The Lyon in Mourning, Vol. 1. Forbes Robert
mercy and truth!
P.S.– I sent for a Presbyterian minister to have administred the sacrament to me; but he refused. Lord forgive him; for I do.
Kennington Common, Friday, November 28th, 1746
[fol. 126.] A genuine and full Account of the Battle of Culloden, with what happened the two preceeding days, together with the young Prince's miraculous escape at, from and after the battle, fought on April 16th, 1746; to his return to the continent of Scotland from the Western Islands on the 6th of the succeeding July. Taken from the mouths of the old Laird of MacKinnon, Mr. Malcolm MacLeod, etc., and of Lady Clanronald and Miss Flora MacDonald, by John Walkingshaw of London or Dr. John Burton.
1746 14 April
15 April
16 April
Upon April 14th (afternoon) the Prince marched from Inverness on foot at the head of his guards to Culloden House, where the clans and others met him, and stayed thereabouts under arms. He himself did not go to bed. Upon the 15th by daybreak he marched the men up to Culloden Muir about a mile south-east of the house, and review'd them drawn up in two lines of battle. About eleven o'clock he ordered them to refresh themselves by sleep or otherwise just in the field, during which time he walked about cajoling the different chiefs, and proposed to all of them separately to march off the men towards the evening and attack the enemy by daybreak; but finding the bulk of them against the proposal (reckoning it rather too desperate an attempt untill they were joined by [fol. 127.] Keppoch and his men with others that were soon expected), he drop'd the project. About 4 afternoon Keppoch arrived with 200 men. Then it was said Lord George Murray proposed the night march, and undertook to manage the attack, which was agreed to. And when near dark, the men were marched off, the front of the second line following the rear of the first. About 2 o'clock of the morning of the 16th the Duke of Perth came galloping up from aside to the front of the second line, and ordered the officers to wheel about and march back to Culloden. They had not gone above one hundred yards back when they met the Prince, who called out himself, 'Where the devil are the men a-going?' It was answered, 'We are ordered by the Duke of Perth to return to Culloden House.' 'Where is the Duke of Perth?' says the Prince. 'Call him here.' Instantly the Duke came up, and the Prince, in an angry tone, asked what he meant by ordering the men back. The Duke answered that Lord George with the first line was gone back three-quarters of an hour agoe. 'Good God!' said the Prince, 'what can be the matter? What does he mean? We were equal in number, and would have blown them to the devil. Pray, Perth, can't you call them back yet? Perhaps [fol. 128.] he is not gone far yet.' Upon which the Duke begg'd to speak with his royal highness. They went aside a very short space. The Prince returned and call'd out, 'There is no help for it, my lads; march back to Culloden House.' Back they marched to Culloden House (the Prince bringing up the rear) where the bulk of them arrived about 6 in the morning. The Prince after ordering and earnestly recommending to everybody to do their utmost to get provisions to his men went into the house, threw himself upon the top of a bed, boots, etc., upon him; but in a few hours, being alarmed with the approach of the enemy he hurried to the field, and endeavoured to put his men in order by drawing them up in two lines. But they, being some fatigued and others dispersed about seeking victuals, could not be all got together; so that when the cannonading began there were not 3000 men in the field, and these not in the best order. At that time the Prince was in the rear of all, ordering some men to replace some others that he had sent from the second line to the left of the first. He immediately [fol. 129.] sent off an aid-de-camp with orders to the generals in the front to make the attack, and, moving forwards beyond the second line, sent off a second and a third aid-de-camp with positive orders to attack. It seems the first aid-de-camp happened to be killed with a cannon shot just at setting out, which 'tis thought was the reason the attack was not made soon enough.
Upon the right the attack was made with great bravery by the Athol brigade, Stewarts, Camerons, and part of the MacDonalds; but the left was so soon flanked by a great body of the enemy's horse that from the centre to the left they never got up to give their fire. The right broke in upon the enemy, sword in hand, and did great execution, but were likewise soon flanked and very much galled by the grape-shot. And Lochiel and Keppoch, being both soon wounded in the advancing, were carried off, which their men observing, immediately they fled; which so alarmed all the corps to the left that they gave way in confusion.
Just at this time the Prince called out to stop and he would light from his horse and return to the charge at their head. [fol. 130.] But a number of his officers got about him, and assured him that it was improbable for them to do any good at present. For since the clans had turned their backs they would not rally, and it was but exposing his person without any probability of success; and therefore intreated he would retire, and really forced him out of the field.
The retreat was made with the utmost regularity. Not above 500 of the Low-country men, having detached themselves from the main body, kept together till they received the Prince's orders to shift for themselves.
N.B.– There was a battery of canon that played very smartly for a considerable time just upon the place where the Prince was, and one of his grooms was killed about two hundred yards straight in his rear.
After the forces were entirely defeated he retired to a house of a factor or steward of Lord Lovat, about ten miles from Inverness, where meeting with that lord, he stayed supper.
18 April
After supper was over he set out for Fort Augustus (where a musket-bullet was taken out of the counter of his horse), and pursued his journey for Invergary where he proposed to have dined. But finding no victuals he set a boy a fishing, who caught two salmon on which he made a dinner, and continued [fol. 131.] waiting there for some of his troops, who had promised to rendezvous at that place; and being disappointed he resolved to proceed to Locharkaig. He arrived there on the 18th at two in the morning and went to sleep, which he had not done for five days and nights, his forces having been under arms, marching and counter-marching without meat for 48 hours before the battle. He remained there till 5 o'clock in the afternoon in hopes of obtaining some intelligence; but gaining none, he set out from thence on foot, and travell'd to the Glens of Morar, over almost inaccessible mountains, where he arrived on the 19th at 4 in the morning. He set out about noon the same day for Arrisaig, through as bad ways as before, where he arrived at 4 in the afternoon.
27 April
He remained there seven days waiting for Captain O'Neil, who joined him on the 27th, and informed him, as did many others from all quarters, that there were not any hopes of drawing his troops together again in a body. Upon which he resolved to go to Stornway in the Island of Lewis, a town at the head of a loch of that name, in order to hire a ship to go [fol. 132.] to France. The person employed for this purpose was one Donald MacLeod, who had an interest there.
28 April
On the 28th he went on board in an eight-oar'd boat, in company with O'Sullivan, O'Neil, and some others, ordering the people to whom the boat belonged to make the best haste they could to Stornway. The night proved very tempestuous, and they all begg'd of him to go back, which he would not do. But seeing the people timorous, he, to keep up their spirits, sung them a Highland song. The weather proving worse and worse, on the 29th, about 7 in the morning they were driven ashore on a point of land called Rushness, in the north-east part of the island of Benbecula, which lies betwixt the islands of North and South Ost or Uist, being about 5 miles long from east to west, and 3 miles broad from north to south, where as soon as they had got on shore, the Prince helped to make a fire to warm the crew, who were almost starved to death with cold.
30 April
On the 30th, at 6 in the evening, they set sail again from Stornway, but meeting with another storm were obliged to put into the island Selpa (Scalpa) in the Harris. This island [fol. 133.] is about one mile long and half a mile broad. There they all went ashore to a farmer's house, passing for merchants that were shipwrecked in their voyage to the Orkneys, the Prince and O'Sullivan going by the name of Sinclair, the latter passing for the father, the former for the son.
Thence they thought proper to send Donald MacLeod (who had been with