On one side was a cairn of stones about twenty feet high, reared to mark the battle, in the front of which is set a tablet giving the historical facts and date. But what touched us most deeply, as Americans, was a colossal wreath of flowers and greenery hung near the top. This token, though faded and its purple ribbons stained by three months of summer rain and storm, told of “hands beyond sea” and hearts that were saddened at the name of Culloden. I asked who had hung that wreath upon the cairn and was told that it had been sent by Scotsmen in America, whose ancestors had fallen in that awful battle of April 16, 1746, in which the hopes of “Bonnie Prince Charlie” were shattered and those of the House of Stuart to reattain power came to an end. I understood that such a floral tribute was offered annually. [Illustration: THE CAIRN AT CULLODEN] Some distance away was the place where the English cavalry were held in reserve, to charge upon the fugitives and slaughter them after they had broken and fled. Near the field also was a large flat rock, which the Pretender had mounted to see the action and scan its results. From this point of vantage, he fled, to suffer untold hardships, while wandering for weeks, disguised as a woman, under the care of the heroic Flora Macdonald. He was finally able to reach the French ships, then lying off the coast for him, by which he was able to get back to the Continent, there to end his days as a drunkard. Cumberland, the British general, knew that a failure to win on this field, or a drawn battle, would mean a long-continued guerilla warfare in the Highlands. So he gave orders to put to the sword all the clansmen known to have been on the field. As we rode back to Inverness, over which the English cavalry had thundered after the battle, the intelligent driver pointed out more than one place, such as blacksmith’s shops, rocks, and hollows, where fugitives had hidden and whence they had been dragged out to be killed. Culloden enables us to see what war was to the Highlanders, what they meant by a campaign, and how far these men of the claymore, broadsword, and target had advanced in military science. The idea of these stalwart warriors, trained in clan feuds and inheriting the prejudices and traditions handed down to them from ancestors, was to go out in summer time, without special equipment, commissary train, or _dépôt_ of supplies. They would make a foray, fight a battle or two, burn the enemy’s houses, drive off some cattle, and then come home to divide the spoil--a system hardly higher in dignity than that of the North American Indian highlanders, the Iroquois.