1654 July 19. The fight at Dalnaspidal. MIDDLETON'S DEFEAT 109 route by which Middleton could reach the far north from Loch Rannoch, the route by the pass which connects the upper reaches of the Garry and the Spey, through which the Highland Railway at present runs. Either by his own intuition, or more likely by Monk's orders, Morgan had abandoned his eccentric march to Braemar, and posted himself at Ruthven on the Spey. Informed of Middleton's approach, Morgan crossed the watershed on July 19, and, posting himself at Dalnaspidal, where the stream brings down the waters of Loch Garry on the southern side of the pass,' made preparations to pass the night on a tolerably level piece of ground which had been used for generations as a camping-place by troops on the march. Before his men had alighted they perceived Middleton's forces on their way from Loch Rannoch approaching along the western side of the loch with the same object in view. As Middleton debouched from the defile, with 800 horse and a larger number of unmounted men toiling after them at some distance, Morgan ordered his comparatively fresh cavalry to charge, and Middleton, recognising the hopelessness of the situation, gave directions to his worn followers to face round and retreat. An English party which had been in the van were thus brought into the rear. They acquitted themselves bravely for a short time, and then they too joined in the flight of their comrades, many of whom slipped off their horses and made for the bogs. Most of the men escaped, but of the horses-not easily replaced in the "Since my last, the general resolved [on] easy motions after our hard marches, and to drive Middleton's almost tired forces on Colonel Morgan, who was fresh in Ruthven." Clarke to Errington, July 21, Thurloe, ii. 483. This disposes of the view that the two forces met in a casual encounter. 2 Mr. J. T. Clark, the Librarian of the Advocates' Library, who knows the country well, tells me that the way over the hills from Loch Rannoch is passable in summer. Gwynn's Narrative (Memorials, 183) agrees with Morgan's despatch of July 22 (Merc. Pol. E, 806, 13) in placing the fight at the north end of Loch Garry, near which was the usual camping-ground for troops going in either direction over the pass now crossed by the Highland Railway. Highlands as many as three hundred were captured, and amongst them the general's sumpter-horse with his despatches and commission.1 Aug. Fire and destruction. 2 With this the war, so far as fighting was concerned, virtually came to an end. Prisoners were shipped for Barbados, and in August Monk turned upon Glencairn in the country about Aberfoyle, whilst Morgan was sent northwards to rouse Middleton from his lair in Caithness. It was a campaign of the torch, not of the sword. "Myself," wrote Monk on August 5, "am now destroying the country on this side the hills, where the enemy used to shelter themselves in winter." 3 Before this drastic treatment resistance withered away. By the end of August some of the noblemen who had supported the Royal cause were preparing to submit, and, as they were assured of easy terms, the nobility. their example was before long readily followed.1 Middleton himself, indeed, remained in the country till the following spring, but the rising had virtually come to an end End of the long before. What had not come to an end was the bitterness with which the Scottish population regarded the masterful strangers who had planted the yoke of England upon their country's neck. Aug.-Sept. Submission of most of rising. Merc. Pol. E, 806, 13. 2 Monk to the Protector, Aug. 1, Firth's Scotland and the Pro tectorate. Monk to the Protector, Aug. 5; from the Camp at Lence (perhaps Lennox), Thurloe, ii. 526. ↑ Monk had some difficulty in dealing with persons sent up as hostages for the good behaviour of those who had submitted. On Sept. 5 he writes to the Protector, asking whether he shall take Lowland security of very good bonds for them, two of them being young gentlemen students in the universities, and a third is so very fat that he could not come by land, but was sent by water.' Firth's Scotland and the Protectorate. Π CHAPTER XXXIII A DOUBLE NEGOTIATION THE mission of Joachim Hane to investigate the condition of the French sea-coast fortresses1 may be taken as an indication 1653. Oct. Hane's mission to France. Oct. 25. His report on Havre, Nov. 5. and on Rochelle. that in October 1653 Oliver had still before his mind a possible intervention in favour of the French Protestants, which would bring with it a close alliance with Spain. In the course of November two reports were received from Hane. In the first he explained that Havre was unfortified, and that to place it in a state of defence would require 6,000l. In the second, dated from Rochelle, he announced that one of the two towers which guarded the town had been destroyed by fire, but that the other was being repaired by the King's Governor.2 After his examination of Rochelle, Hane quent adven- took passage in a vessel bound for Bordeaux, but tures. having been recognised by a Scot, he was marked out by the authorities for the torture-chamber and the gallows, and it was only after a succession of hair-breadth escapes that some four months later he succeeded in reaching England. It is significant that in these regions which Cromwell anxiously desired to liberate from their oppressors, his agent failed to His subse See p. 55. Oct. 25 and 2 The two reports signed by Israel Bernard, and dated Nov. (Thurloe, i. 553, 578), have been identified as Hane's by Mr. Firth, who published the Journal in 1896. I have no doubt that the place mentioned in the first letter is Havre, the only port passed by Hane on his voyage from Rye to Quilleboeuf, where he landed. meet with a single person to whose sympathies he could appeal. Nov. More. Dec. Barrière proposes to send France. It was, in fact, from the Huguenots of Languedoc rather than from those of Guienne that calls for English assistance were heard. Early in November, Dr. More,1 a Scot Visit of Dr. residing in Nîmes, arrived in London to plead their cause.2 About four weeks later it occurred to Barrière that a report on the position of the Protestants of the South from some one better known in England Stouppe into would receive greater attention, and for this employment he pitched upon Stouppe, the minister of the French congregation at the Savoy. Having formerly acted as tutor to the children of a Protestant nobleman of Dauphiné, the Marquis of Montbrun, he was peculiarly fitted to collect intelligence in the Rhone valley. Stouppe, however, declared that he would not go without a direct authorisation from Condé, and it was some time before this authorisation was obtained. In the meanwhile he took an opportunity of conversing with influential personages in England, who assured him that if the Huguenots would commence a rising, a succour of 15,000 men would be sent to their aid.4 3 There had already been a talk of sending Sexby at the head of 6,000 men on the same service if Spain would undertake to pay them, but the design had been brought to an end by the news which reached England in November that the Spanish fleet, which had lingered in the Gironde since the fall of Bordeaux, had quitted its station and returned to its own country.5 He is spoken of sometimes as a minister, sometimes as a physician. 2 Bordeaux to Brienne, Nov. 14; Bordeaux to Mazarin, Dec., R. O. Transcripts. 3 Grandson of the Huguenot leader, whose title he inherited. Garcel, Bibliothèque Hist. et Literaire du Dauphiné, iii. 442. Compare the advice of Lamilitière, July 1, Guizot, i. App. vi. + Barrière to Condé, undated, but about Dec.. The writer says that Stouppe was 'un homme sans interest, et asseurément un homme d'honneur,' Chantilly Transcripts. This appreciation is very different from that of Bishop Burnet. 5 See Ellis Leighton's letter at p. 119, note 1. |