Brigadier William MacIntosh of Borlum executed the boldest strategic move of the 1715 rising: a seaborne crossing of the Firth of Forth with 2,500 Jacobite infantry in October 1715. Assembling flat-bottomed boats on the Fife shore, his force crossed in daylight despite Royal Navy vessels attempting to intercept. Some boats were chased and captured but the majority of the force landed successfully in East Lothian. This amphibious operation — unprecedented in the Jacobite risings — threatened Edinburgh from the east while Argyll held Stirling to the west. MacIntosh was subsequently ordered to join the march into England, wasting his strategic insight on Forster's doomed column.
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