787 



STUART FAMILY. 



STUART FAMILY. 



788 



returned to the city early in the morning of Tuesday the 17th in a 

 coach. The coach entered ut the West Port, and drove down the 

 street towards the Canongate. On the gate being opened, a body of 

 900 Highlanders, under the command of Lochiel and Sullivan, rushed 

 in. The lord provost and town council, who were waiting the return 

 of the deputation in the street, on hearing of this event retired to 

 their homes. At noon Charles, in a Highland dress, attended by the 

 Duke of Perth and Lord Elcho, came by Duddingston into the King's 

 Park, and entered through St. Anne's Yard into Holyrood Palace. 

 There was a great crowd assembled to receive him, and the young 

 prince was one whose personal appearance might seem to justify thu 

 enthusiasm which he inspired. " The figure and presence of Charles," 

 observes Mr. Home, who witnessed his entrance to Holyrood, "were 

 not ill suited to his lofty pretensions. He was in the prime of youth, 

 tall and handsome, and of a fair complexion." As he entered the 

 palace there was an expression of languor and melancholy in his 

 countenance : the Jacobites compared him to Robert Bruce ; the 

 Whigs declared that he looked like a gentleman and a man of fashion, 

 but not like a conqueror. After dismounting, the prince walked 

 towards the apartments of the Duke of Hamilton : when he was near 

 the door a gentleman moved out of the crowd, drew his sword, and 

 walked up stairs before the prince. This was James Hepburn of 

 Keith, who had been engaged when very young in the rebellion of 

 1715 ; a gentleman who is said to have been a model of manliness, 

 simplicity, and honour ; but whose hatred of the Union, rather than 

 love of the Stuart race, induced him to sacrifice himself to a notion of 

 national independence. 



In the meantime Sir John Cope had marched from Dunbar to Had- 

 dington, and thence to Prestonpans and Seaton. A council of war 

 had been held by Charles Edward at Duddingston, where he had pro- 

 posed to engage- General Cope's army. This was agreed on; but when 

 the prince declared bis resolution to lead the troops to battle himself 

 the chiefs remonstrated, and with some difficulty induced him to give 

 up the design. On the next morning (September 21) the Highlanders 

 advanced to Tranent, and to the west of tbe town continued their 

 march until they saw the king's soldiers encamped near Preston. A 

 loud shout was raised by the English and returned by the Highland 

 troops. A morass, which was pronounced to be impassable, divided 

 the armies. The afternoon was spent in movements. At night both 

 arniies lay down to repose, the Highlanders with the resolution of 

 attacking the king's troops early in the morning. During the night a 

 country gentleman, who knew the ground well, proposed to Lord 

 George Murray to show him a part of the morass whence the rebels 

 might attack their enemies without observation. Lord George 

 referred him to Prince Charles, who was sleeping on the ground with 

 a sheaf of peas-straw under his head. Charles was pleased with the 

 proposal, and before break of day his troops began to move. They 

 marched through a sort of valley, or hollow, concealed by the dark- 

 ness first, and afterwards by a mist. Charles took his place between 

 the first and second line. At length, the morass being passed, the 

 two armies were separated only by a corn-field. The Highlanders, ill 

 armed and without cannon, followed up the advantage which they had 

 gained with wonderful success. A panic seized the king's troops. The 

 Highlanders threw down their muskets, drew their swords, and pur- 

 sued the enemy. " In a very few minutes," Bays Home, " after the 

 first cannon was fired, the whole army, both hor?e and foot, were put 

 to flight. Not one of the soldiers attempted to reload their musquets, 

 and not one bayonet was stained with blood." All the king's infantry 

 were killed, or taken prisoners, except about 170, who escaped by 

 great speed or other good fortune. This was called the battle o 

 Prestonpans. 



The second line of the Highland troops, commanded by Prince 

 Charles, had kept so near the first as to appear to General Cope al 

 one body. The prince was only fifty paces behind the vanguard < 

 proof of courage which his enemies could not deny; but it was a 

 departure from his agreement with the chiefs, who had made con 

 ditione that he should not expose himself to imminent danger 

 General Cope's conduct was severely censured; but when inquirer 

 into by a board of general officers he was not censured, and the con 

 duct of the soldiery was made to bear the blame. " His great error, 

 observes Sir Walter Scott, " was in drawing up his forces in front of a 

 high park wall, which barred their escape from their light-heele 

 enemies. Collecting his dragoons, Cope, with the earls of Loudon an 

 Home, marched to Berwick, where Lord Mark Ker received him wit! 

 this sarcasm, " that he believed he was the first general in Europe tha 

 had brought the first tidings of his own defeat." 



Great apprehension was now entertained in England lest the princ 

 should immediately march southwards. But Charles and his counc 

 did not deem it prudent to appear in England with so small an army 

 and they resolved to wait some time longer at Edinburgh. The cast! 

 of Edinburgh remained still in the possession of the king's troops 

 commanded by General Guest. At first the garrison was supplie 

 with necessaries from ihe town, but on the 29th of September order 

 were given to allow no person to pass into the castle. A letter was 

 that evening sent down by General Guest to the provost of Edinburgh 

 declaring that unless a free communication was opened with the garr 

 son and the town, the general would commence a cannonade upou th 

 city. The prince, on hearing of this threat, ordered the oommunicatio 



o be re-opened. But the Highlanders having, on the 1st of October, 

 red at some people who were carrying provisions to the castle, the 

 arrison on the next day began to fire on the houses that covered the 

 riuce's Highland guard. Upon this a contest commenced between 

 rincc Charles and General Guest, during which several houses were 

 et on fire, and several persons on both sides killed. The cannonade 

 asted till the evening of the 5th of October, when Prince Charles at 

 ast published a proclamation permitting a communication between 

 ie town and the castle. Very few of the inhabitants of Edinburgh 

 oined the Pretender during these destructive reprisals. There was in 

 act a disinclination among the common people to flock to his standard. 

 ord Kilmarnock and Arthur Elphinstoue, afterwards Lord Balmeriuo, 

 t this time joined the prince; and Lord Ogilvie, eldest son of Lord 

 irly, arrived in Edinburgh with a regiment of 600 men. These 

 ddition?, and reinforcements gent by a few other noblemen and 

 eutlemeu, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Highlands, together 

 vith supplies of arms and ammunition from. France, strengthened the 

 n'ince's cause. 



It was now discussed by the prince's council in what manner their 

 dvantage could best be prosecuted. The prince, who waa totally 

 inacquainted with the country which he had invaded, could not bear 

 >pposition, nor listen to advice. Feuds and intrigues divided his little 

 ourt; and too great confidence in his own opinion made him positive 

 and resolute, when he ought to have been cautious. Having received 

 all the reinforcements that he expected, he one day suddenly apprised 

 is council that he was resolved to march to Newcastle, and to oppose 

 he progress of Marshal Wade, who had advanced to that town. It 

 v.is in vain that several of his friends opposed his determination. 

 Three times it was brought before the council, and on the last dis- 

 ussion the prince settled the point by these words : *' I see, gentle- 

 men, that you are determined to stay in Scotland, and defend your 

 country ; but I am also resolved to try my fate in England, even if I 

 ihould go alone." 



On the 31st of October, Charles marched out of Edinburgh, leaving 

 Lord Strathallan to command in Scotland^ At Dalkeith House he 

 was joined by the clan Macpherson and some other Highlanders, 

 amounting in all to about 1000 men : this made his whole force about 

 6500. With one division of his army the prince marched to Kelso, 

 ;heu taking the Jedburgh road, he crossed the Esk, and on the 8th 

 of November reached Brampton in Cumberland. On the next day the 

 other division of the army arrived, and proceeded to invest Carlisle, 

 which surrendered to the Duke of Perth on the 15th of November. 

 [t was now determined to march directly to London. Before Charles 

 tiad set foot on English ground, three armies, each of them superior 

 in number to his own, were prepared to oppose his progress : one, 

 under General Wade, at Newcastle ; a second, in Lancashire, com- 

 manded first by General Ligonier, and afterwards by the Duke of 

 Cumberland; and a third, consisting of old regiments, was stationed 

 in the villages near London, and was, in case of need, to have been 

 commanded either by the king or the Earl of Stair. The rebel troops 

 nevertheless, leaving a garrison in Carlisle, marched forward iu two 

 divisions : the first, commanded by Lord George Murray, arrived at 

 Penrith on the 21st of November ; the second, or main body, headed 

 by Charles, chiefly composed of Highland regiments, and having the 

 cannon, followed, and advanced from Penrith, by Shap, Kendal, Lan- 

 caster, and Garstang, to Preston. On the 29th they reached Manchester, 

 by way of Wigan, and were joined by 200 or 300 of the common 

 people. These men, the only Englishmen who joined the standard of 

 the Pretender, were called the Manchester Regiment, and were com- 

 manded by Colonel Townley, a Roman Catholic. Preston and Man- 

 chester were the only places where ringing of bells or acclamations were 

 heard. From Manchester the rebel army inarched to Macclesfield : 

 from Macclesfield the two divisions went by different roads ; the one 

 by Congleton, the other to Leek, and from Leek by Ashbourn to 

 Derby, where on the 4th of December (1745) both divisions arrived. 

 During the march from Carlisle to Derby, the prince learned that John 

 Drummond, the Duke of Perth's brother, had arrived at Montrose with 

 his own regiment, the Royal Scots, Fitzjames's regiment of horse, and 

 the picquets of six Irish regiments in the service of France. 



The Duke of Cumberland's forces lay at LichfieU, Coventry, and 

 Stafford. It seemed at first to be the intention of the rebels to avoid 

 the duke, and to advance to London ; but after halting a day or two in 

 Derby, they altered their intention, chiefly upon the representation of 

 Lord George Murray, and retreated, with the design of meeting Lord 

 Druinmond's army, which was coming from the north. The retreat 

 was resolved upon by the advice of Lord George Murray, and much 

 to the dissatisfaction of Prince Charles. The Duke of Cumberland 

 now began the pursuit of the rebels, who were only two days' march 

 before him. Lord George Murray, who commanded the rear-guard, 

 defeated the duke's dragoons at Clifton near Penrith hi a skirmish, in 

 which the Highlanders fought with their usual courage, and Lord 

 George, bareheaded (having lost his bonnet and wig), was foremost 

 in the encounter. On the 20th of December the Scottish army left 

 Carlisle, and crossed the Esk into Scotland. On this occasion the 

 prince saved one of his men from being drowned by catching him by 

 the hair. The Highland troops marched unmolested by Moffat and 

 Dumfries to Glasgow, where they were by no means welcome. At 

 Glasgow they remained seven or eight days, and the troops then 



