Chapter XVII: A.d. 1650-1660 (1)

Commonwealth, 1649-1660.

Arrival of Charles II.--Cromwell invades Scotland--Attacks
the Scotch army near Edinburgh--His further movements--The
Dunfermline Declaration--Retreat of Cromwell--Battle of
Dunbar--Declaration and Warning of the kirk--Flight of the
king from Perth--Insurrections in the Highlands--Proceedings
of Cromwell--Conduct of the western army--Cromwell marches
north--Enters Perth--Scotch army invades England--Battle of
Worcester--Operations of Monk in Scotland--Administration of
affairs committed to him--Earl of Glencairn’s insurrection in the
Highlands--Chiefs of the insurrection submit to Monk--Cameron of
Lochiel--State of the country--Restoration of Charles II.

Having arranged with the commissioners the conditions on which he was to ascend the Scottish throne, Charles, with about 500 attendants, left Holland on the 2d of June, in some vessels furnished him by the Prince of Orange, and after a boisterous voyage of three weeks, during which he was daily in danger of being captured by English cruizers, arrived in the Moray frith, and disembarked at Garmouth, a small village at the mouth of the Spey, on the 23d of that month. Before landing, however, Charles readily gave his signature to the Covenant, which subsequent events showed he had no intention of observing longer than suited his purpose.

The news of the king’s arrival reached Edinburgh on the 26th of June. The guns of the castle were fired in honour of the event, and the inhabitants manifested their joy by bonfires and other demonstrations of popular feeling. The same enthusiasm spread quickly throughout the kingdom, and his majesty was welcomed with warm congratulations as he proceeded on his journey towards Falkland, which had been fixed upon by parliament as the place of his residence. The pleasure he received from these professions of loyalty was, however, not without alloy, as he was obliged, at the request of the parliament, to dismiss from his presence some of his best friends, both Scotch and English, particularly the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Lauderdale, and other “engagers,” who, by an act passed on the 4th of June against “classed delinquents,” were debarred from returning to the kingdom, or remaining therein, “without the express warrant of the Estates of parliament.”[424] Of the English exiles the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Wilmot, and seven gentlemen of the household were allowed to remain with him.[425] In fact, with these exceptions, every person even suspected of being a “malignant,” was carefully excluded from the court, and his majesty was thus surrounded by the heads of the Covenanters and the clergy. These last scarcely ever left his person, watched his words and motions, and inflicted upon him long harangues, in which he was often reminded of the misfortunes of his family.

The rulers of the English commonwealth, aware of the negotiations which had been going on between the young king and the Scots commissioners in Holland, became apprehensive of their own stability, should a union take place between the Covenanters and the English Presbyterians, to support the cause of the king, and they therefore resolved to invade Scotland, and by reducing it to their authority extinguish for ever the hopes of the king and his party. Fairfax was appointed commander-in-chief, and Cromwell lieutenant-general of the army destined for this purpose; but as Fairfax considered the invasion of Scotland as a violation of the solemn league and covenant which he had sworn to observe, he refused, notwithstanding the most urgent entreaties, to accept the command, which in consequence devolved upon Cromwell.

The preparations making in England for the invasion of Scotland were met with corresponding activity in Scotland, the parliament of which ordered an army of 30,000 men to be immediately raised to maintain the independence of the country. The nominal command of this army was given to the Earl of Leven, who had become old and infirm; but David Leslie his relative, was in reality the commander. The levies went on with considerable rapidity, but before they were assembled Cromwell crossed the Tweed on the 22d of July at the head of 16,000 well appointed and highly disciplined troops. On his march from Berwick to Musselburgh a scene of desolation was presented to the eyes of Cromwell, far surpassing anything he had ever before witnessed. With the exception of a few old women and children, not a human being was to be seen, and the whole country appeared as one great waste over which the hand of the ruthless destroyer had exercised its ravages. To understand the cause of this it is necessary to mention, that, with the view of depriving the enemy of provisions, instructions had been issued to lay waste the country between Berwick and the capital, to remove or destroy the cattle and provisions, and that the inhabitants should retire to other parts of the kingdom under the severest penalties. To induce them to comply with this ferocious command, appalling statements of the cruelties of Cromwell in Ireland were industriously circulated among the people; that he had given orders to put all the males between 16 and 60 to death, to cut of the right hands of all the boys between 6 and 16, and to bore with red-hot irons the breasts of all females of age for bearing children.[426] Fortunately for his army Cromwell had provided a fleet in case of exigency, which kept up with him in his march along the coast, and supplied him with provisions.

The English general continued his course along the coast till he arrived at Musselburgh, where he established his head-quarters. Here he learnt that the Scots army, consisting of upwards of 30,000 men, had taken up a strong position between Edinburgh and Leith, and had made a deep entrenchment in front of their lines, along which they had erected several batteries. Cromwell reconnoitered this position, and tried all his art to induce the Scots to come to a general engagement; but as Leslie’s plan was to act on the defensive, and thus force Cromwell either to attack him at a considerable disadvantage, or to retreat back into England after his supply of provisions should be exhausted, he kept his army within their entrenchments.

As Cromwell perceived that he would be soon reduced to the alternative of attacking the Scots in their position, or of retracing his steps through the ruined track over which his army had lately passed, he resolved upon an assault, and fixed Monday the 29th of July for advancing on the enemy. By a singular coincidence, the king, at the instigation of the Earl of Eglinton, but contrary to the wish of his council and the commanders, visited the army that very day. His presence was hailed with shouts of enthusiasm by the soldiers, who indulged in copious libations to the health of their sovereign. The soldiers in consequence neglected their duty, and great confusion prevailed in the camp;[427] but on the approach of Cromwell sufficient order was restored, and they patiently waited his attack. Having selected the centre of the enemy’s position, near a spot called the Quarry Holes, about half-way between Edinburgh and Leith, as appearing to him the most favourable point for commencing the operations of the day, Cromwell led forward his army to the assault; but after a desperate struggle he was repulsed with the loss of a considerable number of men and horses.[428] Cromwell renewed the attack on the 31st, and would probably have carried Leslie’s position but for a destructive fire from some batteries near Leith. Cromwell retired to Musselburgh in the evening, where he was unexpectedly attacked by a body of 2,000 horse and 500 foot, commanded by Major-General Montgomery, son of the Earl of Eglinton, and Colonel Strachan, which had been despatched at an early part of the day by a circuitous route to the right, for the purpose of falling on Cromwell’s rear. If Balfour is to be credited, this party beat Cromwell “soundlie,” and would have defeated his whole army if they had had an additional force of 1,000 men; but an English writer informs us, that the Scots suffered severely.[429] According to the first-mentioned author the English had 5 colonels and 500 men killed, while the latter states the loss of the Scots to have been about 100 men, and a large number of prisoners. On the following day, Cromwell, probably finding that he had enough of mouths to consume his provisions, without the aid of prisoners, offered to exchange all those he had taken the preceding day, and sent the wounded Scots back to their camp.

These encounters, notwithstanding the expectations of the ministers, and the vaunts of the parliamentary committee of their pretended successes, inspired some of Leslie’s officers with a salutary dread of the prowess of Cromwell’s veterans. An amusing instance of this feeling is related by Balfour in the case of the earl of W. (he suppresses the name) who “being commandit the nixt day (the day after the last mentioned skirmish) in the morning, to marche out one a partey, saw he could not goe one upone service untill he had his brackefaste. The brackefaste was delayed above four hours in getting until the L. General being privily advertissed by a secrett frind, that my Lord was peaceably myndit that morning, sent him expresse orders not to marche, to save his reputation. One this, the gallants of the army raissed a proverbe, ‘That they wold not goe out one a partey until they gate ther brackefaste.’”[430]

For several days Cromwell remained inactive in his camp, during which the parliamentary committee subjected the Scots army to a purging operation, which impaired its efficiency, and, perhaps, contributed chiefly to its ruin. As the Solemn League and Covenant was considered by the Covenanters a sacred pledge to God, which no true Christian could refuse to take, they looked upon those who declined to subscribe it as the enemies of religion, with whom it would be criminal in the eye of Heaven to associate. Before the purgation commenced, the king received a hint, equivalent to a command, from the heads of the Covenanters to retire to Dunfermline, an order which he obeyed “sore against his own mind,”[431] by taking his departure on Friday the 2d of August, after spending the short space of two hours at a banquet, which had been provided for him by the city of Edinburgh. No sooner had the king departed than the purging process was commenced, and on the 2d, 3d, and 5th of August, during which the committee held their sittings, no less than 80 officers, all men of unquestionable loyalty, besides a considerable number of common soldiers, were expelled from the army.[432]

Cromwell retired with his army to Dunbar on the 5th of August. Here he found the few inhabitants who had remained in the town in a state of starvation. Touched with commiseration, he generously distributed among them, on his supplies being landed, a considerable quantity of wheat and pease.[433]

While the ministers were thanking God “for sending the sectarian army (for so they designated the Independents) back the way they came, and flinging such a terror into their hearts, as made them fly when none pursued,”[434] Cromwell suddenly re-appeared at Musselburgh, and thus put an end to their thanksgivings.

Seeing no hopes of the Scots army leaving its entrenchments, and afraid that farther delay might be injurious to him, Cromwell made a movement on the 13th of August to the west, as far as the village of Colinton, three miles south-west from Edinburgh, where he posted the main body of his army. The Scottish general thinking that Cromwell had an intention of attacking him in his rear, raised his camp and marched towards Corstorphine, about two miles north from Colinton, where he drew out his army. Both armies surveyed each other for several days, but neither attempted to bring the other to action. As he could not, from the nature of the ground which lay between the two armies, attack his opponents with any probability of success, Cromwell again returned to Musselburgh with his army on a Sunday, that he might not be harassed in his march by the Covenanters, who never fought but on the defensive on that day.

Although the king before his landing had subscribed the Solemn League and Covenant, and although they had purged the army to their heart’s content, still Argyle and his party were not satisfied, and they, therefore, required his majesty to subscribe a declaration “for the satisfaction of all honest men.” On the 16th of August, after some hesitation and with slight modification of the terms, Charles was induced to sign a most humiliating declaration, which reflected upon the conduct of his father, lamented the “idolatry” of his mother, pledged him to renounce the friendship of all who were unfriendly to the Covenant, establish Presbyterianism in England, in short, made him a mere tool in the hands of the extreme Covenanters.

Although every sober and judicious person must have perceived that there was little probability that such a declaration would be regarded by the young monarch when released from his trammels, yet so greatly important was his majesty’s subscription to the instrument considered by the Covenanters, that they hailed it with the most lively emotions of joy and gratitude; and the ministers who, only two days before, had denounced the king from the pulpits as the root of malignancy, and a hypocrite, who had shown, by his refusal to sign the declaration, that he had no intention to keep the Covenant, were the first to set the example. The army, excited by the harangues of the ministers during a fast, which they proclaimed to appease the anger of heaven for the sins of the king and his father, longed to meet the enemy, and it required all the influence and authority of General Leslie to restrain them from leaving their lines and rushing upon the “sectaries;” but, unfortunately for the Covenanters, their wish was soon to be gratified.

It does not appear that the chiefs of the Covenanters were actuated by the same enthusiasm as the ministers and the common soldiers, or that the generals of the army were very sanguine of success. They were too well aware of the composition of Cromwell’s veteran host, to suppose that their raw and undisciplined levies, though numerically superior, could meet the enemy in the open field; and hence they deemed it a wise course of policy to act on the defensive, and to harass them by a desultory warfare as occasion offered. This system had been so successful as to embarrass Cromwell greatly, and to leave him no alternative but a retreat into England--a course which he was obliged to adopt more speedily, perhaps, than he would otherwise have done, in consequence of extensive sickness in his army. No indications of any movement had appeared up to the 29th of August, as on that day the Committee of Estates adjourned the meeting of parliament, which was to have then assembled, till the 10th of September, “in respecte that Oliver Cromwell and his armey of sectaries and blasphemers have invadit this kingdome, and are now laying within the bosome thereof.”[435]

On the 30th of August, however, Cromwell collected his army at Musselburgh, and having put all his sick on board his fleet, which lay in the adjoining bay, he gave orders to his army to march next morning to Haddington, and thence to Dunbar. He made an attempt to obtain the consent of the Committee of Estates to retire without molestation, promising never again to interfere in the affairs of Scotland; but they refused to agree to his proposal, as they considered that they would be able to cut off his retreat and compel him to surrender at discretion.

Next morning Cromwell’s army was in full retreat towards Haddington. The Scots army followed in close pursuit, but with the exception of some slight skirmishing between the advanced guard of the Scots and Cromwell’s rear, nothing important took place. Cromwell halted during the night at Haddington, and offered battle next day; but as the Scots declined, he continued his retreat to Dunbar, which he reached in the evening. With the intention of cutting off his retreat, Leslie drew off his army to the south towards the heights of Lammermuir, and took up a position on Doon hill. Having at the same time secured an important pass called the Peaths, through which Cromwell had necessarily to pass on his way to Berwick, the situation of the latter became extremely critical, as he had no chance of escape but by cutting his way through the Scots army, which had now completely obstructed his line of retreat. Cromwell perceived the danger of his situation, but he was too much of an enthusiast to give way to despair; he deliberately, and within view of the enemy, shipped off the remainder of his sick at Dunbar, on the 2d of September, intending, should Providence not directly interpose in his behalf, to put his foot also on board, and at the head of his cavalry to cut his way through the Scots army.[436] But as, in an affair of such importance, nothing could be done without prayer, he directed his men to “seek the Lord for a way of deliverance and salvation.”[437] A part of the day was accordingly spent in prayer, and at the conclusion, Cromwell declared, that while he prayed he felt an enlargement of heart and a buoyancy of spirit which assured him that God had hearkened to their prayers.[438]

While Cromwell and his men were employed in their devotional exercises, a council of war was held by the Scottish commander to deliberate upon the course to be pursued in the present crisis. As Leslie considered himself perfectly secure in his position, which could not be assailed by the enemy without evident risk of a defeat, and as he was apprehensive of a most formidable and desperate resistance should he venture to attack the brave and enthusiastic Independents, who were drawn out within two miles of his camp; he gave as his opinion that the Scottish army should not only remain in its position, but that Cromwell should be allowed to retire into England on certain easy conditions. The officers of the army concurred in the views of the general, but this opinion was overruled by the Committees of the Estates and kirk, who, anxious to secure their prey, lest by any possibility it might escape, insisted that the army should descend from the heights and attack the “army of sectaries and blasphemers,” which they fully expected the Lord would deliver into their hands.

In pursuance of the orders of the Committees to attack Cromwell early the following morning, Leslie drew down his men on the evening of the 2d of September from the heights which they occupied to the level ground below, that he might be ready to commence the attack before the enemy should be fully on their guard. But nothing could escape the penetrating eye of Cromwell, who, though pondering with solicitude upon the difficulties of his situation, was not inattentive to the enemy, whose motions he personally watched with the utmost vigilance and assiduity. He was about retiring for the night, when looking through his glass for the last time that evening, he perceived, to his infinite joy, the Scottish army in motion down the hill. The object of this movement at once occurred to him, and in a rapture of enthusiasm he exclaimed, “They are coming down;--the Lord hath delivered them into our hands.” A strong spirit of religious enthusiasm had in fact seized both armies, and each considered itself the peculiar favourite of heaven.

Unfortunately for the Scots their movements were considerably impeded by the state of the weather, which, during the night, became very rainy and tempestuous. Confident in their numbers, they seem to have disregarded the ordinary rules of military prudence, and such was the slowness of their movements, that they found themselves unexpectedly attacked at the dawn of day before the last of their forces had left the hill where they had been stationed. Cromwell had, during the night, advanced his army to the edge of a deep ravine which had separated the advanced posts of both parties, along which his troops reposed waiting in deep silence the order for attack. As soon as Cromwell was enabled by the approach of day to obtain a partial view of the position selected by the Scots, he perceived that the Scottish general had posted a large body of cavalry on his right wing near to a pass on the road from Dunbar to Berwick, with the evident intention of preventing the English from effecting an escape. To this point, therefore, Cromwell directed his attack with the main body of his horse, and some regiments of foot, with which he endeavoured to obtain possession of the pass; but they were charged by the Scottish lancers, who, aided by some artillery, drove them down the hill. Cromwell, thereupon, brought up a reserve of horse and foot and renewed the attack, but was again repulsed. He still persevered, however, and the cavalry were again giving way, when just as the sun was emerging from the ocean, and beginning, through the mist of the morning, to dart its rays upon the armour of the embattled hosts, he exclaimed with impassioned fervour,--“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.” In a moment Cromwell’s own regiment of foot, to whom his exclamation had been more particularly addressed, advanced with their pikes levelled, the cavalry rallied, and the Scottish horse, as if seized with a panic, turned their backs and fled, producing the utmost confusion among the foot, who were posted in their rear.

As soon as the Scots perceived the defeat and flight of their cavalry, they were seized with a feeling of consternation, and throwing away their arms, sought their safety in flight. They were closely pursued by Cromwell’s dragoons, who followed them to the distance of many miles in the direction of Edinburgh, and cut them down without mercy. Out of a force of 27,000 men, who, a few hours before, had assured themselves of victory, not more than 14,000 escaped. 3,000 of the Scots lay lifeless on the fertile plains of East Lothian, and about 10,000 were taken prisoners, of whom not less than 5,000 were wounded.[439] All the ammunition, artillery, and baggage of the Scots army fell into the hands of the conquerors. The loss on the side of Cromwell was trifling, not amounting to more than 30 men killed. The battle of Dunbar took place on the 3d of September, 1650, and was long familiarly known among the Scots by the name of “the Tyesday’s chase.”

Cromwell spent the following day at Dunbar writing despatches to the parliament. He ordered all the wounded to be taken particular care of, and after their wounds were dressed they were released on their parole. The remainder of the prisoners were sent to England, where about 2,000 of them died of a pestilential disease, and the rest were sent as slaves to the English plantations in the West Indies. Cromwell, of course, now abandoned his intention of returning to England. In furtherance of his design to subject Scotland to his authority, he marched to Edinburgh, which he entered without opposition.

In the meantime, the Scottish horse and the few foot which had escaped from the slaughter of Dunbar were collected together at Stirling. Here the Commissioners of the General Assembly held a meeting on the 12th of September, at which they drew up a “declaration and warning to all the congregations of the kirk of Scotland,” exhorting the people to bear the recent disaster with becoming fortitude, and to humble themselves before God that he might turn away his anger from them; at the same time ordaining a “soleme publicke humiliatione upone the defait of the armey,” to be kept throughout the kingdom.

It is probable that this “declaration and warning” had little effect upon the minds of the people, whose enthusiasm had been somewhat cooled by Cromwell’s success, and although they did not, perhaps, like their unfortunate countrymen, who were taken captives on the 3d of September and sent into England, curse the king and clergy for insnaring them in misery, as Whitelock observes, they could not but look upon the perpetual meddling of the ministers with the affairs of the State, as the real source of all the calamities which had recently befallen the country. As to the king he had become so thoroughly disgusted with the conduct of the Argyle faction, whose sole object seemed to be to use him as a tool for their own purposes, that he regarded the recent defeat of the Covenanters in the light of a triumph to his cause, which, by destroying the power of Argyle, would pave the way for the due exercise of the royal authority.

The king now entertained the idea of forming a party for himself among the numerous royalists in the Highlands, for which purpose he opened up a correspondence with Huntly, Moray, and Athole, and other chiefs; but before matters were fully concocted, the negotiation was disclosed to Argyle, who took immediate means to defeat it. Accordingly, on the 27th of September, the Committee of Estates ordered the whole cavaliers who still remained about the king’s person, with the exception of three, one of whom was Buckingham, to quit the court within 24 hours, and the kingdom in 20 days.

As Charles was to be thus summarily deprived of the society and advice of his friends, he took the resolution of leaving Perth, and retiring to the Highlands among his friends. Accordingly, under the pretence of hawking, he left Perth about half-past one o’clock in the afternoon of the 4th of October, accompanied by five of his livery servants, and rode at full gallop, until he arrived at Dudhope near Dundee, which he did in an hour and a half. He then proceeded to Auchter-house along with Viscount Dudhope, whence he was conveyed by the Earl of Buchan and the Viscount to Cortuquhuy, the seat of the Earl of Airly. After partaking of some refreshment he proceeded the same night up the glen, under the protection of 60 or 80 Highlanders, to a poor cottage, 42 miles from Perth, belonging to the laird of Clova. Fatigued by such a long journey, he threw himself down on an old mattress, but he had not enjoyed many hours repose when the house was entered, a little before break of day, by Lieutenant-Colonel Nairne, and Colonel Baynton, an Englishman, who had been sent by Colonel Montgomery in quest of him. Shortly after Montgomery himself appeared, accompanied by the laird of Scotscraig, who had given him information of the place of his Majesty’s retreat, and Sir Alexander Hope bearing one of the king’s hawks. This party advised the king to get on horseback, offered to attend him, and promised to live and die with him if necessary.

Perceiving their intention to carry him back to Perth, the king told Montgomery that he had left Perth in consequence of information he had received from Dr. Fraser, his physician, that it was the intention of the Committee of Estates to have delivered him up to the English, and to hang all his servants: Montgomery assured his Majesty that the statement was false, and that no person but a traitor could have invented it. While this altercation was going on, Dudhope and the Highlanders who attended the king strongly advised him to retire instantly to the mountains, and they gave him to understand that a force of 2,000 horse and 5,000 foot was waiting for him within the distance of five or six miles ready to execute his orders; but before his Majesty had come to any resolution as to the course he should adopt, two regiments of covenanting horse appeared, on observing which, says Balfour, “Buchan, Dudhope and ther begerly guard begane to shecke ther eares, and speake more calmley, and in a lower strain.” The king thereupon gave his consent to return to Perth, whither he was accordingly conducted by Montgomery at the head of his horse.[440]

This attempt of the king to escape (familiarly known by the name of “the Start”) produced a salutary effect upon the Committee of Estates, and they now began to treat him with more respect, admitting him to their deliberations, and even suspending the act they had issued ordering the English cavaliers to leave the kingdom.

As a considerable part of the Highlands was now up in arms to support the king, the committee induced him to write letters to the chief leaders of the insurrection desiring them to lay down their arms, which correspondence led to a protracted negotiation. An act of indemnity was passed on the 12th of October, in favour of the people of Athole, who had taken up arms; but as it was couched in language which they disliked, and contained conditions of which they disapproved, the Earl of Athole and his people presented a petition to his majesty and the committee, craving some alteration in the terms.

In order to enforce the orders of the king to the northern royalists, to lay down their arms, Sir John Brown’s regiment was despatched to the north; but they were surprised during the night of the 21st of October, and defeated by a party under Sir David Ogilvie, brother to Lord Ogilvie. On receiving this intelligence, General Leslie hastened to Perth from Stirling, and crossed the Tay on the 24th, with a force of 3,000 cavalry, with which he was ordered to proceed to Dundee and scour Angus. At this time General Middleton was lying at Forfar, and he, on hearing of Leslie’s advance, sent him a letter, inclosing a copy of a “bond and oath of engagement” which had been entered into by Huntly, Athole, Seaforth, Middleton, and other individuals, by which they had pledged themselves to join firmly and faithfully together, and neither for fear, threatening, allurement, nor advantage, to relinquish the cause of religion, of the king and of the kingdom, nor to lay down their arms without a general consent; and as the best undertakings often did not escape censure and malice, they promised and swore, for the satisfaction of all reasonable persons, that they would maintain the true religion, as then established in Scotland, the National Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant; and defend the person of the king, his prerogative, greatness, and authority, and the privileges of parliament, and the freedom of the subject. Middleton stated that Leslie would perceive from the terms of the document inclosed, that the only aim of himself and friends was to unite Scotsmen in defence of their common rights, and that the grounds on which they had entered into the association were precisely the same as those professed by Leslie himself. As the independence of Scotland was at stake, and as Scotsmen should unite for the preservation of their liberties, he proposed to join Leslie, and to put himself under his command, and he expressed a hope that Leslie would not shed the blood of his countrymen, or force them to the unhappy necessity of shedding the blood of their brethren in self-defence.[441] The negotiation thus begun was finally concluded on the 4th of November at Strathbogie, agreeably to a treaty between Leslie and the chief royalists, by which the latter accepted an indemnity and laid down their arms.

Cromwell did not follow up his success as might have been expected, but contented himself with laying siege to the castle of Edinburgh, and pushing forward his advanced posts as far as Linlithgow.

Among the leading Covenanters both in parliament and the church, there were some whose political ideas were pretty similar to those of Cromwell, respecting monarchical government, and who had not only approved of the execution of the late king, but were desirous of excluding his son from the crown of Scotland. This party, though a minority, made up for its numerical inferiority, by the talents, fanaticism, and restless activity of its partisans; but formidable as their opposition in parliament was, they found themselves unable effectually to resist the general wish of the nation in favour of the king, and yielded to the force of circumstances. By excluding, however, the royalists from the camp, and keeping the king in a state of subjection to their authority, they had succeeded in usurping the government, and had the disaster of Dunbar not occurred, might have been enabled to carry their designs against the monarchy into effect; but notwithstanding this catastrophe, they were not discouraged, and as soon as they had recovered from the temporary state of alarm into which the success of Cromwell had thrown them, they began to concert measures, in accordance with a plan they now contemplated, for making themselves altogether independent of parliament. For this purpose, under the pretence of opposing the common enemy, they solicited and obtained permission from the Committee of Estates to raise forces in the counties of Dumfries, Galloway, Wigton, Ayr, and Renfrew, the inhabitants of which were imbued with a sterner spirit of fanaticism, and therefore more ready to support their plans than those of any other parts of Scotland. By bringing in the exhortations of Gillespie and others of the more rigid among the ministers to their aid, they succeeded in a short time in raising a body of nearly 5,000 horse, over which Strachan, Kerr, and two other colonels, all mere tools of the party, were placed.

As soon as the leaders of this faction, of whom Johnston of Warriston, the clerk-register, was chief, had collected these levies, they began to develop the plan they had formed of withdrawing themselves from the control of the Committee of Estates by raising a variety of objections against the line of conduct pursued by the Committee, and, till these were removed, they refused to unite “the western army,” as this new force was called, with the army under Leslie. Cromwell, aware of this division in the Scottish army, endeavoured to widen the breach by opening a correspondence with Strachan, who had fought under him at Preston, the consequence being that Strachan soon went over to the English army with a body of troopers. Leslie complained to the Estates of the refusal of the western forces to join him, and solicited to be recalled from his charge; but they declined to receive his resignation, and sent a deputation, consisting of Argyle, Cassilis, and other members to the western army, “to solicit unity for the good of the kingdom.”[442] So unsuccessful, however, was the deputation in bringing about this desired “unity,” that, on the 17th October, an elaborate paper, titled, “the humble Remonstrance of the Gentlemen-Commanders, and Ministers attending the forces in the west,” addressed to the Committee of Estates, was drawn up and presented by Sir George Maxwell to them at Stirling, on the 22d. The compilers of this document proposed to remove from the presence of the king, the judicatories and the armies, the “malignants,” whom many of the committee were accused of having received “into intimate friendship,” admitting them to their councils, and bringing in some of them to the parliament and committees, and about the king, thereby affording “many pregnant presumptions,” of a design on the part of some of the Committee of Estates, “to set up and employ the malignant party,” or, at least, giving “evidences of a strong inclination to intrust them again in the managing of the work of God.”[443] The Committee of Estates paid no regard to this remonstrance, a circumstance which gave such umbrage to Warriston and the leaders of the western army, that they drew up another, couched in still stronger language, on the 30th of October, at Dumfries, whither they had retired with the army on a movement made by Cromwell to the west. In this fresh remonstrance the faction declared that as it was now manifest that the king was opposed to the work of God and the Covenants, and cleaving to the enemies of both, they would not regard him or his interest in their quarrel with the invaders; that he ought not to be intrusted in Scotland with the exercise of his power till he gave proofs of a real change in his conduct; and that an effectual course ought to be taken for preventing, in time coming, “his conjunction with the malignant party,” and for investigating into the cause of his late flight; and that the malignants should be rendered incapable in future of hurting the work and people of God.[444]

A petition having been presented to the Committee of Estates on the 9th of November, requiring a satisfactory answer to the first remonstrance, a joint declaration was issued by the king and the committee on the 25th, declaring “the said paper, as it related to the parliament and civil judicatories, to be scandalous and injurious to his majesty’s person, and prejudicial to his authority.” The commission of the General Assembly having been required to give their opinion upon the remonstrance, in so far as it related to religion and church judicatories, acknowledged that, although it contained “many sad truths,” nevertheless, the commission declared itself dissatisfied with the remonstrance, which it considered apt to breed division in kirk and kingdom.[445] This declaration of the commission was not only approved of by the General Assembly, but what was of equal importance, that venerable body passed a resolution declaring that in such a perilous crisis all Scotsmen might be employed to defend their country. An exception of persons “excommunicated, forfeited, notoriously profane, or flagitious, and professed enemies and opposers of the Covenant and cause of God,”[446] was no doubt made, but this exemption did not exclude _all_ the “malignants.” A breach was now made in the unity of the Scottish church, and the nation was split into two parties--a division which paved the way for the subjugation of Scotland by Cromwell. The party which adhered to the king was distinguished by the name of _Resolutioners_, and the other was denominated _Protesters_, a distinction which was kept up for several years.

Nothing could be more gratifying to Cromwell than to see the Scots thus divided among themselves, and keeping up two distinct armies in the field, mutually opposed to each other. He had by negotiation and intrigue contributed to increase the irritation between the two parties, and had even succeeded in sowing the seeds of dissension among the leaders of the western army itself. Strachan, his old friend, had resigned the command which had been conferred on Kerr, who was by no means hearty in the cause. In this situation of matters Cromwell resolved, in the meantime, to confine his attention to the operations of the western army, with the intention, if he succeeded in defeating it, of marching north with the whole of his forces, and attacking the royal army. As the castle of Edinburgh was still in the hands of the Covenanters, Cromwell could only spare a force of about 7,000 horse, which he accordingly sent west about the end of November, under Lambert, to watch Kerr’s motions. Intelligence of this movement was received by the parliament then sitting at Perth, on the 30th of November, in consequence of which Colonel Robert Montgomery was despatched with three regiments to support the western army, the command of which he was requested by the parliament to take; and, to enforce this order, the committee on military affairs was directed to send a deputation to the western forces to intimate to them the command of the parliament. Before the arrival however, of Montgomery, Kerr was defeated on the 1st of December, in an attack he made on Lambert at Hamilton, in which he himself was taken prisoner, and the whole of his forces dispersed.[447] This victory gave Cromwell quiet possession of the whole of Scotland, south of the Clyde and the Forth, with the exception of Stirling, and a small tract around it; and as the castle of Edinburgh surrendered on the 24th of December, Stirling castle was the only fortress of any note, south of the Forth, which remained in the possession of the royalists at the close of the year.

A considerable time, however, elapsed before Cromwell found himself in a condition to commence his intended campaign beyond the Forth. His inactivity is to be ascribed partly to an ague with which he was seized in February, 1651, and which had impaired his health so much that in May he obtained permission to return to England to recruit his debilitated constitution; but a sudden and favourable change having taken place in the state of his health, he gladly remained with the army, which he put in motion towards Stirling on the 3d of July.

The Scottish parliament was fully aware of the impending danger, and made the necessary preparations to meet it, but the Engagers and the party of Argyle did not always draw together; yet the king had the address, by his accommodating and insinuating behaviour, to smooth down many differences, and thus prepared the way for that ascendency which his friends, the Hamiltons, afterwards obtained. The coronation of the king took place at Scone, on the 1st of January, 1651, in pursuance of an order of the parliament. His conduct on that occasion added greatly to his growing popularity. The first trial of strength, to borrow a modern parliamentary phrase, which took place in the parliament, was on the 23d of December, 1650, on the nomination of colonels to the different horse and foot regiments then in the course of being raised. A list of them had been submitted to the house on the 20th, which contained about an equal number of royalists and Covenanters. This gave rise to a long debate, but the list was finally approved of.

Among the colonels of foot, were the Earls of Athole and Tulliebardine, and the Master of Gray for Perth; the lairds of Maclean and Ardkinlass for Argyle and Bute; the laird of Grant and the sheriff of Moray for Nairne, Elgin, and “Grant’s Lands;” the lairds of Pluscardine, Balnagowan, the master of Lovat, and the laird of Lumlair, for Inverness and Ross; Lord Sutherland and Henry Mackay of Skowrie, for Sutherland and Strathnaver; the master of Caithness for Caithness; and Duncan Macpherson for Badenoch. The clans in the Highlands and the Isles were to be commanded respectively by Macdonald, the tutor of Macleod, Clanranald, the tutor of Keppoch, the laird of Lochaber, the tutor of Maclean, Lochiel, Macneil of Barra, Lauchlane Mackintosh, and the laird of Jura.[448]

Argyle and his party made several attempts, afterwards, to check the rising influence of the Hamiltons, by opposing the different plans submitted to the parliament for rendering the army more efficient, but they were outvoted. The finishing blow was given to their hopes by the appointment of the king to the chief command of the army, and by the repeal of the “act of classes,” which excluded the royalists from having any share in the administration of the affairs of the kingdom, and from serving their country.

In expectation of Cromwell’s advance, the Scots had raised, during the spring, strong fortifications along the fords of the river Forth, to obstruct his passage, and had entrenched themselves at the Torwood, having the town of Stirling at their back, in which position Cromwell found them when he advanced west in July. As he considered it dangerous to attempt to carry such a strong position in the face of an army of about 20,000 men, (for such it is said was the number of the Scots), he endeavoured, by marches and countermarches, to draw them out; but although they followed his motions, they took care not to commit themselves, by going too far from their lines of defence. Seeing no chance of bringing them to a general engagement, Cromwell adopted the bold plan of crossing the Frith of Forth at Queensferry, and of throwing himself into the rear of the Scottish army. While therefore, he continued, by his motions along the Scottish lines, to draw off the attention of the Scottish commanders from his plan, he, on the 20th of July, sent over Lambert, with a large division of his army in a number of boats which had been provided for the occasion. He landed without opposition, and proceeded immediately to fortify himself on the hill between the North Ferry and Inverkeithing. General Holburn was immediately despatched with a large force to keep Lambert in check, and though the Scots fought with great bravery, they were defeated. A body of Highlanders particularly distinguished themselves. The loss of the Scots was considerable; and among the slain were the young chief of Maclean and about 100 of his friends and followers. This victory opened a free passage to Cromwell to the north of Scotland. He immediately, therefore, crossed the Forth with the remainder of his army, and proceeded to Perth, of which he took possession on the 2d of August.

While the Scottish leaders were puzzled how to extricate themselves from the dilemma into which they had been thrown by the singular change which had lately taken place in the relative position of the two armies, the king alone seemed free from embarrassment, and at once proposed to his generals, that, instead of following Cromwell, or waiting till he should attack them, they should immediately invade England, where he expected to be joined by numerous royalists, who only required his presence among them at the head of such an army, to declare themselves. Under existing circumstances, the plan, though at once bold and decisive, was certainly judicious, and, therefore, it is not surprising that it should have received the approbation of the chiefs of the army. Having obtained their concurrence, the king immediately issued a proclamation on the 30th of July, to the army, announcing his intention of marching for England the following day, accompanied by such of his subjects as were willing to give proofs of their loyalty by sharing his fortunes. This appeal was not made in vain, and Charles found himself next morning in full march on the road to Carlisle, at the head of 11,000, or, as some accounts state, of 14,000 men. Argyle, as was to be expected, excused himself from accompanying the army, and obtained permission to retire to his castle.[449]

Although Cromwell was within almost a day’s march of the Scottish army, yet, so sudden and unexpected had been its departure, and so secretly had the whole affair been managed, that it was not until the 4th of August that he received the extraordinary intelligence of its departure for England. Cromwell was now as much embarrassed as the Scottish commander had lately been, for he had not the most distant idea, when he threw himself so abruptly into their rear, that they would adopt the bold resolution of marching into England. As soon, however, as he had recovered from the surprise into which such an alarming event had thrown him, he despatched letters to the parliament, assuring them of his intention to follow the Scottish army without delay, and exhorting them not to be discouraged, but to rely on his activity. He also sent Lambert with a force of 3,000 cavalry to harass the rear of the Scottish army, and forwarded orders to Harrison, who was then at Newcastle, to press upon their flank with a similar number; and, in a few days, he himself crossed the Forth with an army of 10,000 men, and proceeded along the eastern coast, in the direction of York, leaving Monk behind him with a force of 5,000 horse and foot to complete the reduction of Scotland.

The Scottish army reached Worcester on the 22d, and on being mustered the king found that he had at his command only 14,000 men, 2,000 of whom were Englishmen. To attack this force, large bodies of parliamentary troops were concentrated at Worcester, and on the 28th of August, when Cromwell arrived to take the command, the army of the republic amounted to upwards of 30,000 men, who hailed the presence of their commander with rapture. The two armies met on the 3d of September, the anniversary of the battle of Dunbar, and the disastrous result is well known, it being out of place here to enter into details. The king himself, at the head of the Highlanders, fought with great bravery: his example animated the troops, and had he been supported by Leslie’s cavalry, as was expected, the issue of the struggle might have been different. As it was, the royal army was completely defeated, and the king had to provide for his personal safety by flight.

This battle, which Cromwell admits “was as stiff a contest for four or five hours as ever he had seen,” was very disastrous to the royalists, 3,000 of whom were killed on the spot, and a considerably larger number taken prisoners, and even the greater part of the cavalry, who escaped from the city, were afterwards taken by detachments of the enemy. The Duke of Hamilton was mortally wounded in the field of battle; the Earls of Derby, Lauderdale, Rothes, Cleveland and Kelly, Lords Sinclair, Kenmure and Grandison, and Generals Leslie, Middleton, Massey and Montgomery, were made prisoners after the battle. When the king considered himself free from immediate danger, he separated, during the darkness of the night, from the body of cavalry which surrounded him, and with a party of 60 horse proceeded to Whiteladies, a house belonging to one Giffard a recusant and royalist, at which he arrived at an early hour in the morning, after a ride of 25 miles. After a series of extraordinary adventures and of the most singular hair-breadth escapes, he landed in safety at Fecamp in Normandy, on the 17th of October.

While Cromwell was following the king through England, Monk proceeded to complete the subjugation of Scotland. He first laid siege to Stirling castle, into which he threw shells from batteries he had raised, the explosion of which so alarmed the Highlanders who composed the garrison, that they forced the governor to surrender. All the records of the kingdom, the royal robes, and part of the regalia, which had been locked up in the castle as a place of perfect security, fell into the hands of the captors, and were sent by Monk to England. He next proceeded to Dundee, which was strongly fortified and well garrisoned, and contained within it an immense quantity of costly furniture and plate, besides a large sum of money, all of which had been lodged in the town for safety. Monk, hearing that the Committees of the Estates and of the kirk were sitting at Alyth in Angus, sent a company of horse, who surprised the whole party and made them prisoners.

When the necessary preparations for an assault had been completed, Monk sent a summons to Lumsden, the governor of Dundee, to surrender, but he rejected it with disdain. The obstinacy of Lumsden exasperated Monk, who ordered his troops to storm the town, and to put the garrison and all the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, to the sword. The town was accordingly carried by assault on the 1st of September, and was followed by all the horrors which an infuriated soldiery could inflict upon a defenceless population. The townsmen gave no aid to the garrison, and when the republican troops entered the town, they found the greater part of them lying drunk in the streets. The carnage was stayed, but not until 800 males, including the greater part of the garrison, and about 200 women and children, were killed. Among the slain, was Lumsden the governor, who, although he had quarter given him by Captain Kelly, was nevertheless shot dead by Major Butler as Kelly was conducting him along the street to Monk. Besides the immense booty which was in the town, about 60 ships which were in the harbour of Dundee with their cargoes, fell into the hands of the English.[450]

The capture of Dundee was immediately followed by the voluntary surrender of St. Andrews, Montrose and Aberdeen. Some of the Committee of Estates who had been absent from Alyth, held a meeting at Inverury, to deliberate on the state of matters, at which the Marquis of Huntly presided, and at which a motion was made, to invest him with full authority to act in the absence of the king, but the meeting broke up on hearing of Monk’s approach. The committee retired across the Spey, but Huntly went to Strathdon along with his forces. Monk did not proceed farther north than Aberdeen at this time.

The Marquis of Argyle, who had given great offence to Cromwell, by his double dealing, seeing now no chance of opposing successfully the republican arms, made an attempt at negotiation, and sent a letter by a trumpeter to Monk, proposing a meeting at some convenient place, “as a means to stop the shedding of more Christian blood.” The only answer which Monk gave to the messenger, who arrived at Dundee on the 19th of October, was, that he could not treat without orders from the parliament of England. This refusal on the part of Monk to negotiate, was a sore disappointment to Argyle, as it disappointed the hopes he entertained of getting the English government to acknowledge a debt which he claimed from them.[451]