THE JACOBITE ARMY INVADES ENGLAND

      After the victory at Prestonpans a debate arose among the Jacobite leaders. One party was made up of the politicians -- the Prince's companions who came with him from France headed by Sir Thomas Sheridan, the Prince's Irish tutor and some non-military Scots such as the newly appointed 'Duke' of Perth. They advocated invading England via the east coast route and meeting the Hanoverian army under Field Marshall Wade somewhere between Edinburgh and Newcastle. The majority party was led by Lord George Murray and the clan regimental commanders. They advocated a token invasion down the west coast to give the English Jacobites an opportunity to rise and commit themselves. This basic difference was a continuing source of friction between the two parties throughout the campaign. At this point, a compromise was reached on 31 October and the orders to march via the west coast was given.

      The Jacobite army numbered about 5500 men organized into two divisions -- Highland and Lowland -- with the Highland division leading the march. The Badenoch regiment was assigned to serve as the rear guard of the Lowland division with the task of intercepting deserters and rounding up stragglers. Numbering about 350 men (of which half bore the surname of their colonel, Ewan óg Macpherson) they had left Badenoch on 15 October and reached Edinburgh on the 1st November. That was the day that the Lowland division began the march south; the Macphersons followed on the 3rd and caught up at Moffat on the 6th. A great effort was made to maintain discipline along the route of march and to minimize marauding by the troops as well as arranging for regimental billets before the column reached its nightly halting place.

      On 9th November the Jacobite army entered England and the following day invested the fortified town of Carlisle. The next day a report was received that Marshall Wade's force was marching toward them from the east coast. The Jacobite army abandoned the siege for the moment and deployed nine miles to the east to oppose them. However, the report turned out to be false and the siege resumed. The town and castle surrendered on the 16th and the Duke of Perth, a Catholic, had the task of negotiating the terms including the liberties of the town's Protestants. This upset the senior Scottish officers and Lord George Murray offered to resign his commission. When the Prince rashly accepted his resignation, the Highland regimental commanders petitioned the Prince to restore Murray, which he did. The incident indicated the troubles that lay ahead for the Jacobite cause.

      On 18th November another council of war was held. The majority party repeated its reluctance to advance deeper into England with such a small army and alarmed at the failure of the English Jacobites to rise and join the rebellion. They maintained that the prudent course to follow would be to return to Scotland and conduct a defensive war there until their numbers would support offensive operations. The Prince insisted that the invasion continue and, at length, the Highlanders consented.

      The march south was resumed on 19th November but the army's numbers had shrunk by a thousand men during the march to Carlisle. The Macpherson regiment was now assigned to the Highland division and its position in the column rotated from day to day. Few English Jacobites joined the army during the next ten days of march and the reaction of the locals changed from apathy to outright hostility. When the army reached Manchester on 29th November they rested for a day. During rest, a pitifully-small local regiment was organized and third council of war was held with the same issues being debated. Lord George was quoted as saying that the highlanders ". . . did not pretend to put a King upon the throne of England without their consent . . . ." They again advocated returning to Scotland but reluctantly agreed to march to Derby in a last effort to encourage the English Jacobites to show themselves.

      The army departed Manchester on 1st December with the Macpherson regiment carrying the Royal Standard, a much-sought privilege thus rotated amongst the regiments. Derby was reached on the 4th and an acrimonious council of war was held the next day. No evidence of more than token support by English Jacobites had been seen and the army was being harassed daily by local militias as they marched. Furthermore, word was received that several Hanoverian forces were moving to intercept them. The Highlanders again insisted on return to Scotland and the frustrated Prince used very abusive language to accuse those who opposed marching on to London of betrayal. This time, the position of the Highlanders prevailed. The return to Scotland began on 6th December 1745.