prince. He passed by Killiecrankie and
Blair Athol to Perth; Cluny came in, with the Duke of Perth, and Lord
George Murray, Charles's most skilled general, who had been out at
Glensheil, in 1719, and had learned the lesson of war in the Sardinian
army. How easily he won Edinburgh, how he held court at Holyrood, how he
routed Cope (who returned by sea) at Preston Pans or Gladsmuir, is
familiar to all. His clemency was conspicuous; he wrote to James that he
would give up Holyrood to the wounded, rather than see them homeless.
Home, a Whig volunteer, and the author of a Whiggish history,
acknowledges the nobility of his conduct, and his "foolish lenity" (he
would not permit the execution of several persons who tried to
assassinate him) is blamed by the fanatics who, in 1749, issued a wild
Cameronian manifesto, "The Active Testimonies of Presbyterians." The
contrast with the savage brutalities of Cumberland is very notable. In
the battle the chiefs refused to let Charles lead the charge, but he was
at the head of the second line, "a pistol shot behind" the first.
Preston Pans was fought on September 21, 1745. That Charles dallied
before Edinburgh Castle till October 21st was no fault of his. Some of
his men had gone home with booty, others were to be waited for, many of
the chiefs were in favor of holding Scotland under James as a separate
kingdom, and it was only by constant personal appeals that the prince
persuaded them to push south. Lord George's strategy deceived the
English, who knew not where to look for the Highlanders. They met at
Carlisle, took it, passed through Preston and Manchester, gave
Cumberland the slip, and their advanced posts, six miles south of Derby,
were within a hundred and twenty miles of London. The army of Finchley
was unlikely to make a stand, the city was partly Jacobite, the mob were
ready for anything, when Lord George and the chiefs insisted on retreat.
Historians doubt which policy was the wiser; it is certain that success,
if to be attained at all, could only be won by audacity. The chiefs,
however, declared for a return and a junction with French forces then
expected. Charles wept and prayed to no avail. His army, as disappointed
as himself, found their faces set to the north, and the prince, who had
ever walked among the first ranks, leaving his carriage to old Lord
Pitsligo, now rode dejected and heart-broken. The retreat was rapid and
able. At Clifton, Murray turned on the pursuing dra