Page "Battle of Falkirk Muir" Paragraph 15

At 4: 00 pm, Colonel Francis Ligonier received orders to charge the Jacobite right with the British dragoons.

Hawley apparently believed in the superiority of cavalry over the Highlanders.

The Jacobites waited until the dragoons trotted into pistol range then let loose with a crushing volley.

" Eighty dragoons fell dead upon the spot.

" A handful of the British horsemen closed with the Highlanders, but most fled.

Cobham's dragoons rode north between the infantry battle lines.

The other two regiments bolted to the rear.

One company of the Glasgow militia was ridden over and scattered by Hamilton's fleeing dragoons.

Those horsemen who continued to fight fell victim to an unusual tactic.

The Highlanders dropped their muskets and crouched on the ground, using their dirks to kill the horses and stabbing the riders as they fell.

Another Highlander tactic when confronted with cavalry was to aim their swords at the horses head rather than the rider.

A horse wounded this way will tend to circle and render the rider an easy target.