Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745. Volume III.
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Title: Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745. Volume III.
Author: Mrs. A. T. Thomson
Release date: March 31, 2007 [eBook #20948]
Language: English
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MEMOIRS
OF
THE JACOBITES
OF 1715 AND 1745.
BY MRS. THOMSON,
AUTHOR OF
"MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH,"
"MEMOIRS OF SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH," ETC.
VOLUME III.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1845.
LONDON:
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
PREFACE.
In completing this work, I have to repeat my acknowledgments to those
friends and correspondents to whom I expressed my obligations in the
Preface to the first volume; and I have the additional pleasure of
recording similar obligations from other channels.
I beg to testify my gratitude to Sir William Maxwell, Bart., of
Montreith, for some information regarding the Nithsdale family; which, I
hope, at some future time, to interweave with my biography of the Earl
of Nithsdale; and also to Miss Charlotte Maxwell, the sister of Sir
William Maxwell, whose enthusiasm for the subject of the Jacobites is
proved by the interesting collection of Jacobite airs which she is
forming, and which will be very acceptable to all who can appreciate
poetry and song.
To Sir John Maxwell, Bart., of Pollock, and to Lady Matilda Maxwell, I
offer my best thanks for their prompt and valued suggestions on the same
subject.
I owe much to the courtesy and great intelligence of Mrs. Howison
Craufurd, of Craufurdland Castle, Ayrshire: I have derived considerable
assistance from that lady in the life of the Earl of Kilmarnock, and
have, through her aid, been enabled to give to the public several
letters never before published. For original information regarding the
Derwentwater family, and for a degree of zeal, combined with accurate
knowledge, I must here express my cordial thanks to the Hon. Mrs.
Douglass, to whose assistance much of the interest which will be found
in the life of Charles Radcliffe is justly due.
I have also to acknowledge the kindness of Mons. Amedée Pichot, from
whose interesting work I have derived great pleasure and profit; and to
Madame Colmache, for her inquiries in the Biblothéque du Roi, for
original papers relating to the subject. To W. E. Aytoun, Esq., of
Edinburgh, I beg also to express my acknowledgments for his aid in
supplying me with some curious information regarding the Duke of Perth.
The kindness with which my researches, in every direction, have been
met, has added to my task a degree of gratification, which now causes
its close to be regarded with something almost like regret.
One advantage to be gained by the late publication of this third volume,
is the criticism of friends on the two former ones. Amid many errors, I
have been admonished, by my kind adviser and critic, Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, Esq., of having erred in accepting the common authorities in
regard to the celebrated and unfortunate Lady Grange. Whatever were the
sorrows of that lady, her faults and the provocation she gave to her
irritated husband, were, it appears, fully equal to her misfortunes.
Since the story of Lady Grange is not strictly connected with my
subject, I have only referred to it incidentally. At some future time,
the singular narrative of her fate may afford me a subject of further
investigation.
I beg to correct a mistake into which I had fallen, in the first volume,
respecting those letters relating to the Earl of Mar, for which I am
indebted, to Alexander Macdonald, Esq. These, a distinct collection from
that with which I was favoured by James Gibson Craig, Esq., were copied
about twelve years ago, from the papers then in the possession of Lady
Frances Erskine. They have since passed into the possession of the
present Earl of Mar.
An interesting letter in the Appendix of this work, will be found
relative to the social state of the Chevalier St. George, at Rome. For
permission to publish this I am indebted to the valued friendship of my
brother-in-law, Samuel Coltman, Esq., in whose possession it is, having
been bequeathed, with other MSS. to his mother, by the well-known Joseph
Spence, author of the "Anecdotes", and of other works.
LONDON,
_28th March, 1846._
CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
PAGE
LORD GEORGE MURRAY 1
JAMES DRUMMOND, DUKE OF PERTH 226
FLORA MACDONALD 310
WILLIAM BOYD, EARL OF KILMARNOCK 381
CHARLES RADCLIFFE 480
With Portraits of Flora Macdonald, Prince Charles, and Lord Balmerino.
MEMOIRS OF THE JACOBITES.
LORD GEORGE MURRAY.
This celebrated adherent of the Chevalier was born in the year 1705. He
was the fifth son of John Duke of Atholl, and the younger brother of
that Marquis of Tullibardine, whose biography has been already given.
The family of Atholl had attained a degree of power and influence in
Scotland, which almost raised them out of the character of subjects. It
was by consummate prudence, not unattended with a certain portion of
time-serving, that, until the period 1715, the high position which these
great nobles held had been in seasons of political difficulty preserved.
Their political principles were those of indefeasible right and
hereditary monarchy. John, first Marquis of Atholl, the father of Lord
George Murray, married Amelia Stanley, daughter of Charlotte De la
Tremouille, Countess of Derby, whose princely extraction, to borrow a
phrase of high value in genealogical histories, was the least of her
merits. This celebrated woman was remarkable for the virtue and piety of
her ordinary life; and, when the season of trial and adversity called
it forth, she displayed the heroism which becomes the hour of adversity.
Her well-known defence of Latham House in 1644 from the assaults of the
Parliamentarian forces, and her protracted maintenance of the Isle of
Man, the last place in the English dominions that submitted to the
Parliament, were followed by a long and patient endurance of penury and
imprisonment.
The Marquis of Atholl was consistent in that adherence to the Stuarts
which the family of his wife had professed. He advocated the succession
of James the Second, and was rewarded with the royal confidence. Indeed,
such was the partiality of the King towards him, that had the Marquis
"in this sale of favour," as an old writer expresses it, "not been firm
and inflexible in the point of his religion, which he could not
sacrifice to the pleasure of any mortal, he might have been the first
minister for Scotland."[1] After the Revolution, the Marquis retired
into the country, and relinquished all public business; thus signifying
his opinion of that event.
He bequeathed to his son, John second Marquis of Atholl, and the father
of Lord George Murray, as great a share of prosperity and as many
sources of self-exultation as ordinarily fall to the lot of one man. To
the blood of the Murrays, the marriage with Lady Amelia Stanley had
added a connection in kindred with the Houses of Bourbon and Austria,
with the Kings of Spain and Duke of Savoy, the Prince of Orange, and
most of the crowned heads in Europe. Upon the extinction of the
descendants of John the seventh Earl of Derby, commonly called the
loyal Earl of Derby, and of his wife Charlotte De La Tremouille, "all
that great and uncommon race of royal and illustrious blood," as it has
been entitled, centred in the descendants of the Marquis of Atholl. In
1726, the barony of Strange devolved upon the Duke of Atholl; and the
principality of the Isle of Man was also bequeathed to the same House by
William ninth Earl of Derby. This was the accession of a later period,
but was the consequence of that great and honourable alliance of which
the family of Atholl might justly boast.
The father of Lord George Murray adopted every precaution, as we have
seen,[2] to preserve the acquisitions of dignity and fortune which the
lapse of years had added to his patrimonial possessions. Sixteen coats
of arms, eight on the paternal side, and eight on the maternal side, had
composed the escutcheon of his father, John Marquis of Atholl. Among
those great names on the maternal side, which graced a funeral
escutcheon, which has been deemed the pattern and model of perfect
dignity, and the perfection of ducal grandeur, was the name of the
Prince of Orange.[3] This plea of kindred was not thrown away upon the
Marquis of Atholl; he declared himself for King William, and entered
early into the Revolution. For this service he was rewarded with the
office of High Commissioner to represent his Majesty in the Scottish
parliament. But subsequent events broke up this compact, and destroyed
all the cordiality which subsisted between William and the head of the
House of Atholl. The refusal of the King to own the African Company was,
it is said, the reason why the Marquis withdrew himself from Court, and
remained at a distance from it during the lifetime of William.
The accession of Anne brought, at first, fresh honours to this powerful
Scottish nobleman. He was created in 1704 a Duke, and was made Privy
Seal: but the politics of the Court party changed; the Duke of Atholl
was dismissed from the Ministry, and he became henceforth a warm
opponent of all the Government measures. He spoke with boldness, yet
discretion, against the Union; and protested against a measure which, as
he conceived, gave up all the dignity and antiquity of the kingdom.
During his proud career, a marriage with Katherine, the daughter of
William Duke of Hamilton, a lady of great prudence, and of eminent piety
and virtue, added to the high consideration of the Duke of Atholl. Of
this nobleman, certain historians have left the highest character. "He
was," says Nisbet, "of great parts, but far greater virtues; of a lively
apprehension, a clear and ready judgment, a copious eloquence, and of a
very considerable degree of good understanding."[4] It is difficult to
reconcile this description with the intrigues and bitterness which
characterise the Duke of Atholl, in Lovat's narrative of their rivalry;
nor would it be easy to reconcile the public report of many men with the
details of their private failings. That, however, which has impugned the
consistency and sincerity of the Duke of Atholl far more than the
representations of Lovat, is the belief that, whilst his feelings were
engaged in one cause, his professions were loud in upholding the other;
that he was double and self-interested; and that he saved his vast
estates from forfeiture by an act of policy which might, in some
bearings, be regarded as duplicity, in proof of which it is asserted,
that, whilst he pretended to condemn the conduct of his eldest son in
joining the Rebellion of 1715, he was the chief instigator of that
step.[5] Such was the father to whom Lord George Murray owed his birth.
During the unbroken prosperity of his House, the future General of the
Jacobite army was born. He was the fifth son of eight children, borne by
the first Duchess of Atholl, and was born in the year 1705. Of these,
John the eldest, and presumptive heir to the dukedom, had been killed at
the battle of Mons, or Malplaquet, in 1709. He was a youth of great
promise, and his death was a source of deep lamentation to his father; a
sorrow which subsequent events did not, perhaps, tend to alleviate.
William, Marquis of Tullibardine, was therefore regarded as the next
heir to all the vast possessions and ancestral dignities of his House.
His faithful adherence to the Chevalier St. George, and the part which
he adopted in the Rebellion of 1715, produced a revolution in the
affairs of his family, which, one may suppose, could not be effected
without some delicacy, and considerable distress.
In 1716 the Marquis of Tullibardine was attainted by an act passed in
the first year of George the First; and by a bill, which was passed in
the House of Commons relating to the forfeited estates, all these
estates were vested in his Majesty from and after the twenty-fourth of
January 1715.[6] Upon this bill being passed, the Duke of Atholl, who
had been residing for many years with the splendour and state of a
prince at his Castle at Blair Atholl, journeyed to London, and, being
graciously received by George the First, he laid his case before that
monarch, representing the unhappy circumstances of his son, and pointing
out what effect and influence this might have, in the event of his own
death, on the succession of his family, if his estate and honour were
not vested in law upon his second son, Lord James Murray, who had
performed very signal service to his Majesty in the late rebellion. This
petition was received, and a bill was brought into parliament for
vesting the honours of John Duke of Atholl in James Murray, Esq.,
commonly called Lord James Murray; and, as a reward of his steady
loyalty, a law was passed, enacting that the act of attainder against
William Marquis of Tullibardine should not be construed to extend to
Lord James Murray or his issue. In consequence of this bill, on the
death of the Duke of Atholl, in 1724, Lord James Murray succeeded to all
those honours and estates, which had thus been preserved through the
prudence of his father, and the clemency or policy of the King.
In this divided House was Lord George Murray reared. It soon appeared
that he possessed the decision and lofty courage of his ancestry; and
that his early predilections, in which probably his father secretly
coincided, were all in favour of the Stuarts, and that no considerations
of self-interest could draw him from that adherence.
The events of 1715 occurring when Lord George Murray was only ten years
of age, his first active exertions in the cause of the Stuarts did not
take place until a later period. In the interim, the youth, who
afterwards distinguished himself so greatly, served his first
apprenticeship to arms in the British forces in Flanders. In 1719, when
only fourteen years of age, a fresh plan of invasion being formed by
Spain, and the Marquis of Tullibardine having again ventured to join in
the enterprise, Lord George showed plainly his attachment to the
Jacobite cause. He came over with the Marquis, with a small handful of
Spaniards, and was wounded at the battle of Glenshiels on the tenth of
June. Of his fate after that event, the following account has been given
by Wodrow,[7] who prefaces his statement with a congratulatory remark
that several of the Jacobites were by their sufferings converted from
their error. "At Glenshiels," he writes, referring to Lord George
Murray, "he escaped, and with a servant got away among the Highland
mountains, and lurked in a hut made for themselves for some months, and
saw nobody. It was a happy Providence that either he or his servant had
a Bible, and no other books. For want of other business, he carefully
read that neglected book, and the Lord blessed it with his present hard
circumstances to him. Now he begins to appear abroad, and it is said is
soon to be pardoned; and he is highly commended not only for a serious
convert from Jacobitism, but for a good Christian, and a youth of
excellent parts, hopes, and expectations."
It appears, however, that Lord George, however he might be changed in
his opinions, did not consider himself safe in Scotland. He fled to the
Continent, and entered the service of Sardinia, then, in consequence of
the quadruple alliance, allotted to the possessions of the Duke of
Savoy.
Meantime, through the influence of his family, and, perhaps, on the plea
of his extreme youth when he had engaged in the battle of Glenshiels, a
pardon was obtained for the young soldier. His father, as is related in
the manuscript account of the Highlands before quoted, "had found it his
interest to change sides at the accession of George the First." His
second brother, as he was now called, James Murray, or Marquis of
Tullibardine, was a zealous supporter of the Hanoverian Government,
although it proved no easy matter to engage his Clan in the same cause.
During many succeeding years, while Lord George Murray was serving
abroad, cultivating those military acquirements which afterwards, whilst
they failed to redeem his party from ruin, extorted the admiration of
every competent judge, the progress of events was gradually working its
way towards a second great attempt to restore the Stuarts.
Notwithstanding the apparent tranquillity of the Chevalier St. George,
he had been continually though cautiously maintaining, during his
residence at Albano, as friendly an intercourse with the English
visitors to Rome as circumstances would permit. Most young men of
family and condition travelled, during the time of peace, in Italy; many
were thus the opportunities which occurred of conciliating these
youthful scions of great and influential families. As one instance of
this fact, the account given by Joseph Spence, the author of the
"Anecdotes" and of "Polymetis," affords a curious picture of the
eagerness evinced by James and his wife, during the infancy of their
son, to ingraft his infant image on the memory, and affections of the
English. Mr. Spence visited Rome while Charles Edward was yet in his
cradle. He was expressly enjoined by his father, before his departure
from England, on no account to be introduced to the Chevalier. Yet such
were the advances made to him, as his own letter[8] will show, that it
was almost impossible for him to resist the overture: and similar
overtures were made to almost every Englishman of family or note who
visited Rome at that period.
In addition to these efforts, a continual correspondence was maintained
between James and his Scottish adherents. The Chevalier's greatest
accomplishment was his art of writing letters; and he appears eminently
to have excelled in that power of conciliation which was so essential in
his circumstance.
Meantime Charles grew up, justifying, as he increased in stature, and as
his disposition revealed itself, the most ardent expectations of those
who wished well to his cause. One failing he very early evinced; that
remarkable devotion to certain favourites which marked the conduct of
his ancestors; and the partiality was more commonly built upon the
adulation bestowed by those favourites than founded in reason.
It was in the year 1741 that the royal youth, then scarcely nineteen
years of age, became acquainted with a man whose qualities of mind, and
attractions of manner, exercised a very considerable influence over his
destiny; and whose character, pliant, yet bitter, intriguing and
perfidious, came afterwards into a painful collision with the haughty
overbearing temper, and manly sincerity, of Lord George Murray.
It was in consequence of the practice adopted by some of the hangers-on
of the Chevalier's court, of luring young English or Scottish strangers
to its circles, that John Murray of Broughton, afterwards Secretary to
Prince Charles, was first introduced to the young Chevalier. Murray was
the son of Sir David Murray, Bart., by his second wife, a daughter of
Sir David Scott of Ancrum: he was at this time only twenty-three years
of age, and he had lately completed his studies at Edinburgh, where he
had gone through a course of philosophy, and studied the civil and
municipal laws. The report which prevailed that Mr. Murray had been
educated with the young Chevalier was untrue; it was by the desire of
his mother, Lady Murray, that he first, in 1741, visited both France and
Italy, and perfected himself in the language of those countries, then by
no means generally attained by Scotchmen.
Mr. Murray had been brought up in the principles of the Episcopal
Church, and therefore there was less reason, than there would have been
in the case of a Roman Catholic, to apprehend his being beguiled into an
intimate connection with the exiled Stuarts. He had not, however, been
long in Rome before he was asked by an acquaintance whether he had seen
the Santi Apostoli, as the palace of the Chevalier was called. On
answering in the negative, he was assured that, through a knowledge of
some of the servants, a sight might be obtained of the palace; and also
of the Protestant chapel, in which, as Mr. Murray heard with great
surprise, the Chevalier allowed service to be performed for such of the
retinue of the young Prince as were of the Protestant persuasion. It was
also alleged that this indulgence was with the cognizance of the Pope,
who, in order to remove the barrier which prevented the Stuarts from
enjoying the crown of England, was willing to allow Charles Edward to be
brought up as a Protestant. This assertion was further confirmed by the
fact, that the noblemen, Lord Inverness and Lord Dunbar, who had the
charge of Charles Edward, were both Protestants; a choice on the part of
James which had produced all that contention between himself and the
Princess Clementina, with the details of which the Courts of Europe were
entertained.
The family and retinue of the Chevalier St. George being then at Albano,
Mr. Murray was able to gratify his curiosity, and to inspect the chapel,
which had neither crucifix, confessional, nor picture in it,--only an
altar,--and was not to be distinguished from an English chapel; and here
English divines officiated. Here, it is said, whilst at his devotions, a
slight accident occurred, which nourished a belief in presages in the
mind of Charles Edward. A small piece of the ceiling, ornamented with
flowers in fretwork, fell into his lap; it was discovered to be a
thistle: soon afterwards, another of these ornaments became detached,
and fell also into his lap; this proved to be a rose. Such omens,
coupled with the star of great magnitude which astronomers asserted to
have appeared at his nativity, were, it was thought, not without their
effect on the hopes and conduct of the young Prince. One can hardly,
however, do him so much injustice as to suppose that such could be the
case.
Mr. Murray expressed, it is affirmed, a considerable degree of curiosity
to see the Chevalier and his two sons, who were both highly extolled for
their natural gifts and graces; the wish was communicated, and, acting
upon the principle of attracting all comers to the Court, was soon
realised: a page was sent, intimating that Mr. Murray's attendance would
be well received, and he was, by an order from the Chevalier, graciously
admitted to kiss hands. Such was the commencement of that acquaintance
which afterwards proved so fatal to the interests of Prince Charles, and
so disgraceful to the cause of the Jacobites. Such was the introduction
of the young Prince to the man who subsequently betrayed his companions
in misfortune. This step was shortly followed by an intimacy which,
probably in the commencement, was grounded upon mutual good-will. Men
become perfidious by slow degrees; and perform actions, as they advance
in life, which they would blush to reflect on in the day-dawn of their
honest youth.
This account is, however, derived from the statements of an anonymous
writer, evidently an apologist for the errors of Mr. Murray,[9] and is
contradicted so far as the sudden conversion of the young Scotchman to
the cause of the Stuarts, by the fact that he had all his life been a
violent Jacobite.[10] On the other hand, it is alleged by Mr. Murray's
champion, that his feelings and affections, rather than his reason, were
quickly engaged in the cause of the Chevalier, from his opportunities of
knowing intimately the personal qualities of the two royal brothers,
Charles Edward and Henry Benedict. He was, moreover, independent of
circumstances; being in the enjoyment of a fortune of three or four
hundred a year, which was considered a sufficient independence for a
younger brother, and therefore interest, it is alleged, could not have
been an inducement to his actions.
Whether from real admiration, or from a wish to disseminate in Scotland
a favourable impression of the Stuart Princes, it is difficult to
decide; but Mr. Murray, in 1742, dispatched to a lady in Scotland, who
had requested him to describe personages of so great interest to the
Jacobites, the following, perhaps, not exaggerated portrait of what
Charles Edward was in the days of his youth, and before he had left the
mild influence of his father's house.
"Charles Edward, the eldest son of the Chevalier de St. George is tall,
above the common stature; his limbs are cast in the exact mould, his
complexion has in it somewhat of an uncommon delicacy; all his features
are perfectly regular, well turned, and his eyes the finest I ever saw;
but that which shines most in him, and renders him without exception the
most surprisingly handsome person of the age, is the dignity that
accompanies his every gesture; there is, indeed, such an unspeakable
majesty diffused throughout his whole mien and air, as it is impossible
to have any idea of without seeing, and strikes those that do with such
an awe, as will not suffer them to look upon him for any time, unless he
emboldens them to it by his excessive affability.
"Thus much, madam, as to the person of this Prince. His mind, by all I
can judge of it, is no less worthy of admiration; he seems to me, and I
find to all who know him, to have all the good nature of the Stuart
family blended with the spirit of the Sobieskys. He is, at least as far
as I am capable of seeing into men, equally qualified to preside in
peace and war. As for his learning, it is extensive beyond what could be
expected from double the number of his years. He speaks most of the
European languages with the same ease and fluency as if each of them
were the only one he knew; is a perfect master of all the different
kinds of Latin, understands Greek very well, and is not altogether
ignorant of Hebrew; history and philosophy are his darling
entertainments, in both which he is well versed; the _one_ he says will
instruct him how to govern _others_, and the _other_ how to govern
_himself_, whether in _prosperous_ or _adverse_ fortune. Then for his
courage, that was sufficiently proved at the siege of Gaità, where
though scarcely arrived at the age of fifteen, he performed such things
as in attempting made his friends and his enemies alike tremble, though
for different motives. What he is ordained for, we must leave to the
Almighty, who alone disposes all; but he appears to be born and endowed
for something very extraordinary."[11]
It was not long before Mr. Murray perceived that, although James Stuart
had given up all hopes of the English crown for himself, he still
cherished a desire of regaining it for his son. Scotland was of course
the object of all future attempts, according to the old proverb:
"He that would England win,
Must with Scotland first begin."
The project of an invasion, if not suggested by Murray, as has been
stated, was soon communicated to him; and his credit attained to such an
extent, that he was appointed by the Chevalier, at the request of Prince
Charles, to be secretary for Scottish affairs. At the latter end of the
year 1742 he was sent to Paris, where he found an emissary of the
Stuarts, Mr. Kelly, who was negotiating in their behalf at the Court of
France. Here Murray communicated with Cardinal Tencin, the successor of
Cardinal Fleury, in the management of the affairs of the Chevalier, and
here he met the exiled Marquis of Tullibardine, who, notwithstanding his
losses and misfortunes in the year 1715, was still sanguine of ultimate
success. Here, too, was the unfortunate Charles Radcliffe, who, with
others once opulent, once independent, were now forced to submit to
receive, with many indignities in the payment, pensions from the French
Government. It was easy to inflame the minds of persons so situated with
false hopes; and Murray is said to have been indefatigable in the
prosecution of his scheme. After a delay of three weeks in Paris, he set
off on that memorable undertaking to engage the Clans, which ultimately
ended in the insurrection of 1745.
Lord George Murray, meantime, had returned to his native country, where
he was presented to George the Second, and solicited, but ineffectually,
a commission in the British army. This was refused, and the ardour in
the Stuart cause, which we may presume to have wavered, again revived in
its original vigour.
Previous to the Insurrection of 1745, Lord George Murray married Amelia,
the only surviving child and heiress of James Murray of Glencarse and
Strowan, a lady who appears, both from the terms of affection and
respect expressed towards her by the Marquis of Tullibardine, and from
the tenour of her own letters, to have coincided warmly in the efforts
of her husband for the restoration of the Stuarts.[12] Five children
were the issue of this marriage.
The course which public affairs were now taking checked, however,
completely all hopes of domestic felicity. After several unsuccessful
negotiations in Paris attempted by the agents of James Stuart, and in
London by Lord Elcho, the scheme of invasion languished for some time.
Whilst all was apparently secure, however, the metropolis was the scene
of secret cabals and meetings of the Jacobites, sometimes at one place,
sometimes at another; but unhappily for their cause, the party generally
wanted compactness and discretion. "The little Jacobites," as those who
were not in the secret of these manoeuvres were called, began to
flatter themselves that a large army would land in England from France
that summer. Nor was it the policy of Government to check these reports,
which strengthened the hands of the ministry, and procured a grant of
the supplies with alacrity. The Jacobites, meantime, ran from house to
house, intoxicated with their anticipated triumphs; and such chance of
success as there might be was thus rendered abortive.
The year 1743 ended, however; and the visions of the Jacobites vanished
into air. Donald Cameron of Lochiel, the elder, who visited Paris for
the purpose of ascertaining what were the real intentions of the French
cabinet, found that even the Cardinal Tencin did not think it yet time
for the attempt, and he returned to Scotland disheartened. The death of
the Cardinal Fleury in 1743 added to the discomfiture of his hopes.[13]
Above all, the reluctance of the English Jacobites to pledge themselves
to the same assurances that had been given by the Scotch, and their
shyness in conversing with the people who were sent from France or
Scotland on the subject, perplexed the emissaries who arrived in this
country, and offered but a faint hope of their assistance from England.
But, in the ensuing year, the affairs of the Jacobites brightened;
France, which had suspended her favours, once more encouraged and
flattered the party. A messenger was dispatched to the palace of Albano,
to acquaint the Chevalier that the day was now arrived when his views
might be expected to prosper; whilst at the same time the utmost pains
were taken by the French Government to appear to the English averse to
the pretensions of James Stuart. It affords, indeed, another trait of
the unfortunate tendency of the Stuart family to repose a misplaced
confidence, that they should have relied on professions so hollow and so
vague as those of France. But the dependent and desolate situation of
that Prince may well be supposed to have blinded a judgment not ripened
by any active participation in the general business of life, and
narrowed within his little Court. Besides, there remained some who,
after the conflict at Culloden was over, could even view the enterprise
as having been by no means unauspicious. "Upon the whole," writes
Maxwell of Kirkconnel, "the conjuncture seemed favourable; and it is not
to be wondered that a young Prince, naturally brave, should readily lay
hold of it. There was a prospect of recalling his father from an exile
nearly as long as his life, saving his country from impending ruin, and
restoring both to the enjoyment of their rights."[14]
Great preparations were in fact actually made by the French Government
for the invasion of Great Britain. The young Prince, who was forthwith
summoned from Rome, was to land in the Highlands and head the Clans;
Lord John Drummond, it was arranged, should make a descent on the
southern part of the island, and endeavour to join the young Chevalier,
and march towards Edinburgh. Twelve thousand French were to pour into
Wales at the same time, under the command of a general who was never
named, and to join such English insurgents as should rally to their
assistance.
This scheme, had it been executed with promptness, might perhaps have
prospered better than, in these later times, in the security of an
undisturbed succession, we are inclined to allow. General discontents
prevailed in England. The partiality which had been shown to the
Hanoverian troops in preference to the English at the battle of
Dettingen had irritated, if not alienated, the affections of the army.
The King and the Duke of Cumberland were abroad, and a small number of
ships only guarded the coast. Parliament was not sitting; and most of
the members both of the Lords and Commons, and of the Privy Council,
were at their country-seats. But the proper moment for the enterprise
was lost by delays, and the same opportunity never again occurred.
Meantime, the young Prince who was to influence the destiny of so many
brave men, accompanied by his brother, left Rome furtively, under
pretext of going to hunt at Cisterna. A tender affection, cemented by
their adversities, existed between James Stuart and his sons. As they
parted from each other with tears and embracings, the gallant Charles
Edward exclaimed, "I go to claim your right to three crowns: If I fail,"
he added earnestly, "your next sight of me, sir, shall be in my coffin!"
"My son," exclaimed the Chevalier, "Heaven forbid that all the crowns in
the world should rob me of my child!"[15] Mr. Murray of Broughton was
present at this interview; the prelude to disasters and dangers to the
ardent young man, and of anxieties and disappointments to his father,
feelingly depicted in the Chevalier's touching letters to his
children.[16]
By a stratagem the young Prince effected his journey from Rome without
its becoming known, and eleven days after his departure from that city
elapsed before it was made public. He was accompanied by Henry Benedict,
who was at this time a youth of great promise. He is described as having
had, as well as his brother, a very fine person, though somewhat shorter
in stature than that ill-fated young man, and of a less delicate
complexion. He seems to have been, perhaps, better constituted for the
career of difficulty which Charles Edward encountered. He was of a
robust form, with an unusual fire in his eyes. Whilst his brother united
the different qualities of the Stuart and the Sobieski, Henry Benedict
is said to have been more entirely actuated by the spirit of his great
ancestor, King John of Poland; by whom, and the handful of Christians
whom he headed, a hundred and fifty thousand Turks were defeated. Even
when only nine years of age, the high-spirited boy, whose martial
qualities were afterwards subdued beneath the taming influence of a
Cardinal's hat, resented the refusal of his father to allow him to
accompany his brother to assist the young King of Naples in the recovery
of his dominions; and could only be pacified by the threat of having his
garter, the beloved insignia of English knighthood, taken from him as
well as his sword.[17][18]
It soon became evident that the designs of France were not unknown at
St. James's. The celebrated Chauvelin, Secretary of State to Louis the
Fifteenth, had long been employing his influence over the Cardinal
Fleury to counteract the wishes of the English. By a slight accident his
designs were disclosed to Queen Caroline. Chauvelin had,
unintentionally, among other papers, put into the hands of the Earl of
Waldegrave, then ambassador in France, a letter from the Chevalier. Lord
Waldegrave immediately sent it to Queen Caroline. This involved a long
correspondence between Sir Robert Walpole and Waldegrave on the subject.
"Jacobitism," to borrow the language of Dr. Cox, "at this time produced
a tremor through every nerve of Government; and the slightest incident
that discovered any intercourse between the Pretender and France
occasioned the most serious apprehensions."[19] The spirit of
insurrection and discontent had long pervaded not only the capital,
which was disturbed by frequent tumults, but the country; and the murder
of Porteous in Edinburgh, in 1736, was proved only to be the result of a
regular systematic plan of resistance to the Government.[20]
The death of Queen Caroline deprived the oppressed Jacobites in both
kingdoms of their only friend at Court. The unfortunate of all modes of
faith met, indeed, with protection and beneficence from that excellent
Princess. Those Roman Catholics, whose zeal for the Stuart cause had
exposed them to the rigour of the law, were succoured by her bounty;
large sums were sent by her to the indigent and ruined Jacobite
families; and Sir Robert Walpole, who was greatly disturbed at this show
of mercy to the delinquent party, truly exclaimed, "that the Jacobites
had a ready access to the Queen by the backstairs, and that all attempts
to suppress them would be ineffectual."[21]
The last efforts of Walpole, then Lord Orford, were exerted to warn the
country of the danger to be feared in that second invasion, for
prognosticating which he had so often been severely ridiculed. He
alluded to "the greatest power in Europe, which was setting up a
Pretender to the throne; the winds alone having hindered an invasion and
protected Britain." He warned the Lords, that the rebellion which he
anticipated would be "fought on British ground." The memorable oration
in which he unfolded these sentiments, which were delivered with great
emotion, touched the heart of Frederic Prince of Wales; who arose,
quitted his seat, and, taking Lord Orford by the hand, expressed his
acknowledgments.[22] That warning was the last effort of one sinking
under an excruciating disease, and to whose memory the tragedy of 1715
must still have been present.
Charles Edward, to whose ill-omened attempts to sail from Dunkirk,
Walpole had thus alluded, had borne that disastrous endeavour with a
fortitude which augured well for his future powers of endurance. Mr.
Maxwell[23] thus describes his commencement of the voyage. "Most of the
troops," he says, "were already embarked, when a furious storm dispersed
the ships of war, and drove the transports on the coast: the troops
already embarked were glad to gain the shore, having lost some of their
number. It is hardly possible to conceive a greater disappointment than
that which the Prince met with on this occasion. How severely soever he
might feel it, he did not seem dejected; on the contrary, he was in
appearance cheerful and easy; encouraged such of his friends as seemed
most deeply affected, telling them Providence would furnish him with
other occasions of delivering his father's subjects, and making them
happy. Immediately after this disaster the expedition was given up, and
the Prince returned to Paris, where he lived incognito till he set out
for Scotland. Not long after his return to Paris, war was declared
betwixt France and England, which gave him fresh hopes that something
would be undertaken. But after several months, seeing no appearance, he
grew very impatient, and began to think of trying his fortune with such
friends as would follow him: he was sick of the obscure way he was in;
he thought himself neglected by the court of France, but could not bear
the thoughts of returning to Rome. He had heard much of the loyalty and
bravery of the Scotch Highlanders; but the number of those Clans he
could depend upon was too inconsiderable to do anything effectual. While
he was thus perplexed and fluctuating, John Murray of Broughton arrived
from Scotland."
In this emergency, the flattering representations of Murray of
Broughton found a ready response in the young Prince's heart.
Notwithstanding the assertions of that individual in his evidence at
Lovat's trial, that he had used every means to dissuade the Prince from
going to Scotland,[24] it is expressly stated by Mr. Maxwell,[25] that
he "advised the Prince, in his own name, to come to Scotland at any
rate; it was his opinion that the Prince should come as well provided
and attended as possible, but rather come alone than delay coming; that
those who had invited the Prince, and promised to join him if he came at
the head of four or five thousand regular troops, would do the same if
he came without any troops at all; in fine, that he had a very strong
party in Scotland, and would have a very good chance of succeeding. This
was more than enough to determine the Prince. The expedition was
resolved upon, and Murray despatched to Scotland with such orders and
instructions as were thought proper at that juncture."
Mr. Murray may therefore be considered as in a great measure responsible
for the event of that proceeding, which he afterwards denounced as a
"desperate undertaking." He found, unhappily, ready instruments in the
unfortunate Marquis of Tullibardine, in Mr. Radcliffe, and others, whose
fate he may thus be considered to have hastened by his alluring
representations of the prospects of success.
When it was decided that Charles Edward should throw himself on the
loyalty of the Clans, and intimation was given of the whole scheme, Lord
George Murray prepared for action. The landing of the Prince, the
erection of a standard at Glenfinnin, the march through Lochiel, and the
encampment between Glengarry and Fort Augustus, were events which he did
not personally aid by his presence. He was, indeed, busily employed in
assembling his father's tenantry; and it was not until the Prince
arrived at Perth that Lord George Murray was presented to him; he was
almost immediately created a Lieutenant-General in the Prince's service.
His power in the Highlands was, indeed, of a far greater extent than
that military rank would seem to imply; for, although the Marquis of
Tullibardine was the nominal commander in the North, to Lord George
Murray was entrusted the actual management of affairs; an arrangement
with which the modest and conscientious Tullibardine willingly complied.
The character of Lord George might be considered as partly sobered by
time; since, at the commencement of the Rebellion of 1745, he was forty
years of age. He was in the full vigour, therefore, of his great natural
and intellectual powers, which, when at that period of life they have
been ripened by exercise and experience, are perhaps at their zenith.
The person of Lord George was tall and robust; he had the self-denial
and energy of his countrymen. He slept little, and entered into every
description of detail; he was persevering in everything which he
undertook; he was vigilant, active, and diligent. To these qualities he
united a natural genius for military operations; and his powers were
such, that it was justly thought, that, had he been well instructed in
military tactics, he would have formed one of the ablest generals of
the day. As it was, the retreat from Derby, ill-advised as it may be
deemed, is said to have sufficiently manifested his skill as a
commander.
In addition to these attributes, Lord George was brave to the highest
degree; and, in all engagements, was always the first to rush sword in
hand into danger. As he advanced to the charge, and looked round upon
the Highlanders, whose character he well understood, it was his practice
to say, "I do not ask you, my lads, to go before; but only to follow
me."[26] It cannot be a matter of surprise, that, with this bold and
resolute spirit, Lord George was the darling of the Highland soldiers;
and that his strong influence over their minds should have enabled him
to obviate, in some measure, the deficiencies of discipline. "Taking
them," as a contemporary writer asserts, "merely as they came from the
plough, he made them perform prodigies of valour against English armies,
always greatly superior in number to that of the Prince Charles Edward,
although the English troops are allowed to be the best in Europe." Thus
endowed, Lord George Murray showed how feeble are the advantages of
birth, compared with those of nature's gift. In rank, if not in family
connections, and in an hereditary hold upon the affections of his
countrymen, the Duke of Perth might be esteemed superior; but, brave and
honourable as he was, that amiable nobleman could never obtain the
confidence of the army as a general. It is not, however, to be supposed
that any commander would ever have obtained an influence over a
Highland army, if he had not added high birth to his other requisites.
The Clansmen were especially aristocratic in their notions; and the
names which they had honoured and loved from their birth, were alone
those to which they would eagerly respond.
To counterbalance the fine, soldierly characteristics which graced the
lofty and heroic Lord George Murray, some defects, of too stern a nature
to be called weaknesses, but yet indicative of narrowness of mind,
clouded his excellent qualities. Unlike most great men, he was not open
to conviction. That noble candour, which can bear counsels, or receive
even admonition with gratitude, was not a part of his haughty nature. A
sense of superiority over every human being rendered him impatient of
the slightest controul, and greedy of exclusive power. He was imperious
and determined; and was deficient in the courtesy which forms, combined
with honesty, so fine an attribute in a soldier's bearing. "He wanted,"
says one who knew him well, "the sole ordering of everything."[27]
At Perth, Lord George Murray met with the famous Chevalier Johnstone,
whom he soon adopted into his service. This young soldier, whose pen has
supplied memoirs of the Rebellion of 1745, and upon whose statements
much of the reported merits of Lord George Murray rests, was the only
son of a merchant in Edinburgh, and the descendant of an ancient and
well-connected family. By the marriage of his sister he was nearly
related to the House of Rollo; and, from these and other circumstances,
he mingled with the best society in his native city.
Having been educated in Jacobite and Episcopalian principles, young
Johnstone hailed with delight the arrival of Prince Charles: he resolved
instantly to join his standard. Escaping from Edinburgh, he hastened to
Duncrub, the seat of Lord Rollo, near Perth. Here he awaited the arrival
of the young Chevalier; and here he was introduced by his cousins, the
daughters of Lord Rollo, to the Duke of Perth and to Lord George Murray.
The Chevalier Johnstone was one of the first Low-countrymen that joined
the standard of Charles Edward.
Lord George Murray very soon discovered that the requisites for forming
a good soldier and an active partizan were centred in young Johnstone.
For the former he was qualified by an open and impetuous character,
generally combined with a desperate courage. The jollity and licence of
the Cavalier school, which characterized Johnstone, did not materially
detract from, but added rather to the popularity of his character. As a
partizan, he has proved his zeal by his Memoirs, which afford a sample
of much heat and prejudice, and which have, in upholding Lord George
Murray, done an injury to the memory of Charles Edward, of which the
adversaries of his cause have not failed to take advantage. To many
errors of character, and to some egotism, the Chevalier Johnstone, as he
came to be called in after-life, united a kind heart and an enthusiastic
disposition. He acted for a considerable time as aide-de-camp to Lord
George Murray, and afterwards in the same capacity with the Prince. But
his liveliest admiration appears to have been directed towards the
general who has been classed with Montrose and Dundee,[28] and no
subsequent service under other masters ever effaced his impression of
respect and confidence to Lord George Murray. After the battle of
Preston-Pans Johnstone received a captain's commission from the Prince:
and, exhausted with his duties as aide-de-camp, he formed a company,
with which he joined the Duke of Perth's regiment. His history, mingled
up as it is with that of the General under whom he first served, must
necessarily be incorporated with the following narrative.
Lord George Murray continued, for some time, busily engaged in rallying
around him his brother's vassals. The Duke of Atholl is partly
proprietor, partly superior, of the country which bears his name. That
region is inhabited by Stuarts and Robinsons, none of the Duke's name
living upon his estates. Of these, several have fiefs or mortgages of
the Atholl family, and command the common people of their respective
Clans; but, like other Highlanders, they believe that they are bound to
rise in arms when the chief of their whole Clan requires it. The vassals
on the Atholl territory were well-affected to the Stuarts, great pains
having been taken by the father of Lord George Murray, notwithstanding
his efforts to appear loyal to the Government, to infuse the spirit of
Jacobitism among them.[29]
Of the events which succeeded his joining the Prince's standard at
Perth, until the commencement of the retreat from Derby, Lord George
Murray has left a succinct relation. It is written, as are his letters,
in a plain, free, manly style, which dispels all doubt as to the
sincerity of the narrator.
"I joined the standard at Perth,"[30] he begins, "the day his Royal
Highness arrived there. As I had formerly known something of a Highland
army, the first thing I did was to advise the Prince to endeavour to get
proper people for provisors and commissaries, for otherwise there would
be no keeping the men together, and they would straggle through the
whole country upon their marches if it was left to themselves to find
provisions; which, beside the inconveniency of irregular marches, and
much time lost, great abuses would be committed, which, above all
things, we were to avoid. I got many of the men to make small knapsacks
of sacking before we left Perth, to carry a peck of meal each upon
occasion; and I caused take as many threepenny loaves there as would be
three days' bread to our small army, which was carried in carts. I sent
about a thousand of these knapsacks to Crieff, to meet the men who were
coming from Atholl."
The difficulties which Lord George encountered were, it is evident,
considerable. Upon the arrival of Charles Edward at Perth, his army
amounted only to two thousand men,[31] until he was joined by Lord
George Murray, by the Duke of Perth, and by Lord Nairn, and other
persons of distinction.[32] There were few persons in that army who were
capable, by being versed in military affairs, of giving Lord George
Murray any advice or assistance. The Highland chiefs possessed the most
heroic courage; but they knew no other manoeuvre but that of rushing,
sword in hand, upon an enemy. The Irish officers were equally deficient
in experience and knowledge; and, with the exception of Mr. Sullivan,
are stated "to have had no more knowledge than the whole stock of
subalterns, namely, the knowing how to mount and quit guard." Such is
the description given of the collected forces by Johnstone. But,
although not trained as regular soldiers, and accustomed chiefly to the
care of herds of black cattle, whom they wandered after in the
mountains, the Highlanders had a discipline of their own. Their chiefs
usually kept about them several retainers experienced in the use of
arms; and a meeting of two or three gentlemen was sure to bring together
a little army, for the habits of the clansmen were essentially military.
It was, some considered, a circumstance favourable to Lord George
Murray, that, being unprepared by an early military education, he was
unfettered by its formal rules, and therefore was more calculated to
lead an undisciplined army of Highlanders, whose native energies he knew
how to direct better than a skilful tactician would have ventured to
do.[33] During his stay at Perth, the Highlanders, so prone to
irregularities when not in active service, were tranquil under the
strictest military rule.[34]
It was here, however, that the first seeds of dissension were sown
between Charles Edward and Lord George. Sir Thomas Sheridan, the tutor
of the Prince, who was allowed to "have lived and died a man of honour,"
but who was manifestly incapable of the great charge intrusted to him,
both in the education of the young Princes and as their adviser in
after-life, added to his other deficiencies a total ignorance of the
British constitution and habits of thinking. The Prince, of course, was
equally ill-informed. They were therefore in the practice, in
conversation, of espousing sentiments of arbitrary power, which were
equally impolitic and unbecoming. Sincere and shrewd, Lord George Murray
lost no time in expressing to Charles Edward his decided disapproval of
this tone of discourse. His motives in these expostulations were
excellent, but his overbearing manner nullified all the good that might
have been effected. He offended the Prince, who repressed indeed his
secret indignation, but whose pride, fostered by circumstances, could
ill brook the assumption of his General.[35]
It was not until the Prince reached Edinburgh that a regular Council was
formed; consisting of the Duke of Perth, Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho,
Secretary Murray, Sir Thomas Sheridan, and Mr. Sullivan, the Highland
chiefs, and afterwards of all the colonels in the army. But, among the
advisers of the Prince, an "ill-timed emulation," as Mr. Maxwell calls
it, now crept in, and bred great dissension and animosities. "The
dissensions," he states, "began at Edinburgh:" according to Sir Walter
Scott, they had an earlier origin, and originated at Perth.
They were aggravated, as in the Council at Perth in the time of Lord
Mar, by the base passions of an individual. Detesting the weak and
crooked policy of Mar and viewing from his calm position as an inferior
actor, with a fiendish pleasure, the embarrassments and mistakes of him
whom he hated, stood the Master of Sinclair. Blinded by a selfish
jealousy of power over the mind of him whom he afterwards betrayed to
the ruin which he was working, and "aiming at nothing less than the sole
direction and management of everything, the Secretary Murray sacrificed
to this evil passion, this thirst for ascendancy, all the hopes of
prosperity to Charles Edward--all present peace to the harassed and
perplexed young man whom his counsels had brought to Scotland. It was
he," strongly, and perhaps bitterly, writes Mr. Maxwell, "that had
engaged the Prince to make this attempt upon so slight a foundation, and
the wonderful success that had hitherto attended it was placed to his
account."
By some the sincerity of Murray's loyalty and good-faith were even
credited. The Duke of Perth, among a few others, judged of Murray's
heart by his own, went readily into all his schemes, and confirmed the
Prince in the opinion which he had imbibed of his favourite. After Kelly
had left the Prince, Murray contrived to gain over Sullivan and Sir
Thomas Sheridan, and by that means effectually governed Charles Edward.
The fearless, lofty, honest character of Lord George Murray alone
offered an obstacle to the efforts of the Secretary to obtain, for his
own purposes, an entire controul; he cherished towards the General that
aversion which a mean and servile nature ever feels to one whose
dealings are free from fraud or deceit. He also feared him as a rival,
and it became his aim to undermine him, and to lay a plot for the chief
stay and prop of the undertaking. It was naturally to be supposed that
Lord George Murray's age, his high birth, his experience and influence,
and his great capacity, would have given him an advantage over his
dastardly rival, and have gained the first consideration with the
Prince. But Murray of Broughton, unhappily, had acquired an early
influence over the credulous mind of the young adventurer. His
acquaintance beneath the roof of the Santi Apostoli had secured an
unhappy confidence in his fidelity and worth. He shortly took advantage
of the sentiments which ought to have ensured the nicest honour, the
most scrupulous truth, in return, to deceive and to mislead his young
master.[36]
Unfortunately there was one point upon which the honour of Lord George
Murray was to be suspected. He "_was said_" to have solicited a
commission in the English army.[37] Upon this supposed early defection
of Lord George to the Hanoverian party, Murray grounded his accusations.
"He began by representing Lord George as a traitor to the Prince; he
assured him that he had joined on purpose to have an opportunity of
delivering him up to Government. It was hardly possible to guard against
this imposture. The Prince had the highest opinion of his Secretary's
integrity, and knew little of Lord George Murray. So the calumny had its
full effect. Lord George soon came to know the suspicion the Prince had
of him, and was affected, as one may easily imagine; to be sure, nothing
could be more shocking to a man of honour, and one that was now for the
third time venturing his life and fortune for the royal cause. The
Prince was partly undeceived by Lord George's gallant behaviour at the
battle; and, had Lord George improved that opportunity, he might perhaps
have gained the Prince's favour, and get the better of the Secretary:
but his haughty and overbearing manner prevented a thorough
reconciliation, and seconded the malicious insinuations of his rival."
Another anecdote is related, on the authority of Murray of Broughton: On
the tenth of October the Chevalier issued a manifesto, dated from
Holyrood House. This document is acknowledged, even by the opposite
party, to have been remarkably well written:[38] but it was not
completed without some heart-burnings, arising from the distrust of many
members of the Kirk, who conceived that it did not contain assurances
for the security of their manner of Divine worship. A grand council was
therefore held, concerning the alterations which were necessary to
conciliate the good opinion of the Presbyterians. Mr. Kelly, who had
drawn up the manifesto, was very tenacious of his performance; but the
majority of those who were present were of opinion that the manifesto
would prosper better if a promise of putting the penal laws against
Papists into effect were added to it. Upon this proposition the young
Chevalier was observed to change countenance, doubtless reflecting that
it would be ungrateful to depress those who had been such real friends
to his father. He had, however, the prudence to say but little, and to
maintain a neutral position during the debate, which was carried on with
much bitterness on both sides of the question. It is remarkable that the
Duke of Perth, Sullivan, and O'Neil, who were all Papists, voted for the
addition; whilst many who were of the Reformed Church opposed it.
Amongst these was Lord George Murray, who, starting up and turning to
Charles Edward, exclaimed, with an oath, "Sir, if you permit this
article to be inserted, you will lose five hundred thousand friends;"
meaning that there were that number of Papists in England. On this, the
Prince arose from his chair and withdrew, offended, as it was thought,
by the vehemence and overbearing advice of Lord George. As he left the
room, he said, "I will have it decided by a majority." But the freedom
with which he had been treated appears to have rankled in his mind. The
additional clause was negatived, and the manifesto remained in the same
state as when it came from Mr. Kelly's hands.[39]
There were, indeed, times when Lord George endeavoured to retrieve
mistakes of which he was conscious, and upon some occasions he subdued
his lofty temper so far as to be "very obsequious and respectful, but
had not temper to go through with it." "He now and then broke into such
violent sallies as the Prince could not digest, though the situation of
his affairs forced him to bear with them.[40] The Secretary's station
and favour had attached to him such as were confident of success, and
had nothing in view but making their fortunes. Nevertheless, Lord George
had greater weight and influence in the Council, and generally brought
the majority over to his opinion; which so irritated the ambitious
Secretary, that he endeavoured to give the Prince a bad impression of
the Council itself, and engaged to lay it entirely aside."
It was not only in regard to Lord George Murray that the influence of
the Secretary was prejudicial to the Prince's interests; neither was
Lord George the only person whom he dreaded as a rival. Having access to
the most intimate communication with Charles Edward, he abused the youth
and inexperience of the ill-fated man to inspire him with a distrust of
many gentlemen of good family and of integrity, whose fidelity he
contrived to whisper away. All employments were filled up at the
Secretary's nomination; and he contrived to bestow them upon his own
creatures, who would never thwart his measures. Hence it followed that
places of trust were bestowed on "insignificant little fellows," while
there were abundance of gentlemen of merit who might have been of great
use, had they met with the confidence of their Prince. "Those that
Murray had thus placed," continues Mr. Maxwell, "seconded his dirty
little views; and it was their interest, too, to keep their betters at a
distance from the Prince's person and acquaintance."
Until a very short time before Charles Edward left Perth, he appears to
have felt the most unqualified admiration for the Highland character,
which he had carefully studied.[41] He thus expressed himself to his
father: "I have occasion every day to reflect on your Majesty's last
words to me,--that I should find power, if tempered with justice and
clemency, an easy thing to myself, and not grievous to those under me.
'Tis owing to the observance of this rule, and to my conformity to the
customs of these people, that I have got their hearts, to a degree not
easy to be conceived by those who do not see it. One who observes the
discipline which I have established, would take my little army to be a
body of picked veterans; and, to see the love and harmony that reigns
amongst us, he would be apt to look upon it as a large well-ordered
family, in which every one loves another better than himself."
He even applauded the rude climate of Scotland. "I keep my health better
in these wild mountains than I used to do in the Campagna Felice; and
sleep sounder, lying on the ground, than I used to do in the palaces at
Rome."
In this happy temper the Prince set out on his march from Perth to
Edinburgh. The march was made in the most perfect good order, and the
strictest discipline prevented any depredations. As the insurgent army
passed by Stirling, the standard of the Chevalier was saluted by some
shot from the castle. Nevertheless, Lord George Murray sent into the
town, and the gates were opened; and bread, cheese, and butter sent out
to sell, near to Bannockburn, where the army halted. On the seventeenth
of September the city of Edinburgh was taken.
In the description of the courtly scenes of Holyrood, it does not appear
that Lord George Murray took any conspicuous part. His sphere was the
council-room, or the camp, or the battle-field; and of his proceedings
in these different occupations he has left a very particular account,
written with the same manly spirit and fearless tone which he displayed
in ordinary life.
When the Prince's Council had received accounts of Sir John Cope's
landing at Dunbar, they left Edinburgh and lay upon their arms at
Duddingstone, and on the twentieth marched to meet the enemy. Lord
George commanded the van, and, whilst passing the south side of Pinkie
Gardens, he heard that Cope was at or near Preston, and that he would
probably gain the high ground at Fawside. There was no time to
deliberate or to wait for orders. Well acquainted with the ground, Lord
George struck off through the fields, without keeping to any road. He
went without being even preceded by the usual escort to choose the
ground where to halt. In less than half an hour, by marching quickly, he
gained the eminence; he slackened his pace and waited for the rear,
still proceeding slowly towards Tranent, always fronting the enemy.
General Cope's army was drawn up on the plain between Preston Grange
and Tranent, with deep broad ditches between them. After much
reconnoitring and some firing, on the part of the enemy, from these
ditches, at the Highlanders, who they thought had never seen cannon, and
would therefore be intimidated, the English army was drawn up on the
east side of the village of Tranent, where, on a dry stubble-field, with
a small rising in front to shelter them, they lay down to repose in rank
and file.
"It was now night," writes Lord George Murray;[42] "and when all the
principal officers were called together, I proposed the attacking the
enemy at break of day. I assured them that it was not only practicable,
but that it would, in all probability, be attended with success. I told
them I knew the ground myself, and had a gentleman or two with me who
knew every part thereabouts: there was indeed a small defile at the east
end of the ditches, but, once that was past, there would be no stop; and
though we should be long on our march, yet, when the whole line was past
the defile, they had nothing to do but to face to the left, and in a
moment the whole was formed, and then to attack. The Prince was highly
pleased with the proposal, as indeed the whole officers were; so, after
placing a few pickets, everybody lay down at their posts; and supped
upon what they had with them. At midnight the principal officers were
called again, and all was ordered as was at first proposed. Word was
sent to the Atholl brigade to come off their post at two in the morning,
and not to make the least noise."
Before four in the morning the army began to march, and an arrangement
of the first line, which had been previously agreed upon, was now put
into execution. Those who had had the right the day before, were to have
the rear and the left; and this alteration was made without the least
noise or confusion. The Duke of Perth therefore went into the front,
Lord George giving up his guides to him. No horse marched at that time,
for fear of being discovered. When the army had advanced within a
hundred paces of the ditches, they marched on to the attack, Lord George
calling on Cameron of Lochiel to incline to the left. As the enemy
discovered their approach, the noise of the cannon announced that the
engagement had begun. Notwithstanding that Lord George Murray's regiment
was the last to pass the defile towards the enemy, it was the first to
fire. "Our whole first line," writes the gallant soldier, "broke through
the enemy. Some of them were rallying behind us; but when they saw our
second line coming up, they then made the best of their way."
Lord George pursued the enemy to the walls of Bankton House, the
residence of Colonel Gardiner; and here a party of the enemy got over
the ditch, and fired at the Highland foe. This little company, brave as
it was, was composed of only fourteen men, headed by a Lieutenant-Colonel.
"I got before a hundred of our men," writes Lord George, "who had their
guns presented to fire upon them, and at my desire they kept up their
fire, so that those officers and soldiers surrendered themselves
prisoners; and nothing gave me more pleasure that day than having it in
my power to save those men, as well as several others." This declaration
was perhaps necessary, to rescue the memory of Lord George from the
opprobrium of cruelty; since it has been asserted, that at the battle of
Culloden he issued orders to give no quarter, and that such a document
to that effect, in the handwriting of Lord George, was in the possession
of the Duke of Cumberland.[43] This stigma on the fame of Lord George
Murray may have originated from the desperate character of that last
effort: his haughty temper may have been exasperated in the course of
the fatal contest. It is a charge which can now only be repelled by the
previous character of the individual against whom it is made, since it
was never fairly made out, nor satisfactorily contradicted.
After the action was partially over, Lord George Murray perceived that a
number of people were gathered together on the height near to Tranent.
Mistaking them for the enemy, the General marched with his regiment,
accompanied by Lochiel, who had kept his men together in good order,
back to the narrow causeway that led up to Tranent. Here he found that
the supposed enemy were only country-people and servants. From them,
however, he learned that the enemy were at Cokenny, only a mile and a
half distant; and he instantly determined on pursuing them. His energy
and valour in thus doing so, after the events of that harassing and
exhausting day, cannot but be admired. He found on arriving at Cokenny,
a force of about three hundred Highlanders, a volunteer company recently
embodied at Inverness by President Forbes. These soon surrendered;
between sixteen and seventeen hundred prisoners were taken that day,
among whom were seventy officers.[44] "His Royal Highness," adds Lord
George Murray in giving this his personal narrative, "took the same care
of their wounded as of his own. I do not mention the behaviour of all
our officers and men that day; their actions shewed it. I only take
notice of those two that were immediately under my eye, which was
Lochiel's regiment and the Stewarts of Appin." As the enemy's
foot-soldiers had made little or no resistance during the battle of
Preston-Pans, they might have been all cut to pieces had it not been for
the interposition of Prince Charles and his officers, who gained that
day as much honour by their humanity as by their bravery. The Prince,
when the rout began, mounted his horse, galloped all over the field, and
his voice was heard amid that scene of horror, calling on his men to
spare the lives of his enemies, "whom he no longer looked upon as such."
Far from being elated with the victory, which was considered as
complete, the care of the kind-hearted and calumniated young man was
directed to assist the wounded. Owing to his exertions, eighty-three of
the officers were saved, besides hundreds of soldiers. "The Prince,"
writes Mr. Maxwell, "had a livelier sense of other people's misfortunes
than of his own good-fortune."
This spirit of humanity was extended to the two Lieutenants-General. The
conduct of the Duke of Perth was ever consistent with his mild
character. On that occasion, at all events, Lord George participated in
the noble clemency which usually characterized the Jacobites.
"In the evening," he writes,[45] "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 Gardiner's house, where surgeons attended
them; the others walked, as I did, along with them without a guard (as
they had given me their parole); and to some, who were not 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, nor 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."
Beside these suffering men Lord George lay on a floor all night, having
given up the minister's house in Musselburgh, which had been destined as
his quarters, to those who were valetudinary. On the following day those
officers who were tolerably well were removed to Pinkie House, where
Prince Charles was staying. Lord George then returned to the field of
battle, to give directions about the cannon, and to see about the other
wounded prisoners. He afterwards repaired to Pinkie House, the gardens
of which were thronged that night with the prisoners, privates, to whom
provisions were sent; "and the night before," as Lord George relates, "I
got some of their own provisions carried from Cokenny to Colonel
Gardiner's courts and gardens for their use. In these things I ever
laid it down as a maxim, to do by others as I would wish they would do
by me, had I been in their place, and they in mine." Such is the spirit
in which the unfortunate were regarded by the victors of that day; and
these two accounts, that of Lord George Murray and that of Maxwell of
Kirkconnel, written without any mutual compact, and at different times,
and even in different countries, disprove the following gross and
improbable statement of Henderson's of that which occurred after the day
at Preston was fought and won.
According to his account, professedly that of an eye-witness, the
conduct of the young Chevalier (who, he acknowledges, had, by the advice
of the Duke of Perth, sent to Edinburgh for surgeons,) was, in the
highest degree, unfeeling and indecent. He stood by the road-side, his
horse near him, "with his armour of tin, which resembled a woman's
stays, affixed to the saddle; he was on foot, clad as an ordinary
captain, in a coarse plaid, and large blue bonnet, a scarlet waistcoat
with a narrow plain lace about it; his boots and knees were much dirtied
(the effect of his having fallen into a ditch, as I afterwards
understood); he was exceeding merry, and twice said, 'My Highlanders
have lost their plaids,' at which he laughed very heartily, being in no
way affected when speaking of the dead or wounded. Nor would his jollity
have been interrupted, if he had not looked upon seven standards that
had been taken from the dragoons; on which he said, in French, (a
language he frequently spoke in,) 'We have missed some of them.' After
this, he refreshed himself upon the field, and, with the utmost
composure, ate a piece of cold beef and drank a glass of wine, amidst
the deep and piercing groans of the poor men who had fallen victims to
his ambition."[46]
After this flippant and hard-hearted conduct, as it is described, the
Prince is said to have ridden off to Pinkie House, leaving the bulk of
the wounded on the field that day, to be brought in carts to Edinburgh.
"Few," he says, "recovered; and those who did, went begging through the
streets, their heads tied about with bandages, but obtaining no relief
from their conquerors. The property of the prisoners, the fine linen of
the officers, their gold and silver hilted swords, their watches and
rings, were worn by the lowest among the soldiery almost before their
eyes."[47]
The battle of Preston, which was magnified by Lord Lovat as a "glorious
victory not to be paralleled in history," although not meriting such
extravagant remarks, produced the most important consequences to the
Jacobite cause. Among not the least important was the acquisition of all
the arms of the whole body of foot, and even of the volunteers. These
went to supply the recruits whom the Marquis of Tullibardine and others
were sending daily to the camp. No enemy was left in the field to oppose
the progress of Charles Edward's victorious troops.[48] When, having, as
the Chevalier Johnstone asserts, escaped from the field of battle by
placing a white cockade on his head, Cope arrived at Coldstream with
his troops in great disorder, he was greeted by Lord Mark Ker, one of a
family who had long had hereditary claims to wit as well as courage,
with the bitter remark, that "he believed he was the first general in
Europe that had brought tidings of his own defeat."
"The Prince," writes Maxwell of Kirkconnel, "was now, properly speaking,
master of Scotland." The militia, which had been raised in some parts of
Scotland for the service of Government, was dismissed; and the
Chevalier's orders were obeyed in many places far from his army. These
advantages were, however, rather glaring than solid and permanent.
After the battle of Preston, it became a serious and important question
what step was to be taken. It was the Prince's earnest desire to push
the advantages thus gained by an immediate invasion of England, before
the Hanoverians had time to recover from their surprise. But this
spirited and, as the event proved, sagacious opinion was objected to on
the score of the smallness of the forces, and the probability of an
accession of strength before marching southwards. Lastly, the fatal hope
of aid from France, that _ignis fatuus_ which had misled the Jacobite
party before, and on which it was their misfortune to depend, was
adduced as an argument. The Prince yielded to his counsellors, and
consented to remain some time in Edinburgh. Upon this decision Lord
George Murray offers no opinion.
The castle of Edinburgh remained still unsubdued; and the Prince, upon
his return to that city, resolved on blockading the fortress. This was a
very unpopular step, but Charles had no alternative; since it was of
vital importance to reduce a place of so great strength and consequence.
Accordingly a proclamation was issued, forbidding, under pain of death,
that any provisions should be sent up to the castle; and the management
of this blockade was entrusted to Lord George Murray.[49]
This able General now proposed to place guards in such a manner as
should prevent the garrison in the castle marching out to surprise him,
but his exertions were baffled by the want of judgment and incompetency
of those beneath him in command. The guard was placed near the
weigh-house at the foot of the Castle-rock, so that the battery of the
half-moon, as it was termed, near the Castle-gate, bore upon it, and
many of the guard within would have perished upon the first firing. This
was not the only mistake. Mr. O'Sullivan, one of Prince Charles's
officers, one day placed a small guard near the West Kirk, which was not
only exposed to the enemy's fire, but conveniently situated near the
sally-port, whence the besieged might issue and take the party there
prisoners; for no relief could be sent to them in less than two hours'
time, owing to its being necessary to pass round the whole circumference
of the castle to arrive at that point. "I never," says Lord George
Murray, "knew of that guard's being placed there, until they were taken
prisoners." So severe a service was this blockade, that it was found
necessary to relieve the guards, which were thus placed, by different
corps who could not know the risk which they encountered. Desertions
from the Jacobite army were among the most formidable evils with which
Lord George had to contend. It was therefore important not to discourage
the soldiery. In the midst of difficulty the high-minded Cameron of
Lochiel came forward to offer his own person, and to risk his own
regiment in this service. He agreed to take all the guards, and to
relieve them with the soldiers of his own regiment, who were quartered
for that purpose in the outer Parliament House. "I was with him," writes
Lord George,[50] "when the guards were relieved, and the men did their
duty exceedingly, especially when there was danger; and, when the fire
was hottest from the castle, they kept their post with much resolution
and bravery. Lochiel and I being much with them, gave them a heartiness
that hindered them from complaining of a duty which was so hard, and
which the rest of the army had not in their turns. We even placed new
guards to keep the castle from sallying, as they seemed disposed; and
Keppoch's regiment was brought into town to take some of the guards and
support them. I lay in town for some nights, and was constantly visiting
the guards and sentinels."
The castle, nevertheless, seated on the precipitous rocks, which, steep
as they are, have yet been "scaled by love and ambition,"[51] defied the
blockaders. The Highlanders continued to keep guard in the weigh-house,
and, stationing themselves in the Grass-market, the Smithfield as well
as the Hay-market of Edinburgh, lying on the south side of the
Castle-hill, awaited there the proceedings of the enemy.
On the twenty-ninth of September, a letter was sent to the Provost of
Edinburgh by General Guest, intimating, that, unless a communication
were kept up between the city and the castle, he should be under the
necessity of using cannon to dislodge the Highlanders. It was said that
Guest had an order from the Government, signed by the Marquis of
Tweedale, empowering him to lay the city in ashes if the citizens did
not remove the Highlanders from their quarters. A message was dispatched
from the Provost to General Guest obtaining a respite for that night;
but, meantime, the utmost consternation prevailed in the town. Twelve
o'clock at night was the hour fixed upon for the execution of this
threat of the enemy; and, although many who reasoned did not believe in
the existence of the order, the lower classes were seized with a panic,
and the streets were crowded with women and children running towards the
gates, and with people removing their property to more secure quarters.
When the clocks struck twelve, the hour fixed in General Guest's
message, the noise of the cannon was heard firing upon the principal
streets; but the Highlanders were all under shelter, and only a few poor
inhabitants were injured. Nothing was heard except imprecations on that
Government which had issued so cruel an order, since it was quite out of
the power of the citizens to dislodge the Highlanders from their
quarters. But the firing was soon intermitted; and whether the garrison
had private orders only to threaten, or whether they found it
impossible to execute so barbarous an order, is unknown. They spared the
city generally, and only directed their fire to any place where they
fancied that they saw a Highlander.
On the following morning a deputation of citizens waited on the
Chevalier, and showed him General Guest's letter. He immediately
replied, that he was surprised and concerned at the barbarity of the
order, but that if, out of compassion for the city, he were to remove
his guards, the castle might with equal reason summon him to quit the
town, and abandon all the advantages of which he was possessed. A
respite of a day was afterwards obtained; and subsequently for six days,
in case the Highlanders would abstain from firing at the castle; and a
dispatch to London was sent to obtain a mitigation of the order in
council.
Meantime, on the first of October, the Highlanders fired; whether at
some people who were carrying provisions to the castle, or at the castle
itself, is uncertain. Reprisals were instantly made by a heavy
cannonading and small shot. The firing continued for some days, bringing
terror to the hearts of those who lived remote from the scene of danger;
whilst the aged and infirm were carried out of that noble city, thus
threatened with destruction. Sir Walter Scott observes, that the
generation of his own time alone can remember Edinburgh in peace,
undisturbed by civil commotion. The fathers of that generation
remembered the days of 1745--_their_ fathers the disturbances of 1715.
The fathers of those who had witnessed the rebellion of 1715 could
remember the revolution of 1688.
The merciful temper of the young Chevalier saved the city of Edinburgh.
At first he resolved to continue the blockade; and he renewed his former
orders, prohibiting any person from going to the castle without a pass
from his secretary, and threatening any one who was disobedient to this
proclamation with instant death. But, when he beheld the distress to
which the firing had already reduced the city,--then, let it be
remembered, comprised within boundaries of very moderate extent,--he
issued another proclamation, expressing his deep concern for the many
murders which were committed upon the innocent inhabitants of the city,
so contrary to the laws of war, to the truce granted to the city, and
even exceeding the powers given. His humanity had, therefore, yielded to
the barbarity of his enemy; the blockade of the castle was taken off,
and the threatened punishment suspended.[52]
The army of Charles Edward was now increasing daily; and, in consequence
of the reports which were circulated in the metropolis, a panic spread
there, of which no estimate can be made without consulting the
newspapers of that time. Among other writers who employed their talents
in inveighing against the cause of James Stuart, was the celebrated
Henry Fielding, whose papers in the _True Patriot_ upon the subject
present a curious insight into those transient states of public feeling,
which perished almost as soon as expressed. The rapidity of the progress
made by the insurgents is declared by his powerful pen to have been
unprecedented. "Can History," he writes, "produce an instance parallel
to this,--of six or seven men landing in a powerful nation, in
opposition to the inclination of the people, in defiance of a vast and
mighty army? (For, though the greater part of this army was not then in
the kingdom, it was so nearly within call, that every man of them might,
within the compass of a few days, or weeks at farthest, have been
brought home and landed in any part of it.) If we consider, I say, this
handful of men landing in the most desolate corner, among a set of poor,
naked, hungry, disarmed slaves, abiding there with impunity till they
had, as it were, in the face of a large body of his Majesty's troops
collected a kind of army, or rather rabble, together, it will be
extremely difficult to assign any adequate cause whatsoever, for this
unexampled success, without recurring to one, of whose great efficacy we
have frequent instances in sacred history: I mean, the just judgment of
God against an offending people." The state of public morals, Fielding
considers, to have drawn down upon society this signal visitation of
Providence. "Indeed, such monstrous impieties and iniquities have I both
seen and heard of, within these last three years, during my sojourning
in what is called the world, particularly the last winter, while I
tarried in the great city, that, while I verily believe we are the
silliest people under Heaven in every other light, we are wiser than
Sodom in wickedness."[53] The consternation of the sister kingdom had
now, indeed, become general; on the slightest report of foreign ships
being seen in the Downs, the dismay of the London citizens was extreme:
and such was the liberality, or such were the fears of the inhabitants
of the county of York, the capital of which may almost have been deemed,
in those days, a northern metropolis, that forty thousand pounds were
subscribed for its defence, after a grave and mournful address of the
archbishop of that diocese.[54]
When the Prince had determined to take off the blockade, and indeed had
actually resolved to evacuate Edinburgh and to march southwards, he sent
orders to Lord George Murray to nail the cannon upon the city walls, and
to retire to Musselburgh and Dalkeith. But the sagacious Lord George,
apprehending no further cannonading from the castle, begged permission
not to make a precipitate retreat, and obtained leave to continue three
weeks longer in Edinburgh, during which time the town remained in a much
quieter state than it had been heretofore.
Whilst Lord George Murray was quartered in Edinburgh, he communicated
frequently with his wife, the Lady Emilia, who remained with her
children at Tullibardine. That lady seems to have taken a deep interest
in the events which so deeply concerned her family. She was the first to
communicate to the Marquis of Tullibardine the intelligence of the
victory of Preston-Pans. "I pray God," she says in her postscript, "to
prosper his Royal Highness's arms, and congratulate your Grace upon his
happy success." A gentleman, who had seen her husband after the battle,
had brought to the anxious wife the tidings of his success.
Towards the end of October the Prince resolved to march into England,
without waiting any longer for the landing of French auxiliaries, or
even for the arrival of the friendly Clans of Frasers and Mackintoshes,
who were ready to march from the north to join Charles Edward. By some
of the Chevalier's advisers he was recommended to go to Berwick; but
this was a scheme counteracted by the counsels of Lord George Murray,
who, in the presence of the principal officers, represented it as "a
thing at least of great difficulty, and of not so great use as to lose
time, which is precious." Lord George therefore proposed marching into
England by the other road; but, to conceal their design, he advised that
the army should be divided into three columns; one to go by Kelso, the
second by Moffat, and a third by Galashiels, Selkirk, and Hawick; so
that all the columns should join on an appointed day near Carlisle. The
plan was approved; and, the secret being very well kept, on the
thirty-first of October the army prepared to march.[55] It is
remarkable, that, during the whole period of their stay in Edinburgh, no
general review of the Jacobite forces had taken place. The consequent
uncertainty of what was really the amount of those forces, which existed
in England, fostered the general panic. "Abundance of people," writes
Mr. Maxwell, "friends as well as enemies, had made it their business to
find out the number of the Prince's army, but to no purpose. Great pains
had been taken to conceal its weakness."[56]
In order to conceal the design upon England, a scheme was formed,
allowing three days to elapse between the marching of the two great
divisions of the army; and accordingly the Prince, attended by Lord
George Murray, took up his abode at the palace of Dalkeith, and here he
remained until the third of November. In this princely abode the young
representative of the Stuart line may have remembered the adverse
fortunes of Queen Mary, and the bold character of the Regent Morton, to
whom the castle of Dalkeith belonged, when it had acquired from the
character of its owner the name of the "Lion's Den." After the death of
Morton, the barony of Dalkeith was included in the attainder; and the
castle had been considered, during many years, as public property, and
was inhabited by General Monk during the usurpation of Cromwell.
But, long before Charles Edward made it his temporary residence,
Dalkeith had been repaired and beautified by Anne Duchess of Buccleugh
and Monmouth, the widow of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth. It was, as
it is now, an appropriate residence for royalty. The more ancient part
of the building has, it is true, lost its castellated appearance; but
the beautiful site on the steep banks of the Eske, and the thickness of
the walls, are still proofs of former strength and great importance, to
which the contiguity of Dalkeith to Edinburgh conduce; whilst the
junction of the north and south Esk in the park add to the beauties of
this noble demesne.
The Chevalier Johnstone was still aide-de-camp to Lord George Murray,
and remained to accompany the General on his march. Among those with
whom the exertions of Lord George were frequently united was Mr.
O'Sullivan, an Irish officer, and the object of Charles Edward's
partiality and confidence, and he was a man of considerable abilities.
Having received his education in a Romish college abroad, O'Sullivan had
originally entered into priest's orders. It was his lot to be
recommended as a tutor to the son of Marshal Maillebois, who, perceiving
in the young ecclesiastic proofs of a genius better adapted to the use
of the sword than to the gravity of the gown, encouraged him to apply
himself to the profession of arms. There were not wanting in those days
opportunities of cultivating a military turn, and Corsica was the scene
of Mr. O'Sullivan's first exploits. Here he acted as secretary to
Marshal Villebois; an office of no slight responsibility, for the
Marshal was tainted with the prevalent vice of the day, and scarcely
ever left the dinner-table in a state fit for public business.
O'Sullivan, therefore, in the course of those oppressions which the
French inflicted on the inhabitants of Corsica, acquired not only great
experience in business, but also in military affairs; as well as
knowledge in what is termed the art of making irregular war. To this
acquirement he afterwards added another; for, having served a campaign
on the Rhine, it was said by a French General, under whom he fought,
that his knowledge of the regular art of war was equal to that of any
General in Europe. To his abilities were attributed much of the rapid
success of those whom it was the fashion of the newspapers of the day to
describe as "a handful of savages," but whom the loungers about the
English court soon learned to dread.[57]
It is now necessary, before entering into details of fresh operations,
to review the proceedings of Lord George Murray during the last few
weeks, and to give some notion how he exercised the functions of his
generalship. His chief sources of annoyance, besides the intrigues in
the Prince's council, were the deserters from the Jacobite army. Before
leaving Edinburgh, Lord George Murray had despatched a number of
prisoners to Logierait; and the following letter shows how rigid were
the instructions which he peremptorily sent to his brother, the Marquis
of Tullibardine, at Perth. The correspondence of Lord George Murray
proves him to have been a man of a stern, hard nature; and effaces much
of the impression produced by his united valour and clemency in the
field of battle.
"Dear Brother,
"Things vary so much from time to time that I can say nothing
certain as yet, but refer you to the enclosed letter; but depend
upon having nothing express from me with you before Monday night.
But, in the mean time, you must resolve to be ready to march on
Tuesday morning, by Keinacan and Tay Bridge, so as to be at Crieff
on Wednesday; and even that way, if you do your best, you will be
half a march behind: but you will be able to make up that on
Thursday, when I reckon we may meet at Dunblane or Doun: but of this
more fully in my next. It is believed for certain that Cope will
embark at Aberdeen.
"I hope the meal was with you before this--thirty-five bolls--for
it was at Inuar last night. It shall be my study to have more meal
with you on Monday night, for you must distribute a peck a man; and,
cost what it will, there must be pocks to each man, to contain a
peck or two for the men to have always with them. Buy linen, yarn,
or anything; for these pocks are of absolute necessity--nothing can
be done without them. His Royal Highness desires you to acquaint
Glenmoriston and Glencoe, if they come your way, of this intended
march, so that they may go by Tay Bridge (if you please, with you);
and what meal you can spare, let them have. You may please tell your
own people that there is a project to get arms for them.
"Yours, adieu!
"GEORGE MURRAY."
"Saturday, nine at night."
"For God's sake!" he adds in another part of his letter, "cause some
effectual measures to be taken about the deserters: I would have their
houses and crops destroyed, for an example to others, and themselves
punished in a most rigorous manner."
Another source of anxiety was connected with the prisoners of war. It
was difficult to know how to dispose of them. The island in the Loch of
Clunie, not far from Dunkeld, was afterwards considered by the Marquis
as the most suitable place for the reception of the prisoners; and was
conceded by Lady Ogilvy, the daughter of Lord Airlie, for that purpose,
in her father's absence. In a letter addressed by Tullibardine to the
Earl of Airlie, to whom the Loch of Clunie belonged, a spirit of
kindness and consideration is shown, very different to the stern
mandates of Lord George Murray. "I presume," writes the Marquis, "your
Lor'ship will not only cheerfully make everything be carefully prepared
for their reception, but also contribute what's possible to prevent any
dangerous mutiny or escape among them." Although describing these
prisoners as a "troublesome and dangerous set of people," he recommends
no harsh measures, except precautionary vigilance.[58] Beef, mutton, and
meal were provided and paid for by the Marquis, who, ultimately, was
obliged to quarter a considerable number of the prisoners in barns and
other outhouses near Logierait. This charge appears to have been very
unwelcome to the good old Tullibardine, who talks to his sister in law,
Lady Emilia Murray, of "ane unworthy pack of prisoners that is sent
us."[59]
Meantime, the want of money for the supply of the garrison at Perth was
another source of uneasiness to Lord George Murray. Many
disappointments, on this score, occurred. "I told you," Lord George
writes to his brother, "that some gentlemen had promised to his Royal
Highness some money in loan, more besides what they already gave; but it
is to their ladies you will please to write, as they appear to do the
thing, and not the husbands."[60] "I have been as pressing," he says in
another letter to the Marquis, "about money to be sent to you, both
formerly and now, as if my life depended upon it. There is three hundred
pounds sent at present, mostly in specie. You are desired to write to
people in the country to advance money, particularly to Lady Methven;
which if they do not immediately, their corn and other effects will be
seized."[61]
Previously to his march southwards, Prince Charles appointed Viscount
Strathallan Governor, and Deputy Governor of Perth, and
Commander-in-chief during the absence of the Marquis of Tullibardine,
whom Lord George Murray now summoned to join him, considering that the
addition of the Marquis's tenantry to the army was of the utmost
importance. "I am extremely anxious," he writes, "to have our men here,
at least as many as would make Lord Nairn's battalion, and mine, five
hundred each; for at present I could get them supply'd with guns,
targets, tents, and, those who want them, shoes also: but if they be not
here soon, them that come first, will be first serv'd."
These directions were reiterated, and were also repeated by the pen of
Lady Emilia Murray, to whom her lord sent immediate accounts of all that
occurred. This spirited and indefatigable help-meet resided generally at
Tullibardine. "These," she writes, "were his words, 'I entreat, for
God's sake, that the Duke of Atholl send off the men here immediately,
or they will be too late for arms, targets, tents, &c.; nay, for our
march, which begins on Thursday." All this haste and impetuosity was
meekly but decidedly resisted by the slow Marquis of Tullibardine. He
thus writes in reply to one of his brother's most urgent entreaties:
"About ten o'clock in the afternoon I received your express, dated the
fourth, four o'clock, afternoon, and am very much concerned to find that
it is morally impossible for me, or any of the men in these parts, to be
up with you against Thursday night, the day you say it is resolved, in a
Council of War, to march southward. Did any of us endeavour to make too
much haste to join the Prince, I am afraid we should be like a good milk
cow, that gives a great pail of milk, and after, kicks it down with her
foot. Forgive the comparison."[62]
Other apprehensions also increased the desire of Lord George to begin
his march. "I am desired to let you know," he writes to the Marquis of
Tullibardine, "that there is one Kimber, an anabaptist, who came from
London with a design to assassinate the Prince; he is about twenty-seven
years old, black hair, of a middling stature, and talks fluently and
bluntly about his travels in the West Indies." This man, it was
suspected, afterwards changed his name to Geffreys. He was supposed to
have even been received by the Marquis of Tullibardine at his table, and
to have obtained a pass from him; but nothing more was disclosed, as far
as the correspondence informs us, touching this attempt.
Lord George continued in a fever of vexation and anxiety at the delay of
his brother, upon whose arrival at the camp, the march to England was to
begin. Public affairs in England favoured, as he justly thought, the
most decisive measures. "Everything," he writes to his brother, "is in
great confusion in England, particularly in London, where credite is at
a stand. The greatest banquiers have stopt payment; all would go to our
wish, if we could but march instantly. If you delay longer," Lord George
adds, "it will be the utter ruine of the cause. You should wait for
nobody but your own men." The arrival of supplies from France, of arms
and ammunition, though they were represented as being very inferior in
quantity to what had been expected, gave encouragement to the hopes of
the sanguine; and re-assured in some degree, even the anxious mind of
Lord George Murray.
Before finally quitting Perth, the Marquis of Tullibardine received a
compliment from the gentlemen prisoners of war there, which proved how
soldierlike and courteous his conduct towards them had been. They
inquired whether he would have morning levees, since they wished "to
wait upon him." To this the Marquis replied, with his thanks, that,
although not fond of ceremonious visits, he would always be "glad to
cultivate an acquaintance with gentlemen whose actions show they are
true Britons, by standing up for and supporting the ancient constitution
and liberties of well-born subjects, whose honour is engaged to shake
off the slavery of a foreign yoke."[63]
Notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Lord George, who had reiterated
his entreaties during the whole of the month of October, the winter was
far advanced before the Marquis left his castle of Blair to proceed
southwards.[64]
On the thirty-first of October, a considerable force took the road to
Duddingstone, a small village at the foot of Arthur's Seat; presenting,
before the Highland army poured in upon its serene precincts, a scene of
repose and quiet beauty, finely contrasted with the clamour of the city,
and the grandeur of the rugged hill.
Foremost rode Lord Elcho, commanding the first troop of horse-guards,
consisting of sixty-two gentlemen, and their servants, under five
officers, forming altogether a troop of a hundred and twenty horse. A
smaller troop, not amounting to more than forty horse, followed under
the command of Arthur Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Balmerino. Then came
a little squadron of horse grenadiers, with whom were incorporated the
Perthshire gentlemen, in the absence of their own commander, Lord
Strathallan, who was left Governor of Perth. The whole of this squadron
did not amount to a hundred. It was commanded by William Earl of
Kilmarnock, the representative of an ancient and noble family, which, as
an historian remarks, "sometimes matched with the blood-royal." "He
was," adds the same writer, "in the flower of his age, being about forty
years old. The elegance of his person, and comeliness of his features,
which were every way handsome, bespake internal beauties."[65] It is
remarkable, that, at this very time, the young Lord Boyd, Lord
Kilmarnock's son, held a commission in the British army and fought
against the Jacobites.
The Aberdeen and Bamffshire gentlemen, amounting with their servants to
a hundred and twenty, with seventy or eighty hussars, were commanded by
Lord Pitsligo; but Mr. Murray, "who would have a share at least of
everything," was their colonel.[66]
The infantry consisted of thirteen little battalions, for the
Highlanders would not be commanded by any but their own chiefs; and it
was necessary therefore to have as many regiments as there were Clans.
On the third of November, the Prince marched from Dalkeith on foot, at
the head of the Clans, who were commanded under him by Lord George
Murray. The acclamations of the people of Edinburgh, who flocked in
crowds to witness the departure of the army, were loud and friendly. Yet
it is remarkable, that in spite of his long residence in that city, in
spite of his hereditary claims on its inhabitants, and of the popularity
of his manners, the party of the Prince in that capital never increased
in proportion to his expectations. This indifference to the cause of
Charles Edward has with much reason been attributed to the strong and
unalterable distrust entertained by all zealous Presbyterians of any
approach to Popery: the firmness of the Scottish character to a
principle may be plainly read in the reluctance of the Lowlanders to
hazard, even for a Stuart, the safety of what they esteem to be their
vital interests.[67]
It was, however, a fine, although a mournful sight, when the Clans
taking the road to London left Dalkeith. It was indeed only after long
and anxious deliberation, that these brave men had resolved to risk an
advance to England, without any certain expectation of a rising in that
country; yet there were many among the chiefs who went forth that day,
and among these were some of the bravest and the most determined who
"trusted in themselves alone."[68] Among those who were declared
secretly to have desponded of success, and yet to have gone on in the
career from a sense of honour, was Lord George Murray.
The march to England was very judiciously planned and well executed. "It
resembled," observes the Chevalier Johnstone, "on a small scale, that of
Marshal Saxe some years before, when he advanced to lay siege to
Maestricht." The Prince went day after day on foot, contrary to general
expectation; for it was thought that he would only have done so at the
beginning to encourage the soldiers: but in dirty lanes, and in deep
snow, the youth reared in seclusion and luxury took his chance with the
common men, and could scarcely ever be prevailed upon even to get on
horseback to ford a river. "It's not to be imagined," writes his
affectionate partisan and historian Maxwell, "how much this manner of
bringing himself down to a level with the men, and his affable behaviour
to the meanest of them, endeared him to the army."[69] On arriving at
Lauder, hearing that some of the Highlanders had remained behind with a
view, it was thought, of deserting, Charles got on horseback before it
was light, rode back two or three miles, and brought the stragglers with
him.[70] On the fourth instant he reached Kelso. Such was the success of
this well-contrived march, and such the secrecy with which it was made,
that Marshal Wade, who was at Newcastle with eleven thousand men,
continued to cover and protect that place, without an idea of advancing
to intercept the Highland troops. Indeed, the secret was so well kept,
that hardly any subordinate officer in the Prince's service knew where
the junction of the columns was intended to take place.[71]
Arduous as the Prince's march had been to Kelso, it was enlivened by
some incidents in which the stern and haughty Lord George Murray must
have participated, as well as the gallant young Chevalier. On passing
through Preston Hall gate, the first morning of his march, the Prince
found breakfast there prepared for him by order of the Duchess of
Gordon, for which act that lady was deprived of a yearly pension of one
thousand pounds, given to her in consideration of her Grace's having
educated her family in the Protestant religion.[72] As he passed Fala
Danes, the ladies of Whitborough, who were the sisters of a zealous
adherent of the Prince, Robert Anderson, entertained Charles and his
chief officers with a collation in the open air. The royal guest, being
asked to leave some memorial of his visit, cut from the hilt of his
sword a piece of crimson velvet, which is still preserved at
Whitborough. At Lauder, Charles took up his abode in Hurlestane castle,
the seat of the Earl of Lauderdale. From Kelso, Charles dispatched the
guards across the Tweed; not so much to reconnoitre, as to amuse the
enemy: they went some miles into the country, and, when they came to any
English villages, made inquiries as to what reception and accommodation
the army might meet with on arriving there. The object of this
manoeuvre was to keep General Wade in suspense as to the movements of
the army, and to prevent his marching towards Carlisle. Such was the
success of these artifices, that Wade, who had decided on a march to
Berwick, countermanded that order. On the sixth of November the Jacobite
forces crossed the Tweed: that river was scarcely fordable; but the
Highlanders were elated beyond measure, and, even when bathed in the
water, expressed their delight by discharging their pieces and uttering
cries of joy. Such was their humour, that they gave the horses which
were taken from the enemy the name of General Cope, by way of expressing
their contempt for the fugitive Englishman.
Amid indications of homage, especially from the women of the town of
Jedburgh, who ran forth to kiss the young hero's hand, Charles entered
Jedburgh, and took up his residence at an inn in the centre of the town,
called the Nag's Head. On the following day he led his troops over the
Rule water, famous for the warriors of old who dwelt near its banks; and
over the Knot o' Gate into Liddiesdale, "noted in former times for its
predatory hands, as in more recent times for its primitive yeomen and
romantic minstrelsy."[73] After a march of twenty-five miles, the Prince
arrived at Haggiehaugh, upon Liddel water; here he slept, the
Highlanders finding their quarters for the night as well as they could
in barns, or byres, or houses, as their fortune might be. On the eighth
of November Charles Edward, proceeding down the Liddel water, met the
column of horse which had taken the middle road by Selkirk and Hawick.
They joined him at Gritmill Green upon the banks of the Esk, four miles
below Langholm. Shortly afterwards the first division of the Prince's
army crossed the river, which here separates the two kingdoms, as the
Tweed does at Berwick, and trod upon English ground. That event was
signalized by a loud shout, whilst the Highlanders unsheathed their
swords. But soon a general panic was spread among the soldiery, by the
intelligence that Cameron of Lochiel, in drawing his sword, had drawn
blood from his hand.[74] This was regarded as an omen of mournful
import. What was of much more vital consequence was the incessant
desertion of the troops, especially from the column which the Prince
commanded. Arms were afterwards found flung away in the fields, and the
roads to Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire were crowded with these
renegades. This circumstance Lord George Murray accounted for in these
terms, when, upon a subsequent occasion, he wrote to his brother,
complaining of the fact: "We are quite affronted with the scandalous
desertion of our men: it was the taking money instead of the best men,
which is the occasion of all the evil; for good men, once coming out,
would have been piqued in honour, and not deserted us on the point of
fighting the enemy."[75]
Such was the skill and secrecy with which the whole of this march had
been planned, chiefly by the suggestions of Lord George Murray, that the
forces were very much surprised on finding that all the three columns
arrived nearly at the same time, on a heath in England, about two miles
distant from the city of Carlisle. The plan was executed with such
precision, that there was not an interval of two hours between the
junction of the columns.[76]
It was now resolved to invest Carlisle. Few cities in England have been
the scenes of more momentous events than that which was now the object
of the Chevalier's efforts. Long the centre of border hostilities, it
was the fate of Carlisle to be at once the witness of the insurrection
of 1745, and the scene of punishment of those who were concerned in that
movement.
In modern times, the importance of Carlisle as a fortress has inevitably
declined; and it is at present regarded as a venerable relic of former
strength, rather than as a place of defence. But, in ancient days, the
Warden of the Marches, selected from among the nobles of tried fidelity
and courage, attracted to the castle of Carlisle a host of youthful
aspirants for military renown, who there sought to be trained to arms,
amid contests not depending upon a single achievement, but requiring
watchfulness, patient labour, and skill, slowly and painfully to be
acquired.
Founded by William Rufus, who restored the city after it had lain two
hundred years in ruins, owing to the depredations of the Danes; and
improved and enlarged successively by Richard the Third and Henry the
Eighth; the castle had received the unhappy Mary Stuart: and here she
was treated with an insidious respect which soon threw off the mask. In
the time of Queen Elizabeth, the citadel, which was entirely built by
Henry the Eighth, fell into decay; and after the prohibition of all
incursions on England on the part of King James the Sixth, Carlisle
ceased to be of so much importance as a military possession; and its
position, as one of the keys of England, did not avail to secure any
great attention to its dilapidated state. At the time of Charles
Edward's arrival in Cumberland, the fortifications of the City had been
neglected for several centuries; but it still bore the outward aspect of
former strength.
The works, which had thus been left to moulder away, were in the form of
a triangle, and were separated from the town by a deep ditch. Upon the
east angle, which is also cut off from the Parade by a ditch, is seated
the Castle, properly so called, though the whole generally goes by that
name. These works consist of a dungeon, the walls of which are twelve
feet in thickness; a tower, called the Captain's Tower; two gates, one
to each ward; there being an inward and an outward ward. In the castle
there is a great chamber, and a hall, but no storehouse for ammunition.
In the walls of the town, three gateway towers, a semi-circular bastion
called Springeld Tower, and the citadel, complete the fortifications:
unless we comprise several square towers with which the city walls are
furnished; especially one at the west sally-port, and the Tile Tower,
both of considerable strength.[77]
The foreground of the castle is formed of green and level meadows washed
by the river Eden; and, in modern days, two fine stone bridges add to
the beauty of the scene. The hanging banks are crowned with the village
and church of Stanwix, and the mountains of Bewcastle form the distance.
"To the south," to use the words of Hutchinson in his History of
Cumberland, "you command the plains towards Penrith, shut in on either
side with a vast range of mountains, over which Crossfell and Skiddaw
are distinctly seen greatly eminent. To the east a varied tract of
cultivated country, scattered over with villages and hamlets, mingle
beautifully with woodlands on the extensive landscape; the distant
horizon formed by the heights of Northumberland. To the west, the Solway
Frith sparkles out, a shining expanse of waters, flowing along a
cultivated tract of land on the English coast; on the other, the bold
heights of Weffel and a chain of mountains extend towards the sea."[78]
When Charles Edward spread out his forces before Carlisle, the garrison
within its mouldering walls was composed of a company of invalids, under
the command of Colonel Durand; but the Cumberland militia were almost
all collected within the city walls. Colonel Durand, however, as well as
the Mayor of the place, showed a spirit of defence; and the latter
issued a proclamation informing the inhabitants that he was not
Paterson, a Scotchman, but Pattieson, a true-born Englishman, who was
determined to hold out the city to the last. Since Charles had no
battering cannon, it appeared impossible to reduce the castle if it
were well-defended; but it was resolved to make the attempt. Whilst he
was meditating an attack, the news that Wade's army was marching from
Newcastle drew him for some days from continuing these operations. The
report proved, however, to be groundless; and the Duke of Perth was
sent, therefore, with several regiments to begin the siege.
The Jacobite army had all crossed the river Eden at Rowcliff, four miles
below Carlisle; and next day they marched to Harraby, Blackhall, and
Boutcherby, to the southward of Carlisle. At Harraby Lord George Murray
remained, in order to cover the siege; that place being most contiguous
to Carlisle, and on the highway to Penrith: the other troops under his
command lay in the adjoining villages. The Duke of Perth had the
direction of the trenches. It was here that an event occurred, which
shortly afterwards excited the greatest discontent among the followers
of Charles Edward.[79]
The attack upon the city was made from Stanwix Bank; the Marquis of
Tullibardine, who had at length joined the insurgent army, with his
tenantry, assisting the Duke of Perth. As it was market-day on the
ninth, when the Jacobites made their appearance within a quarter of a
mile of Carlisle, the Highland soldiers were mingled with the
market-people returning home, so that the garrison dared not fire upon
them. On the following day, the city was attacked in three places; but
the Marquis of Tullibardine, who commanded a four-gun battery, planted
at the entrance of a lane, was heard to say to his followers,
"Gentlemen, we have not metal for them; retreat." After three days'
attack, however, the courage of Mr. Pattieson, and the strength of the
garrison, gave way. The valiant Mayor forgot his English birth so far as
to hang out a white flag, and to request a capitulation for the town.
The garrison and townsmen of Carlisle, in the opinion of the writers of
the day, merited no more credit than that of Edinburgh, in their defence
and capitulation. In the siege, the Highland army had only one man
killed, and another wounded; and the reduction of Carlisle gave great,
but not lasting, lustre to their arms.
On entering Carlisle, Lord George Murray is said, in the newspapers of
the day, to have encountered an old friend, who asked him how he could
be so rash as to lend himself to the aid of a hopeless and futile
invasion. To this Lord George is declared to have replied, that he was
well aware that the cause was hopeless; but that, having once engaged to
maintain it, honour compelled him to continue his exertions.[80] It was
not, however, long before those fatal dissensions appeared which
effectually defeated all that valour or fidelity could effect to save
Charles Edward from defeat.
It was, perhaps, the well-earned popularity of the Duke of Perth, his
forbearance, and the gratitude evinced towards him by the inhabitants of
Carlisle, as he rode triumphantly through their city, that first roused
the jealousy of Lord George Murray's proud nature. The disinterested
conduct of the Duke of Perth, as soon as he became informed of the
sentiments entertained towards him by Lord George Murray, was worthy of
himself. That brave and excellent young man modestly withdrew from a
rivalry which, he justly concluded, must be injurious to the cause of
that Prince whose interests he had espoused; for few men could cope with
the natural abilities, the force of character, and the experience of
Lord George. He was by far the most able general that appeared in either
of the two insurrections in the cause of the Stuarts. "His personal
hardihood and bravery," remarks Lord Mahon, "might be rivalled by many
others; but none could vie with him in planning a campaign, providing
against disasters, or improving victory."
Whilst the Jacobite forces lay encamped near Carlisle, certain
differences of opinion arose in the Council. There were some who had
even thought that it would be desirable, before investing Carlisle, to
return to Scotland to collect a greater force. Lord George Murray,
seconded by the Duke of Perth, had opposed this cautious proposal; and
recommended that part of the army should stay at Brampton, and the rest
go to blockade Carlisle. The Duke of Perth had seconded this scheme, and
it had accordingly been decided that Lord George should command the
blockade, whilst the Duke conducted the battery. The result has been
seen; and the Prince was now master of Carlisle.
A few days after he had taken possession of the town, a council of war
was called, to consider what was next to be done. Some of the officers
proposed returning to Scotland; others were in favour of encamping near
Carlisle, and waiting to see whether there would be any rising in
England. Others advised marching forwards, by the west of England;
arguing, that having Carlisle, happen what might, they had a safe
retreat. Charles Edward declared himself to be of the last-mentioned
opinion, and his inclinations were seconded by Lord George to a certain
extent. He stated the advantages and disadvantages of both propositions;
but added, that, although he could not venture to advise the Prince to
march into England without more encouragement than they had hitherto
received, yet he was persuaded that if his Royal Highness marched south,
his army, though but small, would follow him. Upon this, Charles
immediately said these words, "I will venture it." "I spoke," adds Lord
George, "with the more caution, since some things had happened about the
time of the blockade of Carlisle, and a little before, which had made me
desirous to serve only as a volunteer, and not as a general officer;
but, as all the other officers were very pressing with me, I soon laid
that thought aside."[81]
What those circumstances were, Lord George explains in the following
letter to his brother. His difficulties, owing to the want of
arrangements, such as his skill and experience might have suggested, had
he been first in command, appear to have been sufficiently trying. Yet,
in the extract from a letter dated Nov. 15, from Harraby, Lord George
does ample justice to the exertions of the Duke of Perth. This epistle
was written whilst the blockade and battery were going on.
"I am sorry to find that it is impossible to go on so quick with the
battery of cannon as would have been wished. By the report of those
I sent there, the ground is marshy, and vastly too much exposed;
and, notwithstanding all the pains taken by the Duke of Perth, who
is indefatigable in that service, and who meets with innumerable
difficulties, I suspect the place pitched upon will not answer. But,
if the thing be prosecuted, I think it my duty to tell you, so as
you may represent it to his Royal Highness, that the men posted upon
the blockade of Carlisle will not expose themselves, either in
trenches, or all night in the open air, within cannon-shot, or even
musket-shot of the town, except it be in their turn with the rest of
the army, and that it be decided by lot who is to mount the guard,
first night, second, and so on. The way I would propose, if it be
approved of by a council of war, is as follows:--that fifty men be
draughted out of each of the battalions that are at Brampton, with
proper officers, and at least two majors out of the six battalions,
and be sent to quarter at Butcherby, which, I believe, is within a
mile of the battery; and, as I suppose, one hundred and fifty men
will mount guard at the battery. These six battalions will furnish
two guards; your men will furnish one, General Gordon and Lord
Ogilvie's one, which, in the whole, makes four guards, or reliefs;
and I think, by that time, the town will be either taken or the
blockade removed. I don't mention the Duke of Perth's regiment,
because they have more than their turn of the duty already, besides
furnishing workmen, &c. And for Colonel Roy Stuart's regiments, I
suppose they have the guard of the equipage, &c.; and they will,
perhaps, be able to furnish some workmen. If anything be done of
this nature, the sooner I hear of it the better. I ever am, dear
brother, your most affectionate brother, and faithful humble
servant,
"GEORGE MURRAY."[82]
This advice was disregarded. A court-martial was held to consider of the
plan suggested by Lord George. By this council the detachments proposed
by Lord George for the relief of the battery were refused, upon the plea
that those corps had lately encountered all the fatigue of the blockade
at Edinburgh, and that it would not be fair to put them again upon that
service. On the day after receiving this decision, in the hand-writing
of Secretary Murray, Lord George addressed the following letter to the
Prince. His conduct upon this occasion shows the proud and fiery spirit
of this able commander.
"15th November, 1745.
"Sir,
"I cannot but observe how little my advice as a General officer has
any weight with your Royal Highness, ever since I had the honour of
a commission from your hands. I therefore take leave to give up my
commission. But as I ever had a firm attachment to the royal family,
and in particular to the King my master, I shall go on as a
volunteer, and design to be this night in the trenches as such, with
any others that will please to follow me, though I own I think there
are full few on this post already. Your Royal Highness will please
order whom you think fit to command on this post, and the other
parts of the blockade. I have the honour to be, sir, your Royal
Highness's most faithful and most humble servant,
(Signed) "GEORGE MURRAY.[83]
"Lord Elcho has the command till you please to appoint it
otherwise."
To his brother, the Marquis of Tullibardine, Lord George wrote still
more fully. In this letter, after informing the Marquis that he had
given up his commission of Lieutenant-General, Lord George complains of
a want of confidence on the part of the Prince, in regard to the terms
which were to be accepted or rejected in the surrender of Carlisle.
Touching these, Charles Edward, who was now almost completely under the
controul of Secretary Murray, acted in a weak and vacillating manner.
When pressed by Lord George Murray to give him full instructions, he
hesitated; Lord George entreated him, if he could not decide during his
presence in the camp, that the Prince would send instructions after
him.[84] "When he would not come to any fixed resolution before I came
away, I begged his Royal Highness would send his intentions and
instructions after me, that I might conduct myself by them; but his
secretary told me plainly, he took that matter to be his province, as he
seems indeed to take everything upon him both as to civil and military.
There are many other things which have determined me to wish to have no
command; and it is some time past since I observed things must go into
utter confusion. I shall show, as a volunteer, that no man wishes more
success to the cause; and I can be of more use charging in the first
rank of your Atholl men than as a general, where I was constantly at a
loss to know what was doing. I am of opinion you should reduce your men
to two battalions; one for Lord Nairn, the other Mr. Mercer. When you
are quartered anywhere, if you have a hole to spare, I shall be as often
with you as I can; at other times, I shall lye with the men in a barn,
which I doubt not will hearten them much. In every thing, as a
volunteer, I shall do all I can to advance the service; but am
determined never to act as an officer. I have several things to say at
meeting. If you have occasion for tent or horses, they are at your
service, for I design to keep none, but make presents of them all.
"Adieu! Yours, GEORGE MURRAY."
"Haroby, 15th Nov. 1745."
* * * * *
Not only were the seeds of disunion thus sown between the Prince and the
Generals, but also between the Marquis of Tullibardine and Lord George
Murray.
"I did expect," writes Lord George to the Marquis, "that you would have
upon occasion stood my friend; but I find you are too apt to hearken to
designing people, by your being so ready to blame me before I was heard;
and, except you show some regard for me, how can I expect it of others?
I told his Royal Highness that you had acquainted me that he desired to
see me. He said, No, he had nothing particular to say to me. I told him
I should be as ready to serve in a private station, and as a volunteer,
in the first rank of your men, as ever I could be in any other. He said
I might do so. Nothing else passed. I spoke a good time to Sir Thomas
Sheridan, and told him in particular, that if anything was taken amiss
in my letter, as having expressed my attachment to the King, without
having mentioned his Royal Highness, it was very injurious to me; for
having mentioned the King and royal family, (and designing my letter to
be short,) I thought it needless to be more particular; for surely, next
to the King, I would serve none on earth before his Royal Highness:
which, after what I have shown, and all my actions since I joined the
standard, could not be called in question. I mentioned several
particulars, wherein I showed that I had no authority in the station I
was in, and that others acted as General who had not any call, but used
his Royal Highness's name. That in the drudgery, I was employed, but
anything of moment was done without my participation. That, in short, I
had ventured my all--life, fortune, family--every thing, my honour;
which last I had some to lose, but none to gain, in the way things were
managed, and therefore resolved upon a private station."[85]
The concluding paragraph of this painful letter is written with a force
and bitterness which show how deeply this ardent servant of a failing
cause was wounded by what he justly deemed unmerited caprice and
disrespect. "I wish you would be careful of the Atholl men, that they be
not slighted; which never should have happened as long as I had any
command. I find scarce any of them have got even thanks for venturing
life and fortune, and even the gallows; and, which is worse, (I don't
know how it is come about,) they are not thought equally good with other
men. If you would send me the notes, that were made out, of the way of
modelling them into two different regiments, I would do, now that I have
time to do it, as much as possible for the good of the service and
general comfort. I always am, dear brother, your most faithful and
humble servant and affectionate brother,
"GEORGE MURRAY."[86]
"Haroby, 16th Nov. 1745."
* * * * *
There was also another source of complaint, which, though appearing on
the surface to have originated with the Duke of Perth, was clearly
traceable to the Prince, or rather to his adviser, Secretary Murray. A
marked slight had been passed on Lord George Murray on the very night on
which the battery on Carlisle was opened. He had gone into the trenches;
and, seeing the Duke of Perth there, he had desired him, in case of
anything extraordinary happening, to let him know, and that he would aid
him by every means in his power. What private orders the Duke had was
not known; but, far from applying to Lord George for aid or counsel, he
sent to Brampton, seven miles' distance, whenever any difficulty
occurred, and acquainted the Prince with it, but took no notice of Lord
George, although he was an older officer than himself, and had been sent
to Harroby to cover the siege. Upon this, Lord George, who thought he
was entitled to know what had passed in the trenches, complained, but
received no satisfactory answer: and thus aggrieved, and, as he
conceived, insulted, he sent that letter to the Prince, which has justly
been censured as making an invidious distinction between the young
Chevalier and his father.[87]
These acts of indiscretion and intemperance were followed by another
proceeding still less worthy of the soldier and the man of honour: Lord
George Murray indeed lowered himself, when, at the same time that he
wrote to the Prince, he set on foot a petition praying Charles that he
would dismiss all Roman Catholics from his councils. This was aimed at
the Duke of Perth and Sir Thomas Sheridan; nor can we assign to it any
better motive than that it was intended to re-instate Lord George Murray
in the command. Some allowance may, nevertheless, be made for the
prejudices of a Presbyterian, acting on the determined and overbearing
nature of a high-spirited man. But the vital principles of our Christian
faith tend to soften animosities, to humble pride, and to accord to
others the same intention to act rightly as that of which we ourselves
are prone to boast. A sincere, a truly pious member of the Christian
church cannot be an intolerant partizan of certain modes of faith.
There dwells within his breast a deeper sentiment than that which is
inspired by the worldly and sublunary distinctions of sect. And Lord
George Murray, seeing his young and blameless rival, the Duke of Perth,
brave, honourable, and moderate, had shown greater zeal for true
religion had he not availed himself of an unworthy plea to base upon it
an invidious and covert insinuation.
He was reproved by the magnanimity of the man whom he desired to remove
from the Prince's councils. Although the Duke of Perth did not profess
to acquiesce in the opinion that it was unreasonable that he should have
the chief command, although he did not pretend to acknowledge the
justice of the claim, he nobly gave up, for the sake of a Prince whom he
loved, the superiority to Lord George Murray. His conduct on this
occasion recalls the generous sentiments of the knight and soldier in
ancient times; unhappily it failed in producing that unanimity which it
was intended to effect. The rancour between Lord George Murray and the
Secretary still remained, although it did not break out on every
occasion, and sometimes gave way to the common cause when the interests
of all were at stake.[88]
At Carlisle the forces were reviewed and were found to amount to above
five thousand foot, with five hundred[89] on horseback, mostly
low-country gentlemen followed by their servants, under the name of
guards, hussars, &c.[90] After a few days rest, and after completing
every arrangement for the preservation of Carlisle, the army marched to
Penrith; Lord George preceding the rest of the forces at the head of six
regiments and some horse. This was an adventurous undertaking with so
small a force; for there were now in England above sixty thousand men in
arms including the militia and the newly raised regiments; but the
Prince, observes Mr. Maxwell, "had hitherto had a wonderful run of
success." He was still buoyed up with hopes of a landing of French
troops, and of an insurrection in his favour.[91]
On the twenty-fourth of November the Prince marched from Carlisle to
Penrith, and thence to Lancaster, which he reached on the twenty-fifth,
at the head of the vanguard of his army. He was dressed in a light plaid
belt, with a blue sash, a blue bonnet on his head, decorated with a
white rose, the sound of the bagpipes, and the drum playing "The King
shall have his own again;" the banners, on which were inscribed the
words "Liberty and Property, Church and King," failed, nevertheless, to
inspire the cold spectators who beheld them with a corresponding
enthusiasm.
The army advanced towards Preston, Lord George Murray commanding the
van; and on the twenty-sixth of November, the whole force assembled
before that town, the very name of which struck terror into Scottish
breasts. Nor were the English Jacobites without their fears, nor devoid
of associations with the name of a place in which the hopes of their
party had been blighted in 1715, and their banners steeped in blood.
The walls of Preston recalled to many of the volunteers of Lancashire
the prison in which their fathers had died of fever, or starvation, or
of broken hearts. It is remarkable, as one of the newspapers of the day
observes, that many of those who joined the Chevalier's ranks were the
sons of former insurgents. "Hanging," adds the coarse party writer, "is
hereditary in some families."[92] Lord George Murray, in order to avoid
the "freit," or, in other words, to humour the superstition of the
Highlanders, who had a notion that they never should get beyond Preston,
crossed the Ribble bridge, and landed a great many of his men on the
other side of the water, about a mile from the town, where they halted
the next day, waiting for some intelligence, of which it is presumed,
says Lockhart, "they were disappointed." Here it was necessary to divide
even this little army for the convenience of quarters.[93] At Preston
the Prince was received with enthusiastic cheers, but when officers were
ordered to beat up for recruits, no one enlisted. The tents which had
been provided had been left on the road from Moffat to Edinburgh; and
the season was so severe, that it was impossible even for Highlanders to
sleep in them; the town was too small to receive them; the same
arrangement that had been begun at Carlisle was still pursued, and the
army went in two great divisions, though with scarcely a day's march
between them. Lord George Murray commanded what was called the
low-country regiments; but the greater part of these was, observes Mr.
Maxwell, "Highlanders by their language, and all were in their dress,
for the Highland garb was the uniform of the whole army."
One can easily conceive what must have been the effect of this gallant
force, unbroken by fatigue or privation, and glorying in their
enterprise, as they entered into the friendly county of Lancaster,
filled with Roman Catholic gentry, who gathered around the standard of
the Prince. The colours of the Tartan, which was worn, as we have seen,
by the whole of the army, both Highlanders and Lowlanders, although
denominated by a writer in the _Scots' Magazine_ as a "vulgar glare,"
never offend the eye, but are, according to a high authority,
"beautifully blended and arranged." "Great art," observed the celebrated
Mr. West, "(that is to say, much knowledge of the principles of
colouring with pleasing effect,) has been displayed in the composition
of the tartans of several Clans, regarding them in general as specimens
of national taste, something analogous to the affecting but artless
strains of the native music of Scotland."
This garb, which excited the attention and admiration of Napoleon at the
battle of Waterloo, consisted of the truis, the kilted plaid, and
philibeg. The truis, be it observed, for the benefit of the dwellers in
the south, were used by gentlemen on horseback, and by others according
to their choice; but the common garb of the people was the plaid and
kilt; and this was the usual dress down to the passing of the act for
suppressing the garb. The tartan is said to have been known in Flanders;
and the tartan and kilt to have been adopted in the Lowlands before
their adoption among the mountains.[94] Without attempting to meddle in
the dangerous and intricate question of antiquity, it must be
acknowledged that the Highland dress is well adapted to the habits of a
pastoral people, as well as being extremely graceful and picturesque. It
is also admirably fitted to oppose the inclemency of those regions in
which, among the other habits which characterise the peculiar people who
wear it, it is still regarded as a loved and revered badge of national
distinction. In the various campaigns in Holland, the Highlanders
suffered far less than other nations in that damp and chilly climate; in
the retreat to Corunna, under the hero Sir John Moore, their plaids
bound lightly round their bodies, they experienced the convenience of
that simple form of dress in a rapid and protracted march. Light and
free, the mountaineer could pursue, without restraint, the most
laborious occupations; he could traverse the glens, or ascend mountains
which offer a hopeless aspect to the inhabitants of more civilized
spheres. But it was not only as a convenient and durable mode of apparel
that the kilt and philibeg were advantageous. The Highland costume, when
it formed a feature among English or foreign regiments, cemented a
spirit which was felt and feared by foes. It bound those who wore it in
a common bond, not to dishonour the garb which their chiefs and their
forefathers had worn, by an act of cowardice, or by deeds of
cruelty.[95]
Little did the English Government, or the inhabitants of the metropolis,
or probably the country in general, know the character of the brave,
ill-fated band of Highlanders, who were now advancing into the very
heart of the country. It was the custom, especially among those who
wished to gain preferment at Court, or who affected to be fashionable,
to speak of the Highlanders as low, ignorant savages; semi-barbarians,
to whom the vulgar qualities of personal courage and hardihood might be
allowed, but who had neither any urbanity to strangers, nor refined
notions of honour. The word "rebel," was a mild name for those who were
following Prince Charles's standard as it was borne southwards. The
hardened villains, "the desperadoes, rabble, thieves, banditti!"[96] are
the terms usually employed in expressing the sovereign contempt felt by
ignorance for an honourable, religious, and primitive people. It seems
also to have been thought only necessary for the Duke of Cumberland to
show his face in the north, to put to flight a beggarly handful of
undisciplined men, whose moral character, if we might credit certain
passages in the Magazines of the day, was as low as their military
acquirements. By other nations besides their own sister country, the
same erroneous notions concerning the Scottish Highlanders prevailed. In
Germany it was conceded that they might be capable of becoming "good and
useful subjects when converted from heathenism." The French, too,
presumed to look upon them with contempt, until they met them, when
acting as auxiliaries to other powers, so often in battle, and beheld
them so generally in the front, that they verily believed at last, there
were twelve battalions in the army instead of two; and one of their
Generals, Broglio, in after times remarked, that "he had often wished to
be a man of six feet high, but that he became reconciled to his size
after he saw the wonders performed by the little mountaineers."[97]
It is scarcely now necessary to allude to these errors at that time
prevalent regarding the valour of the Scottish host. Tributes from every
known country have long elevated this brave and oppressed people into a
proud and honourable position. Instead, however, of the undisciplined
savages who were supposed to be traversing the country, it was sooner
found than acknowledged, that the intrepidity of the Highlanders was
united to humanity, and to upright principles. To their noble qualities
was added a deep sense of religion. In after-times it was remarked, that
no trait in the character of the Highlanders was more remarkable than
the respect which was paid by the different regiments which were
eventually employed in the British service, to their chaplains. The men
when they got into any little scrape were far more anxious, writes
General Stuart, "to conceal it from their chaplain than from their
commanding officer."
But, however the public prints might revile, and the polite society at
St. James's ridicule, and misunderstand the Highlanders, the General
whose lot it was to conquer the unfortunate Jacobites knew well of what
materials their forces were composed. The Duke of Cumberland, at the
battle of Fontenoy, had been so much pleased with the conduct of the
famous Black Watch, that he had offered them any favour which they chose
to ask, or which he could grant, to mark his approbation. The answer to
this proof of approbation was worthy of those valiant auxiliaries, who
are described by the French as "Highland furies, who rushed in upon us
with more fury than ever did a sea driven by a tempest." The Highlanders
replied, after thanking the Royal Duke for his courtesy, "that no favour
he could bestow on them would gratify them so much as to pardon a
soldier of their regiment, who lay under a sentence of court martial, by
which he was decreed to incur a heavy corporal punishment; the
infliction of which would," they said, "bring dishonour on themselves,
their friends, and their country." The request was granted. It was,
nevertheless, the countrymen of these Highlanders, men as heroic as
true, as nice in their sense of honour as the Black Watch, upon whom the
Duke wreaked the utmost of his vengeance after Culloden, whom he hunted
with bloodhounds,--whose honest hearts he broke by every possible
indignity, though their gallant spirits could never be subdued.
As the army advanced, a great multitude assembled to gaze upon the
singular spectacle. The very arms borne by the Highlanders were objects
of curiosity and surprise, no less than of alarm, to the populace, who
stood by the way-side expressing their good-will to the expedition, but
who, when asked to join the insurgents, declined, saying, "they did not
understand fighting."[98] The formidable weapons with which the
Highlanders contrived to make themselves terrible to their enemies,
consisted of a broad-sword, girded on the left side, and a dirk or short
thick dagger on the right, used only when the combat was so close as to
render the broadsword useless. In ancient times, these fierce warriors
brandished a small short-handled hatchet or axe, for the purpose of a
close fight. A gun, a pair of pistols, and a target, completed their
armour, except when ammunition failed, when they substituted for the
gun, the lochaber axe; this was a species of long lance, or pike, with a
formidable weapon at the end of it, adapted either for cutting or
stabbing. The lochaber axe had fallen into disuse since the introduction
of the musket; but a rude, yet ready substitute had been found for it,
by fixing scythes at the end of a pole, with which the Highlanders
resisted the attacks of cavalry. Such had been their arms in the early
part of the Insurrection of 1745, and such they continued until, at the
battles of Falkirk and Preston Pans, they had collected muskets from the
slain on the battle-field. In addition to these weapons, the gentlemen
sometimes wore suits of armour and coats of mail; in which, indeed, some
of the principal Jacobites have been depicted; but, with these, the
common men never incumbered themselves, both on account of the expense,
and of the weight, which was ill-adapted to their long marches and steep
hills.[99]
A distinguishing mark which the Highland Clans generally adopted, was
the badge. This was frequently a piece of evergreen, worn on the bonnet,
and placed, during the insurrection of 1745, beside the white cockade.
When Lord Lovat's men assembled near the Aird, they wore, according to
the evidence given on the State Trials, sprigs of yew in their
bonnets.[100] These badges, although generally considered to have been
peculiar to the clans, were, observes a modern writer,[101] "like
armorial bearings, common to all countries in the middle ages; and
shared by the Highlanders among the general distinctions of chivalry,
were only peculiar to them when disused by others." Thus, the broom worn
by Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count D'Anjou;--and the raspberry by Francis
the First of France, were only discontinued as an ornament to the head
when transferred to the habit, or housings; but the Highland Clans,
tenacious of their customs, wore the plant not only upon their caps, but
placed them on the head of the Clan standard. The white cockade was now
regarded as the peculiar badge of the party; yet it seems not, at all
events among the Clan Fraser, to have superseded the evergreen. Some few
traces are left, in the present day, to certify, nevertheless, that they
were worn during the contest of 1745. "Lord Hardwicke's Act, and
continual emigration," remarks John Sobieski Stuart, "have extirpated
the memory of these distinctions once as familiar as the names of those
who bore them; and all of whom I have been able to collect any evidence
are, the Macdonalds, the Macphersons, the Grants, the Frasers, the
Stuarts, and the Campbells." "The memory of most," mournfully remarks
the same writer, "has now perished among the people; but, within a
recent period, various lists have been composed--some by zealous
enthusiasts, who preferred substitution to loss, and some by the
purveyors of the carpet Highlanders, who once a-year illuminate the
splendour of a ball-room with the untarnished broadswords and silken
hose, never dimmed in the mist of a hill, or sullied in the dew of the
heather."[102]
The Macdonalds, until a very short period before the rebellion of 1715,
were known by the heather bow. "Let every man," said one of their chiefs
of old, looking round on a field of blooming heather, "put over his head
that which is under his feet." The destined sufferers of Glenco were
marked by their "having a fair busk of heather, well spread and
displayed over the head of a staff." The Clan Macgregor wore the fir;
and the Clan Grant assumed a similar badge; whilst the badge of the
Frasers is said to have been supplied for ages by a yew of vast size, in
Glen-dubh, at the head of Strath Fearg. The badge assigned to the
Macphersons was the water lily, which abounds in the Lochs of Hamkai,
upon the margin of which was the gathering place of the Clan Chattan.
Some of these distinctions appear to have been used during the year
1745, as we see in the case of the Frasers, but all to have emerged into
the one general distinction of the Jacobites, the white rose, first worn
by David the Second, at the tournament of Windsor in 1349, when he
carried the "_Rose argent_." This badge had been almost forgotten in
Scotland, until the year 1715, when it was worn by the adherents of
James Stuart, on his birthday, the tenth of June. "By the Irish
Catholics," observes the Editor of the "Vestiarium Scoticum," "it is
still worn on the same day; but in Scotland its memory is only retained
in the ballads of '15, and '45."
The Muses, who, as Burns has remarked, are all Jacobites, have
celebrated this badge in these terms:--
"O' a' the days are in the year,
The tenth o' June I lo' maist dear,
When our _white roses_ a' appear,
For the sake o' Jamie the Rover."[103]
The Highland host, after marching through Preston, to the sounds of the
bagpipes, which played "The King shall have his own again," took the
road through Wigan, towards Manchester. The Prince was informed that the
English troops had broken down the bridge at Warrington; and that
circumstance, which decided him to go through Wigan, somewhat encouraged
his naturally sanguine temper, as it showed fear on the part of the
enemy. During this march, the kind-hearted young man went on foot,
except occasionally, when we find notice of his riding a fine horse in
the public prints of the day. He usually, however, gave up his carriage
to the venerable Lord Pitsligo, and marched at the head of one of the
columns. He never took dinner, but ate a hearty supper; and then,
throwing himself upon a bed, slept until four in the morning, when he
arose, to prosecute the fatigues of another day, fatigues which youth, a
sound constitution, and, above all, a great degree of mental energy,
enabled him to endure.
Wigan, which the Chevalier's forces now approached, had been, in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, agitated by religious differences; and the
Queen's Commission for promoting the ordinances of the Reformed Church
had been there met with a vigorous resistance. During the civil wars,
this town, both from its vicinity to Latham House, and from its
attachment to Charles the First, took a distinguished part, and obtained
the characteristic designation of the "faithful and loyal town of
Wigan." After the insurrection of 1715, the oaths of supremacy and
allegiance to the reigning family had been, in vain, strongly urged upon
the inhabitants of Lancashire, and a large mass of landed estates were,
in consequence, put in jeopardy; although it does not appear that the
owners were dispossessed of their estates, or that any other use was
made of the register taken of all the landed properties in the county,
except to assist the magistrates in the suppression of the insurrection
in the north. Nevertheless, the expectation which Charles might
naturally entertain of a general rising in Lancashire was not realized.
"Nothing," observes Mr. Maxwell, "looked like a general concurrence
until he came to Manchester."[104] This was remarkable, for Manchester
had been the head-quarters of many of the Parliamentary party in
Lancashire during the civil wars; whilst Preston and Wigan had both been
royalist boroughs. But a singular alteration had taken place in the
people of Manchester, who had changed from Roundheads to Jacobites.[105]
During the whole of the preceding march the Highland army had levied
the public revenue with great accuracy; but no extortion, nor any
attempts at plunder, had disgraced their cause, nor reflected on Lord
George Murray as their General.[106]
At Manchester, the first organized force raised in England for the
Chevalier joined Charles Edward. It was a regiment of two hundred men,
commanded by Colonel Townley, a gentleman who had been in the French
service; and was called the Manchester Regiment. It was composed of
young men of the most reputable families in the town, of several
substantial farmers and tradesmen, and of about one hundred common men.
The accession of this troop gave great encouragement to the Prince; yet
there were still many who thought very badly of the enterprise, and the
advice afterwards given by Lord George Murray at Derby, to retreat, was
also whispered at Manchester, Lord George being resolved to retreat,
should there be no insurrection in England, nor landing from France. "At
Manchester, one of his friends told Lord George," relates Maxwell, "that
he thought they had entered far enough into England, since neither of
these events had happened." To this Lord George replied that they might
make a farther trial, and proceed to Derby; where, if there should be no
greater encouragement to go on, he should propose a retreat to the
Prince.[107]
The reception of Prince Charles at Manchester, was celebrated with
demonstrations of enthusiastic joy. As he marched on foot into the town,
at the head of the clans, halting to proclaim the Chevalier St. George,
King, the bells rang, and preparations were made for illuminations and
bonfires in the evening. The Prince was attended by twelve Scottish and
English noblemen: from these he was distinguished by wearing the white
cockade on the top of his cap, in the centre, instead of on the side, as
did his general officers. Peculiarly formed to grace such occasions as a
triumphal entry into an important and friendly town, Charles Edward
quickly won the good will of the female part of the community; and the
beauty and grace of the kingdom were soon, to use a phrase of a
contemporary writer, enlisted in his behalf.
To the personal attributes of the Prince, "joining the good nature of
the Stuarts with the spirit of the Sobieski," Charles Edward added one
accomplishment which the monarch then on the throne of England did not
possess: he spoke English well, although with a foreign accent: in this
last respect, he resembled some of those around him, more especially the
Duke of Perth, who, having been long abroad, in vain endeavoured to
conceal the French idiom and pronunciation by affecting a broad Scottish
dialect.[108]
Still, in spite of these advantages, and notwithstanding the known
predilection of the Lancastrians for the cause of the Stuarts, the
lowest populace alone joined the standard of Charles. One melancholy,
though admirable exception has been already referred to in the person of
Colonel Francis Townley. This gentleman was a member of an ancient
family, and the nephew of Mr. Townley, whose seat in Townley Hall,
Lancashire, lays claim to high antiquity; and yet, is modern in
comparison with a former residence, once seated on what is still called
the Castle Hill. Francis Townley was a man of literary acquirements,
which, indeed, eminently distinguished his relative, the celebrated
Charles Townley, who formed at Rome, and afterwards brought to London,
the well-known collection of marbles which was bought by the Trustees of
the British Museum for twenty thousand pounds; (supposed to be a sum far
beneath its actual value,) and which still graces that national
structure.
The family of Townley had been remarkable for their fidelity to the
Stuarts long before Colonel Francis Townley raised a troop for the
Chevalier. The grandfather of this unfortunate man, had been tried for
rebellion, in 1715, but acquitted; it was therefore very unlikely that
when his accomplished descendant espoused the same ill-starred cause,
there would be any mercy shown to a family so deeply implicated in
Jacobitism. Francis Townley was afterwards taken prisoner, and tried
with other persons, chiefly captains in the Manchester regiment. Of
these the greater number were hung on Kennington Common. The head of
Colonel Townley was severed from his body, according to sentence, after
death, and was placed upon Temple Bar; but those of most of his brothers
in arms were preserved in spirits, and sent into the country, to be
placed in public situations in Manchester and Carlisle.[109]
Prince Charles now prepared to proceed on his march to Macclesfield,
while Lord George Murray was sent with his division to Congleton. The
accompaniments of the Jacobite army, if we can venture to believe a
letter inserted in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1745, and purporting to
be written by a lady in Preston to her friend in London, formed a
singular spectacle. Four ladies of some distinction are stated in this
letter to have marched with the army. These were Lady Ogilvie, Mrs.
Murray of Broughton, a lady of great beauty and spirit, the celebrated
Jenny Cameron, and another female, unknown, but who is supposed to have
been the mistress of Sir Thomas Sheridan. The populace, nevertheless,
mistook Sheridan for a priest, and assigned to him the nick-name of the
"Archbishop of Canterbury." The first two ladies went in a chariot by
themselves; the others were in a coach and six with the young Chevalier,
to whose dejection and weariness as he passed through Preston, Jenny
Cameron is said to have administered cordials. By the same writer the
Jacobite army are described as looking like "hunted hares." Such is a
specimen of one of the ephemeral slanders of the day; and the
circumstance of the coach and six tends to disprove the whole letter.
The Prince, it is evident from every isolated account, marched on foot
until he entered Derby.[110] It was, however, perfectly true that Mrs.
Murray of Broughton and Lady Ogilvie, whose husbands were both with the
army, attended the movements of the Highland force.
And now were the merits of Lord George Murray as a General, certain very
soon to be called into active play; for, on the twenty-sixth of
November, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, had left London at the
head of an army, to oppose the insurgents.
On the character of the royal individual who, in his twenty-fifth year
came forward to rescue his country, as it was said, from the yoke of a
foreign invader; and whose promising, but immature talents, backed by a
great military force, were effectual in defeating the skill of an
experienced General, some reflections will naturally arise.
William, Duke of Cumberland, was born in the year 1721. He very early
demonstrated that predilection for military affairs which obtained for
him from Walpole the praise of having been "one of the five only really
great men whom he had ever seen." He very soon, also, betrayed that
cruel and remorseless spirit which was wreaked on the brave and the
defenceless; that indifference to suffering which too aptly was repaid
by an indignant people with the name of "the Butcher;"--that thirst for
blood which we read of in Heathen countries, before the commandments of
the God of Israel, or the beautiful commentary of a Saviour of Mercy
upon those sacred commandments, had chastened and humanized the people.
Those tendencies which, whilst England was elate with success, and when
she gloried in a suppressed rebellion, raised the Duke of Cumberland to
a hero;--and, when reflection came, sank him to a brute; were manifested
in the dawn of youth. In after years, (what extreme of odium could be
greater?)--even children instinctively feared him. One day, when playing
with his nephew, afterwards George the Third, a child, the Duke drew a
sword to amuse him. The incident occurred long after the mouldering
bones upon the field of Culloden were whitened in the sun; long after
the brave Balmerino had suffered, and vengeance had revelled in the doom
of the beloved Kilmarnock. But the sins of the remorseless Cumberland
cried to Heaven. They were registered in the mind of a child. The boy
turned pale and trembled, and acknowledged that he thought his "uncle
Cumberland was going to kill him." The Duke shocked and deeply hurt,
referred to popular prejudice the impression which was the result of
crime.
Imperious, aspiring, independent, the grasping and able intellect of the
Duke soon imbibed a knowledge of affairs beyond his years. When scarcely
out of the nursery he loved the council chamber, and delighted in the
recitals of foreign wars. As he reached manhood, he affected a lofty and
philosophical coldness; a dangerous attribute in youth, and one which
either springs from a frigid disposition, or else infallibly contracts
the heart. But, in the case of the Duke of Cumberland, it concealed a
proud and selfish spirit, which could ill brook the superiority of his
elder brother, Frederic, Prince of Wales, or bear with temper the
popularity of another. When, in after years, his brother's death was
communicated to him, those jealous and disdainful feelings broke forth.
"It is a great blow to the country," he said, sarcastically; "but I
hope, in time, it will recover it." That want of faith in human nature,
of reverence for good motives, that absence of a generous confidence
which one can suppose strongly characterise the lost angels, were among
the many odious features in the character of this truly bad man. The
prevailing feeling of his mind was, contempt for everything and
everybody;--a contempt for renown;--a contempt, in after life, for
politics, which he conceived were below his attention; a contempt for
women, whom he lowered by a sort of preference consistent with the rest
of his coarse character, but whose modest virtues he mistrusted. With
this affectation of superiority, the Duke combined the littleness of
envy. When he had attained the height of his popularity, his
satisfaction was tarnished by the reputation of Admiral Vernon, who was
the idol of the public. As a General, his acknowledged and eminent
qualities were sullied by the German puerilities of an exact attention
to military trifles; any deficiency in etiquette was punished like a
crime: the formation of a new pattern of spatterdashes was treated as an
important event. Nor was this all. He introduced into an army of
Englishmen the German notions of military severity; he fostered a system
which it has taken nearly a century of great efforts, and good works in
the humane, to annul. "He was," says Horace Walpole, "a Draco in
legislation;" adding, "that in the Duke's amended mutiny bill the word
'Death' occurred at every clause."[111]--Such is the general colouring
of his public character. A strong and sensitive feeling with regard to
the national honour; a devoted reverence for the sovereign authority;
which were the only principles and institutions which he seemed to
respect, are the milder traits. In private, he countenanced, by his own
practice, most of those vices which scarcely existed with greater
impunity, or with less inconvenience from public opinion, in the days of
Charles the Second, than in those in which Cumberland flourished, and
left a finished model of a character without one redeeming excellence.
As a soldier, however, the merits of the Duke, if merits those can be
called which were the natural effects of animal courage, and of a
strong, remorseless mind, must be, at all events, acknowledged. He
behaved with great gallantry in his first campaign with his royal
father, and was wounded at the battle of Dettingen. At too early an age,
in 1744, he was placed at the head of a great army, in order to oppose
Marshal Saxe; and the event of the battle of Fontenoy proved the error.
But, in that engagement, the valour of the young General was admitted on
all hands. "His Royal Highness," relates the author of "The Conduct of
the Officers at Fontenoy considered," "was everywhere, and could not
without being on the spot have cheered that Highlander who with his
broad sword killed nine men, and making a stroke at the tenth, had his
arm shot off,--by a promise of something better than the arm which he,
the Duke, saw drop from him."[112]
It was with the hope of retrieving the lost reputation of the Duke at
Fontenoy, and in order to remedy the glaring defects of General Hawley,
that this young man, old in hardened feelings, but full of ardour and
courage, was sent to repel the forces of the Chevalier. It was also
thought by the Government that the placing a prince of the blood-royal
at the head of the army would have a powerful influence on the minds of
the people, and neutralize the counter-influence of Charles Edward.[113]
The Duke therefore assumed the command of an army ten thousand strong,
and set out from London to intimidate the enemy.
The Duke of Cumberland was by no means so ignorant of the force which he
was now destined to attack, as were most of the other "good people of
England, who knew as little of their neighbours of the Scottish
mountains, as they did of the inhabitants of the most remote quarter of
the globe."[114] In the battle of Fontenoy, the Duke of Cumberland had
become acquainted with the peculiar mode of fighting practised by the
Highlanders, in the manoeuvre of the "Black Watch," or 42nd; and had
shown his judgment in allowing them to fight in their own way. This
gallant regiment, in which many of the privates were gentlemen, were
exempted at this time from the service of crushing the rebellion, only
to have a duty, perhaps more cruel and more unwarrantable, forced upon
them, after the battle of Culloden. By a singular circumstance, the
Black Watch was commanded by Lord John Murray, a brother of Lord George
Murray's, Sir Robert Munro officiating as acting colonel.[115]
At Macclesfield, Prince Charles gained the intelligence that the Duke of
Cumberland had taken the command of Ligonier's army, and that he was
quartered at Lichfield, Coventry, Stafford, and Newcastle-under-Line.
The Prince then resolved to go direct to Derby; and it was to conceal
his design, and to induce the Duke to collect his whole army at
Lichfield, that Lord George Murray marched with a division of the army
to Congleton, which was the road to Lichfield. Congleton, being on the
borders of Staffordshire, was sufficiently near Newcastle-under-Line for
Lord George to send General Ker to that place to gain intelligence of
the enemy. General Ker advanced to a village about three miles from
Newcastle, and very nearly surprised a body of dragoons, who had only
time to make off. He took one prisoner, a man named Weir, who was a
noted spy, and who had been at Edinburgh during the whole of the
Prince's stay there, and had since always kept within one day's march of
the army. It was proposed to hang him; but Charles could not be brought
to consent to the measure, and insisted that Weir was not, strictly
speaking, a spy, since he wore no disguise. "I cannot tell," observes
Mr. Maxwell, "whether the Prince on this occasion was guided by his
opinion or by his inclination: I suspect the latter, because it was his
constant practice to spare his enemies when they were in his power. I
don't believe there was an instance to the contrary to be found in this
expedition."[116]
Upon the third of December, Lord George Murray with his division of the
army marched by Leek to Ashbourn; and the Prince, with the rest of the
forces, came from Macclesfield to Leek, where, considering the distance
of the two columns of his army, and the neighbourhood of the enemy, he
naturally considered his situation as somewhat precarious. It was
possible for the enemy, by a night-march, to get betwixt the two
columns; and, contemplating this danger, the Prince set out at midnight
to Ashbourn, where it was conceived that the forces should proceed in
one body towards Derby. "Thus," remarks a modern historian, "two armies
in succession had been eluded by the Highlanders; that of Wade at
Newcastle, in consequence of the weather or the old Marshal's
inactivity, and that of Cumberland through the ingenuity of their own
leaders."[117]
Charles Edward and his officers slept at Ashbourn Hall, now in the
possession of Sir William Boothby, Baronet; into whose family the estate
passed in the time of Charles the Second.[118]
The young Prince had now advanced far into that county which has no
rival in this Island in the beauty and diversity of its scenery, in the
simple, honest character of its fine peasantry, or in the rank and
influence of its landed proprietors. The history of these families is
connected with the civil, and foreign wars of the kingdom; and already
had the moors and valleys of Derbyshire been the scene of contest which
had the Restoration of the Stuarts for their aim and end. In 1644, a
battle was fought near Ashbourn, in which the Royalists were defeated;
in 1645, just a century before Charles Edward entered Ashbourn, Charles
the First had attended service in the beautiful gothic church of
Ashbourn, as he marched his army through the Peak towards Doncaster.
The inhabitants of the district retained some portion of their ancient
loyalty to the Stuarts. As Prince Charles ascended the height, from
which, leading towards Derby, a view of the town of Ashbourn, seated in
a deep valley, and of the adjacent and romantic country, may be seen,
the roads were lined with peasantry, decorated with white cockades, and
showing their sentiments by loud acclamations, bonfires, and other
similar demonstrations. "One would have thought," remarks Mr.
Maxwell,[119] "that the Prince was now at the crisis of his adventure;
that his fate, and the fate of the three kingdoms, must be decided in a
few days. The Duke of Cumberland was at Lichfield; General Wade, who was
moving up with his army along the west side of Yorkshire, was about this
time at Ferry Bridge, within two or three days' march. So that the
Prince was, with a handful of brave, indeed, but undisciplined men,
betwixt two armies of regular troops, one of them above double, the
other almost double, his number." It was owing to the skill and prudence
of Lord George Murray that this gallant but trifling force was enabled
to return to Scotland, for scarcely ever was there a handful of valiant
men placed in a situation of more imminent peril.
Derby, which is fifteen miles from Ashbourn, was thrown into the utmost
confusion and disorder when the news that the vanguard of the insurgent
army was approaching it became generally known. "The hurry," says a
contemporary writer, "was much increased by the number of soldiers, and
their immediate orders to march out of town, and nothing but distraction
was to be read in every countenance. The best part of the effects and
valuables had been sent away or secreted some days before, and most of
the principal gentlemen and tradesmen, with their wives and children,
were retiring as fast as possible."[120]
The borough of Derby, although by no means so opulent when Charles
Edward and his friends visited it as in the present day, presented,
perhaps, a far more appropriate scene for the faint and transient shadow
of a Court, than it now affords. It had, even within the memory of man,
an aspect singularly dignified, important, and antique in its streets;
and it still possesses many residences which are adapted for the higher
orders, rather than for the industrious burgesses of a town. These are
chiefly seated on the outside of the town. They were, so late as 1712,
and perhaps much later, "inhabited by persons of quality, and many
coaches were kept there." To the west, King's Mead, where formerly there
was a monastery of the Benedictine order, is now graced by a series of
stately detached residences, which, under the modernized name of Nun's
Green, constitute the court end of Derby. But, interspersed in the
streets, there are still many ancient tenements in which Prince Charles
and his high-born adherents might find suitable accommodation.
Party feeling ran high in Derby, and most of its leading and principal
denizens were Tories, and even Jacobites. It was in Derby that Henry
Sacheverell preached his famous sermon, on "Communication of Sin." This
literary firebrand was first thrown out to the High-Church party in
1709, when the High Sheriff, George Sacheverell, of Callow, was attended
by Dr. Henry Sacheverell as his chaplain, and the walls of All Saints
Church resounded with the denunciations of that vehement, and
ill-judging man. The seed that was thus sown fell into a land fertile in
High Church propensities; the Grand Jury intreated Dr. Sacheverell to
print his discourse; and, eventually, when they considered that, by the
mild sentence given against their Preacher on his trial, they had gained
a triumph, bonfires proclaimed their joy, in the market-place of that
town, where the warfare of Sacheverell had first begun.
On the accession of George the First, and when the Chevalier landed in
Scotland, fresh manifestations of the Jacobite party broke forth. The
Church of All Saints was again the scene of its display. Three principal
clergymen in the town openly espoused the Stuart cause. Sturges, the
Rector of All Saints, prayed openly for "King James"--but, after a
moment's pause, said, "I mean King George." "The congregation became
tumultuous; the military gentlemen drew their swords, and ordered him
out of the pulpit, into which he never returned."[121] Perhaps the event
which tended most to quiet the spirit of Jacobitism among the lower
classes in the town, was the erection of silk mills, in 1717. Nothing
tranquillises extreme views in politics more surely than employment; few
things attach men's minds to a Government more, than efforts crowned
with success. Notwithstanding the memory of Sacheverell, a Whig member
had been returned, in the last election, for the borough; the great
merits and influence of the House of Cavendish overpowering the
uproarious Tories, who, in vain, broke windows, and attacked their
enemies. But discontent again broke forth. The winter of 1745 found the
whole nation in a state of suffering and discontent; and many of the
constitutional securities for liberty and property had been given up, in
order to secure the stability of the throne. Taxation had been imposed,
in the worst and most unpopular form, that of excise duties, in order to
maintain an expensive Court, and to pay for Continental wars, which were
maintained to preserve the hereditary German possessions of the King.
Yet, in spite of these crying evils, such is the difficulty of inducing
Englishmen to incur the risk of forfeiture and disaster, that even the
town of Derby had diligently provided itself with a defence against the
Chevalier's divided forces, on hearing of their approach.
During the month of September 1745, in consequence of instructions from
London, the Duke of Devonshire, attended by the greatest appearance of
gentlemen ever seen in the town before, assembled the clergy, in order
to consider of such measures as were necessary for the support of the
Government. An association was entered into, and sums were liberally
contributed, after a splendid dinner, at that ungrateful inn, the
George, which, during the sojourn of Charles Edward at Derby, changed
its sign, into the safe and ambiguous title of the King's Head. Two
companies of volunteers, of six hundred men each, were raised by the
association. A proposal to call out the county militia was vehemently
negatived, probably from that spirit of distrust which pervaded the
councils of King George's Government. By an order in council, passed in
the previous September, all Roman Catholics had been prohibited from
keeping a horse of above five pounds in value, and restrained from going
five miles from their dwellings. It was, therefore, deemed advisable to
select the volunteer forces from the well-affected, and not to employ
the militia of a county so manifestly disposed to foster the young
adventurer as Derbyshire was at that time considered. During the month
of November, a great degree of alarm had disturbed the burgesses of
Derby; and from the communications of the Duke of Devonshire, then
Lord-Lieutenant of the county, to the Mayor, it appears that the young
Chevalier completely baffled the Duke of Cumberland and General Wade,
by his rapid movement into the very heart of England.[122]
So late as the twelfth of December, the Duke of Devonshire and his
eldest son, the Marquis of Hartington, were stationed at the George Inn,
to watch the event of the coming storm, and to concert means for
averting the threatened danger. Some days previously, the Duke had
reviewed a company of six hundred volunteers, together with one hundred
and twenty men raised at his own expense; and those townsmen, who were
not Jacobites, were in high spirits, concluding that the Duke of
Cumberland must have overtaken and attacked the insurgents. On the
evening of the twelfth, the soldiers were summoned to the market-place,
where they stood for some hours; they were then sent to quarters to
refresh themselves; about ten the drums beat to arms, and, being again
drawn out, these valiant defenders of the Borough marched out of the
town, by torch-light, towards Nottingham, headed by the Duke of
Devonshire.
On the following morning, about eleven, two of the vanguard of the
insurgent army rode into the town; and, after seizing a very good horse,
belonging to a Mr. Stamford, went to the George Inn, and there inquiring
for the magistrates, they demanded billets for nine thousand men, or
more.
In a short time afterwards, the vanguard itself rode into the town; this
detachment consisted of about thirty men; they are described in the
account of a cotemporary writer, probably an eye witness, as "likely
men," making a good appearance, in blue regimentals faced with red, with
scarlet waistcoats trimmed with gold lace. They posted themselves in the
Market-place, where they rested for two or three hours; at the same time
bells were rung, and bonfires made upon the pretext of "preventing any
resentment" from the rebels that might ensue upon a cold reception.
About midday, Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho, and several other chiefs
arrived, with troops to the number of one hundred and fifty, the flower
of the army, who made "a fine show." Soon afterwards the main body
marched into the town in tolerable order, six or eight abreast, with
about eight standards, most of them having a white flag with a red
cross. But the appearance of the main body was totally different to that
of the vanguard, and justified the contemptuous opinion and expectations
formed by the loyal inhabitants of Derby, of their coming foe. As they
marched along, the sound of their bagpipes was heard, for the first
time, in the crowded and ancient streets of the borough; but the dress
and bearing of these brave, but ill-accoutred men excited the derision
of the thriving population of an important country town. They were, says
the writer in the _Derby Mercury_ of the day, "a parcel of shabby,
pitiful looking fellows, mixed up with old men and boys, dressed in
dirty plaids, and as dirty shirts, without breeches, and wore their
stockings, made of plaid, not half way up their legs, and some without
their shoes, or next to none, and numbers of them so fatigued with their
long march, that they really commanded our pity more than our
fear."[123]
About five in the evening, when it was nearly dark, the Prince, with the
other column, arrived. He walked on foot, attended by a great body of
men, to a house appointed for his reception, belonging to Lord Exeter,
and seated in Full-street. Here guards were placed around the temporary
abode of the Prince; and here, during his stay at Derby, he held his
councils.
"Every house," adds the writer before quoted, "was pretty well filled
(though they kept driving in till ten or eleven at night), and we
thought we should never have seen the last of them. The Duke of Atholl
had his lodgings at Thomas Gisborne's, Esq.; the Duke of Perth at Mr.
Rivett's; Lord Elcho at Mr. Storer's; Lord Pitsligo at Mr. Meynell's;
Lord George Murray at Mr. Heathcote's; Old Gordon, of Glenbucket, at Mr.
Alderman Smith's; Lord Nairn at Mr. John Bingham's; Lady Ogilvie, Mrs.
Murray, and some other persons of distinction at Mr. Francey's; and
their chiefs and great officers were lodged in the best gentlemen's
houses.[124] Many ordinary houses both public and private, had forty or
fifty men each, and some gentlemen near one hundred."
The Prince, upon his arrival at Derby, resolved to halt for one day, and
to take the advice of his council what was to be done at this juncture.
His hopes were high, and his confidence in the good-will of the people
of England to his cause was unabated. He continued to entertain the
notion that George the Second was an usurper, for whom no man would
willingly draw his sword; that "the people of England, as was their
duty, still nourished that allegiance for the race of their native
Princes which they were bound to hold sacred, and that if he did but
persevere in his daring attempt, Heaven itself would fight in his
cause." His conversation, when at table, beneath the roof of Exeter
House, turned on the discussion "how he should enter London, whether on
foot, or on horseback, or whether in Highland or in Lowland garb."[125]
Nor was Charles Edward singular in his sanguine state of mind. It was
observed, says Mr. Maxwell, "that the army never was in better spirits
than while at Derby."[126]
The judgment which Lord George Murray had formed at Manchester,
remained, however, unaltered by all these expectations. On the following
morning, when the council met, he represented to the Prince that they
had marched so far into the country, depending on French succours, or on
an insurrection, neither of which had taken place; that the Prince's
army, by itself, was wholly unprepared to face the troops which the
"Elector of Hanover," as Lord George denominated him, had assembled.
Besides General Wade's army, which was coming to oppose them, and that
of the Duke of Cumberland, forming together a force of between seventeen
and eighteen thousand strong, there was a third army, encamped on
Finchley Common, of which George the Second was going to take the
command in person. Even supposing that the Prince should be successful
in an engagement with one of these armies, "he might be undone by a
victory." The loss of one thousand or fifteen hundred men would
incapacitate the rest of his small force from another encounter; and
supposing that he was routed in that country, he and all his friends
must unavoidably be killed. On the whole, including the army formed at
London, there would be a force of thirty thousand men to oppose an army
of five thousand fighting men; that before such a host, pursued Lord
George,[127] "it could not be supposed one man could escape; for the
militia, who had not appeared much against us hitherto, would, upon our
defeat, possess all the roads, and the enemy's horse would surround us
on all hands; that the whole world would blame us as being rash and
foolish, to venture a thing that could not succeed, and the Prince's
person, should he escape being killed in the battle, must fall into the
enemy's hands."
"His Royal Highness," continues Lord George Murray in his narrative,
"had no regard to his own danger, but pressed with all the force of
argument to go forward. He did not doubt but the justness of his cause
would prevail, and he could not think of retreating after coming so far;
and he was hopeful there might be a defection in the enemy's army, and
that several would declare for him. He was so very bent on putting all
to the risk, that the Duke of Perth was for it, since his Royal Highness
was. At last, he proposed going to Wales, instead of returning to
Carlisle, but every other officer declared his opinion for a retreat,
which some thought would be scarce practicable. I said all that I
thought of to persuade the retreat, and, indeed, the arguments to me
seemed unanswerable; and for the danger, though I owned an army upon a
retreat did not fight with equal valour as when they advanced, yet, if
the thing were agreed to, I offered to make the retreat, and be always
in the rear myself; and that each regiment would take it by turns till
we came to Carlisle; and that the army should march in such order, that
if I were attacked, I might be supported as occasion required, and
without stopping the army (except a very great body of the enemy should
be upon me), I would send aide-de-camps to desire such assistance as I
should judge the occasion would require; but that I really believed
there would be no great danger; for, as we were informed, the Duke of
Cumberland was at Stafford, and would in all appearance, that night or
next morning, be drawing near London to intercept us, so that if our
design were not mentioned till next morning that it should be put in
execution, we would be got to Ashbourn before he could have certain
information of our design to retreat."
The Prince, who was naturally bold and enterprising, and who had been
hitherto successful in every thing, was indignant at this. Since he had
set out from Edinburgh, he had never had a thought but of going on, and
fighting everything in his way to London. He had the highest idea of the
bravery of his own men, and a despicable opinion of his enemies, and
hitherto with good reason; and he was confirmed in these notions by some
of those that were nearest his person; these sycophants, more intent
upon securing his favour than promoting his interest, "were eternally
saying whatever they thought would please, and never hazarded a
disagreeable truth."[128]
A connected narrative of the proceedings in council has been given by
Lord Elcho; and, at the risk of some recapitulations, it is here
inserted, not having been previously published entire.
"The fifth, in the morning, Lord George Murray, and all the commanders
of battalions and squadrons, waited on the Prince, and Lord George told
him that it was the opinion of every body present that the Scots had now
done all that could be expected of them. That they had marched into the
heart of England, ready to join any party that would declare for him.
That none had done so, and that the counties through which the army had
passed had seemed much more enemies, than friends, to his cause. That
there were no French landed in England; and that if there was any party
in England for him, it was very odd that they had never so much as
either sent him money or intelligence, or the least advice what to do.
But if he could produce any letter from any person of distinction, in
which there was an invitation for the army to go to London, or to any
other part of England, that they were ready to go; but if nobody had
either invited them, or meddled in the least in their affairs, it was to
be supposed that there was either no party at all, or, if there was,
they did not choose to act with them, or else they would ere now have
let him know it. Suppose even the army marched on and beat the Duke of
Cumberland, yet, in the battle they must lose some men; and they had,
after that, the king's own army, consisting of seven hundred men, near
London to deal with. On the contrary, if either of these armies beat
them, there would not a man escape; as the militia, although they durst
never face the army while in a body, yet they would have courage enough
to put an end to them if ever they were routed; and so the people that
were in armies in Scotland would fall an easy sacrifice to the fury of
the Government. Again, suppose the army was to slip the King's and
Duke's army, and get into London, the success of the affair would
entirely depend on the mob's declaring for or against it; and that if
the mob had been much inclined to his cause since his march into
England, to be sure some of his friends in London would have fallen upon
some method to let him know it; but if the mob was against the affair,
four thousand five hundred men would not make a great figure in London.
Lord George concluded by saying, that the Scots army had done their
part; that they came into England at the Prince's request, to join his
English friends, and to give them courage by their appearance to take
arms and declare for him publicly, as they had done, or to join the
French if they had landed. But as none of these things had happened,
that certainly four thousand five hundred Scots had never thought of
putting a king on the English throne by themselves. So he said his
opinion was, they should go back and join their friends in Scotland, and
live and die with them.
"After Lord George had spoken, all the rest of the gentlemen present
spoke their sentiments, and they all agreed with Lord George except two
(the Duke of Perth and Sir William Gordon), who were for going to Wales
to see if the Welsh would join.
"The Prince heard all these arguments with the greatest impatience, fell
into a passion, and gave most of the gentlemen that had spoke very
abusive language; and said they had a mind to betray him. The case was,
he knew nothing about the country, nor had the smallest idea of the
force that was against him, nor how they were situated." Fully convinced
that the regular army would never dare to fight against him, and
trusting to the consciences of men more than to the broad sword of his
army, he always believed that he should enter St. James's with as little
difficulty as he had done Holyrood-house. "He continued," says Lord
Elcho, "all that day positive he would march to London. The Irish in the
army were always for what he was for, and were heard to say, that day,
'that they knew if they escaped being killed, the worst that could
happen to them was a few months imprisonment.'"
The reluctance of the unfortunate and brave young Chevalier was
increased by the evident ardour which his men, in the expectation of an
engagement with the Duke of Cumberland, were at that very instant
displaying, whilst the arguments which sealed Charles Edward's fate,
resounded within the walls of Exeter-house. The Highlanders, whose
heroism balanced the inequality of the respective forces, breathed
nothing but a desire for the combat. They were to be seen, during all
that eventful day, in crowds before the shops of the cutlers,
quarrelling who should be the first to get their swords sharpened.[129]
In the very midst of the discussions, a courier arrived from Lord John
Drummond, informing the Prince that he had landed at Montrose with his
regiment, the Scottish Brigade, newly raised in France, and some pickets
of the Irish Brigade, the rest of which would probably be in Scotland
before the letter reached the Prince.[130] But this favourable
intelligence, far from lessening the desire of Lord George to secure a
retreat, rather increased his determination to uphold that resolution;
and emboldened him to unfold to Charles Edward a plan for a Scottish
campaign, which, he thought, might be prosecuted with advantage. In
retreating to Scotland, the Prince, he argued, would have the advantage
of retiring upon his reinforcements, which included the Highlanders at
Perth, and the succours brought by Lord John Drummond. He concluded his
address by a request, in the name of the persons present, that they
should go back and join their friends in Scotland, to live or die with
their countrymen.
Two councils were held upon this important subject, for in the afternoon
the Prince convened another, to consider of the advices which the
courier sent by Lord John Drummond had brought. "The debates," observes
the Chevalier Johnstone, "were very keen." The Prince obstinately
insisted upon giving battle to the Duke of Cumberland on the next day,
the sixth; but he stood alone in that opinion. The Chiefs of Clans, who,
since the council held at Perth, had never opposed the Prince in
anything, feeling that they had now advanced too far to retreat,
nevertheless opposed the march to London. They pointed to the coldness
with which the insurgent army had hitherto been received; and asked how,
supposing by some miracle the forces were to reach London, an army of
four thousand men would appear among a population of a million people?
The Prince still insisted upon marching to London; he even opposed the
retreat, on the ground of the immense risk. The Duke of Cumberland, he
contended, would pursue them hotly, and be always at their heels.
Marshal Wade, he remarked, would certainly receive orders to intercept
the army, so that they would "be placed between two fires, and caught as
it were, in a net."
This argument was met by the assurances which have been already stated
in Lord George Murray's own language--that he would manage the retreat,
taking always the rear. That he ably and effectually fulfilled that
promise, was shown in the result.
At length the Prince, finding the greater part of the council was of
Lord George's opinion, and deserted even by the Duke of Perth, who,
after for long time resting his head on the fire-place in silence,
accorded loudly with the Clans, consented to the retreat. This assent,
wrung from him, was given with these bitter words,--"Rather than go
back," exclaimed the high-spirited young man, "I would wish to be twenty
feet under ground.[131] Henceforth," he added, haughtily, "I will hold
no more Councils, for I am accountable to no one for my actions, except
to my father."
The usual double-dealing, and factious contention of party, succeeded
this painful scene in the council. "After the council was dismissed,"
says Mr. Maxwell,[132] "some of those who had voted against the retreat,
and the Secretary, who had spoken warmly for it in private conversation
with the Prince, condemned this resolution, and endeavoured to instil
some suspicion of the courage and fidelity of those who had promoted it.
The Prince was easily persuaded that he had been too complaisant in
consenting to a retreat, but would not retract the consent he had given,
unless he could bring back those to whom he had given it over to his own
sentiments; which he hoped he might be able to do, since the Secretary
had altered his opinion. With this view he called another meeting of the
Council, in the evening, but found all the rest, to a man, firm in their
former sentiments; upon which, the Prince gave up a second time his own
opinion and inclination, to the advice and desire of his Council."
The character of one individual was, however, elicited in this affair.
"From this time," observes Mr. Maxwell,[133] "the Secretary ceased to be
in odour of sanctity with those that were not highly prejudiced in his
favour. The little knave appeared plainly in his conduct on this
occasion. He argued strenuously for the retreat, because he thought it
the only prudent measure, till he found it was carried by a great
majority, and would certainly take place; and then he condemned it, to
make his court to the Prince, to whom it was disagreeable, and lay the
odium upon other people, particularly Lord George, whom he endeavoured
to blacken on every occasion." Some people will wonder that this
bare-faced conduct did not open the Prince's eyes as to the baseness of
Secretary Murray's heart; "but," says Maxwell, "if we consider that
Murray was in the highest degree of favour, the steps by which he rose
to it, and the arts he used to maintain himself and exclude everybody
that could come in competition with him, he will easily conceive how he
got the better of any suspicions his behaviour might have created at
this time."
The question, whether the arguments of Lord George Murray were guided by
wisdom, or whether they might be better characterised as the result of a
cold, and, in this case, unworthy prudence, has been very differently
canvassed.
"There are not a few," observes Mr. Maxwell, "who still think the Prince
would have carried his point had he gone on from Derby; they build much
upon the confusion there was at London, and the panic which prevailed
among the Elector's troops at this juncture.[134] It is impossible to
decide with any degree of certainty, whether he would or would not have
succeeded,--that depended upon the disposition of the Army and of the
City of London, ready to declare for the Prince. What could he do with
four thousand four hundred men, suppose he got to London, whatever were
the dispositions of the Army and the City? It is certain the Prince had
no intelligence from either. This leads me to examine the conduct of the
Prince's friends in England. The cry was general against them about this
time in the Prince's army, and they are still exclaimed against by
foreigners, who, having but a very superficial knowledge of these
affairs, conclude that either the English are all become Hanoverians,
or, if there are still some that have an English heart, they must be
strangely degenerated, since they did not lay hold of this opportunity
of shaking off the German yoke. Though I am convinced the Prince had a
great many well-wishers in England, and though it is my opinion he would
have succeeded had they all declared for him, nevertheless I cannot join
in the cry against them, no more than I can condem
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