'
But the ground through which the mountaineers must have descended,
although not of great extent, was impracticable in its character, being
not only marshy, but intersected with walls of dry-stone, and traversed
in its whole length by a very broad and deep ditch, circumstances which
must have given the musketry of the regulars dreadful advantages, before
the mountaineers could have used their swords, on which they were taught
to rely. The authority of the commanders was therefore interposed to
curb the impetuosity of the Highlanders, and only a few marksmen were
sent down the descent to skirmish with the enemy's advanced posts, and
to reconnoitre the ground.
Here, then, was a military spectacle of no ordinary interest, or usual
occurrence. The two armies, so different in aspect and discipline,
yet each admirably trained in its own peculiar mode of war, upon whose
conflict the temporary fate at least of Scotland appeared to depend, now
faced each other like two gladiators in the arena, each meditating
upon the mode of attacking their enemy. The leading officers, and the
general's staff of each army, could be distinguished in front of their
lines, busied with spy-glasses to watch each other's motions, and
occupied in dispatching the orders and receiving the intelligence
conveyed, by the aides-de-camp and orderly men, who gave life to the
scene by galloping along in different directions as if the fate of
the day depended upon the speed of their horses.
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