Talk:Battle of Falkirk (1746)
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General Hawley was an ancestor of my husband. They have always said in the family that he lost the Battle of Falkirk because he was totally drunk that day and ineffective as a leader. Is there any evidence to support this?--Alicejenny 07:59, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Hawley at Falkirk
I have no idea if he was drunk or not but he certainly lost the battle because of a serious misconception. As a young subaltern he had been present at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, where he witnessed the effect of cavalry on some of the Highland troops. He formed the lasting-and mistaken-impression that Highlanders were afraid of horsemen. At Falkirk the charge of the dragoons was his one great gamble. When this failed he had nothing to fall back on.
Rcpaterson 01:59, 12 May 2006 (UTC)