h. The Earl of Derwentwater, and
the Lords Widdrington had the two principal English regiments, of which
there were four.[193]

On the twenty-fifth of October, the united army of Scots and English
left Kelso, and marched to Jedburgh. On their march, some of the Scots,
taking umbrage, left the army under the guidance of the Earl of Wintoun;
and although that nobleman afterwards returned with his troop, above
four hundred Highlanders deserted, and returned to their country.

During the progress of the insurgent forces, there is little reason to
conclude that Lord Derwentwater took a very active or important part in
the various consultations which were held, always with great disunion,
and with a melancholy want of judgment, between the General, Mr.
Forster, and his military council. The amiable nobleman appears to have
assigned to his less discreet brother the entire guidance of his troop.
"His temper and disposition," as he expresses it in his defence,
"disposed him to peace. He was totally inexperienced in martial affairs;
that he entered upon the undertaking without any previous concert with
its chief promoters,--without any preparation of men, horses, and arms,
or other warlike accoutrements," was at once an instance of his
imprudence and a mitigation of his error.[194] There was, indeed, no
doubt but that Lord Derwentwater might have brought many hundreds of his
followers to the field, even from one portion of his estate only; for he
possessed the extensive lead mines on Alstone Moor, where a large body
of men were daily employed, and received from him their sole means of
support.[195]

But whether or not this unfortunate nobleman failed in energy or in
zeal; whether he entered with his whole heart into the cause of James
Stuart; or whether, with the conscientious scruples of a gentle nature,
he shrank from involving in the risk of this insurrection the majority
of his humble dependants, he acted throughout the whole of this brief
campaign with the consideration for others so characteristic of his
mind. He truly affirmed on his trial, that no one could charge him with
any cruel, severe, or harsh action during his continuance in arms: and
his conduct in the last extremity corresponded to his previous
forbearance. Such dispositions appear to have been cherished, indeed, by
the rest of the Jacobite party. The merciful temper of the Chevalier,
and his known aversion to destructive measures, may have had its
influence