of which was chosen with a great deal of skill. The more we examined it, the more we were convinced of the impossibility of attacking it; and we were all thrown into consternation, and quite at a loss what course to take. On even ground, the courage and bravery of the Highlanders might supply the place of numbers; but what could eighteen hundred men do against four thousand, in a position inaccessible on every point? The camp of the enemy was fortified by nature, and in the happiest position for so small an army. The general had on his right two inclosures, surrounded by stone-walls, from six to seven feet high, between which there was a road of about twenty feet broad, leading to the village of Preston Pans. Before him was another inclosure, surrounded by a deep ditch filled with water, and from ten to twelve feet broad, which served as a drain to the marshy ground. On

of their numbers, for the purpose of rendering themselves more formidable in the public estimation. It was not their interest that their numbers should be accurately known; and we know that on their march into England, they took infinite pains to conceal them. We may, therefore, exonerate the officers from the charge of wilful falsehood; but it will be rather more difficult to exonerate them from the charge of imbecility and want of penetration.

What is rather surprising, the author of Waverley, who is so well acquainted with every thing connected with Scotland, makes the rebels, the day previous to the battle, amount to about 4000! He talks of "the daring attempt of a body not then exceeding four thousand men, and of whom not above half the number, at the utmost, were armed."

his left was a marsh, which terminated in a deep pond; and behind him was the sea: so that he was thus inclosed as in a fortification, which could be attacked in no other manner than by a regular siege. We spent the afternoon in reconnoitring his position; and the more we examined it, the more our uneasiness and chagrin increased, as we saw no possibility of attacking it, without exposing ourselves to be cut to pieces in a disgraceful manner. At sun

set our army traversed the village of Tranent, which was on our right, and took a new position opposite to the marsh. General Cope, at the same time, ordered his army to take a new front, supporting his right by the ditch of the inclosure, and his left by the sea, and having his front towards the lake.

Mr. Anderson, proprietor of the marsh, came to the Prince in the evening, very d-propos, to relieve us from our embarrassment. He assured him that there was a place in the marsh where we could pass it with safety, and that he himself had frequently crossed it when hunting. The Prince, having instantly caused the place

*Mr. Home says, "There was in the rebel army a person who had joined them at Edinburgh; his name was Robert Anderson, (the son of Anderson, of Whitbrough, in EastLothian,) who had been engaged in the rebellion of 1715. He knew the country exceeding well, &c." He does not say, that he was the proprietor of the ground; and he tells us that he first informed Lord George Murray of the way through the marsh.

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to be examined, ascertained that this account was correct; and that General Cope, not deeming it passable, had neglected to station a guard there. He caused the army to pass through the place in question during the night; the Highlanders moving along in files, without meeting with any opposition from the enemy, forming themselves as soon as they came out of the marsh, and extending their line towards the sea.

At break of day, General Cope took our first line, which was formed in order of battle, at the distance of two hundred paces from his army, for bushes. for bushes. It consisted of twelve hundred men; and our second line, of six hundred men, was composed of those who were badly armed; many of them, as we have already observed, having only staves or bludgeons in their hands. Captain Macgregor, of the Duke of Perth's regiment, for want of other arms, procured scythes, which he sharpened and fixed to poles of from seven to eight feet long. With these he armed his company, and they proved very destructive weapons.

When our first line had passed the marsh, Lord George dispatched me to the second line, which the Prince conducted in person, to see that it passed without noise or confusion. Having examined the line, and seen that every thing was as it should be, in returning to Lord George I found the Prince at the head of the column, accompanied by Lord Nairn, just as he was

beginning to enter the marsh, and I passed it the second time along with him. We were not yet out of the marsh, when the enemy, seeing our first line in order of battle, fired an alarmgun. At the very end of the marsh there was a deep ditch, three or four feet broad, which it was necessary to leap over, and the Prince, in making this leap, fell upon his knees on the other side. I laid hold of his arm, and immediately raised him up. On examining his countenance, it seemed to me, from the alarm expressed in it, that he considered this accident as a bad omen.

Lord George, at the head of the first line, did not give the English time to recover from their surprise. He advanced with such rapidity that General Cope had hardly time to form his troops in order of battle, when the Highlanders rushed upon them sword in hand. They had been frequently enjoined to aim at the noses of the horses with their swords, without minding the riders; as the natural movement of a horse, wounded in the face, is to wheel round: and a few horses wounded in that manner, are sufficient to throw a whole squadron into such disorder, that it is impossible afterwards to rally it. They followed this advice most implicitly, and the English cavalry were instantly thrown into confusion. *

* Mr. John Young, of Edinburgh, to whom, since the first edition of these Memoirs, the editor has been indebted for several valuable communications, was informed by a

Macgregor's company did great execution with their scythes. They cut the legs of the horses in two; and their riders through the middle of their bodies. Macgregor was brave and intrepid, but, at the same time, altogether whimsical and singular. When advancing to the charge with his company, he received five wounds, two of them from balls that pierced his body through and through. Stretched on the ground, with his head resting on his hand, he called out to the Highlanders of his company, "My lads, I am not dead! - by G-, I shall The see if of you any you does not do his duty!"* Highlanders instantly fell on the flanks of the infantry; which being uncovered and exposed from the flight of the cavalry, immediately gave Thus, in less than five minutes, we

way.

gentleman who served in the English cavalry on this occasion, " that it was the merest accident the Highlanders were not cut to pieces. The cavalry did not see the Highlanders till they were within a hundred paces of them, when they had not room to make a charge. Orders were instantly given to wheel about and ride back a little; and then to face and advance against the Highlanders at a full charge: but they were followed so rapidly by the Highlanders that they had not time to face, and he did not believe that a single stroke was given by one of them." Too implicit a reliance must not, however, be placed on the account of this officer. We must always bear in mind that it was not at Prestonpans only, but also at Clifton Hall and Falkirk that the Highlanders beat cavalry.

* James Drummond, alias Macgregor, was son of the famous Rob Roy Macgregor.