THE TWO ARMIES IN SIGHT.

51

Cope received no report; and thus, on the 20th, after having marched about eight miles, while he continued to look out for the rebels to the west, he suddenly saw them appear on the ridge to the southward. Immediately he changed his front, and drew up his troops in order of battle, his foot in the centre, with a regiment of dragoons and three pieces of artillery on each wing. His right was covered by Colonel Gardiner's park wall and by the village of Preston; at some distance on his left stood Seton House; and the sea, with the villages of Preston Pans and Cockenzie, lay upon his rear.

When the Royal troops first perceived the insurgents, they set up a loud shout of defiance, which was promptly answered by the Highland yell. The two armies were less than a mile apart; the Prince's occupying the ridge beyond the little town of Tranent, with a gentle descent and a deep morass between them and their enemy. It was now about three in the afternoon*, and Charles was desirous to indulge the impatience of his troops by an onset the same day. First, however, to reconnoitre the ground, he sent forward one of his officers, Ker of Gradon, who, mounted upon a little white pony, rode down the hill in front of the enemy with the utmost coolness. Disregarding several shots that were fired at him in the discharge of his duty, he examined the ground with great care and in several directions; and on coming to one or two walls of dry stone that intersected it, he deliberately alighted, pulled down gaps and led his horse over them. He then returned to the Prince and assured him that the morass was deep and difficult, and could not be passed to attack the English in front without risking the loss of the whole army.† Charles accordingly desisted from his purpose, to the great dissatisfaction of the common Highlanders, who supposed that the enemy intended to escape from them as before at Corry Arrack; nor were they appeased until Lord Nairn with 500 men was detached to the westward, so as to prevent Sir John Cope from steal

* Macdonald's Journal (Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 489). Mr. Chambers, on less good authority, says noon.

† Compare Home's History, p. 111., with the Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 448.

ing off towards Edinburgh, had he so designed, unperceived and unopposed.

Meanwhile the English General, being satisfied with the strength of his position, damped the spirit of his men by remaining thus cautiously on the defensive. In vain did Colonel Gardiner urge upon him the necessity of bolder measures; the only aggression of the King's troops that afternoon was to fire a few cannon shots and dislodge a party of Highlanders from the churchyard at Tranent. The two armies lay that night (it proved dark and cold) upon their ground; Cope, however, retiring to more comfortable quarters at Cockenzie, but Charles sleeping amidst his soldiers in a field of pease made up into ricks.*

But, earlier in that evening, the young Adventurer and his principal followers had met in council, and agreed, at all hazards, to make their attack next morning opposite Tranent, where the morass seemed less impervious; and for many hours did their minds continue to revolve their hazardous determination. Amongst them was Anderson of Whitburgh, a gentleman well acquainted with the neighbouring country, who, in the middle of the night, suddenly bethought himself of a path that from the heights where they lay wound to their right by the farm of Ringan Head, avoiding in a great measure the morass, and leading to the plain below. This important fact he imparted first to Hepburn of Keith, and then to Lord George Murray, who immediately went with him to awaken Charles. The Prince sat up on his bed of pease-straw, and heard with joy the tidings that assured him of speedy battle, more especially when Anderson undertook to act as his guide. He sent for Lochiel and some other chiefs; and finding their opinion concur with his own, he prepared at once (for by this time the night was well nigh spent) to execute the scheme. An aide-de-camp having

*It was long remembered at Tranent, that late that afternoon Prince Charles, attended by the Duke of Perth and another officer, went into the little inn of that village to dine. They had some coarse kail, or broth, and then the meat from which it had been made; but as the landlady had previously concealed her little service of pewter for fear of the Highlanders, they had only two wooden spoons among the three, and one butcher's knife to cut the meat, which they then ate with their fingers. (Chambers's History, vol. i. p. 163.) A curious picture of a Prince on the eve of a victory.

BATTLE OF PRESTON.

53

been sent to recall Lord Nairn and his detachment, the troops got under arms, and began to move forward with equal silence and speed, Anderson leading the way. The path was found lonely and unguarded, and the morass was passed without much difficulty, though even in this selected place several Highlanders sunk knee deep, and the Prince himself stumbled and fell. Soon, however, they reached the firm ground, concealed from the enemy, first by the darkness, and when day began to break, by a frosty mist. On the plain, however, the dragoon outposts heard the sound of their march, and firing their pistols, galloped off to give the alarm; but as a surprise had formed no part of the insurgents' scheme, they were not discomposed, and only hastened to form themselves in line of battle. There had been some warm discussion as to which clan should obtain the honours of the right: it was claimed by the Macdonalds, and in prudence, but reluctantly, was yielded by the Camerons and Stuarts. Charles put himself at the head of the second line, which was close behind the first, and addressed them in these words:"Follow me, gentlemen, and by the blessing of "God, I will this day make you a free and happy people!"

On the other part, Sir John Cope lost no time in disposing his troops, his order of battle being nearly the same as when he first saw the enemy on the previous day, except that the men's faces were now turned in the opposite direction, towards the east instead of towards the west. His infantry stood in the centre, Hamilton's dragoons on his left, and Gardiner's, with the artillery before them, on his right next the morass. The mists now rolling away before the rising sun revealed to each army the position of the other. But the Highlanders did not long stand at gaze. First, with uncovered heads, uttering a short prayer, they pulled their bonnets over their brows, and as the pipers blew the signal, they rushed forward, each clan a separate mass, and raising a war-cry that gradually rose into a terrific yell.

The first reached was the Royal Artillery, which was not served by regular gunners, but by some seamen whom Cope had hastily collected from the fleet. The Camerons and Stuarts, running straight on the muzzles of the cannon, took them by storm, while the scared artillerymen

dispersed in all directions. Colonel Gardiner now commanded a charge upon the advancing enemy, encouraging both by voice and example his dragoons. But these receiving a heavy rolling fire from the Highlanders, and seeing them come on with their drawn broad-swords,

wavered gave way and struck with a panic, galloped off in all directions. On the right, at nearly the same time, and nearly the same manner, did the Macdonalds scatter Hamilton's regiment before them. The English infantry now remained uncovered at both flanks, but yet undismayed, and poured upon the Highland centre a steady and well-directed fire, before which several of their best men fell. Amongst these was James MacGregor, a son of the well-known Rob Roy, who, though struck by five wounds, still continued from the ground to call out and animate his men. But on coming to close quarters, the Highlanders parried with their targets the soldiers' bayonets, and the separate masses of the clans broke through on several points the extended line of the King's army; by which means the whole of the latter was thrown into confusion, while the inclosures and park wall of Preston impeded their retreat. So rapid was this Highland onset, that in five or six minutes the whole brunt of the battle was over.

Never was a victory more complete. There was scarce any cavalry, indeed, to pursue the dragoons; but not above 170 men of the infantry escaped, all the rest being either killed or taken prisoners. The whole number of slain in the Royal army was nearly 400; and of these none was more lamented than Colonel Gardiner. When forsaken by his horsemen in battle and left almost alone, he saw a party of the foot who were then fighting bravely close by, but who had no officer to head them: "These "brave fellows," said he, "will be cut to pieces for want "of a commander," and riding up, he cheered them on to the charge; but, in a few moments, he was cut down by a Highlander with a scythe, and despatched with several wounds, close to his own park wall.* Thus died a gallant

* Dr. Doddridge's Remarkable Passages in the Life of Colonel Gardiner, p. 187. Gardiner was carried senseless to the manse of Tranent, where he expired a few hours afterwards, and was buried close to his children in his own, the village, church.

VICTORY OF THE HIGHLANDERS.

55

soldier and a worthy man. In his youth he had been drawn to ardent devotion by a miracle, as he believed it; while awaiting an assignation with a married woman, he saw, or thought he saw, the Saviour on the Cross, surrounded on all sides by a glory, and calling him to repentance—a call which he obeyed ever afterwards by a most exemplary life.*

The insurgents' loss in this conflict was only thirty killed and seventy wounded. The Highlanders wreaked their whole fury on such dragoon horses as they could reach, believing, in their ignorance of cavalry, that these animals were trained to bite and tear in battle. But as to their vanquished enemies, Charles, who had been scarcely fifty paces behind the vanguard, immediately exerted himself, and, in a little while with success, to command and enforce mercy. In fact, his moderation in his victory, whether proceeding from temper or from policy, has been universally acknowledged.† He remained on the field till midday, giving orders for the relief of the wounded of both armies, without any distinction of friend or foe. · It is recorded, also, that one of his officers coming up to congratulate him, and saying, "Sir, there are your enemies at "your feet;" the Prince, far from exulting, expressed only his compassion for what he termed his father's deluded subjects.

No sooner was the victory decided, than most of the victors disbanded for plunder. The standards and other trophies, and the military chest, containing about 2500l., were brought to the Prince, but all other spoils were reserved by the captors for themselves. Unaccustomed to luxuries, the rude mountaineers looked half in scorn and half in wonder on the refinements of civilised life. A quantity of chocolate taken was afterwards cried in the streets of Perth under the name of "Johnnie Cope's "salve!" One man, who had got a watch, very soon sold it for a trifle, observing, with great glee, that "he was "glad to be rid of the creature, for she lived no time after

*Doddridge. See a note to Waverley, revised ed. vol. i. p. 72. Home's History, p. 122.

MS. Memoirs of James Maxwell of Kirkconnell. See a note to Waverley, revised ed. vol. ii. p. 273.