Such was the position of my undertaking[102] when, all of a sudden, news was brought to Inverness that the Duke of Cumberland, with his army, had passed the Spey on the 13th of April. The town was in a general alarm, and even in confusion. Nothing was heard but the noise of bagpipes, the beating of drums, and the clash of arms. The field of Culloden was the following day to be the general rendezvous, and every individual betook himself to his corps.

The army was now mustering upon the field, it being the 14th; but unfortunately we had not been joined by a considerable number of our men, who were actually upon their march from different parts of the country, and would have been up in the course of a few days. The whole of the Macphersons, a considerable body of the Frasers, some few of the Macintoshes, in general all the Mackenzies, and several other bodies of men who had been raised in the more northern counties, had all received repeated expresses, and were hastening to join the army. In this situation, divested as it were of part of our numbers, we hourly expected the Duke. He had come on to Nairn on the 14th, and was there halting. There was even no appearance of his moving, the 15th being his birthday. In the afternoon of that day, the Prince had summoned a council of war to be held upon the field, and had proposed a plan of a march under cloud of night, to attack the Duke's army by surprise, and to force his camp. This plan was worthy even of any of the greatest heroes of antiquity, and met with general approbation, particularly amongst the clans. The council remained long in deliberating in what manner it was to be conducted. Two essential things, secrecy and expedition, were the great objects to be observed. There was only one road to Nairn, which was the high road; and this being covered in many places with villages, it was essential to avoid it, to prevent any information being carried to the Duke's army. The next alternative, and indeed the only one, was to attempt a way along the foot of a ridge of mountains which fronted the sea, but had scarcely ever been trod by human foot, and was known by the name of the Moor-road. It would have brought us in upon that part of the enemy's camp from which they could apprehend no danger. It lengthened indeed the road, which, in the sequel, and from the shortness of the night, proved our misfortune.

Before the council broke up, every regiment as it were had his place assigned him in the order of the march. The van was commanded by Lord George Murray, who, with about one-third of the army, was to have passed the water of Nairn about two miles distant from the town, and who, unexpected by the enemy, was to have invested the Duke's quarters, and to have made him prisoner. The remaining two-thirds, commanded by the Duke of Perth and Lord John Drummond, were to have attacked them from the plain, which, in all probability, would have been carried sword in hand. It is to be remarked that the same army had been already surprised at Falkirk.

Night coming on—and not sooner could the army begin its march, to prevent the country people from being alarmed, or any intelligence being carried to the enemy,—part of our numbers, weak as we were, was under a necessity of being left on the field, in order to save appearances, and light up fires, as had been done the preceding evening, and to prevent stragglers, if any there were, forming unnecessary conjectures. The night was favourable to our wishes, but alas! such a road was never travelled; the men in general were frequently up to the ankles, and the horses in many places extricated themselves with difficulty. In this manner were we retarded almost the whole of the night; notwithstanding of which, an uncommon spirit supported itself throughout the army.

It was now the 16th of April, when day began to break about four in the morning. It was indeed a dreadful knell to us, being as yet above four long miles from Nairn; nor did we know what sort of road we had yet to encounter. Appearances became serious, each was whispering to his neighbour, and, so far as countenances could be descried, disappointment was evidently marked. During this critical moment of suspense, what was to be done? A halt took place; a council was called as soon as the general officers could be got together. The morning was fine, and the day was ushering in apace; it required but little time to deliberate, and finding it impossible to attack the Duke by surprise, it was judged expedient, for the safety of the army, to give up the enterprise, and return to the field of Culloden. Thus were our hopes disappointed. We saw, as it were before us, the glorious prize; but we durst not encounter it, for there is almost a moral certainty that we should have been cut off to a man. The enemy was early in motion, must have seen us at a considerable distance, and received us upon the points of their bayonets.