But if the town of Perth experienced his clemency, he let loose all the rage of predatory warfare upon the coun try of the Duke of Argyle and the estates of the Hamiltons; the former, a leading man among the Presbyterians, and the personal enemy of Montrose, and the latter his rivals in the favour of the king. At the head of the Macdonalds and the Irish, he attacked Argyleshire with the ferocity of a Tartar, carrying off the cattle, in which the wealth of the inhabitants consisted, burning the houses, and wherever he met with opposition, putting men, women, and children to the sword. His panegyrist Wishart informs us, and in forms us without apology or remorse, that he sent out his troops to kill and to destroy." In these expeditions, the life of " the Graham" was frequently in danger. He was constrained to make very long and fatiguing marches, often in the night and in the depth of winter, through a moun tainous and pathless district ; and he was opposed by the Campbells, the hereditary enemies of his name, warm from the effects of recent aggression, and equally active and re vengeful with the other clans of the north. These, how ever, were antagonists that might be encountered, or suf ferings that might be endured ; but the age was barbarous, and lie seems not to have perceived that he had tarnished the lustre of his atchievements by the rapacity of a free booter. And what was still more to be regretted by the royalists, he had suffered his numbers to be diminished without rendering any essential or lasting service to the cause of the king.
We must refer our readers to the author of the Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose, for a particular account of his expeditions and battles. Early in the spring of 1645, he carried the town of Dundee by assault, and gave it up to be plundered by his soldier s. In the same year he defeat ed Urrey at Auldcorne, and Baillie at Alford. But it was at Kikyth that he performed one of his greatest atchieve ments, and raised his character as a soldier. The battle of Kilsyth was fought on the 15th of August 1645. The forces on both sides were nearly equal, but the character of the troops was not exactly the same ; those of the Cove nanters being, for the most part, newly raised, while the followers of the Graham" had been disciplined under his immediate inspection, and accustomed to the field. The Presbyterians were commanded by General Baillie, the same officer who, in the month of July preceding, had been constrained to yield at Alford ; and he was assisted, on this occasion, by the Earls of Crawford and Airly, Sir William Murray of Blabo, Colonels Dyce and 1Vallace, and other adherents of the popular party. It is said that Baillie was displeased with the quality or the condition of his troops, and engaged with reluctance. The action commenced by an attempt of the Covenanters to dislodge a small party, which Montrose had stationed near some cottages in the vicinity of Kilsyth ; but the assailants were very warmly received, and at length driven hack with considerable loss. At this moment, a body of Highlanders, amounting to 1000 men, without waiting for orders, rushed furiously up on the Presbyterians ; these were supported by the Earl of Airly, at the head of 2000 of the infantry, and three troops of horse. The rest of the army imitated the example of
Airly and the Ogilvies ; the of the Covenanters were broken ; no effort of their generals could restore them to order, and a complete rout ensued. Six thousand of the Presbyterians fell in this memorable action ; and, in one disastrous day, the cause of religion and of independence was left without the aid of any regular army in Scotland.
After the victory at Kilsyth, Montrose appears to have been elated beyond what we should have expected in so great a commander, and certainly beyond the amount of the essential and profitable service which he had performed. Though he was not in possession of any of the strong holds, or important passes, he wrote to the king as if the whole country had submitted. In those days, both parties made an indiscreet use of the language of scripture ; and with improprieties of this nature Montrose is justly chargeable, as well as the chieftains of the covenant ; though, if we were to consult the most popular history of the period, we should be led to believe that the practice was peculiar to the Presbyterians. He assured his Majesty that he had over-run the country," from Dan even to Beersheba ;" and prayed the king to come down, in the words of Joab, the Hebrew leader, originally addressed to king David, " now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and en camp against the city, and take it, lest I take the city, and it be called after my name." The fortunes of Montrose now began to decline. Hav ing advanced, upon some insufficient encouragement, to wards the English border, he attempted in vain to rouse the Earls of Hume, Traquair, and Roxburgh, and to ani mate them in the royal cause. He was deserted likewise by his own troops ; for the Highlanders, unaccustomed to a protracted course of military service, had retired to the hills, in order to secure the plunder which they had ob tained. He was, moreover, extremely deficient in cavalry. In these circumstances, " the Graham" was met by Les ly, the general of the Covenanters, who had been detached from the army in England ; and at Philiphaugh, in Ettrick Forest, the royalists were defeated in so tremendous and so fatal an overthrow, that they were never afterwards able to make head against their antagonists. Montrose, though worsted in the issue, did every thing which experience could suggest, or bravery could fulfil, but the assault of Lesly's cavalry was not to be withstood. Some say that "the Graham" had become careless, in consequence of his suc cess, and that he had allowed himself to be taken by surprise, and perhaps he had dreamt of vanquishing the Covenanters by what his followers were wont to call the terror of his name. But whatever truth there may be in these surmises, it is certain that he was compelled to fly with his broken forces into the mountains, and to prepare with more leisure than suited his character for new battles and enterprises. His life was now little else than a series of misfortunes.