Knowing that Cumberland was behind them only served to cause the Scots to question all of their decisions. By April, Cumberland was as far north as Inverness. When he was within a days march from the city he took the town of Nairn, and stayed encamped there waiting for Charles to make his move. During the winter Charles' relation with Murray which had never been great grew worse to the point where Charles took control of the everyday aspects of running the army. He felt that he had been pushed as far as he could and blamed Murray for the retreat from England. The Scots had camped on the Culloden moor while waiting to unite with the northern clans on the other side of the Firth of Moray. Charles decided that he would defend the traditional capital of the highlands, Inverness, and face the English once and for all.
Charles held a council of war on the night of the 15th, his cousin Cumberland's birthday. He had already steeled himself to the fact that there would be blood spilled here before the sun set again. However he kept silent until Lieutenant General Murray proposed a bold plan that was essential a rehashing of the previous tactics that had proved successful. Using scouts from Clan Chatten, sept Macintosh they decided to launch another night attack. They were to attack the Royals while they were celebration the Duke's birthday with rum and ale. The Highlanders, although hungry, were in high spirits with the recent addition of Mackenzies, Frasers, MacPhersons, MacGregors, MacKinnons, and Glengarrys and seemed eager to attack the British. Despite these additions, Charles lost almost a third of his army to those who went to gain provisions in Inverness. Despite this he forced the attack to continue, although his previous unilateral support was fractured over this decision. The remainder of the army set off on the twelve mile march, yet they soon were lost when the Macintoshes couldn't find their bearings in the dark.
When they finally regained their bearings and formed up once again it was nearly one o'clock. Due to bad roads, the army's movement rate was reduced to one mile per hour. At one, they still had five miles to cover before they reached the English camp. At two miles out, it was decided that the army in it's hungry and weary condition couldn't make it to the British before daybreak. With no other alternatives, Lord Murray ordered a retreat. They marched back in a more direct route now that their guides could see their landmark. The Scots arrived at Culloden moor exhausted and were given the chance to sleep. However they were quickly roused by the officers who in formed them that Cumberland was on the march.