Brigadier William Mackintosh of Borlum executed the one bold strategic move of the 1715 rising. Defying the strategic deadlock at Stirling, he assembled flat-bottomed boats and ferried 2,500 Jacobite troops across the Forth in two crossings in October 1715, despite Royal Navy vessels attempting to intercept. He established a bridgehead in Fife and then marched south through East Lothian, threatening Edinburgh. This amphibious operation was the most competent military manoeuvre of the entire rising. Mackintosh was subsequently diverted to the disastrous march into England.
Some boats intercepted; most force crosses successfully
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