[95] Of
these, Hastings' was manned chiefly by Englishmen, and seems to have
been the only one of the three that had had any real experience of war.
One troop of horse was commanded by Lord Belhaven: the other should have
been commanded by Lord Annandale, whose name it bore, but Mackay could
persuade neither him nor Lord Ross to take the field. Some feeling of
compunction may have kept the latter from drawing his sword against an
old comrade in arms; but Lord Annandale had always been fonder of
wrangling than fighting. Mackay makes no mention of any artillery; but
it appears that he had a few small field-pieces of the kind known as
Sandy's Stoups from the name of their inventor.[96]
It is only possible to guess at Dundee's numbers. When he broke up his
army early in June he seems to have had about three thousand claymores
under him. The second muster was, we know, much smaller than the first;
and though it was slightly increased on the march, and while he waited
at Blair, the whole force he led at Killiecrankie cannot have much
exceeded two thousand men. Over and above the claymores he had not four
hundred. The Irish were three hundred, and his cavalry mustered about
fifty sabres. Highland tradition puts the claymores at nineteen hundred;
and this is probably much about the truth. Artillery, of course, he had
none.
Pages:
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249