My Lord, No. CCXLI. The Lord President to The Marquis of Lothian. MR DOUGLAS having shewed me the last Letter he had from your Lordship, on the subject of the Records, I thought there was no time to deliberate, and therfor have wrote the enclosed Letter to My Lord Chancellor, which I have taken the liberty to transmit to your Lop to be delivered. I need hardly tell your Lop how heartily I wish you success in this undertaking; which must yield much satisfaction to your own Mind, and procure you the esteem and sincere thanks of your Country. I am, with very great respect, Stonyhill, 9th March 1745. My Lord, My Lord, The Lord Prefident to Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. ON occasion of the Report made some years ago by the Court of Session to the House of Peers, touching the state of the Peerage of Scotland, I gave your Lop a melancholy account of the wretched condition in which our Records then were, and had the satisfaction to be assured by your Lordship that you would contribute your endeavours to have them put upon a better footing, when any proper opportunity offered. The accidents which brought them into their present unhappy condition were very cross and various; but what in part occasioned, and has now for many years continued, the Disorder and Confusion, was the neglect of the several persons, most of them Noble, who held the Office of Clerk Register. It was their business to have put, and to have keeped the Records in order, to have entered the Acts and Warrants into Rolls and Books, to have provided proper Repositories, to have provided against the injuries of damp air, and to have obtained and applied small sums from time to time for answering these purposes. But a series of negligent Lord Registers having succeeded one to another, the disease came day after day to be more deep and more dangerous; and the expence as well as trouble of the cure a disagreeable object to be thought of by the possessor of the Office; so that for some years past the disease has been considered as desperate, and no Lord Register until the present has ever troubled his head with thinking of a remedy. The Marquis of Lothian, who now holds that Office, has taken the misfortune to heart very near as much as if it had happened thro' his own fault. His Lop, after examining into the disorders, has caused make up estimates of the expence necessary for preserving what remains, for compleating the Books of Records, for Sorting and Inventorying packs and hogsheads of Papers, which for time past memory have remained unknown, because unseen, and in effect uncomeatable (pardon the expression); he has found out a proper place which may be made fit for lodging the Records at a moderate expence; and he has thought of a Gentleman qualified properly for executing the design, of putting in order and rescuing from imminent destruction papers of Private as well as of Public concern, in which the Subjects of this part of the Kingdom are interested on account of their private rights; not to speak of the gratification which the curiosity of the Public may receive. Now, as the Marquis has proceeded so far, and as the estimates 12t which which he will shew to your Lop are (I hope your Lop will think) a mere trifle, when laid in the scale against the dishonour as well as the loss that must be sustained by the destruction of the Records, I flatter myself your Lordship will lend your advice, as well as your assistance, to the Noble Lord who is engaged in soliciting this matter, and thereby add a fresh obligation to the many which this Country already lyes under to your goodness. It is, I am confident, needless for me to suggest to your Lop topicks to prevail with those who may boggle at the expence, tho' small; but I will venture to fling out one; which is, that besides the justice and expediency of the design, His Majesty can hardly be advised to do a thing more popular. It is a particular happiness to me to believe that I need not make use of many words to persuade your Lop that I am, most faithfully, Your Lop's most obedient and Stonyhill, 9th March 1744-5. No. CCXLIII. most humble Servant, I DUN. FORBES. My Lord, Letter from C' John Munro to the Lord President. Account of the Battle of Fontenoy. 1. I THINK it my duty to acquaint you that your Son is in good Health, and suffered nothing but the loss of his horse, who was shot in our retreat. The Blues behaved weell, and rub'd off the Stain of Dettingen. Poor Charles Ross of Balna-' gown was shot with a musket ball through the belly, I believe early in the action; my Servants found him in a Ditch, and I sent him away to our head Quarters, where he died that night. General Sir James Campbell lost his leg, but is not yet dead; he was the first Officer that was wounded; and, I believe, Cap Campbell of Carrick was the next; his head was carried off by a cannon ball at a quarter after six in the morning. Now I'll give you a short description of the action, which I believe will be found to be the bloodiest, as to Officers, that happen'd to the British in the memory of Man. The particulars I cannot yet inform you with; but I'll take all possible pains to send you soon a particular account. A little after 4 in the morning the 30th April our cannon began to play, and the French batteries, with triple our weight of mettal and numbers too, answer'd us; about 5 the infantry was in march; we were in the centre of the right brigade; but by 6 we were ordered to cross the field, and attack (I mean our regiment; for the rest of the brigade did not march to attack) a little village on the left of the whole, called Fontenoy. As we pass'd the field, the French batteries play'd upon our front and right and left flanks; but to no purpose, for their batteries being upon rising ground, their balls flew over us, and hurt the second line. We were to support the Dutch, who in their usual way were very dilatory. We got within musket shot of their batteries, where we received 3 full fires of their batteries and small arms, which killed us 40 men and one ensign. Here we were obliged to skulk behind houses and hedges for about an hour and a half, waiting for the Dutch, who when they came up behaved but so and so. Our regiment being in some disorder, I wanted to draw them up in rear of the Dutch, which their General would scarce allow of; but at last I did it, and marched them again to the front. In half half an hour after, the Dutch gave way, and Sir Robert Munro thought proper we From the Camp near Ath, 2d May 1745. Since writing, Gen' Campbell is carried by here in a cart, dead. JO. MUNRO. No. CCXLIV. Capt. Hugh Forbes of the Oxford-blues, to the Lord President, inclosing a Letter from My Lord, THIS morning I received the inclosed from Jock; and as it appears to be as distinct as any account I have yet had opportunity to see, I thought it would be no little Satisfaction to you to hear of his safety, with that of most of your Relations. I read it only to Leven, and the two Willies, because of the Caution adjected to it, and immediately clapt it under this Cover for your perusal. My Lord, Your most obed' humble Serv'. Edin 16th May 1745. Dear Hugh, HU. FORBES. DON'T be surprised I have not wrote you of late. My hurry has been beyond what almost any body could bear; and I am now the eighth night without seeing a bed. I suppose you'll have heard of our endeavour to raise the seige of Tournay, in which we failed. I won't ascribe the cause, altho' I know it; but sure never troops behaved with more intrepidity than the English; nor never has Troops suffered so much. In short, there was but one way of marching into the ground where we were to form our line, which was thro' the Village of Vezon. The opening could not allow above 14 or 20 abreast; and from thence to the French batteries a rising ground like a Glacis, and they at half cannon shot distance. General Campbell, with twelve squadrons, was * No doubt, he means in proportion. D D ordered 1 ordered thro' the Defilee first, as a Corps to cover the mouth of the opening, whilst the Infantry marched in; which, as they marched from the right, formed as soon as they went in; so one Regiment covered another, till they formed all the way to the left. You may believe this took up a great deal of time; in which the French batteries played incessantly on the 12 squadrons, and on the troops as they formed; but as it is impossible to describe a thing unless you had a Plan before you, I shall only say we formed with all the Regularity in the World, and marched up towards the enemy, who were all along upon the height with their different batteries; the whole length of which run a hollow way, that they had made a very good entrenchment. Off we beat them out of this hollow way, and gained the height, whence we had the first view of their bodys, at about 200 paces distance; an immense number of them, and numberless cannon still playing upon us. Here we dressed our lines, and began to march towards them; when, pop, they went into another entrenchment, extremely well provided and flanked with batteries of Cannon. Nevertheless, on we went, drove them from that, which was the first small shot we had any opportunity to make use of from the beginning, which was now near six hours. Upon the flanks of our Right wing there was the Village of Ribamcroix; and betwixt our right wing and the Dutch, there was the Village of Fontenoy, which the Dutch engaged to make themselves masters of early in the morning; but, not having rightly reconnoitered it, found, to their surprise, a fosse round it, and that the French by cutting the roofs of the houses and letting them fall in, had raised so many Cannon upon the Rubbish, as made the place impregnable. This galled our left wing and keept them from advancing, and cut off the communication with the right wing; the left of which, being much exposed, was terribly treated with the Cannon, which also raked us all along to the right flank. The Highlanders forced into the Village of Ribamcroix on the right; but the multiplicity of Cannon that played upon them made them retire. All the lines being now dress'd, altho, from the narrowness of the ground, we were in several places four or five lines one behind another, the front advanced again towards the enemy, had several discharges from all their Batteries; nevertheless marched forward, and got nigh enough to have a second discharge of their small arms, which made the French give way, but broke our lines, from the number of men killed both by the musketry and the batteries, that never ceased. Here we endeavoured to rally; but from an Order given (by whom God knows), the Drums began to beat a Retreat; upon which indeed the whole went to the right about, and retired with too much precipitation to the Village of Vezon. The Cavalry did the same; but as they were obliged to pass the Corner of the Wood, into which Graffin's Pandours, with pieces of Cannon loaded with grape shot, were thrown, almost every squadron had a Salvo as they passed. As we retired, the French cannon advanced to the height where they were first in the morning playing upon the rear till we all got thro' the Village of Vezon. Here La Crawford distinguished himself by getting some broken battalions and some Squadrons to front the enemy, and make the rear-guard, till the whole passed the Defilee. The French remained where they were in the morning, and we rallied the Army at the head of our Camp, struck our tents that night, and marched early next morning to Ath. This, My dear Hugh, is a rough Sketch not to be understood; but what I am now going to tell you must affect you, as I have lost the best friend, bravest soldier, and honestest man that ever breathed; by which I am most extremely miserable; and as I have these 16 years entirely attached myself to him, I now find myself not only without my friend, but without any patron to take me by the hand. The poor General commanded the advanced 12 Battalions, and of consequence had the fire of the whole French batteries on him; while the line formed behind him. A cannon-ball at last entered 121 his his horse's left Counter, went through his body, and broke the General's right leg into a thousand pieces: it was immediately cut off, and I got him carried to a Village in the rear, where he continued pretty well till towards the evening, that the army was retiring; when his fever began to turn violent; it continued so all that night; but about 12 that night the French Pandours broke in upon his quarters, and carried me off prisoner to the French Camp. At my return next day, I found him with his senses, but speechless; he lived in a great struggle till the morning thereafter, I then got a Waggon and brought off his body here, where I interred it last night, attended only by his Son and Serv". Thus you will think me compleatly unhappy, and with great reason. We have lost the flower of our officers, and most of the Scots officers. I have no more time. I shall send you next post a list. The President's son and all our near friends are well. Shaw, Cathcart, Bob Douglass, Sir Alex. Cockburn, &c, killed. Cha. Ross, Ld Cathcart, Ld Ancram, and numberless more, wounded. Brussels, 15th May N. S. The Battle was the 11th. Dr Hugh, shew this only to particular friends, and give no copy of it to any. Note. This is, probably, as true an account as any yet published, and much more to be depended on than Voltaire's. The British did their duty; but some of the Allies did not. No. CCXLV. The Lord President to Mr. Pelham. Dear Sir, 2nd Aug 1745 IN a state of profound tranquillity, we have been alarmed with advices, which are said to have been received at London, of intended invasions; and particularly of a visit which the Pretender's eldest son is about to make to us, if he has not already made it. These informations, particularly as to the visit just mentioned, I must confess, have not hitherto gain'd my belief. This young gentleman's game seems at present to be very desperate in this country; and, so far as I can learn, there is not the least apparatus for his reception, even amongst the few highlanders who are suspected to be in his interest. However, as, when so much is at stake, no advice, how improbable soever, is to be neglected, I have (our session* being now over) resolved to make my accustomed journey northwards a little earlier than usual; to the end that, though my fighting days are over, I may give some countenance to the friends of the government, and prevent the seduction of the unwary, if there should be any truth in what is reported. My Dearest Lord, No. CCXLVI. M' Normand Mac Leod to the Lord President. TO my no small surprise, it is certain that the Pretended Prince of Wales is come on the Coast of South Uist and Barra, and has since been hovering on parts of the - Coast of the main Land that lies betwixt the point of Airdnamurchan and Glenelg ; he has but one ship, of which he is aboard; she mounts about 16 or 18 Guns. He has about thirty Irish or French Officers with him, and one Sheridan, who is called his Governor. The Duke of Athol's brother is the only man of any sort of note (that Owing to the state of public affairs, the Court of Session, which rose 11th August, was by act of Parliament declared to stand adjourned from 1st Nov. 1745 (when it ought to have met) to 1st June 1746. |