Battle of Inverlochy 2nd February, 1645. James Graham, Marquis of Montrose & Major General Sir Alexander MacDonald "Alasdair MacColla" During the 17th Century, Scotland was in internal strife. But for one man, with considerable help from Clan Donald, and other loyal clans, it was his duty as Lieutenant General and Captain General of Scotland, appointed by King Charles, to help "raise Scotland for the king", and return Scotland to a degree of normality. He was James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose. Montrose was fighting for the royal cause against the Covenanters, who ruled Scotland, with the Earl of Argyll, later Marquis, supporting the Covenanters. With Argyll and his Clan Campbell on the government side, Montrose had a born ally in Clan Donald and the clans who were old enemies of the Clan Campbell. Even though Montrose had the Kings authority, he had no army as such. However, the Earl of Antrim, had promised men to help the King and Montrose, and sent 1,500 Irish and Scots MacDonalds, with other clans, i.e. Macleans, under Alasdair Macdonald, also known as "Colkitto". Alasdair Macdonald was of the ancient stock of Dunnyveg in Islay, the son of Macdonald of Colonsay. With this small Army Montrose managed to win several battles against the Covenanter, by his generalship and the fighting ability of his army. After attacking the lands of Clan Campbell in December, 1644, Montrose and his army were heading north east up to Lochaber, and the Great Glen, planning to meet and battle with a Covenanters army under the Earl of Seaforth. Montrose halted at Kilcumin, now Fort Augustus, on 29th January, 1645. His army consisted of 1,500 men, the majority being Alasdairs Irish, with a few hundred Macdonalds, Stewarts, Macleans and Cameron's, and a contingent of horsed Lowlanders. At Kilcumin Montrose found out that Seaforth with 5,000 men was at Inverness - thirty miles away, and he made plans to engage them. However, he received more serious news from Ian Lom Macdonald, the bard of Keppoch. Argyll and a Covenanters army, of his Clan Campbell, were less than thirty miles behind him with 3,000 men. Montrose and his army of 1,500 were caught between two forces of 5,000 and 3,000, and there was no escape west - to the sea coast, or east, where another army under Baillie were awaiting. Montrose decided to attack the most dangerous enemy first, Argyll and his Campbell's. This meant turning around and marching thirty miles back the same way they had come. Early on the morning of 31st January, began what has been often described as one of the great exploits in the history of British arms. Montrose had to surprise Argyll, and could not return by the usual route, but decided to move his army over high hills, through snow blocked passes, in the roughest terrain possible, in the depth of winter. And he had to move fast to keep up the moment of surprise. The army moved up the river Tarff, crossing the high passes into Glen Turritt, and followed it downward reaching Glen Roy. Pushing on through the night they traveled through Glen Roy, to arrive at Roy bridge on the morning of 1st February. The army had not stopped, there was little food, no fires, no sleep, and the men were fatigued. From Roy Bridge he had to take Argyll by surprise at Inverlochy - now Fort William, where his army was camped. Montrose followed the northern slopes of the mountains that surrounded Ben Nevis, to arrive in the evening of the 1st February, 1645, just below a mountain known as Meall-an-t'Suidhe, above Inverlochy, where they could clearly see the camp fires of Argyll and his Covenanters army. Montrose had traveled thirty miles in the depth of winter, across the most roughest of terrain's, in less that two days, and now his army had to fight a rested army twice their number. At dawn on Candlemas Day, the 2nd February, 1645, Montrose drew up his army, and tried to give the impression he had more men than he had. Montrose placed the Irish Macdonalds on his left and right wing under Alasdair Macdonald, and O'Cahan, whilst he himself led the center which was composed Clan Donald's , Glencoe, Clanranald and Glengarrys men, with men from Atholl, the Stewarts of Appin, and Clan Cameron. The catholic men in his ranks knelt in prayer before the attack. Both the left and right wing attacked Argyll's wings. Under the highland charge, the lowlanders in Argyll's army collapsed, leaving Montrose to attack the center. Although Clan Campbell fought bravely, knowing that they would receive little mercy from their old enemies, the battle was soon won by Montrose. Inverlochy was won by strategy, Argyll had no idea that Montrose had doubled back, and until the day of battle had no idea where he was. Montrose's men had fought very bravely, having marched thirty miles in two days in the roughest terrain, in the midst of winter, and then fought an enemy who outnumbered them two to one. Argyll and his Covenanters lost 1,500 men, Montrose lost just four men. Inverlochy was in one respect a decisive victory for it also destroyed the clan power of Argyll. But Montrose still had to fight on for his King. He had some more successes at Auldearn, Alford, and Kilsyth, but the political scene was changing, and at his last battle at Philiphaugh, Montrose lost the fight - the odds being 600 to 6,000. Many of his loyal Macdonalds died in this battle, and Montrose would have died with them on the battlefield, but his close friends persuaded him to flee to fight another day. Montrose was finally betrayed by Neil Macleod of Assynt, and in May, 1650, was imprisoned by government troops. On the 21st May, 1650, James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose was hanged at the tollbooth in Edinburgh. His body was cut down and his limbs sent to various chief towns. His head was placed on a spike of the tollbooth, where eleven years later it was taken down to make room for the head of his arch enemy Argyll......

	Massacre of Glencoe 13th February, 1692 The tragic Massacre of Glencoe has been written about many times, and in more detail, and this article hope to give brief details of the massacre. In August, 1691, the Government issued a proclamation offering a pardon to all who had been "in arms " against King William, provided the took an oath of allegiance before the 1st January, 1692. The clan chiefs were slow to respond in making piece with the government, awaiting both the consent of King James to their relinquishing their allegiance, and the expectation of a French landing in Scotland. In the end all the mainland chiefs made their submission. MacIan of Glencoe, or MacDonald of Glencoe as he was also known as, left his submission to the last minute, and on arriving at Fort William to give his allegiance to the Governor Hill, on the 31st December, 1691, was told this had to be given to the magistrate at Inverary. So, MacIan had to travel to Inverary, in winter condition, and arrived there on the 2nd January. Unfortunately, the magistrate was away, and only arrived back on the 5th January. He was reluctant to take MacIans oath, but did so, and advised him that he had missed the deadline and this would be reported to the Privy Council in Edinburgh. For some reason MacIans case never came before the Privy Council, and the Secretary of State, the Master of Stair, gave instructions for troops to be sent to those clans who had not taken the required oath. Stair was informed on the 9th January, 1692, that Keppoch and MacIan had taken the oath, but that was not the case, and Stair saw the opportunity to set an example for other disloyal clans. The King signed a document indicating that action had to be taken against the Glencoe clan. The Master of Stair sent a copy of the orders to the Governor of Fort William. On the 30th January, Stair, who by now must have known of MacIans oath, decided give orders to get rid of this "troublesome" clan. On the 1st February, 1692, a company of 120 government troops under Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, were sent to Glencoe. On being asked their business by the son of the MacIan of Glencoe, he was told that there was overcrowding at Fort William, and the troops were to be quartered with the people in the glens. As other parties of troops had been quartered elsewhere, this request was not considered unusual. For two weeks the troops were hospitably quartered and entertained by the Glencoe clan. On the 12th February, 1692, Governor Hill at Fort William gave the final orders to proceed against the clan. He dispatched 400 of his own troops, plus 400 of the Argyll regiment, under command of a Major Duncanson, to Glencoe to secure the Glen so no one could escape, or get in. Duncanson received orders to take action the following morning, and gave orders to Captain Glenlyon, "...to fall upon the rebells, the Mcdonalds of Glencoe and putt all to the sword under seventy..." In the early hours of the morning of the 13th February, 1692, the troops under Captain Glenlyon began to carry out their orders. Thirty eight people, including the chief MacIan of Glencoe were killed either in their beds, or trying to escape. The rest of the clan managed to escape into the mountains, but in the snow storm, more may have died of exposure and starvation. The fact that only 38 people died, out of an adult population of 150, indicates that there may have been some last minute warning by the troops. Their homes were burnt and livestock driven off by the troops. The reaction to the massacre, especially as the troops have been quartered, and hospitably looked after by the MacIans, before killing them in cold blood, was considerable, and a government enquiry in 1695 found that the killing was murder under these circumstances. Of the men involved in giving the orders, the Master of Stair was deprived of his position of Secretary of State, and of the offices involved Hamilton left the country and was heard of no more, whilst Glenlyon and Duncanson died in military service in Europe. The MacIans were allowed to resettle back in their Glen, but had no regard for the government, and strongly supported the Jacobite Risings of both 1715 and 1745.

	Macdonald's Highlanders 76th Highland Regiment During the 18th century the British government began to recruit and create more specific Scottish army regiments, some aligned to their old clan ties, because of their fighting ability and bravery in battle - and this against the same government on several occasions. One such regiment was the "MacDonald Highlanders", or the 76th Highland Regiment, which was formed in 1777, by letters of service being granted to Lord Macdonald to raise a regiment in the Highlands and Isles. Although he declined the commission, as commanding officer, he recommended Major John Macdonell of Lochgarry. The regiment was inspected in March 1777, in Inverness, by General Skene, and it amounted to 1086 men including non commissioned officers and drummers. There were 750 men from Clan Donald, and these also included men from other clans such as MacKinnon, Fraser of Culduthel, and Cameron of Callart. A further 200 men were raised in the Lowlands by Captains Cunningham of Craigends, and Montgomery Cunningham, and Lieutenant Samuel Graham, to form two companies. A further third company was raised in Ireland by Captain Bruce. These three companies being kept separate from the Highlander companies. The regiment was quartered in Fort George, Inverness, for twelve months whilst it was trained and held pending active service under the command of Major Donaldson. In March 1779 the regiment moved to Perth, shortly before marching to Burntisland for the purpose of embarking for America. However, after there arrival at Burntisland some Highlanders became very unhappy about outstanding bounty money, and other promises made to them. They handed in a written protest, and then marched off to a hill above Burntisland, to await a response from Lord MacDonald. They emphasized that their action was not a mutiny, but a dispute. Having remained on the hill for seven days, until Lord MacDonald arrived, they then settled their dispute. On the 17th March, 1779, the regiment sailed to America. Because Lieutenant-Colonel John MacDonell of Lochgarry had been taken prisoner whilst returning from America after service with the Fraser's Highlanders, the command devolved to Major Lord Berridale. The regiment reached Portsmouth, and whilst waiting with their transport ships at Spithead, were diverted to help the relief of Jersey, but before they got there the French had been defeated. They then sailed for New York arriving in August, 1779, where they were quartered. In May, 1781, they embarked for Virginia, to join up with the army of Lord Cornwallis. The Macdonald Highlanders on meeting up with men who had already braved the dangers of battle, were eager for the opportunity of putting themselves into battle, and they did not have to wait long for the chance. At the battle of Green Springs, Virginia, in June 1781, Lord Cornwallis rode up behind the 76th MacDonald Regiment and urged a charge which was promptly carried out. The charge resulted in such a shock to the enemy, who turned their backs and fled the battlefield, leaving behind their cannons and some three hundred men killed or wounded. After the later surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army, the 76th were marched in detachments as prisoners to different parts of Virginia. During their confinement many attempts were made by their emigrant countrymen, as well as the Americans, to persuade them to join the cause of American independence, but not one could be persuaded to renounce his allegiance. The regiment on its return to Scotland was disbanded in March, 1784, at Stirling Castle.