At 5 AM the murders began. The false guests rose up against their hosts. Caught completely unawares, the old Chief was shot twice (once through the head) as he tried to rise from his bed. His elderly wife was stripped of her clothing, her rings pulled (some say bitten) off her fingers, and cast out into the blizzard now raging outside. She died the next day.
In MacDonald villages throughout the glen, the brutality had begun. Children were run through; young men shot by commanders when reluctant soldiers hesitated. A group of 9 bound men shot in cold blood, one by one. One woman and her five year old son were shot as they begged for their lives. Old women, stripped of clothing, with young children and babies, fled into the freezing storm - only to perish soon after.
Thirty eight people were murdered - their homes burnt, possessions stolen, and livestock driven off as booty by the troopers. The rest of the clan managed to escape into the mountains, to the country of the Stewarts of Appin (bitter enemies of the Campbells).
It must be said that some soldiers refused to take part and were put in prison - some few others may have fired over the heads of fleeing clansmen and women, allowing to escape at least their bullets and bayonets. There may also have been some last minute warning given, as it is almost miraculous that out of 150 targets "only" 38 people died.