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mere rustics, and very imperfectly armed; some, having swords and no muskets, others muskets and no swords, while a great number had only pitchforks, or no weapons at all. Forster, who was perfectly ignorant of war and its necessities, thought that Willes would never be able to face him, since his force had been so much increased. But the more experienced MacIntosh entertained a very different notion. "Are these the fellows that ye intend to fight Willes with ? he said, in derision to Forster, as he pointed through a window to a pack of louts who passed along the street. "Gude faith, man, an ye had ten thousand of them, I would engage to beat the whole with a squadron of Willes's dragoons. " 3

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On the evening of Friday the 11th, Forster was for the first time made aware of General Willes's intention, by a letter which a friend of the cause had sent to the Earl of Derwentwater. The intelligence is said to have dispirited him very much, so as almost to unfit him for his command. He sent the letter to Lord Kenmure, the head of the Scottish portion of the army. Kenmure immediately gathered a few of his chief officers, with whom he repaired to Forster's lodgings, to hold a general council. To their great surprise, they found the General gone to bed, and that although it was still an early hour. However, a council being held, it was determined to send out an advanced party of horse towards Wigan, to plant strong guards at Derrin and Ribble Bridges, and to get the whole army in readiness to fight at the shortest notice. 4

It seems to be generally allowed, that, if the insurgents had contested the pass of Ribble Bridge

with General Willes, at the same time that they rendered two adjacent fords impassable by the ordinary means, they might have easily stood their ground, and even perhaps destroyed the royal army. Forster was unfortunately inspired with an idea that" the body of the town was the security of the army," and had already resolved to abandon all exterior defences.

Next forenoon, when it was known that Willes' troops were advancing towards the bridge, Forster commanded the guard of a hundred Highlanders, which the council had placed there under Farquharson of Invercauld, to retire into the town. He, at the same time, withdrew a company of gentlemen who had taken up a most advantageous post in Sir Henry Haughton's house, near the extremity of the town, corresponding with the bridge.

Between the bridge and the town, a space of about half a mile, the road ran along a deep way, betwixt two high banks, the tops of which were surmounted by strong hedges. Cromwell, in making an advance to Preston, similar to what Willes was about to make, had here experienced great difficulty; the enemy throwing down large stones upon his men from the tops of the banks, one of which stones would have destroyed himself, if he had not forced his horse to leap into a quicksand. Willes, who was surprised to find the bridge undefended, at once supposed that the insurgents had preferred the opportunity of assailing his men by an ambuscade from behind these hedges; and he took the greatest care, on approaching them, to ascertain if they were lined. On finding that they were not, he could only form the idea that the insurgents had evacuated the town altogether, and

were endeavouring, by forced marches, to steal back into Scotland. 5

He was soon informed of the real state of the case; which was, simply, that Forster had drawn all his men into the centre of the town, and barri

caded the four principal streets. The English General then rode forward, and took a survey of the defences. He found that the streets were not barricaded at the extremities towards the fields, but a good way up, near the centre of the town; apprehensions having been apparently entertained that he might overpower them by sending his men through the numerous lanes at those parts of the street, and thus coming in rear of their defences. The men, he learned, were disposed not only on the barricades, but also in the houses near them, and especially in all the houses which, from their forming the corners of lanes, presented two sides towards the expected assailants.

The disposition of the insurgents, it must be allowed, was very judicious, supposing that it was quite impossible to defend the bridge over the Ribble. The gentlemen volunteers, both English and Scottish, were drawn up in a body in the churchyard, under the command of Kenmure, Nithisdale, Wintoun, and Derwentwater; the last stripped to his shirt, and incessantly employed in cheering the men, both by presents of money and words of encouragement. It was to be the chief duty of this gallant band to support Brigadier MacIntosh, who was posted at a barrier below the church. Lord Charles Murray, third son of the Duke of Athole, was placed, with a party of Highlanders, at the barrier of a street which led out to the fields. The MacIntosh clan was disposed en

tire at a windmill on the road to Lancaster. And the gentlemen of Teviotdale, Berwickshire, and Northumberland, with some of the Earl of Strathmore's regiment, were stationed, under the command of Major Miller and Mr Douglas, at a barrier on the road towards Liverpool.

To make the assault with more effect, General Willes determined to attack only two of these points of defence at once. Having, therefore, divided his troops into two parties, one under Brigadier Dormer, and the other under Brigadier Honeywood, and having selected two particular barriers as those most proper to be assailed, he gave the order to fall on, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon.

The first attack was made by Brigadier Honeywood, upon the barrier defended by Old Borlum. Five different companies of dismounted troopers, one from each of five regiments, were led on to this attack, which they performed with great resolution. Dashing into the street commanded by the barricade, they made directly up to that defence, endeavouring to fire the houses as they advanced, and discharging shot at every point where they could perceive an enemy. The insurgents poured a destructive fire upon them from the barrier, and also from the adjacent houses; but, though a great number fell, they continued for a considerable time in the street. When every other attempt had failed to make a lodgement near the barrier, the Cameronian regiment was led by its lieutenant-colonel, Lord Forrester, through a lane which debouched upon the street, close to that point. Lord Forrester, a singularly brave man,

was himself the first to appear before the dreaded fortification. He rode into the empty street, with his drawn sword in his hand; deliberately approached the barrier, to survey it; and then coolly retired, amidst a shower of balls, some of which grazed his person. Having thus animated his men, he brought them up to the point of the barricade, and gave them directions to fire upon those who manned it. He at the same time sent a party across the street, to take possession of a very tall house, from which he rightly believed that he should be able to annoy the enemy. This portion of Willes' forces succeeded during the afternoon, in making some other advantageous lodgements; but its main body retired at last for the night, having lost a considerable number of men, and produced upon the whole little impression on the enemy.

The regiment under Brigadier Dormer was not more successful. They marched up with great resolution, and bore for a long time the severe and well-aimed fire of the insurgents. But they were at last obliged, like their companions, to retire with considerable loss. During the evening of Saturday, and all the subsequent night, Willes' troops kept up an almost incessant platooning at the posts of the besieged.

Next morning, Sunday, November 13th, the same day on which the battle of Sheriffmuir was fought, General Carpenter arrived with his forces, and greatly brightened the prospects of the royalist party. Willes immediately proceeded to explain his dispositions to Carpenter, and then offered to resign the chief command to him, as he was the superior officer. Carpenter, however, was so well

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