To enforce the royal will and overawe the Covenanters, troops were stationed among the people and commissioned to plunder and kill the disobedient at will.

The sufferings of the Covenanters, at the hands of the soldiers, were indescribable.  Their homes were invaded; their property was confiscated; their flocks and herds were driven off; their families were broken up; the aged and delicate, the women and children—­all who would not yield to their demands endured personal violence.  The country groaned and staggered under the cruelty authorized by King Charles, and practiced by his agents.

Conditions became desperate; the wise were driven mad; patience ceased to be a virtue; endurance was at the point of conflagration.  Thousands had to flee and keep in hiding, to escape personal harm and even the shedding of their blood.

At this juncture of events, four young Covenanters, fleeing from place to place for safety, came to a dwelling, where they found four dragoons preparing to roast an old man on a gridiron, to extract information concerning his money.  The sight shocked every noble feeling; their manhood was aroused, and their courage was greater than their prudence.  They challenged the conduct of the soldiers, and were answered with drawn swords.  The Covenanters came off best.  They rescued the aged victim, disarmed the soldiers, and marched them off at the point of their own sabers.  In the fight one of the Covenanters fired a pistol, wounding a dragoon.  That was “the shot that echoed around the world,” and re-echoed, till it resounded over the green valley of the Boyne, among the rocks of Bunker Hill, and along the banks of the Appomattox.

The Covenanters knew that they had now precipitated a conflict, that would call armies into the field.  The king’s measures have hitherto been severe, but now the furnace will be heated seven fold.  The Covenanters must now meet force with force, or be utterly crushed.  They attempted to raise an army.  Next morning, the four men were increased to ten, and a second encounter resulted in the capture of a detachment of the king’s regulars, with one dead.  The second day volunteers swelled the number to 250; the prospects were growing bright.  Another engagement resulted in the surrender of Sir James Turner, the local commander of the royal forces.  Thus far the operations greatly encouraged the Covenanters; they now hoped to be able to redress their grievances, and compel the king to withdraw his army, thus bringing the horrors of those times to an end.

King Charles hastily prepared to meet the new conditions.  He termed the uprising, “A formidable insurrection.”  He massed his troops to crush “the rebels.”  The Covenanters spent their time moving from one town to another to increase their forces.  Colonel James Wallace, a brave officer of considerable military experience, was chosen commander.  The recruits were not numerous.  They were also without discipline, and inefficiently armed, carrying muskets, pistols, swords, pikes, scythes, pitchforks, and flails.