A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' WarFortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
History
A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War
Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
The Duke's cannon instantly took up the challenge; but the
duel could not last long, for Charles's guns were ill-aimed
and ill-served, whereas the British fire was most accurate and
destructive. The right and centre of the Highlanders, unable to
endure the grape, presently rushed forward, swept round the left
of the British line upon the flank and rear of the Fourth and
Twenty-seventh Regiments, and for a short time threw them into
some confusion. At every other point, however, they were speedily
driven back by a crushing fire, and the Fourth and Twenty-seventh,
recovering themselves, turned bayonet against claymore and target
for the first time with success. In utter rage at this repulse the
rebels for a few minutes flung stones at the hated red-coats; but
by this time Hawley had broken through the enclosures and turned
four guns upon Charles's second line. On the left of the rebels
the Macdonalds, sulking because they had not the place of honour,
refused to move, and now the English dragoons burst in upon the
Highlanders from both flanks, and, charging through them till they
met in the middle, shivered them to fragments. The rout of the
enemy was complete and the dragoons galloped on to the pursuit.
One thousand of Charles's troops were killed on the spot, and five
hundred prisoners, of whom two hundred were French, were taken. The
remainder fled in all directions. The loss of the Duke's army was
slight, barely reaching three hundred men killed and wounded, of
whom two-thirds were of the Fourth and Twenty-seventh. The victory
was decisive: the rebellion was crushed at a blow, and all hopes of
a restoration of the Stuarts were at last and for ever extinguished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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