrashed straw, and had, by good fortune, as much cold provisions and liquor of my own, as made a tolerable meal to them all; and when I was going to retire, they entreated me not to leave them, for, as they had no guard, they were afraid that some of the Highlanders who had got liquor, might come in upon them, and insult or plunder them. I lay on a floor by them all night. Some of them, who were valetudinary, went to the minister's house, and I sent an officer with them, and they got beds: this was the quarter designed for myself. Next morning, after his Royal Highness went for Edinburgh, I carried these gentlemen to the house of Pinkey, where they were tolerably well accommodated. After I had returned to the field of battle, and given directions about the cannon, and seen about the wounded prisoners, to get all the care possible taken of them, and given other necessary orders, I returned to Pinkey, where I stayed all night. I got what provisions could possibly be had to the common men prisoners, who were that night in the gardens of Pinkey; and the night before, I had got some of their own biscuit carried from Cokenny to Colonel Gardner's courts and gardens, for their use.
2. After Culloden.
Source.—Forbes: Jacobite Memoirs. Pp. 232, 233, 251, 252, 296-298.
It is a fact undeniable, and known to almost everybody, that upon Friday the 18th of April, which was the second day after the battle, a party was regularly detached to put to death all the wounded men that were found in and about the field of battle. That such men were accordingly put to death is also undeniable, for it is declared by creditable people, who were eye-witnesses to that most miserable and bloody scene. I myself was told by William Ross, who was then grieve[20] to my Lord President, that twelve wounded men were carried out of his house, and shot in a hollow, which is within very short distance of the place of action.... Orders were given, on the Friday, to an officer, Hobbie, or such a name, that he should go to the field of battle, and cause carry there all the wounded in the neighbouring houses, at a mile's distance, some more, some less, and kill them upon the field, which orders were obeyed accordingly. When these orders were given at the knee, an officer who was well pleased told it to his comrades; one of them replied, "D—n him who had taken that order! He could not do an inhuman thing; though no mercy should be shewn to the rebels."
An officer was heard more than once say, that he saw seventy-two killed, and, as he termed it, knocked on the head. He was a young captain.... A little house into which a good many of the wounded had been carried, was set on fire about their ears, and every soul in it burnt alive, of which number was Colonel Orelli, a brave old gentleman, who was either in the French or Spanish service.... The Presbyterian minister at Petty, Mr. Laughlan Shaw, being a cousin of this Kinrara's,[21] had obtained leave of the Duke of Cumberland to carry off his friend, in return for the good services the said Mr. Laughlan had done the government; for he had been very active in dissuading his parishioners and clan from joining the Prince, and had likewise, as I am told, sent the Duke very pointed intelligence of all the Prince's motions. In consequence of this, on the Saturday after the battle, he went to the place where his friend was, designing to carry him to his own house. But as he came near, he saw an officer's Command, with the officer at their head, fire a platoon at fourteen of the wounded Highlanders, whom they had taken all out of that house, and bring them all down at once; and when he came up, he found his cousin and his servant were two of that unfortunate number. I questioned Mr. Shaw himself about this story, who plainly acknowledged the fact, and was indeed the person who informed me of the precise number; and when I asked him if he knew of any more that were murdered in that manner on the same day, he told me that he believed there were in all two-and-twenty.