Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Murray, Charles (d.1720)
MURRAY, Lord CHARLES (d. 1720), Jacobite, was the fourth son of John, second marquis and first duke of Atholl [q.v.], by Lady Catherine Hamilton. Some time before the rebellion in 1715 he had been 'a cornet beyond sea' (Patten, History of the Rebellion, pt. i. p. 57). With his brothers, William, marquis of Tullibardine [q. v.], and Lord George Murray [q. v.], he, in opposition to the wish of his father, took part in the rising; and he held command of the fifth regiment in the army which crossed the Forth from Fife and marched into England. Like his brother Lord George he won the strong affection of his men by his readiness to share their hardships as well as their perils. While on the march he never could be persuaded to ride on horseback, but kept at the head of his regiment on foot in the highland dress (ib.) At the battle of Preston, Lancashire, 12-13 Nov. 1715, he commanded at the second barrier, at the end of a lane leading into the fields, and maintained his position with such determination that the enemy were driven off. Being taken prisoner after the defeat, he was treated as a deserter on the ground that he was a half-pay officer and being found guilty was condemned to be shot. He, however, pleaded that he had placed his commission in the hands of a relative before he joined the rebellion, and having on this account been granted a reprieve, he ultimately, through the intercession of his father, obtained a pardon (Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. pt. viii. p. 70). He died without issue in 1720.
[Patten's History of the Rebellion; Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. pt. viii.; Douglas's Scottish Peerage (Wood), i. 150.]