Approach Route To Cache
Note the cyclist attribute here, the forest paths in the vicinity of the cache include some trail routes for mountain bikes, so depending on which route you take to the cache it could mean you end up on one of them. Please watch out for the signs around the area to warn of routes used by cyclists.
The Battle of Falkirk Muir involved 8000 Jacobean and 7000 Hanoverian soldiers, which was no small feat to assemble in the agreed battle formations. Once the Jacobean and Hanoverian armies were in position, and it was evident the Jacobean's weren't going to attack first, Lieutenant-Colonel Hawley, Commander of the Hanoverians commanded his cavalry to begin the battle with a charge on the Jacobean southern flank. Hawley was pressured into doing so because the Jacobean positions were perilously close to his base camp, in the area north of the battlefield roughly where Falkirk High School sits today. As a cavalry officer he had great faith in his dragoons to sweep aside the highland infantry in the front line, and expected their poor battlefield discipline to prevent a coordinated defence. However things didn't work out that way, by now the Jacobean command had been through multiple uprisings, and gained battlefield experience both against Hanoverian trrops but also serving as mercenary commanders in foreign armies. It didn't hurt that Hawley's tactic were predictable and over-confident.
The Highland infantry facing the dragoons held formation and performed an effective defence, partly because the leader of the Jacobean Command, George Murray, had chosen to stand with them in the front line. A round of concentrated musket fire by the Highlanders caused the dragoons to about face and flee, doing so in such an unruly fashion. Due to thee Glen Burn hemming them in on the south, they rode straight back through their own infantry, scattering them. The Hanoverian south flank disintegrated, and the Macdonalds charged. On the north flank it was different story as the Hanoverians stayed put in a secure position, and the Jacobites were taking casualties. Had the Highlanders remained disciplined they could have defeated the Hanoverian northern flank as well but the battle turned ino a chaotic scene in the poor light and snow, with many Highlanders breaking ranks to raid the nearby Hanoverian camp. This allowed the remaining Hanoverians to retreat safely, with much of their force intact. The whole battle had taken about half an hour.
Falkirk Muir was a victory for the Jacobeans, but failure to follow through on the rout of the Hanoverians meant the same troops would face them across the battlefield some months later, at Culloden.
