The duke, as soon as he had commanded to fire, retired into a hollow, from the enemies shot, some say by the persuasion of Lesly and Melvill, and continued there till the action was over. Then captain Stuart ordered the musqueteers to make way for the horse to pass the bridge, by casting the stones into the river, which had been placed there to obstruct the passage over it; but the army could not pass in less than five hours[1]; and then marched up in order of battle toward the enemy, who waited for them on the moor, confiding in the great superiority of their number. Clavers commanded the horse on the right, and captain Stuart the dragoons on the left. The fieldpieces were carried in the centre of the footguards, while the rest of the officers commanded at the head of their men; and the duke, after the enemy was beaten from the bridge, rode at the head of the army.
Upon the first fire, the rebels horse turned about, and fled upon the right and left; and although the duke ordered his men not to stir out of their ranks to pursue them, yet the army, not regarding his commands, followed the flying rebels, killing between seven and eight hundred, and taking fifteen hundred
- ↑ From the minutes of the privy council of Scotland, June 22, 1679, it appears, that from the time of the army being formed, to the total discomfiture of the rebels, three hours only intervened.
duke of Monmouth to make himself master of the bridge. They were then four thousand men; but few of them were well armed; if they had charged those that came first over the bridge, they might have had sure advantage; but they looked on like men who had lost both sense and courage: and, upon the first charge, they threw down their arms and ran away. There were between two and three hundred killed, and twelve hundred taken prisoners." Burnet, vol. II, p. 105.
