Battle
The Chattan Confederation forces consisted of the Mackintoshes, Davidsons and Macphersons. As a result of a disagreement as to whether the Davidsons or Macphersons would occupy the right wing, which was the post of honour, the Macphersons withdrew in disgust from the army. The combined Clan Chattan had outnumbered the Camerons but with the loss of the Macphersons the Camerons now had the greater number. The battle resulted in a defeat for the remaining Clan Chattan forces. It is said that an ally of Cameron known as Charles MacGilony led the clan into battle; he is believed to have changed the outcome of the day with his uncanny ability as an archer.
At this point, or possibly the next morning, the Macphersons changed their minds and decided to rejoin the Chattan confederation, attacking the Camerons with such vigour that they changed the victory into defeat. The Camerons were “put to flight” up the Truim valley towards Drumochter, turning homeward at Dalwhinnie, west towards Loch Treig.
The Mackintoshes later claimed that the Macphersons were coaxed into the battle by a man from Clan Mackintosh who turned up at the Macphersons’ camp pretending to be from Clan Cameron and calling the Macphersons cowards. The Macphersons then attacked the Camerons’ camp, making a dreadful slaughter of them—even killing Charles MacGilony, the Camerons' top archer—at a place now called Charles’s Valley (in Gaelic Coire Thearlaich).
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Invernahavon
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