When the Prince’s Retreat from Stir-
ling came to be known at Inverness,
Lord Loudon &and the President made a
ShewShow as if they intended to maintain
themselves in that important Place.
The Laird of McLeod, &and Monroe of
Culcairn had taken up their Quar-
ters at Forres, from the time of
their Defeat at Inverury, &and had pret-
ty well recruited their respective
Corps. 200 of Sir Alexander McDo-
nald’s Men had likewise join’djoined them;
but upon the news of the Prince’s
March, they were all call’dcalled in to In-verness,1256(1256)verness, where with the Grants, McKenzies,
GunnsGunn's, Loudon’s Regiment &and others, they
made up in all a Body of about 2000
Men. The D.Duke of Cumberland did cer-
tainly expect, that there wou’dwould have
been sufficient to have done the Bu-
siness in the North. For a Letter from
him was intercepted at Huntly, tel-
ling Loudon that he had dispers’ddispersed
the Rebels, &and that it was his positive
Orders to make head agtagainst them, in
case they shou’dshould attempt any thinganything
more. But Loudon &and the President
knew better how the Case Stood: They
did not trust their own Men, &and had
sure enough Intelligence that the
Prince’s Army was not so much dis-
pers'ddispersed as was given out. Therefore
they caus’dcaused throw up some sham In-
trenchmentsEntrenchments on one Side of the Town,
but their main Design seems to have
been the surprizingsurprising of the Prince’s✝ Per-
son; which would not only have ruin’druined
his Cause, but wou’dwould likewise have en-
titled them to the £30,000. For this pur-
pose, when he came toX McKintosh’s house
within a few Miles of them, the whole
Posseφ march’dmarched out of Inverness very se-
cretly in the Night: And had it not been 1257 (1257)
been for the Care of his Female
Friends, ‘tisit is very probable they might
have succeeded in their Attempt. Some
of these at Inverness2 dispatch’ddispatched a
Messenger to inform him of his Dan-
ger: And at the same time, his
Land-Lady, without knowing any thinganything
of the Design, had order’dordered one Fraser
a Blacksmith, a trusty stout Fellow,
who liv’dlived hard by, &and knew all the Roads,
to keep a sharp look-out the whole
Night, as there were but a very few
of the Prince’s People with him at
her House. Accordingly it happen’dhappened
that Fraser discover’ddiscovered the Enemy;
upon whom he immediately fir’dfired his
Piece, &and had the Presence of Mind
to cry out; as if he had a party
near, to advance, for the Dogs were
coming up: Which so allarm’dalarmed ^them, that
immediately they turn’dturned tail, &and made
the best of their Way to Inverness.

But tho’though they miss’dmissed catching the
Prince’s Person, they hurt his Health
very much by this Attempt. For, upon
getting the AllarmAlarm, he run hastily
out of Bed to call up his Men, &and,
as it was a keen frost, contracted
thereby such a Cold, as stuck to him
very long, &and I may ev’neven say, endanger’dendangered his 1258 (1258)
his Life; Which was one great Reason
of his staying so much at Inverness af-
terwards, to the great Detriment of
his Affairs in other Places. However
he advanced next Day, &and no sooner
came in Sight of Inverness, than✝ Lou-
don &and his Party retreated in a great
Hurry, by the ferry of Kessack, to Ross,
&and afterwards to Sutherland: And in
a few Days after, Major Grant sur-
render’dsurrendered the Castle, which was of no
considerable Strength, &and was garri-
son’dgarrisoned only by one Company of regu-
lar Troops, &and 2 or 3 Companies of the
above-mention’dmentioned Militia,3 who had
neither Skill nor Inclination to de-
fend the place. Yet the GovernourGovernor
was afterwards tried by a Court-Marti-
al, &and discharg’ddischarged the Service, one of the
Officers who were Evidences agtagainst him,
having sworn what was not only
false but impossible in fact; viz.
that he saw the Highlanders drawn
up at the Market-Cross, &and wou’dwould not
allow to fire on them: Whereas the
whole Streets, except a little of the
Kirk-Street, were entirely cover’dcovered, &and
not a Man upon them could be seen
from the Fort. Mean timeMeantime LdLord George
Murray came up with the other Divi-
sion 1259(1259)sion of the Army by the Way of AbdAberdeen:
And a Detachment was immediately
sent off to besiege Fort-Augustus,
which they soon took, &and afterwards
laid Siege to Fort-William, Lochiel
&and all the Highlanders being very an-
xious to have the Country clear’dcleared
of Garrisons, which would have en-
gag’dengaged the ClannsClans in those Parts,
young &and old, to turn out. But they
were not provided with the Neces-
saries proper for attacking so strong
a Place, &and so were oblig’dobliged to raise
the Siege with the Loss of several
brave Men. At the same time, the
D:DukeX of Perth went in Pursuit of Lord
Loudon &and the President, &and having got
Boats from the Murray-Side, very
narrowly miss’dmissed surprizingsurprising them all
at Dornoch where Major McKenzie
&and some others were taken; But Lou-
don, the President, McLeod, &and Cul-
cairn got off, &and went most of them
to the Isle of Skie, where they
remained till after the Battle of
Culloden. LdLord George Murray likewise
march’dmarched to Athole; but I am not well
informed of the ✝particulars of that Ex-
pedition. ‘TisIt is said that he urg’durged the
Prince very much to send him a Rein-forcement 1260(1260)
forcement of 1000 Highlanders, promis-
ing, on that Condition, to give a good
Account of the Hessians. But that
Proposal was over-rul’doverruled, it seems, by
those at Inverness, who were quite
bent upon reducing all in the North,
in order to bring out the ClannsClans, &and
leave no Enemy behind them.
About this time some of Fitz-James’s
Dragoons landed at AbdAberdeen, &and ‘twasit was said
a good many more were then upon
the Coast, but did not know where
to put in, as they expected to have
found the Prince in the South of
Scotland. And, within a few Days
thereafter, the D:Duke of Cumberland ar-
riv’darrived there wtwith his Army, upon which
the Parties of the Highland Army in
that Country retreated first to Huntly,
&and afterwards, upon the coming up of
some Regiments from AbdAberdeen, to Focha-
bers. A small Detachment of King-
ston’s light Horse &and of the Camp-
bells, advanc’dadvanced as far as Keith; where
they were✝ surpriz’dsurprised in the Night, some
of them kill’dkilled, &and the rest taken priso-
ners; most of whom were sent to
France aboard a small Vessel from
Findhorn. Mean timeMeantime, Money grew
very scarce in the Highland Army, which 1261 (1261) which oblig’dobliged them to disperse them-
selves up &and down the Country, to
raise the Levy-money, Cess, &and Excise,
&and to get in Grain &and Meal for
their Subsistence. The Hazzard
Sloop wcwhich had been sent to France,
was✝ unluckily forc’dforced ^ashore by a Man of
War ashore upon LdLord Rhea’s Country,
where a few Gentlemen landed, wtwith
a considerable Sum of Money,
most people say 10000 Pounds;
All which, together with those that
had the Charge of it, was imme-
diately taken by a Posse of the
McKays sent out by LdLord Rhea for
that Purpose. The Earl of Cro-
marty &and his Son were sent to Caith-
ness to raise what Money &and Friends
cou’dcould be got there; But they never
return’dreturned, being takenX at Dunrobin, in
their Way back to Inverness, much about
the time of the Battle of Culloden.
And here I cannot but observe, that
LdLord Cromarty was the only Person in
the Highland Army I ever heard
of who caus’dcaused burn a Gentleman’s
House upon any Pretence whatso-
ever. It belong’dbelonged to Gordon of Carrol,
Factor to the Earl of Sutherland, who having 1262 (1262) having promis’dpromised to pay the Levy-Money
&cetc agtagainst a certain Day, instead of that
went off in a Boat to AbdAberdeen. Whereupon
Lord Cromarty gave Orders to burn his
house, which was of no great Value;
And ev’ry thingeverything in it was carefully
taken out &and put into the Office-hous-
es for the Owner’s Behoof. However
this Procedure was very much con-
demn’dcondemned at Inverness, &and I believe
in the only Instance of that Kind can
be given.

Soon after this the D:Duke of Cumber-
land began his March from AbdAberdeen;
And was actually at Banff ’ere
any sure Intelligence was got of
his Motions. For he had stay’dstayed so long
at AbdAberdeen; &and so many false Reports of
his having march’dmarched had been rais’draised
formerly, that at last his Enemies
turn’dturned quite secure. As a Prelude
to what was to happen afterwards, he
caus’dcaused hang a poor innocent Man at
Banff, &and another at Beenny

Boindy +

within
a Mile of the former, on Pretence of
their being Spies; tho’though such as knew
them affirm they had scarce Wit e-
nough to do their own Country-Busi-
ness, far less to play the Spy. There like-
wise the Army destroyed a fine ChappelChapel,
belonging to the Episcopal Congrega-
tion, cutting down the Roof, burning
the Seats, Books, Pulpit &and Altar &and
breaking the Organ to^in Pieces. And this was 1264 (1264)
was their constant Practice all the
Way they march’dmarched; with this Difference,
that in Country-Places they stay’dstayed not
to take any thinganything out, but burntburned Hous-
es, Bibles, Prayer-Books &and all, as
at New-Durn, Clyn-hill,✝ Keam of Duf-
fus &and many others. And many both
Officers &and Soldiers have since de-
clared, that all this was done at
the Instigation of the Presbyterians,
&and was indeed a genuine new-Edi-
tion of their Father Knox’s first
Reformation. The Houses of a great
manyX Gentlemen that were with the
Prince were likewise pillag’dpillaged with the
greatest Rigour: And indeed, facts of
this kind were so many &and notorious,
that it were quite superfluous to
condescend on particular Instances.
From Banff the D.Duke marched to Cullen,
where, I’m assur’dassured, he was lodg’dlodged by the
worthyφ Countess in the Room of the
House that had suffer’dsuffered most, to shewshow
their Distress, &and plead Pity! And next
Day he cross’dcrossed the River Spey with-
out the least Opposition, to the great
Amazement of ev’ry Bodyeverybody who knew
how deep &and rapid that River was:
For tho’though it was fordable ev’neven by the
foot, yet ‘tisit is certain, a very little
Opposition must have put his Army
into great Confusion.

Notwithstanding the many Expresses
that had been sent to hasten their
joining the Prince at Inverness, the
ClannsClans were at that Time so scat-
ter’dscattered, that it was Monday ✝night the
14th ‘ere the Camerons arriv’darrived at
the Camp. And of them came only
about half the Number that had ap-
pear’dappeared at Falkirk, it being impossi-
ble to get such of them as liv’dlived in
the Neighbourhood of Fort-William
to turn out, till that Place shou’dshould be
reduc’dreduced. On Tuesday Keppoch’s Mack-
donalds came up as much reduc’dreduced in
Proportion, as the former. Clan-rannald
had but a mere handful of his People.
Clunie* was still in Badenoch with about 800 1268 (1268) 800 Men. The McKenzies were with
Lord Cromarty in Sutherland; as were
the McGreggors, the McKinnons, &and a Party
of the McDonalds with Barrisdale;
And the half of the Frazers were only
on their March with their young Chief,
at the very time of their Engagement.
So that ‘tisit is certain the Prince wanted
upwards of 2000 of his very best High-
landers ev’neven upon Tuesday evening
when his Army was at the best. How-
ever, upon Monday Night, he order’dordered
them to form, &and rest on their Arms in
&and about Culloden-Parks, while the
Artillery &and Ammunition was brought carried
out of Inverness. Upon Tuesday Mor-
ning, the whole Army was drawn
up to Culloden Muir, &and there form’dformed
in Order of Battle, consisting of a
Front &and second Lines, with a small
Reserve. All the Men seem’dseemed to be
in great Spirits expecting the Ene-
my ev’ryevery Moment. The Prince (who
was dress’ddressed in a Tartan Jacket &and Buff
Vest) rode with his AidAide-de-Camps
from right to left, &and address’daddressed each
different Corps with a chearfulcheerful Smile
&and Salute, while they return’dreturned with
loud Huzzas, especially when any
of the Scouts came in with ^an AllarmAlarm/;
And the AllarmAlarm was given several times, 1269 (1269)
times, on purpose to animate them.
Thus pastpassed the Tuesday, till towards
the Evening, when a general Coun-
cil of War was call’dcalled, in which,
after Xsome Disputes, it was re-
solv’dresolved to march all Night &and attack
the Enemy in their Camp at Nairn,
wcwhich was ^at about✝ ten Miles Distance.
It was agreed upon, that the Army
shou’dshould be divided into two Columns;
the one consisting of the ClannsClans,
commanded by Lord George Murray,
was to advance about a quarter
of a Mile before the other, in order
to surround φ Town of Nairn, &and
form their Attack on the East &and
North Sides of the Duke’s Camp:
Whilst the other Column, consist-
ing of the French &and Low-land Re-
giments, commanded by the Duke
of Perth, was to attack them upon
the South &and West Sides, all at one
time. The Night was dark &and some-
what foggy, which no doubt gave
great Numbers an Opportunity to
desert: And the Ground through
which they march’dmarched was very rough
&and unev’nuneven. However they went on,
till the first Column []me was almost at [a] 1270 (1270) a Place call’dcalled Killdrummie within two
Miles of the Duke’s Camp, when all
of a sudden they were order’dordered to
wheel about &and return to Culloden.
Who, ✝or what it was that occasion’doccasioned
this unlucky Retreat, I shall not
pretend with any Certainty to deter-
mine. But common Report, &and ev’neven
the best Authority I have yet met
with fixes it upon XLord George
Murray. Some alledgeallege, that the Co-
lumn he commanded had gone a
little out of the Way; &and that being
afraid he shou’dshould not be able to reach
the Enemy before Day-light, he
advis’dadvised with the Gentlemen who com-
manded under him, &and gave it as
his Opinion that they shou’dshould retreat
to which ‘tisit is said they unanimously
agreed. ‘TisIt is likewise said that they
heard the Dragoons at Auldearn, two
Miles east-ward of Nairn beating
their Drums for Saddles &and Bridles,
which they took to be an Allarmalarm in
the Duke’s Camp. Others give out
that Lochiel was the first who pro-
pos’dproposed their marching back, on account
of the great Desertion he found among
his 1271 (1271)
his Men. But, be that as it will,
certain it is the Prince was ✝not con-
sulted; &and tho’though Master of his Tem-
per beyond Thousands, ‘tisit is impossi-
ble to express the Concern he was in
upon meeting the Duke of Perth’s

[

Regiment in their Way back. Some
positively say that he cry’dcried out, “I
“am betray’dbetrayed; What need I give Or-
“ders, when my Orders are disobey’ddisobeyed?
He call’dcalled for the Duke of Perth, who
came soon up to him &and inform’dinformed him
that the other Column had retreat-
ed; &and that Lord George had sent
orders to him, viz the Duke of Perth,
to return to Culloden. He was ve-
ry keen for sending Orders to Lord
George to return, but being told,
that Lord George was already so
far on his Way back that it wou’dwould
be impossible to bring up the Army
time enough to execute the intend-
ed plan, he said with an audible
Voice “‘TisIt is no Matter then; We shall
meet them &and behave like brave
Fellows. So back they march’dmarched, &and
arriv’darrived at Culloden about sev’nseven o’
Clock in the Morning. The fatigue
of this night's march join’djoined to the want of 1272 (1272) of Sleep for several Nights before, &and
the want of food, occasion’doccasioned a prodigious
murmuring among the private Men, ma-
ny of them exclaiming bitterly ev’neven in the
Prince’s hearing, which affected him ve-
ry much. Many of them fell asleep in
the Parks of Culloden &and other Places
near the Road &and never waken’dwakened till
they found the Enemy cutting their
Throats. Great numbers of them went
to Inverness &and other adjacent Places to
look for some Refreshment: So that
when certain Intelligence was brought
of the Enemy’s being hard at hand,
I’m assur’dassured there were not above a
thousand Men ready to appear on the
Field of Battle: And this oblig’dobliged them
to draw up about a ✝quarter of a Mile
farther back than they had done the
Day before, &and on a much less conve-
nient Spot of Ground. Such as were
at a Distance acted as their different
Inclinations led them; many of them,
no doubt endeavour’dendeavoured to provide for
their Safety by slipping off as fast
as they cou’dcould, whilst the rest hurried
to the field of Battle. About twelve o’
Clock the Lines were brought to some
confus’dconfused form. On the right of the front-
Line, were the Athole Brigade, Came-
rons &and Stuarts, commanded by Lord George
Murray 1273 (1273) Murray. In the Centre were the Mc-
Kintoshes, Farquharsons, McLeans, Mc-
Laughlans, &and Chisholms, commanded
by Lord John Drummond. And on the
left, were the Frasers &and McDonalds
of Keppoch &and Clan-rannald comman-
ded by the Duke of Perth. The second
Line, commanded by Roy Stuart, was
made up of Lowlanders, French,
Perth’s &and Glenbucket’s Regiments;
And the Reserve of Ogilvie’s. The
Right Wing was flank’dflanked by the Life
Guards, &and the Left by the Hussars,
which except 40 or 50 ^French Dragoons
ill-mounted, was all the High-
land Cavalry. But quite different
was their Appearance this Day, from
what it had been the Day before.
The Men were nodding with Sleep
in their Ranks, &and at least 1500 ^fewer in
Number. Ev’nEven the Prince himself, in
spite of all his Endeavours to the
contrary, was not able to conceal
that Damp which his last night’s
Disappointment had cast upon his
Spirits. And it is said, that he strong-
ly suspected his Designs had miscar-
ried thro’through Treachery. — On the other
hand, the Duke’s Army posted them-
selves on an advantagiousadvantageous ground, making 1274 (1274) making three Lines, cover’dcovered with Cannon
in the front, &and Dragoons on the right &and
left. They had likewise a Reserve of
Dragoons, &and some of these with the
Campbells had taken Possession of
a Park upon the High-lander’sHigh-landers’ Right,
in order to flank them either when
they shou’dshould advance or retreat. Some
of Stoniewood’s Regiment assert, that
Colonel Baggot had advis’dadvised to post
them along the outside of that Park-
dyke, which probably wou’dwould have pre-
vented a good deal of Mischief
these Campbells &and Dragoons afterwards
did; but✝ that Lord George Murray wou’dwould
not hear of it — Both Armies being now
within Cannon-shot of one another
the Highlanders took off their Bonnets,
&and gave a great Shout, which the Ene-
my answered with a huzza. Then
the Prince’s Cannon fir’dfired thrice from
Right to Left before the Duke’s, but
did little or no Execution, only the
Dragoons on the Left were observ’dobserved to
reel a little. Immediately after that
the Duke’s Cannon began, &and fir’dfired with-
out Intermission the whole time of
the Action: And tho’though many of the
Balls went quite over the Highland
Lines, yet there’s no doubt but such a long 1275 (1275) long &and uninterrupted fire kill’dkilled a
good many, especially after the Can-
non were loaded with Grape-shot
which was done upon the highlanders
advancing nearer. Matters looking
thus but very gloomy, the Prince
call’dcalled a short general Council
of War, in which some propos’dproposed to
retreat a little to the Hills, till
Clunie, the McDonalds of Glen-
garie &and Barrisdale, the McKenzies,
Frasers &and the other absent high-
landers shou’dshould conveenconvene, these be-
ing a great part of the Flower of
the Prince’s Army. It was argued,
that engaging wtwith Regulars so ad-
vantageously posted &and compleatlycompletely
form’dformed, &and so far superioursuperior in Num-
bers was a very desperate &and unad-
visable Attempt. That there were
not above✝ 5000 of the Highland
Army on the field, whereas the other
Army consisting of 15 Regiments of
Foot &and of Horse, besides a part
of Loudon’s Regiment, the Camp-
bells &and other Volunteers cou’dcould not
be much under 10000, &and was given
out to be 15000 strong. That their
whole 1276 (1276)
whole Cause depended on the Issue of
this Battle, &and therefore that they ought
not to engage without some Probability
of Success. It was likewise propos’dproposed
to continue the Cannonading for some
time, untilluntil a DetatchmentDetachment, which Roy
Stuart offer’doffered to lead, shou’dshould march pri-
vately about by the Water of Nairn,
&and attack the Enemy in the Rear,
whilst the main Body advanc’dadvanced and
attack’dattacked them in front: That this wou’dwould
not only distract the Enemy, &and be apt
to throw them into Confusion, but wou’dwould
likewise deprive them in some mea-
sure of the great Advantage they
then had, by having the Wind &and Wea-
ther in their Backs, which at that
very time was exceedomg stormy.
But notwithstanding all these Overtures
&and Arguments, it was carried to attack
without Hesitation, to leave their Can-
non behind, &and to rush in Sword in hand,
as the only Chance they had to dis-
comfit the Regulars, whom they had so-
often defeated in that Way. The Prince
was quite ✝ against fighting, &and the only
time it was that ever he appear’dappeared
to be of that Opinion. But he behoov’dbehooved
to yield; &and accordingly Orders were given 1277 (1277)
given to the respective Officers, to
cause the Men keep up their fire till
they cou’dcould do certain Execution; And
then upon the first fire to throw a-
way their Guns &and attack Sword in
hand. The Highlanders were yet at
a considerable Distance, &and the Ene-
my’s Cannon playing upon them, all
the time, with Ball: But when they
came within 300 Yards, the Regulars
loaded their Cannon with Grape-Shot,
&and kept a continued running fire
of their Small Arms upon them so
long, that ‘tisit is surprizingsurprising they did no
more Execution. In advancing Lord
George Murray had inclin’dinclined a good
deal to the Right, probably to a-
void being flanked by the Dragoons;
but this occasioning a Gap towards
the left, the McDonalds were in dang-
er of being surrounded, which made
them stop, till the Duke of Perth’s
&and Glenbucket’s Regiments were
drawn forward from the 2d Line to
make up the Line. Mean timeMeantime the
right, being batter’dbattered with Cannon &and small
Arms in the front, &and by the Campbells
from the Park-dyke in the flank, fell
into Disorder &and went off; &and suffer’dsuffered more 1278 (1278)
more in their Retreat than they did
in advancing. The✝ Center of the
Highlanders at the same time fell
in with a part of the Enemie’sEnemy’s left,
brokeX Barrel’s Regiment, &and drove all
before them &and took☂ two of their Can-
non. But the right Wing having fled,
&and the left having stoptstopped till the two
Regiments above mention’dmentioned shou’dshould
come up, another Regiment came
up to the support of Barrel’s, &and the
Center of the Highlanders was al-
most surrounded. Then all went to
wreck.