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Although Marshal Wade must have been duly apprised of the
arrival of the Highland army in England, yet it was not until he had received intelligence
of their march to Brampton, and of their probable advance upon Newcastle, that he began to
move. He set out from Newcastle on the 16th of November, the day after the surrender of
Carlisle; but a deep snow, which had just fallen, so retarded his march, that his army did
not reach Ovington till eight o'clock that night. Next day he advanced to Hexham, where
the first column of his army arrived about four o'clock in the afternoon; but the rear did
not get up till near midnight. The army, unable to proceed farther on account of the snow,
encamped on a moor near the town, and the men were provided with a sufficient quantity of
straw to repose upon by the inhabitants, who kindled large fires all over the ground to
protect the troops from the cold, which was unusually severe. At Hexham, Wade was informed
of the decision of Carlisle. He remained there three days in the expectation of a thaw;
but the road to Carlisle continuing impassable, he returned to Newcastle, which he reached
on the 22d of November. The conduct of Marshal Wade, in delaying his march from Newcastle,
had been justly censured, for there can be no doubt that had he made a movement in advance
upon Carlisle about the time the insurgents marched to Brampton, that town would have been
saved.
The sudden and unexpected success which had attended Charles's arms in England, spread a
general alarm through all the northern and western parts of that kingdom, an extended even
to the capital itself. Such was the alteration of hope and feat in the minds of the people
of all classes, that whilst the most trifling article of good news led them to indulge in
the most exaggerated manifestations of joy, the smallest reverse of fortune plunged them
into the abject despair. Sir Andrew Mitchell, alluding to this circumstance in a letter to
President Forbes, says, that if he had not lived long enough in England to know the
natural bravery of the people, he should have formed a very false opinion of them from
their demeanour at the period in question.
As soon as the news of the surrender of Carlisle was know in London,the government
resolved to assemble an army of 10,000 men in Staffordshire, under Sir John Ligonier, and
officer of considerable military experience. For this purpose, Sir John left London on the
21st of November, taking with him nine old battalions, two regiments of dragoons, and part
of his own regiment of horse. In addition to this and the other army under Wade, a third
army, to be placed under the immediate command of his majesty, was ordered to be raised,
and encamped in the vicinity of London for its protection. The city and castle of Chester
were put in a proper state of defence, and the town of Liverpool raised a regiment of 700
men, who were clothed and maintained at the expense of the inhabitants.
When mustered at Carlisle, the prince's army amounted only to about 4,500 men. The idea of
marching to London and overturning the government with such a force, in the face of three
armies and a numerous militia, amounting in all to upwards of 60,000 men, could scarcely
have been entertained by any adventurer, however sanguine his hopes may have been; but
Charles was so full of his object, that he shut his eyes to the great difficulties of the
enterprise, which he imagined would be surmounted by the tried valour of his troops, and
the junction of a considerable party in England devoted to his cause.
To determine upon the course to be next pursued, Charles called a council of war, in which
different opinions were maintained. As there was no appearance of either an invasion from
France, or an insurrection in England, some of the members proposed returning to Scotland,
where a defensive war could be carried on till such time as the prince should be in a
condition to resume offensive operations. Others were for remaining at Carlisle, and
quartering the army in the neighbourhood till they saw whether there should be any
indications of a rising in England. A third party proposed that they should march to
Newcastle and engage Wade's army. A fourth, that the army should continue its route to
London by the west or Lancashire road, in support of which opinion they urged, that being
now in possession of Carlisle, they had, at the worst, a safe retreat. This last proposal
being quite in accordance with the prince's own sentiments, he declared that his opinion
of marching directly to London, in terms of the resolution entered into at Edinburgh, was
in no respect altered since he entered England. Lord George Murray, who had hitherto
remained silent, was the desired by the prince to give his opinion. His lordship entered
at some length into the question; stated the advantages and disadvantages of each of the
different opinions; and concluded, by observing, that for himself he could not venture to
advise his royal highness to march far into England, without receiving more encouragement
from the country than he had hitherto got; but he was persuaded, that if his royal
highness was resolved to make a trial of what could be expected, and would march south,
his army, though small, would follow him. After Lord George had done speaking, Charles
immediately said he would venture the trial. In giving his opinion, Lord George says he
spoke with the more caution, in consequence of the recent circumstances which had led to
his resignation.
As a considerable number of
men had been collected at Perth since the prince's departure from Scotland, and more were
on their way thither from the north, Charles, before leaving Carlisle for the south, sent
Maclauchlan of Maclauchlan to Scotland with an order to Lord Strathallan, to march with
all the forces under his command, and join the army in England; but this order was
disregarded.
Whilst encamped at Duddingston, the Highlanders preferred sleeping in the open air, and
had with difficulty been prevailed upon to use the tents which had been captured at
Preston and those provided at Edinburgh. These tents were packed up for the campaign in
England: but the party, to whose care they were intrusted, most unaccountably left the
whole of them at Lockerby along with other baggage. The whole, consisting of thirty
cart-loads, were captured by a party of country people, who carried them to Dumfries.
After the surrender of Carlisle, Lochiel went with a party to reclaim the baggage, failing
which, he was ordered to exact £2,000 from the town; but before he reached Dumfries he
was recalled. The army, therefore, being now without tents, and the season very severe, it
was resolved so to arrange the order of march as to get the men accommodated in the towns.
For this purpose, it was determined that one part of the army should precede the other by
a day's march, the second division always occupying the quarters vacated by the first; but
that, where the country would admit of it, there should be only half a day's march betwixt
them.
In accordance with this plan, the first division, commanded by Lord George Murray, left
Carlisle on the 20th of November. It consisted, with the exception of the Duke of Perth's
regiment, which being appointed to guard the thirteen cannon and ammunition, was not
included in either division, of the whole of the low country regiments, six in number,
with the life-guards under Lord Elcho, who marched at the head of the division. Each of
these regiments led the van in its turn. This division reached Penrith the same day,
having performed a march of eighteen miles. The second division, consisting of the clan
regiments and the remainder of the cavalry, headed by the prince in person, left Carlisle
next day, and arrived at Penrith that night, and entered the
quarters occupied by the first division, which marched the same day to Shap, where it passed the night. In
the march of the prince's division the cavalry always marched at its head, and each of the
clan regiments led the van by turns, agreeably to the plan observed by the division under
Lord George Murray. A garrison of about 200 men was left in Carlisle under the command of
one Hamilton, who had been made deputy-governor under the Duke of Perth, on whom the
governorship had been conferred.
On reaching Penrith, Charles, for the first time, heard of the march of Wade from
Newcastle, and of his arrival at Hexham. Resolved to return to Carlisle and give
battle to Wade, should he advance upon that city, Charles remained all the next day at Penrith, waiting for further intelligence of the marshal's movements; but receiving
information from Lord Kilmarnock, who still remained with his horse at Brampton, that the
English general was on his way back to Newcastle, Charles marched to Kendal on the 23d. The van of the army,
which had arrived in Kendal on the previous day, marched on the 23d to Lancaster, where it
halted for the night. The prince resumed his march on the 25th, and reached Lancaster, on which day the first division
went to Garstang. On the 26th the whole army
reached Preston, where it halted till the 27th.
Recollecting the fate of the Highland army at Preston in 1715, the Highlanders had become
possessed of the idea that they would never get beyond that town; but Lord George Murray,
on being informed of it, dispelled this superstitious dread by crossing the bridge over
the Ribble, and quartering a considerable number of his men on the other side of that
river.
During his progress to Preston, Charles received no marks of attachments from the
inhabitants of the towns and country through which he passed; but at Preston his arrival
was hailed with acclamations and the ringing of bells. With the exception, however, of Mr
Townley, a Catholic gentleman who had been in the French service, and two or three other
gentlemen, no person of any note joined him. By dint of entreaty a few recruits were
indeed raised; but it was not with such levies that Charles could expect to strengthen his
army. At Preston Charles held a council of war, at which he repeated the assurances he
alleged he had received from his English partisans, and have fresh hopes of being joined
by them on their arrival at Manchester. The Highland chiefs were prevailed upon to
continue their march. Lord George Murray proposed to march with his column to Liverpool,
and to join the other division at Macclesfield; but this proposal was overruled. |
