Army of the Cumberland

“ He afterward commanded the first brigade, provisional division, Army of the Cumberland, to January 16, 1865, when upon his own request, he was relieved and directed to rejoin his command, which was then at Savannah, Georgia, under General Sherman. On his way thither, he was stricken with what threatened to be a fatal illness, but, rallying, he pressed on. ”

“ There is no longer the indiscriminate correspondence with every rank of officer; but due regard is paid to the rights of superior officers as channels of communication and discipline, and to the authority of the Commander-in-Chief as the supreme motive power. In fact, a work of great and beneficial reform is seen to accomplish itself imperceptibly through the will and influence of a single strong man; and Cumberland's services herein have never received the recognition that they deserve. The Duke, indeed, with all his foibles and prejudices was no ordinary man ”

“ At Clifton there was an engagement where the retreating Highlanders held their own, and inflicted a distinct defeat upon Cumberland's army. Again, when they were once more upon Scottish soil, they struck a damaging blow at Hawley's army at Falkirk. But the end came at last on the day when the dwindling, discouraged, retreating army tried its strength with Cumberland at Culloden.
[Sidenote: 1746—The Duke of Cumberland]
Men of the Cumberland type are to be found in all ages, and in the history of all nations. ”

“ Cumberland's force was decidedly inferior in numbers, being less than fifty thousand against fifty-six thousand men, but he was young and impetuous, and had been strongly impressed by the disastrous inaction of the preceding campaign. It was agreed that the Dutch and Austrians should assail the French centre and right, the Dutch in particular being responsible for Fontenoy, while the British attacked the French left between that village and the forest of Barry. ”

“ Moreover, French regular troops behaved quite as ill in Germany during the Seven Years' War as any of the irregulars. Still wanton brutality and outrage, however excused by the custom of war, must remain unpardoned and unpardonable, on the score not only of humanity but of discipline. But though the blot upon Cumberland's name must remain indelible, it should not obscure the fact that, at a time of extreme national peril, the Duke lifted the army in a few weeks, from the lowest depth which it has ever touched of demoralisation and disgrace, to its old height of confidence and self-respect. ”

“ Cumberland was careful to give his troops special training against their enemy, prescribing for the infantry the formation so successfully adopted by the Fourth and Forty-eighth at Falkirk, and directing that when at close quarters with Highlanders each soldier should turn his bayonet not against the enemy immediately before him, but against the man on his own right front, where the target could not parry the thrust. ”

“ During the ten years of peace Cumberland occupied himself chiefly with his duties as captain-general, and the result of his work was clearly shown in the conduct of the army in the Seven Years’ War. His unpopularity, which had steadily increased since Culloden, interfered greatly with his success in politics, and when the death of the prince of Wales brought a minor next in succession to the throne the duke was not able to secure for himself the contingent regency, which was vested in the princess-dowager of Wales. ”

“ Fort Cumberland, named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, Captain-general of the English Army, was located on an eminence between Wills Creek and the Potomac, two hundred yards from the former and about four hundred yards from the latter. Its length was approximately two hundred yards and its breadth nearly fifty yards; and “is built,” writes an eye-witness in 1755, “by logs driven into the ground, and about 12 feet above it, with embrasures for 12 guns, and 10 mounted 4 pounders, besides stocks for swivels, and [Pg 26] loop holes for small arms.” ”

“ Cumberland, despite his inferiority in strength, was expected somehow to defend Flanders, Brabant, and above all Brussels, and yet simultaneously to keep an active army in the field. Worse than this, he attempted to fulfil the expectation. Against his better judgment he weakened his force still further by detaching a force for the garrison of Mons, [192] [122] and then, instead of taking up a strong position on the Scheldt to cover Ghent at all hazards, he yielded to the pressure of the Austrians and crossed the Dender to cover Brussels. ”

“ The Duke of Cumberland, who had been detained in the south of England in expectation of a French invasion, was indignant at this defeat, and declaring that he would himself willingly lead the broken remains of Hawley's army against the Highlanders, got himself appointed commander. He was a young man of great energy, with the hereditary bravery of his family, and an active if not a very able general ”

“ East Tennessee being left comparatively free from molestation by the abandonment of pursuit through Cumberland Gap, General Kirby Smith was at liberty to reinforce points more strongly threatened. He had no sooner succeeded in collecting his stragglers and reorganizing his army, reinforcing it by several new regiments, than, in compliance with orders from the Confederate War Department, he dispatched Stevenson’s division to the relief of Pemberton at Grenada, and McCown, with his division, to report to Bragg at Murfreesboro. ”

“ Various were the reasons for and against this proposal. And after considering them fully, the Prince approved of the project, as the most probable chance he had of beating the enemy; provided they could be surprised by one o’clock of the morning.
We must here observe, that the Duke of Cumberland’s army was double the number of ours, plentifully provided with money and provisions of all kinds; having a squadron of ships, loaded with stores, that coasted along, from Aberdeen to Inverness, in sight of his army, to supply him with whatever was necessary. Whereas our military chest was spent ”

“ Although the Stuart troops reached a point as far south as Derby, they were soon pushed backward into Scotland, pursued by an army of about nine thousand men under the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II.
Cumberland was no soldier; he had been soundly beaten by the French on the famous field of Fontenoy. Yet he had firmness and a sort of overmastering brutality, which, with disciplined troops and abundant artillery, were sufficient to win a victory over the untrained Highlanders. ”

“ The advance took much time, for there were many narrow lanes to be traversed before the force could debouch upon the slope, and when the slope was passed it was still necessary to defile through the village of Vezon. Cumberland's order of attack was simple. Brigadier Ingoldsby, with the Twelfth and Thirteenth Foot, the Forty-second Highlanders, a Hanoverian battalion, and three six-pounder cannon, was to assault the Redoubt d'Eu on the right flank of the line of the British advance, and to carry it with the bayonet. ”

“ The Duke of Cumberland formed his line of battle at a great distance, and marched in battle order until he came within cannon shot, when he halted, and placed his artillery in different parts in the front. His army, to use a military phrase, outwinged that of Charles, both to the right and left, without his cavalry. [192]
It is not, as Lord George Murray observes, "an [Pg 203] easy task to describe a battle." Most officers are necessarily taken up with what is near them, and the confusion, noise, and agitation effectually impede observation. ”

“ It was, indeed, full time to retire, as the whole army was now in full retreat, and was followed by the whole of Cumberland’s forces. To protect the prince and secure his retreat, most of his horse assembled about his person; but there was little danger, as the victors advanced very leisurely, and confined themselves to cutting down some defenceless stragglers who fell in their way. After leaving the field, Charles put himself at the head of the right wing, which retired in such order that the cavalry sent to pursue could make no impression upon it. ”

“ The truth seems to be that they were overpowered by a superiour force, and their field of battle was ill-chosen, which gave the Duke of Cumberland great advantages, especially in his canon and horse. Another misfortune they lay under was a total want of provisions, so that they were reduced to the hard necessity either of fighting an army a third stronger, or to starve or disperse. ”

“ It is not fully appreciated that the campaign around Inverness was no less brilliant and successful than the other engagements of the Jacobite rebellion.
But the war was nearing a crisis. Cumberland having waited for the spring, moved out of Aberdeen on April 8, his force consisting of six battalions of foot and a regiment of dragoons. At Strathbogie, General Bland, with six battalions, Kingston's Horse and Cobham's Dragoons, awaited his advance, while at Old Meldrum were three battalions under Brigadier Mordaunt. In this manner the entire army advanced on Inverness. ”