bickerings in the fond hope that their enemy would be unable to resist them on their native heaths. On the morning of the 26th of April, the Jacobite army was drawn up on the extensive moor of Culloden, near Drummossie. By dint of exertion, about six thousand men had been collected, but several of the clans were at too great a distance to allow of their being united to the main force; and thus was Charles deprived, at the decisive moment, of the Mac Phersons, of the greater part of the Frazers, of Glengyle and his Mac Gregors, of Macdonald of Borrisdale, of the Earl of Cromarty, and of several others. The army thus reduced, and considerably inferior in numbers to that of the Duke of Cumberland, was drawn up in two lines. In the first line, the Athol brigade and Lochiel occupied the right wing; while, on the left, were the three regiments of Macdonalds, named after their leaders, Clanranald, Keppoch, and Glengarry. The army faced the east-its right wing covered by the wall of a park-its left leaning against a hill which gently declined towards Culloden House, the seat of Duncan Forbes, the most active opponent of the Stuart interest, who sacrificed his fortune to the support of the house of Hanover,

and is supposed to have died broken-hearted in consequence of the ingratitude with which his invaluable services were repaid.

Walter Scott estimates the strength of Charles's army at 7000 men (4700 for the first, and 2300 for the second line), including 250 cavalry, but adds, that this force had been considerably reduced before the battle; but what was perhaps of more serious consequence to Charles than the absence of some of his clans, was the offence given to the Macdonalds by placing them in the left wing, instead of allowing them to retain their hereditary post of honour in the right wing, which they had claimed since the battle of Bannockburn, and which they had occupied as their right at Preston and Falkirk.

The day on which the Highlanders were thus drawn up to offer battle to their enemy was the birthday of the Duke of Cumberland. The English troops were carousing in honour of the occasion, and the Jacobites vainly awaited the attack, after having spent a cold night in the field, where the heath served them at once for fuel and for a couch. The Duke's army was abundantly supplied with everything, whereas the

Jacobites were in such severe straits, that one biscuit a man was all that could be distributed that day. Lord Elcho, who had been sent out early in the morning with his cavalry to reconnoitre, returned about noon, and reported that the English would probably spend the remainder of the day in drinking and feasting. Charles was embarrassed by this information, the exigency of his position making him desirous to bring about a battle as soon as possible. He determined once more to assemble a council of war. Two days previously he had declared, that he would attack the enemy if he had only a thousand men with him, and such was still his feeling when he opened the council. On this occasion, however, his own opinion coincided perfectly with that of Lord George Murray. The question was not whether a battle should be fought, but how and where. Lord George proposed a plan that was entirely approved of by Charles. This was to attempt a nocturnal surprise. Darkness and confusion, his lordship said, deprived regular soldiers of almost all their advantages, but had no such effect on less disciplined troops. Lord George, therefore, proposed, as soon as it was dusk, that

the first line should advance in two divisions. With the right column he proposed to pass round the town of Nairn, and to attack the enemy's camp in the rear, while the Duke of Perth was to make a simultaneous attack in front, and the Prince to advance with the reserve. Charles embraced Murray, against whom he had, so recently and so unjustly, entertained suspicions, and now declared that the proposal made by Lord George was one that he had himself contemplated.

The account of this transaction is taken from a rough draught, or rather a fragment, in Charles's own writing, found among the Stuart Papers. It runs thus:" When the enemy was so much approaching, and seeming to be determined to attack us lastly at Inverness, if we did not them, the Prince called a council of war, when all the chiefs were assembled, and Lord George Murray. The Prince let every one speak before him. Lord George Murray was the last, and he proposed to attack that night, as the best expedient. This was just what the Prince intended; but he kept it in his breast. The Prince then embraced Lord George Murray, approved it, and owned it was his project. It was agreed upon; but then

it was question of the manner. It is to be observed, that the Prince proposed to keep Fort Augustus, and to make it serve as a place of rallying in case of a defeat. But that was unanimously rejected by the chiefs, so it was blown up."

Orders were immediately given for the execution of the proposed march. Charles directed that the heath should be set on fire, that his troops might appear still to occupy their former position. Many soldiers, however, had, in the mean time, wandered away from the ranks, and had gone to Inverness and other places in search of food. When ordered by their officers to return, many of these stragglers declared, that they would rather allow themselves to be shot, than continue to endure such severe privations. Several hours were lost in the endeavour to collect the men, nor was the effort even then completely successful. The consequence was, that the march could not commence before eight o'clock in the evening. Charles appointed Murray to command the first line, and led the second himself. The troops were ordered to maintain the most profound silence during the march, and, on arriving in the enemy's camp, to