ABSTRACT
It became imperative for Charles and Sheridan to leave for Scotland as soon as possible after the Battle of Fontenoy. It was feared that a peace would be negotiated that would stipulate banishment of the Prince from France. At the end of May, Charles and Sheridan disappeared from Fitzjames, saying they were accepting an invitation from the Due de Bouillon to hunt on his estate at Navarre in the southwestern region of the country. In the meantime, from Bouillon’s residence at the Château de Navarre, Sheridan, Kelly, and Charles wrote letters to various people asking for help. Stafford was assigned to take letters to Spain for Sir Charles Wogan, now following in Don Quixote’s steps as Governor of La Mancha, and for Sir Thomas Geraldine, another Irish Jacobite living in Madrid. Both were instructed to ask the King and Queen of Spain for money, arms, “and at least Irish Officers if troops could not be spared.”.
