On February 12, Captain Campbell received the order of genocide: "Sir, you are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the M'Donalds of Glencoe, and putt all to the sword under seventy.You are to secure all avenues, that no man may escape. This you are to putt in execution at five o'clock in the morning precisely.This is by the King's special command, for the good of the country, that these miscreants be cutt off root and branch." John Dalyrmple