The Earl of Loudon hearing of the
Prince’s coming, &and that He was to
quarter that Night at Moy (the
Seat of the Laird of MacKintosh
about ✝ seven Miles from Inver-
ness) formed a Design to Xsurprizesurprise
Him, &and to carry Him off, as He
was to have but a ⊕ few Men wtwith
Him for his Guard. The Earl
marched from Inverness with most
of the Garrison, and was within a-
boutⓧ two Miles of Moy, where ac-
cidentally⊝ five of the Prince’s
People, going about their own pri-vate 649(649)
vate Affairs, met with Loudon’s ad-
vanced Guard, &and being under
Night called to them; but yethe five,
finding who they were, called
out loudly for Lochiel &and yethe other
Clans to advance. Lord Lou-
don’s People, not doubting but
they were there, took Flight,
&and returned to Inverness in great
Confusion, &and left it ✝next Day
on the Prince’s appearing on the
rising Ground above the Town,
retiring with his Men to the Shire
of Ross, where they continued, till
theX Earl of Cromarty with a Party
was sent in pursuit of them. U-
pon his Approach, they retired
towards Tain, where we shall
leave them for a While, &and re-
turn to Inverness.

The Prince, coming before the
Place, summoned the Castle
to surrender, and, on being re-
fused, a Battery was raised; but
the CanonCannon being but small had
little Effect upon it, which obliged the 650 (650)
the Besiegers to have Recourse to a
Sap, which being brought near the
Angle of one of the Bastions, the
Castle was surrendredsurrendered &and the Gar-
rison made Prisoners. This being
done, Brigadier Stapleton, with
Lochiel’s &and Keppoch’s Regiments,
Lord John Drummond’s (which
was not compleatcomplete, a great many
of them being made Prisoners in
their Passage to Scotland) &and the
French Piquets, were sent to
besiege✝ Fort-Augustus, which sur-
rendredsurrendered likewise, &and the Garrison
were made Prisoners. After qchwhich
it was thought proper to leave
Part of L[] Lord John Drummond’s
Regiment there, &and to send Lo-
chiel’s &and Keppoch’s Regiments, the
French Piquets &and some of Lord
John Drummond’s Regiment (in
all not 300 Men) with Brigadier
Stapleton to invest Fort-william;
where we shall leave them, and
Return to the Earl of Cromarty in
Pursuit of the Earl of Loudon to-
wards Tain, where the said Earl
cross’dcrossed the Ferry with his Men, &and went over 651 (651)
over to ^the Shire of Sutherland; where we shall
again leave him for a While &and re-
turn to Inverness, from which the
most of the Prince’s Troops, that
were not employed as above,
were sent to Spey-side, under the
Command of Lord John Drummond,
to guard that River against any
✝SurprizeSurprise from the Duke of Cum-
berland, who by that Time was
come with his Troops to Aberdeen,
&and had sent some of Kingston’s
Horse &and some of the Argyleshire-
men to XKeith (a small Village
about six Miles from the River
Spey) where they were all sur-
prizedsurprised &and made Prisoners.

As it had been assured, that yethe Duke
of Cumberland was to stay at A-
berdeen (where he had thrown up
some Works to prevent a SurprizeSurprise)
till all the Forces he expected
should join him, the Prince on his
Part took his Measures, and, in or-
der to secure a Retreat, in Case he
had no Mind to fight till he should
get all his Men together, or to march
into Perthshire, if needful, for yethe better Support 652 (652)
Support of his Army, was advised to
endeavour the Recovery of Blair-castle
(which he would not allow to be
burntburned when he passed that Way)
which was then possessed by Sir
Andrew Agnew with some regular
Troops under his Command, as were
most of the principal Posts in A-
thol by the Campbells, whilst the
6000 Hessians &and StSaint George’s Dra-
goons lay at Crief &and Places ad-
jacent. Lord George Murray was
ordered to march with the Athol-
men to Badenoch to join the Mac-
Phersons, that lay about Ruth-
ven of Badenoch (from yethe Time
the Prince had passed that Way)
to guard the Passes leading to &and
from Athol, &and to get Intelligence
on that Side.

As soon as Lord George had join’djoined
the MacPhersons, they marched wtwith
such Expedition into Athol, that
they surprizedsurprised a great many of the
Campbells at✝ Blairfetty,X Keinochin,
&and other☂ Posts possessed by them, &and
made most of them⊕ Prisoners; but
SrSir ⓧ Andrew Agnew, being alarmed by
653 (653)
by his Out-Sentinels, retired into
the Castle, in which he was shut
up for seventeen Days; some Part
Of which Time it was battered
with✝ two Pieces of CanonCannon, one of
three the other of four Pounds,
which made but little Impression
upon the Walls, though they ruin-
ed the Roof.

During this Time the Hessians march-
ed to relieve the Castle, &and some of
the Athol-men being advanced as
far down as Dunkeld to get Intel-
ligence, &and to guard that with oyrother
Passes on the River, where were
frequent Skirmishes between the
&and the Hessian-Hussars &and some of
St George’s Dragoons, who had come
to reconnoitre, some Days before
the Foot came up; but when they
were come up, the Athol-Men were
obliged to retire (as they could
not be supported at such a Dis-
tance) to Pitlochrie, near the fa-
mous Pass of Killicrankie, where,
with some others that were sent
from Blair, they continued about
eight Days (the MacPhersons with some 654 (654)
some of the Athol-Men keeping SrSir
Andrew &and his Men still shut up in
the Castle) always skirmishing wtwith
the Hussars &and Dragoons, till their Foot
came up, which obliged the Athol-
Men to retire into the above Pass,
where they continued that Day; but,
as they were few in Number, Lord
George called a Council of the
Officers, who were of Opinion, ytthat
the Pass was not tenable, since
it might be surrounded on all
Sides by such a vastly superioursuperior
Number. It was therefore resolv-
ed to abandon both it &and yethe Castle,
which was accordingly done that
Night; and, having send the CanonCannon
away, they marched to Ruthven of
Badenoch without the least Inter-
ruption from the Enemy. Here
the ✝ MacPhersons were left as former-
ly, &and the Athol-Men were ordered to
the Spey-side. Lord George went on
to Inverness, and, upon his Arrival
there, Intelligence being brought that
Lord Loudon had repass’drepassed with his
Troops from Sutherland To Tain, he
was ordered to march with some
Troops to join the Earl of Cromarty, &and 655 (655)
&and to give Lord Loudon Battle, if he
would stay for it: But he, hearing of
Lord George’s March, returned to Suther-
land again. ✝Lord George, having giv-
en the necessary Orders to Lord Cro-
marty (who continued to command in
that Country) returned to Inverness;
where it was resolved,Xthe Duke of
Perth should be sent to take upon
Him the Command, and, if possi-
ble, to get as many Boats together,
as would ferry over his Men, and
to drive Lord Loudon out of Suther-
land, if he would not stay to fight.
The Boats were got together, and
the Duke of Perth with his Men
passed over without being perceiv-
ed, &and surprizedsurprised ☂ Lord Loudon’s Peo-
ple, obliged them to capitulate,
&and made them Prisoners. Lord Lou-
don &and the President of the Session
of Scotland made their Escape; af-
ter which the Duke of Perth seized
some Ships, that lay in the Firth of
Tain, on Board of which were all
the valuable Effects, that were shiptshipped
on Board at Inverness before Lord
Loudon left it, the military Chest
excepted, which had been conveyed on
656 (656)
on Board a Frigate, which lay in
the Bay. This done, the Duke of
Perth returned to Inverness, leav-
ing the Command to the Earl of
Cromarty.

About this Time the Hazard-Sloop,
returning from France with Mo-
ney, Arms, &and Ammunition, &and several
French &and SpainishSpanish Officers on Board,
was✝ chased on Shore, by an English
Man of War, in Lord Rae’s Country,
where they landed their Cargo,
and, apprehending no Danger fmfrom
the Country People, they provided
themselves with a Guide to con-
duct them &and their Cargo to the Earl
of Cromarty; but, as they were on
their March, they were set upon by
Lord Rae’s People, who, after a good
Resistance, made them Prisoners, &and
carried off the Cargo, which was
thought could not have been done
without the Treachery of the Guide,
who disappeared before the Action
began. This News being brought to
Inverness, Orders were sent to the
Earl of Cromarty to send a Party in-
to Lord Rae’s Country to demand Sa-
tisfaction; but his Lordship being some-what 657(657)
what dilatory in executing his Or-
ders, Lord Rae’s People gathered to-
gether with some of Lord Loudon’s
Officers at their Head.

About this Time Advice was brought
to Inverness, that the Duke of Cum-
berland (being joined by all the
Forces he expected) had begun his
March from Aberdeen Northwards,
&and had ordered the Ships, that at-
tended ^him with Provisions for his Army,
to coast along in Sight of him
to Inverness: Upon which, Orders
were dispatched to the✝ Earl of Cro-
marty to call in his Detachments,
&and to march with all Expedition
to join the Prince. He gave his Or-
ders accordingly, &and went himself wtwith
some of his Officers to Dun-Robin-
Castle to bid Adieu to the Countess
of Sutherland, &and to thank her for
the Civilities they had received from
her. Whilst they were there amus-
ing themselves, the Castle was
surrounded by Lord Sutherland’s &and
Lord Rae’s People, who, having had
Intelligence of their being there,
made them all Prisoners. Orders were 658 (658)
were likewise sent at this Time to
the MacPhersons, &and to those that were
at Fort-Augustus &and Fort-William,
to join the Prince as soon as pos-
sible. Those from Fort-Augustus
&and the French Piquets joined on
Saturday, &and Lochiel from Fort-Wil-
liam on ✝ Sunday. Advice was
brought on Monday, that yethe Duke
of Cumberland was coming to
the Spey, &and that Lord John Drum-
mond, with the Troops under his
Command, was retiring: Upon qchwhich,
the Prince ordered the Drums to
beat &and the Pipes to play To Arms.
The Men in the Town assembled
as fast as they could, the CanonCannon
was ordered to march, &and yethe Prince
mounted on Horseback, &and went out
at their Head to Culloden-house,
the Place of Rendezvous, &and Lord
George Murray was left in yethe Town
to bring up those, that were quar-
tered in the Neighbourhood of In-
verness, which made it pretty late
before he joined the Prince at Cullo-
den. Orders were likewise sent to
Lord John Drummond to assemble there 659 (659)
there likewise, which he did yethe next
Day being Tuesday.

Tuesday,✝ being April 15th, the whole
Army marched up to the XMuir about
a Mile to the Eastward of Culloden-
House, where they were all drawn
up in Order of Battle to wait the
Duke of Cumberland’s coming.
Keppoch’s Men joined in the Field
from Fort-William, &and the Whole
was reviewed by the Prince, who
was very well pleased to see
them in such good Spirits, tho’though
they had eaten Nothing that Day
but one single ⊗ BisketBiscuit a Man; Pro-
visions being very scarce &and Money too.

When about Half-way Lord George
ordered Colonel Ker, one of yethe Prin-
ce’s AidAide de Camps, to go from Front
to Rear, &and give Orders to the respec-
tive Officers to order their Men to
make the Attackσ Sword in Hand, qchwhich
was thought better, as it would not
alarm the Enemy soon, &and that their
Fire-arms would be of Use to ymthem
afterwards. When he returned to the

661 (661)
the Front, to acquaint Lord George
Murray of his having execute his
Orders, he found, they were halted
a little to the Eastward of ✝Kilra-
vock-House, deliberating whether
or not they should proceed (hav-
ing then ^but four XMiles to march to
Nairn, where the Enemy was en-
camped) or return to Culloden.
As they had not an Hour of most
or thereabouts to Day-Light, &and if
they could not be there before that
Time, the SurprizeSurprise would be ren-
dered impracticable, &and the more
so, as it was not to be doubted,
that the Enemy would be under
Arms before Day-light, as they were
to march that Morning to give yethe
Prince Battle. The Duke of Perth
&and his Brother, Lord John, who had
been sent to advise the Prince, re-
turned to Lord George. ☂Lochiel &and
others, that were in the Front, hear-
ing that there was a great Interval
between the two Lines, which would
take up most of the Time to Day-light
to join, it was resolved to return to Cul-
loden, which was accordingly done; qchwhich
some say, was contrary to the Prince’s Incli-nations. 662(662)
nations. They marched the shortest
Way back by the Church of Croy,1
which though but scarce two Miles
from the Place where the Halt was
made, yet it was✝ clear Day-light
before the Front arrived there;
which makes it clear, there was
noX possibility of surprizingsurprising yethe Enemy
before Day-light as was design’ddesigned.

Whilst those about Culloden were
marching up to the Muir above the
House, where they were☂ join’djoined by a-bout 663(663)
bout three hundred of the Frazers
just then come up, Colonel Ker went
out to reconnoitre the Enemy. When
he returned, he told the Prince &and
Lord George, that their Foot were
marching in three Columns with
their Cavalry on their Left, so that
they could form their Line of Bat-
tle in an Instant. The Prince or-
dered his Men to be drawn up
in two Lines, &and the few Horse he
had in the Rear towards the Wings,
&and the CanonCannon to be disperstdispersed in the
Front, which were brought up wtwith
great Difficulty for Want of Horses.

The Duke of Cumberland formed
his Line at a great Distance, &and
marched in Battle-order, till he
came within CanonCannon-shot, where
he halted, &and placed his CanonCannon
in different Places, at some Dis-
tance, in his Front, which out-
winged the Prince’s both to the
Right &and Left without his Caval-
ry, which were mostly on yethe Left,
some few excepted, that were
sent to cover the Right. As soon as
the Duke’s CanonCannon were placed, he
began CanonadingCannonading, which was an-
swered by the Prince’s, who rode
along the Lines to encourage his
Men, &and posted himself in the most
convenient Place (here one of his
Servants2 was killed by his Side) to see
what pass’dpassed, not doubting but the Duke would 665 (665)
would begin the Attack, as he had both
the Wind &and Weather on his Back,
Snow &and Hail falling very thick at the
same Time.

Here it is to be observed, that nei-
ther those, that had been with the Earl
of Cromarty, (He with his Son &and some
of his Officers being only made Pri-
soners, his Men having marched on
before), nor the MacPhersons, nor
between two &and three thousand Men,
that had been on the Field the
Day before, were come up. Notwith-
standing all these Disadvantages,
&and the Duke’s CanonCannon playing ✝wtwith great
Execution, Lord George Murray, who
commanded the Right, Xsent Colonel
Ker to the Prince to know if He
should begin the Attack, which the
Prince accordingly ordered. As yethe
Right was farther advanced than
the Left, Colonel Ker went to the
Left, &and ordered the Duke of Perth,
who commanded there, to begin the
Attack, &and rode along the Line till he
666 (666)
he came to the Right, where Lord
George was, who attacked, at yethe Head
of the Athol-Men (who had yethe Right
of the Army that Day) with all the
Bravery imaginable, as did indeed
the whole Line, breaking yethe Duke’s
Line in several Places, &and making
themselves Masters of two Pieces of
the Enemy’s CanonCannon. Though they
were both ✝ frontedX &and flanked by
them, they notwithstanding march’dmarched
up, under a close Firing from Right
to Left, to the very Points of their
Bayonets, which they could not see
for the SmoakSmoke till they were upon ymthem.