CHAP. X. 1714. preceding night, they might be charged in flank. Thither accordingly he sent a squadron of horse under Captain Cathcart, who charged the insurgents on their left side, while he himself, with two squadrons, assailed them in front. The double shock proved irresistible; the horsemen bore down the Highland ranks, and the whole left wing of the Jacobites was driven back to a considerable distance from the field of battle. Their retreat, however, was that of the lion when he retires before a circle of hunters, for nine times in the course of it they faced about and poured in volleys upon their pursuers. Argyll behaved with equal humanity and gallantry on this occa- 1 Mahon, i. sion, offering quarter to all who would surrender; and on Berwick, one occasion he was seen himself parrying three strokes vi. 329. aimed by one of his troopers at a Highland gentleman.1 259,260. 249. Coxe, the insur But while fortune thus smiled on the royal arms on their 33. right, where Argyll commanded, a very different scene Success of presented itself on their left, where General Witham gents on the had the command. How often during that century, "When the volleying musket played Against the bloody Highland blade," has victory inclined to the inexperienced arms of fidelity and devotion! The first fire of the English mortally wounded Clanranald, who had served with distinction abroad under Marshal Berwick, and his men were thrown into some disorder by the discharge. But Glengarry, who had borne the royal standard at the battle of Killicrankie, immediately started from the ranks, and throwing his bonnet into the air, exclaimed in Gaelic,-" Revenge! Revenge! To-day for revenge, to-morrow for mourning!" Animated by these words, the Highlanders rushed forward, and parrying the bayonet-thrust with their broadswords, or averting them right and in the centre. X. 1714. CHAP. by their targets, they dealt destruction around. In a few minutes the whole of Argyll's left wing broke and fled; General Witham himself never stopped till he was in the streets of Stirling. The left centre of the English followed the example, and fled back to the Forth; and so great was the panic, that, had the right centre been charged instead of the fugitives being pursued by the victorious Highlanders, a decisive victory would have been gained. But this opportunity, as is so often the case in war, was lost; and General Wightman took advantage of a few minutes' breathing-time to draw off the right centre and join Argyll, who was returning from the pursuit of the wing he had beaten.1 1 Mahon, i. 260, 261. Berwick, 249. 34. result of the which turns vantage of Argyll, upon hearing of the disaster of his left and Indecisive centre, immediately led back his right wing, and joined battle, but Wightman and the remains of the centre. Mar did to the ad- the same with his right, which had pursued the enemy the English, to the very gates of Stirling; and the two armies mutually regained the field of battle on the Sheriffmuir. There Mar took up a position to guard against the horse, in which arm the English were greatly superior, on an eminence which commanded a view all around. Soon Argyll's men appeared painfully toiling their way over a bad road at the foot of the hill, so wearied, and in such woeful plight, that, by the admission of the English general himself, an attack from the Highlanders must have entirely destroyed their army. * But Mar, "If they had either courage or conduct, they might have entirely destroyed my body of foot; but it pleased God to the contrary.”—Wightman's Official Despatch, Nov. 14, 1715. Argyll himself, hearing it said the victory was not complete, answered in the words of the Scottish song "If it was na weel bobbit, weel bobbit, weel bobbit, If it was na weel bobbit, we'll bob it again." MAHON, i. 261, 262. CHAP. X. 1714. though personally brave, was destitute of military conduct. He allowed the enemy to defile beneath him, where they were already taking measures to repel an attack; and instead of directing a charge, ordered the bagpipes to play a retreat. It was then that an old Highland officer, Gordon of Glenbucket, who had seen Killicrankie, uttered the celebrated exclamation,-" Oh for an hour of Dundee !" Both parties retreated: Mahon, i. Argyll slept at Dumblane, and next day withdrew to Berwick, Stirling; and Mar wended his way back to his old vi. 328. quarters at Perth.1 1 262, 263. 250. Coxe, 35. Argyll is superseded mand by It is with an insurrection as with an invading army: a drawn battle is equivalent to a defeat; continued success is the condition of existence. Disaster, long- in the comcontinued, and in the end overwhelming, from that date Cadogan. assailed the Stuart cause. Several of the clans had been lukewarm in their support, and openly counselled submission before the battle began; others dropped off after the retreat to Perth. Soon the insurgent army was reduced to half its numbers; and Mar himself, seeing no appearance of the Chevalier, and hearing of the disaster at Preston, privately communicated with Argyll as to the possibility of a general submission. Argyll was disposed to receive it favourably, and applied to Government for powers to that effect; but Ministers had other views. Having crushed the insurrection in Lancashire, and averted that in Devonshire, they were not disposed to treat for a capitulation with that in Scotland, but resolved to push their advantages to the uttermost. So far, therefore, from enlarging Argyll's powers, they deprived him of his command, and, by Marlborough's advice, bestowed it on General Cadogan. It does not appear that Argyll had been unfaith CHAP. X. 1714. 1 Mahon, i. 268-270. Tindal, vi. 492. 36. Arrival of the Preten land, and his recep tion at 8, 1715. ful to his trust; his activity, which saved Edinburgh, his gallantry, which stemmed disaster at Sheriffmuir, forbade such a supposition. But, with all his valour and eloquence, he wanted the still more important requisite of firmness of conduct. His political vacillation necessarily rendered him suspected in critical times. He had rendered himself, by repeated attacks, personally obnoxious to Marlborough; and the enmity between them had grown up to such a pitch that no cordial co-operation was any longer to be hoped for; so that Cadogan's appointment had become a matter of necessity.1 Cadogan brought with him powerful reinforcements; and the six thousand auxiliaries stipulated by the Barder in Scot- rier Treaty had landed in England in the middle of November, and were already in full march for Scotland. Scone, Jan. The insurgents, whose numbers were daily falling off, had decreased in a still more rapid proportion, so that the rebellion was now virtually extinguished. It was at this inauspicious moment that the Chevalier at length landed at Peterhead on December 22d, attended only by six persons, one of whom was son to the Duke of Berwick. His arrival might have led to decisive success, if it had taken place at an earlier period, by stilling the discord of the rival chiefs; but his coming at this gloomy season could only throw a parting gleam over a falling cause. He proceeded southwards-passed incognito through Aberdeen-received Mar with great distinction at the manor of Fetteresso-and made a public entry into Dundee on January 6th, with the Earl of Mar riding on his right hand and the Earl "It is impossible to have a lower opinion than I have of the Duke of Argyll."-Marlborough; TINDAL, vi. 492. CHAP. X. 1714. Mareschal on his left, and followed by a brilliant train of three hundred gentlemen on horseback. From thence he proceeded to Scone-the place where his ancestors had so often been crowned-and there issued several proclamations. The first ordered a general thanksgiving for the "miraculous providence" shown in his safe arrival; the second gave currency to all foreign coins; the third ordered the convocation of a Parliament; the fourth ordered his coronation at Scone on 23d January; and the fifth summoned all persons from sixteen to sixty 271, 272. to join his standard.1 1 Original Papers, 160. Mahon, i. 37. thusiasm difficulties his arrival. Immense was the enthusiasm excited at the time by the arrival of the exiled prince in the land of his fathers; Passing enbut it soon appeared that the hand of fate was upon him, and real and that nothing could much longer arrest its resistless following on weight. The men remaining of the clans were so much reduced that they could not venture on the customary spectacle of a review; and the Prince was so disheartened by their scanty numbers that he could not conceal his chagrin. He himself had none of the qualities requisite to uphold a falling cause. He had considerable abilities, great powers of language, and popular, graceful manners in peace; but he had little vigour or energy in character, and none of the habits or ideas which win the hearts of the soldiery in war. He could not handle a musket, and knew nothing of the broadsword exercise. Despair and discouragement followed his appearance amongst them; and so hopeless did affairs soon become, that, though it had been determined to fortify and defend Perth, Mar had in secret resolved, if Cadogan Berwick's advanced against him, to abandon it without striking a 257. Mablow.2 The discouragement was increased by the intel- 278. ligence of the surprise of Inverness by Lord Lovat, 2 Mem. 256, hon, i. 271, |