Discrete Item F81 - Letter, 1744 Oct. 8, on board H.M.S. Angelsea, to William Adair.

Sir John Cope, a professional soldier who served under Marlborough, was a member of Parliament from 1722 to 1741, became a Lieutenant General in 1743 and was appointed Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces in Scotland, February 13, 1744. On 31 March he was granted the freedom of Edinburgh but left Scotland shortly afterwards to serve with the British forces in Flanders. On the landing of Prince Charles Edward (the Young Pretender) in Scotland in 1745, Cope embarked on a fruitless march to the Highlands, returned by sea to Dunbar, and on 21 September was routed at Prestonpans.