cross fire, and coming
to close quarters cut them to pieces with the sword. In this little
skirmish, which lasted less than a quarter of an hour, our loss was
insignificant, while that of the enemy reached well into the three
figures. The result of this engagement was that our army was extricated
from a precarious position and that Cumberland allowed us henceforth to
retreat at leisure without fear of molestation.

Of the good fortune which almost invariably attended our various
detachments in the North, of our retreat to Scotland and easy victory over
General Hawley at the battle of Falkirk, and of the jealousies and
machinations of Secretary Murray and the Irish Prince's advisers,
particularly O'Sullivan and Sir Thomas Sheridan, against Lord George
Murray and the chiefs, I can here make no mention, but come at once to the
disastrous battle of Culloden which put a period to our hopes. A number of
unfortunate circumstances had conspired to weaken us. According to the
Highland custom, many of the troops, seeing no need of their immediate
presence, had retired temporarily to their homes. Several of the clan
regiments were absent on forays and other military expeditions. The
Chevalier O'Sullivan, who had charge of the commissariat department, had
from gross negligence managed to let the army get into a state bordering
on starvation, and that though there was a quantity of meal in Inverness
sufficient for a fortnight's consumption. The man had allowed the army to
march from the town without provisions, and the result was that at the
time of the battle most of the troops had tasted but a single biscuit in
two days. To cap all, the men were deadly wearied by the long night march
to surprise the Duke of Cumberland's army and their dejected return to
Drummossie Moor after the failure of the attempt. Many of the men and
officers slipped away to Inverness in search of refreshments, being on the
verge of starvation; others flung themselves down on the heath, sullen,
dejected, and exhausted, to forget their hunger for the moment in sleep.

Without dubiety our plain course was to have fallen back across the Nairn
among the hills and let the Duke weary his troops trying to drag his
artillery up the mountainsides. The battle might easily have been
postponed for several days until our troops were again rested, fed, and in
good spirits. Lord George pointed out at the counsel that a further reason
for delay lay in the fact that the Macke