CHAPTER XVIII: Culloden.
The victory of Falkirk brought but little advantage to Prince Charles,and dissensions arose among the officers; Lord George Murray beingfurious with Lord John Drummond for preventing the complete destructionof the English army, while Lord John Drummond severely criticised LordGeorge for the confusion which had taken place among his troops aftertheir success.
Great numbers of the Highlanders, who had spent the night after thebattle in plundering the English camp and stripping the slain, made offwith their booty to the mountains, and the number of desertions wasincreased by the withdrawal of the greater part of Glengarry's clansmen.On the day after the battle the musket of one of the Clanranald clansmenwent off by accident and killed the son of Glengarry. His clansmen loudlydemanded life for life, and Clanranald having reluctantly consented tosurrender his follower, the poor fellow was immediately led out and shot;but even this savage act of vengeance was insufficient to satisfy theGlengarry men, the greater part of whom at once left the army andreturned to their homes.
After the battle the siege of Stirling was renewed; but owing to thegross incompetence of a French engineer, who had come over with LordDrummond, the batteries were so badly placed that their fire was easilysilenced by that of the castle guns. The prince, in spite of the adviceof Lord George Murray and the other competent authorities, and listeningonly to his favourite councillors, Secretary Murray and Sir ThomasSheridan, continued the siege, although on the 30th of January the Dukeof Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh and took the command of the army.
Never had Scotland a more bitter enemy. Relentless and savage as GeneralHawley had been, his deeds were more than rivalled by those of the Dukeof Cumberland, who was justly branded by contemporary historians with thename of "the butcher." He was, however, an able general, of greatactivity and high personal courage.
After halting but one night in Edinburgh he set out at the head of hisarmy to meet the enemy; but these did not repeat their tactics atFalkirk. Disgusted at the conduct of the prince in slighting their adviceand listening only to his unworthy counsellors, Lord George Murray withall the principal military leaders held a consultation, and presented amemorial to the prince. In this they stated that, seeing the greatnumbers of Highlanders who had gone home, they were of opinion thatanother battle could not be fought with a chance of success, andtherefore recommended that the army should at once retire to theHighlands, where a sufficient number of men could be kept together todefy the efforts of the enemy at such a season of the year, and that inthe spring ten thousand Highlanders could be got together to gowheresoever the prince might lead them. Prince Charles was struck withgrief and dismay at this decision, but as all the military leaders hadsigned it he was forced to give way.
The army at once blew up its magazines, spiked its guns, and marched forthe north in two divisions with much confusion and loss of order. TheDuke of Cumberland pursued, but was unable to come up to them, and haltedat Perth.
Ronald, who had, from the time he returned to the army, again taken uphis former appointment of aide de camp to Lord George Murray, had duringthis time tried his best to reconcile the differences which wereconstantly breaking out between that general, the prince, and the cliquewho surrounded him. It was a difficult task, for Lord George'simpetuosity and outspoken brusqueness, and his unconcealed contempt forSecretary Murray and Sheridan, reopened the breach as fast as it wasclosed.
Since the day when he had saved the prince from being carried off atGlasgow the latter had shown a marked partiality for Ronald's society,and the latter had therefore many opportunities of intervening to preventopen quarrels from breaking out. The prince himself was frequentlygreatly depressed in spirits, and the light hearted gaiety which haddistinguished him on the first landing was now fitful and short lived.His disappointment at the failure of a campaign in which he had won everybattle was deep and bitter. He had relied upon the aid of France, but noaid had come. He had been grossly misinformed as to the willingness ofthe Jacobites of England to take up arms in his favour; and although aportion of the Highlanders of Scotland had warmly embraced his cause, yetmany on whom he had relied stood aloof or were in arms against him, whilein the Lowlands he had found but few adherents.
So far from gaining ground, he was losing it. Numbers of the Highlandershad gone off to their homes. The retreat from Derby had completelychilled the enthusiasm of his adherents, while the waverers and timeservers had been induced thereby to declare against him. The Duke ofCumberland's army steadily increased, and even had the advice of theHighland chiefs been followed and the army dispersed to reassemble in thespring, the chances of success would have been no more favourable than atpresent, for now that the first surprise and panic were past Englandwould put forth her whole strength, and would by the spring have an armyassembled in Scotland against which the Highland clans, even ifunanimous, could not hope to cope.
Ronald was perfectly alive to the hopelessness of final success. He hadseen the British infantry at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and felt sure thatalthough the wild Highland rush had at first proved irresistible, thiscould nor continue, and that discipline and training must eventuallytriumph over mere valour. When he and Malcolm talked the matter overtogether they agreed that there could be but one issue to the struggle,and that ruin and disaster must fall upon all who had taken part in theenterprise.
"I feel thankful indeed," Ronald said one day, "that I am here only as aprivate gentleman risking my own life. I do not know what my feelingswould be, if, like these Highland chiefs, I had brought all my kinsmenand followers with me into the field. The thought of the ruin and miserywhich would fall upon them would be dreadful. I fear that the vengeancewhich will be taken after this is over will be far greater and morewidespread than that which followed '15. All say that the Duke ofCumberland is brutal and pitiless, and the fact that we were nearlysuccessful will naturally add to the severity with which the Englishgovernment will treat us if we fall into their power. Had the enterprisebeen defeated at its commencement they could have afforded to be lenient.As it is, I fear that they will determine to teach the Highlands such alesson as will ensure their never again venturing to rise in arms againstthe house of Hanover."
"And I don't know that they are altogether to be blamed," Malcolm said."I am not so young as I was, Ronald, and I see now that I was wrong inteaching you to be a Jacobite. It is all very well for men likeTullibardine, who knew the Stuarts on the throne, to fight to put themback again; but to your generation, Ronald, the Stuarts are after allonly a tradition, and it is a sort of generous madness for you to riskyour life to set them again on the throne of England. It cannot matter abrass pin to you whether James or George rules at St. James's. It is not,as in the case of the Royalists in England in Charles's time or of theCovenanters of Scotland, that a great principle is involved--aprinciple for which men may well risk their lives and all they hold dear.It is a question of persons only, and although I may hold that by rightof descent Charles Edward is Prince of Wales and rightful heir to thethrone of England, that is no reason why I should risk my life to placehim there; and after all it seems to me that if the majority in theseislands determine that they will be ruled by the house of Hanover insteadof the house of Stuart they have some right to make their own choice."
"You argue like a philosopher, Malcolm," Ronald said laughing, "and donot remind me in the slightest degree of the Malcolm who used to chatwith me in Glasgow."
"You are right there, lad. You see I was brought up a Jacobite, and Ihave been a soldier all my life, accustomed to charge when I was told tocharge and to kill those I was told to kill; but I own that since I havebeen out now I have got to look at matters differently. The sight of allthese poor Highland bodies blindly following their chiefs and riskinglife and all for a cause in which they have no shadow of interest hasmade me think. A soldier is a soldier, and if he were to sit down toargue about the justice of every cause in which he is ordered to fightthere would be an end to all discipline. But these poor fellows ar
e notsoldiers, and so I say to myself, What concern have they in this matter?Their chiefs would gain honours and rewards, patents of high nobility,and additions to their estates if the Stuarts conquered, but theirfollowers would gain nothing whatever. No, lad, if we get over thisscrape I have done with fighting; and I hope that no Stuart will everagain succeed in getting Scotland to take up his cause. I shall go onfighting for Prince Charles as long as there is a man left with him; butafter that there is an end of it as far as I am concerned, and I hope asfar as Scotland is concerned."
"I hope so too, Malcolm. When Scotland is herself divided, Irelandpassive, and all England hostile, success is hopeless. The Stuarts willnever get such another chance again as they had on the day when we turnedour backs on London at Derby, and I hope that they will not again makethe attempt, especially as it is manifest now that France has only usedthem as tools against England, and has no idea of giving them anyeffectual aid."
Charles on approaching Inverness found it toughly fortified and held byLord Loudon with a force of two thousand men. The prince halted ten milesfrom the town at Moy Castle, where he was entertained by Lady M'Intosh,whose husband was serving with Lord Loudon, but who had raised the clanfor Prince Charles. The prince had but a few personal attendants withhim, the army having been halted at some distance from the castle.
One evening Ronald had ridden over to Moy Castle with some despatchesfrom Lord George Murray to the prince, and had remained there to dinewith him. It was late before he mounted his horse. He was, as usual,accompanied by Malcolm. They had ridden but a short distance through thewood which surrounded the castle when a shot was fired, and almostimmediately afterwards four or five men came running through the trees.
"What is the matter?" Malcolm shouted.
"The English army are upon us!" one of the M'Intoshes--for they wereclansmen who had been sleeping in the wood--answered.
"They must intend to seize the prince," Ronald said, "and will alreadyhave sent round a body of horse to cut off his retreat. Scatter throughthe wood, men, and do each of you raise the war cry of one of the clansas if the whole army were here. This may cause a delay and enable theprince to ride off. Malcolm, do you ride back with all speed to thecastle and warn the prince of Loudon's approach."
The Highlanders at once obeyed Ronald's orders, and in a minute or twothe war cries of half a dozen of the principal clans in Prince Charles'sarmy rang through the woods, while at the same time the Highlandersdischarged their muskets. Ronald also shouted orders, as to a large bodyof men.
The English, who had made sure of effecting a successful surprise,hesitated as they heard the war cries of the clans ringing through thewoods, and believing that the whole of Prince Charles's army were at handand they were about to be attacked in overwhelming numbers, theyretreated hastily to Inverness. No sooner had Ronald discovered that theyhad fallen back than he rode off to inform the prince that the danger wasover.
He found Prince Charles mounted, with Lady M'Intosh on horseback by hisside, and the retainers in the castle gathered round, broadsword in hand,in readiness to cut their way through any body of the enemy's horse whomight intercept their retreat. Charles laughed heartily when he heard ofthe strategy which Ronald had employed to arrest the advance of theenemy, and thanked him for again having saved him from falling into thehands of the enemy.
The English made their retreat to Inverness in such confusion and dismaythat the affair became known in history as the "rout of Moy."
The next morning, the 17th of February, the prince called up his army,and the next day advanced against Inverness. Lord Loudon did not awaithis coming. The panic of his soldiers two days before showed him that noreliance could be placed upon them, and embarking with them in boats hecrossed the Moray Frith to Cromarty, where the troops shortly afterwardsdisbanded upon hearing that the Earl of Cromarty was marching againstthem with some Highland regiments.
The town of Inverness was occupied at once, and the citadel surrenderedin a few days. The army, now in a barren and mountainous region, weredeprived of all resources. Many ships with supplies were sent off fromFrance, but few of them reached their destination; several being capturedby British cruisers, and others compelled to go back to French ports.
The supply of money in the treasury was reduced to the lowest ebb, andCharles was obliged to pay his troops in meal, and even this wasfrequently deficient, and the men suffered severely from hunger. Manydeserted, and others scattered over the country in search of subsistence.
In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland's army was receiving powerfulreinforcements. In February Prince Frederick of Hesse Cassel, with fivethousand of his troops, who had been hired by the British government,landed at Leith. These troops were placed in garrison in all the towns inthe south of Scotland, thus enabling the Duke of Cumberland to drawtogether the whole of the English forces for his advance into theHighlands.
On the 8th of April he set out from Aberdeen with eight thousand foot andnine hundred horse. He marched along the coast accompanied by the fleet,which landed supplies as needed. At the Spey, Lord John Drummond hadprepared to defend the fords, and some works had been thrown up toprotect them; but the English cannon were brought up in such numbers thatLord John, considering the position untenable, retired to Inverness,while the English army forded the Spey, and on the 14th entered Nairn,where some skirmishing took place between their advance guard and theHighland rear.
Prince Charles and his principal officers rested that night at CullodenHouse and the troops lay upon the adjacent moor. On the morning of the15th they drew up in order of battle. The English, however, rested forthe day at Nairn, and there celebrated the Duke of Cumberland's birthdaywith much feasting, abundant supplies being landed from the fleet.
The Highlanders, on the other hand, fasted, only one biscuit per manbeing issued during the day. Consequently many straggled away toInverness and other places in search of food. Lord Cromarty, with theregiments under his command, were absent, so that barely five thousandmen were mustered in the ranks. At a council of war Lord George Murraysuggested that a night surprise should be made on the duke's camp atNairn, and as this was the prince's own plan it was unanimously agreedto.
Before, however, the straggling troops could be collected it was eighto'clock at night. Nairn was twelve miles distant, and the men, weakenedby privation and hunger, marched so slowly across the marshy ground thatit was two o'clock in the morning before the head of the columns arrivedwithin four miles of the British camp, while the rear was still far away,and many had dropped out of the ranks from fatigue.
It was now too late to hope that a surprise could be effected beforedaylight, and the army retraced its steps to Culloden Moor. Worn out andexhausted as they were, and wholly without supplies of provisions, LordGeorge Murray and the other military officers felt that the troops couldnot hope to contend successfully against a vastly superior army, fresh,well fed, and supported by a strong force of artillery, on the openground, and he proposed that the army should retire beyond the riverBairn, and take up a position there on broken ground inaccessible tocavalry.
The prince, however, supported by Sir Thomas Sheridan and his other eviladvisers, overruled the opinion of the military leaders, and decided tofight on level ground. The Highlanders were now drawn up in order ofbattle in two lines. On the right were the Athole brigade, the Camerons,the Stuarts, and some other clans under Lord George Murray; on the leftthe Macdonald regiments under Lord John Drummond. This arrangement,unfortunately, caused great discontent among the Macdonalds, just astheir being given the post of honour at Falkirk had given umbrage to theother clans.
At eleven o'clock the English army was seen approaching. It was formed inthree lines, with cavalry on each wing, and two pieces of cannon betweenevery two regiments of the first line. The battle began with an artilleryduel, but in this the advantage was all on the side of the English, thenumber of their pieces and the skill of their gunners being greatlysuperior.
Prince Charles rode along the f
ront line to animate his men, and as hedid so several of his escort were killed by the English cannonade. Astorm of snow and hail had set in, blowing full in the face of theHighlanders. At length Lord George Murray, finding that he was sufferingheavily from the enemy's artillery fire, while his own guns inflicted butlittle damage upon them, sent to Prince Charles for permission to charge.
On receiving it he placed himself at the head of his men, and with thewhole of the right wing and centre charged the enemy. They were receivedwith a tremendous musketry fire, while the English artillery swept theranks with grape; but so furious was their onslaught that they brokethrough Munro and Burrel's regiments in the first line and captured twopieces of cannon. But behind were the second line drawn up three deep,with the front rank kneeling, and these, reserving their fire until theHighlanders were close at hand, opened a rolling fire so sustained andheavy that the Highlanders were thrown into complete disorder.
Before they could recover themselves they were charged by horse and footon both flanks, and driven together till they became a confused mass. Invain did their chiefs attempt to rally them. Exhausted and weakened inbody, swept by the continuous fire of the English, they could do no more,and at last broke and fled. In the meantime the Macdonalds on the leftremained inactive. In vain Lord John Drummond and the Duke of Perthcalled upon them to charge, in vain their chief, Keppoch, rushed forwardwith a few of his clansmen and died in front of them. Nothing wouldinduce them to fight, and when the right and centre were defeated theyfell back in good order, and, joining the remnants of the second line,retired from the field unbroken.
Charles, from the heights on which he stood with a squadron of horse,could scarce believe the evidence of his eyes when he saw the hithertovictorious Highlanders broken and defeated, and would have ridden downhimself to share their fate had not O'Sullivan and Sheridan seized hishorse by the bridle and forced him from the field. Being pressed by theEnglish, the retreating force broke into two divisions. The smallerretreated to Inverness, where they next day laid down their arms to theDuke of Cumberland; the other, still preserving some sort of order,marched by way of Ruthven to Badenoch.
Fourteen colours, two thousand three hundred muskets, and all theircannon fell into the hands of the English. The loss of the victors inkilled and wounded amounted to three hundred and ten men, that of theHighlanders to a thousand. No quarter was given to the stragglers andfugitives who fell into the hands of the English. Their wounded were lefton the ground till the following day without care or food, and thegreater portion of them were then put to death in cold blood, with acruelty such as never before or since disgraced an English army.
Some were beaten to death by the soldiers with the stocks of theirmuskets, some were dragged out from the thicket or caverns to which theyhad crawled and shot, while one farm building, in which some twentywounded men had taken refuge, was deliberately set on fire and burnedwith them to the ground. In any case such conduct as this would haveinflicted eternal discredit upon those who perpetrated it; but it was allthe more unjustifiable and abominable after the extreme clemency andkindness with which Prince Charles had, throughout the campaign, treatedall prisoners who fell into his hands.
Ronald had ridden close beside Lord George Murray as he led theHighlanders to the charge; but he had, as they approached the firstEnglish line, received a ball in the shoulder, while almost at the sameinstant Malcolm's horse was shot under him. Ronald reeled in the saddle,and would have fallen had not Malcolm extricated himself from his fallenhorse and run up to him.
"Where are you hit, lad?" he asked in extreme anxiety.
"In the shoulder, Malcolm. Help me off my horse, and do you take it andgo on with the troops."
"I shall do nothing of the kind," Malcolm said. "One man will make nodifference to them, and I am going to look after you."
So saying he sprang up behind Ronald, and placing one arm round him tosupport him, took the reins in the other and rode to the rear. He haltedon rising ground, and for a short time watched the conflict.
"The battle is lost," he said at last. "Lord George's troops are in utterconfusion. The Macdonalds show no signs of moving, though I can see theirofficers are urging them to charge. Now, Ronald, the first thing is toget you out of this, and beyond the reach of pursuit."
So saying he turned the horse and rode away from the field of battle.
"Does your shoulder hurt much?" he asked after they had gone a shortdistance.
"It does hurt abominably," Ronald said faintly, for he was feeling almostsick from the agony he was suffering from the motion of the horse.
"I am a fool," Malcolm said, "not to have seen to it before we started. Ican't do much now; but at least I can fasten it so as to hurt you aslittle as possible."
He took off his scarf, and, telling Ronald to place his arm in theposition which was most comfortable to him, he bound it tightly againsthis body.
"That is better, is it not?" he asked as he again set the horse inmotion.
"Much better, Malcolm. I feel that I can go on now, whereas before Icould not have gone much further if all Cumberland's cavalry had beenclose behind. How far are you thinking of going? I don't think my horsecan carry double much further. Poor beast, he has had as short rations ashis master, and was on the move all last night."
"No. But we shall not have to make a very long journey. The Englishmarched twelve miles before they attacked us, and I do not think they arelikely to closely pursue far tonight; besides, I have no intention ofriding now that there is no fear of immediate pursuit. I think that inanother two miles we shall be safe from any fear of the English cavalryovertaking us, for we shall then reach a forest. Once in that we shall besafe from pursuit, and shall soon be in the heart of the hills."
On reaching the forest Malcolm dismounted, and leading the horse turnedoff from the road. Following a little trodden path they were soon in theheart of the forest, and after keeping on for two hours, and crossingseveral hills, he stopped by the side of a stream.
"We are perfectly safe here," he said, "and can sleep as securely as ifwe were in a palace."
The saddle was taken off and the horse turned loose to graze. Malcolmthen removed Ronald's coat and shirt, bathed the wound for some time withwater, cut some pieces of wood to act as splints, and tearing some stripsoff his sash bound these tightly.
"The ball has regularly smashed the bone, Ronald, and we must be carefulto keep the shoulder in its proper position or you will never look squareagain."
"That does not seem very important to me just at present, Malcolm."
"No. Just at present the most important question is that of gettingsomething to eat. We have had nothing today and not much yesterday, andnow that we are no longer in danger of pursuit one begins to feel one ishungry. You stay here while I go and forage. There ought to be a villagesomewhere among the hills nor far away."
"Do you know the country, Malcolm?"
"I never came by this path, lad; but I have travelled pretty well allover the Highlands, and, just as you found to be the case in Lancashire,there are few villages I do not know. I will first pull you a couch ofthis dead bracken, and then be off; an hour's sleep will do you almost asmuch good as a meal."
Ronald lay down on the soft couch Malcolm prepared for him, and before hehad been alone for a minute he was fast asleep.
The sun was setting when he awoke. Malcolm stood beside him.
"Here is supper, lad. Not a very grand one, but there's enough of it,which is more than has been the case for some weeks."
So saying he laid down by Ronald's side a large loaf of black bread, acheese made of sheep's milk, and a bottle of spirits.
"The village is five miles away, which is farther than I expected.However, I came back quicker than I went, for I had had a bowl of milkand as much bread as I could eat. I found the place in a state of wildexcitement, for two or three of the men had just come in from thebattlefield, and brought the news with them. They are all for the Stuartsthere, and you would be well enter
tained, but there is sure to be asearch high and low, and you would not be safe in any village. However, alad has promised to be here in the morning, and he will guide us to alonely hut in the heart of the hills, used by the shepherds in summer.You will be perfectly safe there."
"It is about three miles from the village, he said. So I can go down twoor three times a week and get food, and learn how things are going on.The Highlanders may rally again and make another fight of it; but Ihardly expect they will. They are not like regular troops, whose home isnaturally with their colours, and who, after the first rout, try torejoin their regiments. There is no discipline among these Highlanders.Each man does as he likes, and their first impulse after a battle is tomake for their homes--if it is a victory, to carry home their spoil; ifthey are defeated, for rest and shelter. At any rate, whether they gatheragain or not, you will have to keep perfectly quiet for a time. When yourshoulder is perfectly healed we can act according to circumstances, andmake for the army if there be an army, or for the seacoast if there isnot."
Although he had eaten but a short time before, Malcolm was quite readyfor another meal, and sitting down beside Ronald he joined him in hisassault upon the black bread and cheese. Then he collected some more ofthe bracken, mixed himself a strong horn of whiskey and water, and a muchweaker one for Ronald, after which the two lay down and were fast asleep.
They were awake at sunrise, and shortly afterwards the lad whom Malcolmhad engaged to act as guide made his appearance. The horse was saddled,Ronald mounted, and they started at once for their destination among thehills. They followed the path which Malcolm had taken the afternoonbefore for some three miles, and then struck off to the left. Half anhour took them out of the forest, and they journeyed for an hour alongthe bare hillsides, until, lying in a sheltered hollow, they saw the hutwhich was their destination.
"They are not likely to find us here," Malcolm said cheerfully, "evenwere they to scour the mountains. They might ride within fifty yards ofthis hollow without suspecting its existence. Where are we to get water?"he asked the lad in Gaelic.
"A quarter of a mile away over that brow is the head of a stream," thelad replied. "You cannot well miss it."
"That is all right," Malcolm said. "I don't mind carrying up provisionsor a bottle of spirits now and then; but to drag all the water we wantthree miles would be serious."
The door of the hut was only fastened by a latch, and they enteredwithout ceremony. It consisted of but a single room. There were two orthree rough wooden stools, and a heap of bracken in one corner. Nor alarge amount of furniture, but, in the opinion of a Highlander, amplysufficient.
"We shall do here capitally," Malcolm said. "Now, what do you think aboutthe horse, Ronald?"
"Of course he might be useful if we were obliged to move suddenly; but wehave no food to give him, and if we let him shift for himself he willwander about, and might easily be seen by anyone crossing these hills. Ahorse is always a prize, and it might bring troops out into ourneighbourhood who would otherwise not have a thought about coming in thisdirection."
"I quite agree with you, Ronald. The lad had better take him down to thevillage, and give him to the head man there. He can sell him, or keephim, or get rid of him as he likes. At any rate he will be off ourhands."