Bonnie prince charlie by Erickson Carolly

Author:Erickson Carolly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England, 1720-1788, Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1746, Princes
Publisher: Fairfield : William Morrow & Co , Inc
Published: 1990-04-26T04:00:00+00:00

169 BONNIK IM{INGE CHARLIE

had primary responsibility for attending to such urgent matters as fortifying the town walls, bricking up the gates, requisitioning provisions and providing the defenders with sufficient arms and ammunition.

No one knew for certain the intended destination of the rebel army, but government intelligence suggested that it might be Wales. Fear of "a rising in the West" was added to the already great fear of the invaders from Scotland. Officials in Chester were instructed by the cabinet in London to break any bridges that might be used by the enemy, and obstruct the roads; soon afterward the orders were rescinded, however, when it was recalled that the Hanoverian troops would themselves be relying on the roads and bridges.

Rumors flew: the rebels were headed for Bristol, where they would set fire to the town and destroy its valuable shipping; they were already in the south, and the entire countryside was in arms; a French squadron was about to land on the Lancashire coast; the rebels had the government troops surrounded and were about to defeat them. In Newcastle, where there were some twenty thousand colliers who were always ripe for insurrection, the presence of thousands of regular troops gave some sense of stability, but preparations were made nonetheless to withstand a siege. In Liverpool the mayor raised a voluntary force, the "Liverpool Blues," but this did nothing to prevent panic. Shopkeepers loaded their goods onto ships and sent them out into the channel, then abandoned the town, thinking that they would be safer seeking shelter in the countryside.

The confusion was worst in Chester, where evacuees from the town ran into hordes of people from outlying districts trying to get inside the walls for protection. Many of the municipal officials had fled, and food was too scarce to provide for the influx of newcomers. Still, the substantial landowners of Cheshire assembled at Chester Castle and undertook to raise a volunteer force twenty-five hundred strong, many of them pledging as much as a year's income from their estates to maintain it.^

Londoners read of the crisis in the north in their newspapers, and had only to look out their windows to see evidence that the country was being roused to arms. The six City militias mustered each morning and marched to their appointed postings. Cartloads of artillery rumbled through the streets, destined for Preston and other

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.