Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/205

Rh in the afternoon encamped on a rising ground, having on his right the Sheriffmuir, and on his left the town of Dunblane.

Mar, having committed the town of Perth to the care of colonel Balfour, on the 10th had come as far south as Auchterarder, with an effective force of ten thousand five hundred men, the cavalry in his army being nearly equal to Argyle's whole force. The 11th he devoted to resting the troops, fixing the order of battle, &c., and on the 12th, general Gordon, with eight squadrons of horse, and all the clans, was ordered to occupy Dunblane. The remainder of the rebel army had orders to parade early in the morning on the muir of Tullibardine, and thence to follow general Gordon. This part of the army, which was under the command of general Hamilton, had scarcely begun to move, when an express came to the general that the royal troops had already occupied Dunblane in great force. On this the general halted, and drew up his men in the order of battle on the site of the Roman camp, near Ardoch. Mar himself, who had gone to Drummond castle, being informed of the circumstance, came up with all speed, and nothing further having been heard from general Gordon, the whole was supposed to be a false alarm. The troops, however, were ordered to be in readiness, and the discharge of three cannons was to be the signal for the approach of the enemy. Scarcely had these orders been issued, when an express from general Gordon informed the earl of Mar that Argyle had occupied Dunblane with his whole force. The signal guns were of course fired, and the rebel army, formed in order of battle on the muir of Kinbuck, lay under arms during the night.

The duke of Argyle, having certain intelligence before he left Stirling of Mar's movements, was perfectly aware, that before his army had finished its encampment the watch guns of the rebels would be heard, disposed every thing exactly in the order in which he intended to make his attack next morning; of course no tent was pitched, and officers and men, without distinction, lay under arms during the night, which was uncommonly severe. The duke alone sat under cover of a sheep cote at the foot of the hill. Every thing being ready for the attack, his grace, early in the morning of Monday, the 13th, rode to the top of the hill, where his advanced guard was posted, to reconnoitre the rebels' army, which, though it had suffered much from desertion the two preceding days, was still upwards of nine thousand men, disposed in the following order Ten battalions of foot, comprising the clans commanded by Clanronald, Glengary, Sir John Maclean, and Campbell of Glenlyon. On their right were three squadrons of horse ; the Stirling, which carried the standard of the pretender, and two of the marquis of Huntley's; on their left were the Fifeshire and Perthshire squadrons. Their second line consisted of three battalions of Seaforth's, two of Huntley's, those of Panmure, Tullibardine, lord Drummond, and Strowan, commanded by their respective chieftains, Drummond's excepted, which was commanded by Strathallan and Logie Almond. On the right of this line were Marischal's dragoons, and on their left those of Angus. Of the left of their army his grace had a tolerable view, but a hollow concealed their right, and, being masters of the brow of the hill, he was unable to discover the length of their lines.

While the rebels, notwithstanding their great superiority of force, were losing their time in idle consultation whether they should presently fight or return to Perth, the duke had an opportunity of examining their dispositions, but for a considerable time could not comprehend what was their plan, and was at a loss how to form his own. No sooner had they taken the resolution to fight, however, than he perceived that they intended to attack him in front with their right, and in flank with their left, at the same time; the severity of the frost