On the 17th of January, as the King's troops were at dinner in the camp, the advance of the enemy was discovered; the royal forces seized their arms, and proceeded along some rugged and difficult grounds to a large moor, where the rebel army appeared in order of battle.
Success or failure in the hour of battle has sometimes been found to depend upon accidental circumstances over which the commanders of armies have no control. Such was the case at the battle of _Falkirk_, where a tempest of wind and rain beat so violently in the faces of the royal forces at the moment when they engaged their adversaries, that the ammunition was spoiled in the act of loading; the soldiers could not see their opponents, and several regiments gave way. The KING'S OWN, however, evinced the same valour and intrepidity which were so successfully displayed at the fortress of Gibraltar; they were formed in brigade with Price's (now fourteenth) regiment under the orders of Brigadier-General Cholmondeley, and these two corps withstood the fury of the charging Highland host with a firmness which redounded to their honour.[22] Having been joined by the Royals, Buffs, and Ligonier's (now forty-eighth), these five regiments repulsed one wing of the rebel army, and continued on the field of battle until night, when they returned to the camp, and subsequently proceeded to Edinburgh.
The KING'S OWN formed part of the army under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland which advanced from Edinburgh, on the 31st of January, towards Stirling, when the Highlanders made a precipitate retreat. The royal forces followed in pursuit, but were delayed in their advance by severe weather. The KING'S OWN formed part of the advance-guard under Major-General Bland which proceeded to Inverary on the 12th of March, and on the 17th advanced towards Strathsbogie to attack a thousand rebel foot and sixty hussars, posted at that place under Roy Stewart; but the enemy fled on the approach of the King's troops, and were pursued for several miles: the Marquis of Granby, Colonel Conway, Captain Holden, and several other officers, displayed their zeal for the royal cause by the spirited manner in which they pursued the Highlanders.