April 15th, the Prince marched his Army in three
Columns fmfrom Culloden-muir to surprizesurprise yethe D:Duke of
C:Cumberland in his Camp at Nairn, ordering at yethe same
Time 2000 Men to pass yethe River Nairn, &and
post themselves between Elgin &and yethe Camp of
yethe Enemy. To deceive yethe Ships in Inverness-
Road we made several Fires on yethe Moun-
tain, qrewhere we drew up in Battle-Order, &and
at 8 o’Clock at Night we began our March.
About 2 o'Clock next Morning (April 16th)
wtinwithin a Mile of yethe Enemy our Van halted
The Prince, qowho marched in yethe Centre, dis-
patched an AidAide de Camp to know yethe Mo-
tive of yethe Halt. Colonel O Sullivan, qowho
^marched in the Vainimmediately hasted to yethe Prince, &and told him,
LdLord Geo:George Murray &and some oyrsothers of yethe ChiftainsChieftains,
as they wanted some of yrtheir Men, did not
think ymselvesthemselves sufficiently strong to attack
yethe Enemy, and upon a Strong Belief ytthat yethe D:Duke
of C:Cumberland was apprizedapprised of yrtheir Design, refused
to advance, maugre yethe Instances he (Sulli-
van) made Use of to engage ymthem to yethe Contra-
ry. Upon ysthis yethe Prince advanced to yethe Head
of yethe Column, where, assembling yethe Chiefs,
in yethe most pathetic Manner &and strongest Terms
he demonstrated to ymthem yethe visible &and real
Advantages they had of an Enemy^*they had
as often defeated as seen. But, deaf to his
Example &and Intreaties, yethe greater Part
declined, qchwhich so sensibly shock’dshocked yethe Prince,
that, remounting his Horse, he told ymthem wtwith Tears
in his Eyes, ytthat he did not so much regret his
own Loss as yrtheir inevitable RuineRuin. We imme-
diately march’dmarched back to our Camp at Culloden,
where we arriv’darrived at 5 in the Morning. At ten 182 (182)
ten o’ Clock we were inform’dinformed, ytthat yethe D:Duke of C:Cumberland
was in full March towards us. The Prince,
on ysthis Report, gave yethe necessary Orders for
yethe Attack, riding fmfrom Rank to Rank, encou-
raging his Troops, &and exhorting ymthem to behave
as formerly at Prestonpans &and Falkirk, &and be-
tween 12 &and one we began yethe Attack &and enga-
ged yethe Enemy, yethe Prince commanding yethe Centre.
Our Right Wing immediately broke yethe Left
of yethe Enemy; but yrtheir Flank being exposed
nine Squadrons of Horse, qowho attack’dattacked ymthem qnwhen
in Pursuit of yethe Foot, put ymthem into so much Con-
fusion, ytthat they instantly dispersed. The Prince
galloping to yethe Right, &and endeavouring to rally
ymthem, but to no Purpose, had his Horse✝ shot
under him. The Left followed yethe Example
of yethe Right, qchwhich drew on an entire Flight,
maugre all yethe Prince could do to animate,
or rather rally, them. He remain’dremained on yethe Field
of Battle till there were no more Hopes
left, &and ynthen scarce could be persuaded to retire,
ordering yethe French Picquets &and Fitz James’s
Horse to make a Stand, in Order to favour yethe
Retreat of yethe Highlanders, qchwhich was happi-
ly effected. Previous to yethe Battle, yethe Prince
ordered yethe ChiftainsChieftains, in Case of a Defeat, as
yethe Highlanders could not retreat as regular
Troops, to assemble yrtheir Men near Fort-Au-
gustus. In consequence of qchwhich, immediate-
ly after yethe Battle, yethe Prince dispatched me
to Inverness, to repeat his Orders to such of
his Troops, as were there, That Prince[]
Night yethe Prince retired six Miles fmfrom yethe Field
of Battle, &and next Day arrived at Fort-Au-
gustus, qrewhere he remained all ytthat Day in Ex-pectation 183(183)
pectation his Troops would have join’djoined
him; but, seeing no Appearance of it, he
went to yethe House of Invergary, &and ordered
me to remain yrethere, to direct, such as pas-
sed by ytthat Way, yethe Road his R:Royal Highness
took. I remained yrethere two Days, &and did yethe
Prince’s Orders to such as I met; but to no
Effect, every Oneeveryone taking his own Road.
I ynthen followed yethe Prince, qowho was so far
fmfrom making a precipitate Retreat, ytthat he
retired by six &and six Miles, &and arrived yethe
26th of April at Knoidart, qrewhere I join’djoined him
next Day, &and gave him^an Account of yethe little Appear-
ance there was of assembling his Troops.
Upon qchwhich he wrote circular Letters to all
&and ChiftainsChieftains, enjoining ymthem, by yethe Obedience
they owed him, to join him immediately
wtwith such of yrtheir Clans as possibly they could
gather together, at yethe same Time repre-
senting yethe imminent Danger they were
in, if they neglected it.

After remaining there some Days, in Hopes
his Orders would have been obeyed, and
seeing not one Person resort to him, yethe ex-
treme Danger of his Person was remon-
strated to him, being wtinwithin 7 Miles of LdLord
Loudon, SrSir AlexrAlexander MacDonald &and yethe Macleods;
&and, to evade this, it was proposed to retreat
to one of yethe Islands near yethe Continent. Af-
ter repeated Instances of yethe like Nature,
he reluctantly assented, leaving Mr John
Hay behind to transmit him yethe Answers
of his Letters wtwith an Account of qtwhat passed,
&and departed for yethe Isles in an open fishing Boat,
at 8 o’Clock that Night, accompanied by Colonel 184 (184)
Colonel O Sullivan &and me. About an Hour after
we set out, a violent Storm arose, qchwhich drove us
ninety Miles fmfrom our intended Port, and, next
Day running for Shelter into yethe Island ^of North
Uist, we struck upon a Rock, yethe Boat staved to
Pieces, &and wtwith yethe greatest Difficulty we saved
our Lives. At our Landing we were in yethe most
melancholy Situation, knowing no Bodynobody, &and wan-
ting yethe common Necessaries of Life. After
much Search, we found a little Hut uninha-
bited, &and took Shelter there, &and wtwith great Diffi-
culty made a Fire to dry our CloathsClothes. Here
we remained two Days, having no other pro-
visions but a few Biscuit we had saved out
of the Boat, qchwhich were entirely spoil’dspoiled wtwith the
Salt Water. As this Island belonged to SrSir
AlexrAlexander MacDonald, &and not judging our selvesourselves
safe, we determined on going elsewhere, and
by yethe greatest good Fortune, one of our Boat-
men discovered a Boat stranded on yethe Coast,
&and, having wtwith great Difficulty launched her
in yethe Water, we embarked for yethe Harris. In
our passage we unfortunately met to anoyranother
Storm, qchwhich obliged us to put into an Island
near Stornway. Next Day yethe Prince dispatch-
ed me ^forinto the Harris, to look out for a Ship,
ordering me to embark on Board yethe first I
could get, &and to make yethe most diligent Haste
after my landing on yethe Continent, to yethe Court,
of France, enjoining me to give a most exact
Account to his most Christian Majesty of his
Disasters, &and of his Resolution never to aban-
don the Country, untile he knew yethe final Re-
sult of France, and, if possible, once more
to assemble his faithful Highlanders. Un-
luckily yethe Person, his RRoyal: Highness sent wtwith me,
getting drunk, told yethe Master of yethe Ship some-what185(185)
what, that induced him to refuse taking
me on Board, &and immediately alarm’dalarmed the
Country, qchwhich obliged me to retreat &and join
the Prince, who, upon qtwhat I told him, re-
solved for yethe Continent by Way of Sea-
Forth's Country; but yethe Boatmen absolute-
ly refused to comply, qchwhich made us taked
yethe Road we came, &and, meeting wtwith three
Ships of War, we were constrain’dconstrained to re-
tire to a ✝DesartDesert Island, qrewhere we remained
eight Days in yethe greatest Misery, having
no Sustenance but dried Fish Providence
threw in on yethe Island. When yethe Ships disap-
peared, we put to Sea, &and next Morning we
met wtwith anoyranother just coming out of ^one of yethe Lochs,
who pursued us near an Hour: but yethe Wind
rising, we made our Escape. In yethe After-
noon we arrived at yethe Island ^of Benbicula,
&and one of yethe Boatmen being acquaint wtwith a
Herd of yethe Island, we all went to his
House, where, passing for Friends of the
Boatman we remain’dremained four Days, &and ynthen the
Prince sent yethe Boat to yethe Continent wtwith
a Highland gentleman1, whom he charg-
ed wtwith Letters to yethe Chiefs, Secretary Mur-
ray &and John Hay, requiring an exact Ac-
count how Affairs stood. Not thinking our
selvesourselves secure in yethe Cottage, by yethe Advice
of a Friend, we retired to yethe Mountain
of Corradale to wait yethe Return of yethe Gen-
tleman, where we remained 22 Days,
qnwhen yethe Gentleman returned wtwith a Letter fmfrom
Secretary Murray, importing, that almost
all yethe Clans: had delivered up themselves
&and Arms, &and consequently they were no more
to be depended upon. He likewise acquain-ted 186(186)ted yethe Prince of two French Ships, qchwhich had ar-
rived at yethe Continent wtwith Money &and Arms, &and
in qchwhich yethe Duke of Perth &and his BroyrBrother, SrSir
ThosThomas Sheridan &and John Hay had embark’dembarked
for France. Here we remained for some
Days longer, till yethe D:Duke of C:Cumberland having In-
telligence yethe Prince was concealed in
Long Island, ordered yethe Militia of yethe Isle
of Sky &and yethe Independent Companies to go
in Search of him. As soon as we had No-
tice of yrtheir Landing, we retreated to an
Island, about twelve Miles Distance,
called Hoya, qrewhere we remained, till we found
they had followed us. We then went for
Loch-Boysdale, &and staid there for eight Days,
qrewhere CapnCaptain Caroline Scott landed wtinwithin a Mile
of us, qchwhich obliged us to separate, yethe Prince
&and I taking to yethe Mountains, &and Sullivan
remaining wtwith yethe Boatmen. At Fall of Night
we marched towards Benbicula, being in-
form’dinformed Scott had ordered yethe Militia to
come &and join him. At Midnight we came
a HuttHut, qrewhere by good Fortune we met with
Miss Flora MacDonald, qmwhom I formerly
knew. I quitted yethe Prince at some Distance fmfrom
yethe Hut, &and went my selfinformed wtwith a Design of being in-
form’dinformed if yethe Independent Companies ^were to pass []ytthat
Way, Next Day, as we had been informed; yethe young
Lady answered in yethe Negative, saying, they
would not pass till the Day after. I ynthen told
her, I brought a Friend to see Her. She wtwith some
Emotion asked, if it was yethe Prince: I answe-
red in yethe Affirmative, &and instantly brought him
in. [] We then consulted on the imme-
diate Danger yethe Prince was in, &and could think of
no more proper or safe Place or Expedient,
than to propose to Miss Flora to convey him to 187 (187)
to yethe Isle of Sky, where her MoyrMother lived.
This seem’dseemed yethe more feasible, as yethe young
Lady's Father, being Captain of an Inde-
pendent Company, would afford Her a pass
for her selfherself &and Servant, to go visit her Mo-
ther. The Prince assented; &and ^I immediately pro-
pos’dproposed it to yethe young Lady; to qchwhich She answer-
ed wtwith yethe greatest Respect &and Loyalty; but de-
clined, saying, SrSir AlexrAlexander MacDonald was
too much her Friend to be yethe Instrument
of his RuineRuin. I endeavoured to obviate
this, by assuring Her, SrSir AlexrAlexander was not in
yethe Country, &and ytthat She could wtwith yethe greatest
Facility convey yethe Prince to her Mother’s
House, as she lived close by yethe Waterside.
I then remonstrated to her yethe Honour &and
Immortality ytthat would redound to Her
by such a glorious Action; &and She at length
acquiesced, after yethe Prince had told Her
the Sense He would always retain of so
conspicuous a Service. She promised to
acquaint us next Day qnwhen Things were ripe
for Execution, &and we parted for yethe Moun-
tain of Corradale. Next Day, at 4 in the
Afternoon, we received a Message from
our Protectrix, telling us all was well.
We determined joining her immediately;
but yethe Messenger told us, we could not
pass any of yethe Fords, that separated yethe Isl-
and we were in from Benbicula, as they
were both guarded. In this Dilemma a
Man of yethe Country tendredtendered his Boat to us, qchwhich we
readily accepted of, &and next Day landed at
Benbicula, &and immediately marched for Rushness,
yethe place of Rendezvous; qrewhere we arrived at
Midnight, and, instead of our Protectrix, found
a Guard of yethe Enemy. We were constrain’dconstrained to
retreat four Miles, having eat Nothing for 34 188 (188)
34 Hours before. The Prince ordered me to go
to yethe Lady, &and know yethe Reason She did not keep
her Appointment. She told me, she had en-
gaged a Cousin✝ of hers in North Uist, to re-
ceive Him into his House; qrewhere, she was sure,
He would be more safe than in yethe Isle of Sky.
I immediately dispatched a Boy wtwith these News
to yethe Prince, &and mentioned to him yethe place
of Appointment; whither his R:Royal Highness
came: But yethe Gentleman absolutely refused
to receive us, alleging for a Motive, he was
a Vassal to SrSir Al:Alexander McDonald. In ysthis unex-
pected Exigence, being wtinwithin a small Half-
Mile of a CapnCaptain &and 50 Men, we hasted for
Rushness, being apprizedapprised yethe Enemy had just
abandoned it. The Prince sent me to acquaint
Miss Flora of our Disappointment, &and to in-
treat her to keep by her Promise, as there
was no Time to be lost. She faithfully ^promised next
Day. I remained wtwith her ytthat Night, yethe Prince re-
maining at Rushness attended by a little Herd-
Boy. Next Day I accompanied Miss Flora to
yethe Place of Rendezvous; qrewhere we had not
long been, qnwhen we had an Account ytthat GenGeneral Camp-
bell was just landed wtwith 1500 Men. We
were apprehensive, we were betrayed, &and in-
stantly got to our Boat, &and put to anoyranother place
qrewhere we arrived at DDay-break. We ynthen dis-
patch'ddispatched a Person to Clanronald's House to learn
qtwhat News, qowho brought us Word, ytthat GenGeneral Campbell
was yrethere wtwith CapnCaptain Ferguson, &and ytthat he saw CapnCaptain
Scott’s Detachment coming to join ymthem, &and ytthat they
amounted in all to 2300 Men.

The Prince intreated yethe young Lady, that I
should accompany him; but She absolutely
refused it, having a pass but for one ServtServant.
His R:Royal Highness was so generous as to de-cline
189(189)
cline going, unless I attended Him, un-
tilluntil I told Him, that, if he made yethe least
Demur, I would instantly go about my
Business, as I was extremely indifferent
qtwhat became of my selfmyself provided his Person
was safe. He at length embark’dembarked, attend-
ed only by Miss Flora MacDonald, &cet cetera.