The House of Stuart and Jacobitism, 1603-1746
The Stuart Monarchy 1603-1691
James I and VI ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1603 to 1624. He
was the cousin of Elizabeth I and son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the
first Stuart monarch of England. While on the Throne of England, he sought
the union of Scotland and England but was rebuffed by the English
Parliament. Once he accepted the English throne, he never returned to
Scotland and ruled it through a Scottish Privy Council. He was
instrumental in the establishment of English and Scottish settlements in
Ireland, called Plantations, displacing Irish Catholic natives.
James was followed by his son, Charles I, who ruled from 1624
to1649. He was a Protestant but irritated English Protestant Puritans with
his tolerance of Catholics and failure to include any, but a few
favorites, in his policy and decision making. His wife was a Catholic,
cousin to the King of France and made every effort to convert her children
to Catholicism. Charles fought with an English army against Scotland in
1638 and 1640 over the imposition of an English prayer book in Scottish
churches and was defeated. His Irish Catholic subjects revolted in 1641 in
hopes of religious toleration after seeing the concessions granted the
victorious Scots in 1640. The Irish revolt forced Charles to turn to his
English Parliament for money to raise an army. Parliament and the King
could not agree on any of the issues before them and went to war against
each other. Scotland plunged into civil war as well, the government
supporting first Parliament, then Charles I, when he was imprisoned by the
English Parliament. The Marquis of Montrose conducted a brilliant campaign
against the Scottish Covenanter government with Irish mercenaries and
highlanders in 1644-45 until he was defeated at Phillipaugh. After the
murder of Charles in 1649, the Scots crowned Charles II as their King and
invaded England in 1650, suffering defeat and invasion by Cromwell and his
English Army after Charles fled and left then to their fate. After
subduing Scotland, Cromwell went on to end the bewilderingly complicated
multi-faction civil war in Ireland and slaughtered or relocated the
Catholic Irish inhabitants. Cromwell ruled England, Scotland and Ireland
until his death in 1659, and was replaced by his incompetent son.
Charles II, already King of the Scots, was invited in 1660 to take
the Throne of England and Ireland and ruled all three until 1685.
Disdainful of Scotland, he never saw it after 1651, but ruled it through a
Scottish Privy Council that brutally suppresses the dissenting Lowland
Protestants. Charles successfully resisted his mother’s influence and
remained a Protestant until his deathbed conversion to Catholicism. His
younger sister, Minette, became a Catholic and married the brother of
Louis XIV. James, Duke of York, the heir to the Throne, made a very public
declaration of his conversion to Catholicism causing a crisis in which
Charles’ support of James as his successor never wavered.
After the death of Charles II, James II and VII, ruled uncontested
from 1685-1688. The Protestant English were disturbed by his Catholicism,
as well as his inclination to place fellow Catholics in positions of
authority in the army and government, but tolerated him as long as they
knew he would be followed by one of his Protestant daughters. James was
more familiar with Scotland, having ruled it for his brother for a time,
but still ruled it in absentia with a Scottish Privy Council. There was a
crisis in England when James’ wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a son,
creating the possibility of a second Catholic Monarch to follow James. A
cabal of Protestants in the government approached William of Orange, son
in law to James and staunch Protestant, to invade England to assure the
“Protestant Rights of Englishmen.” He landed in November of 1688. The
English army went over to William of Orange and James, his family, and
many of his adherents, fled England for France. The English Parliament
declared him to have abdicated the Throne after he left.
The English Parliament offered William of Orange and his wife Mary,
James’s eldest daughter the Throne on 31 January 1689, which they accepted
jointly. In April 1689 the Scottish Convention of the Estates decided that
James had forfeited the Scottish crown and recognized William and Mary as
monarchs II of Scotland. There was some resentment in Scotland and all was
quiet until Viscount Dundee raised a 2000 man army loyal to James in the
Western Highlands in June 1689. Dundee’s army won at the pass of
Killiekrankie in 1689 with a single highland charge sustaining losses of
as much as 30% of the force due to the firepower of General MacKay’s army.
With Dundee’s death on the battlefield, the supporters of James had no
real leadership and after defeats at the battles of Dunkeld and Cromdale,
the army disbanded. In 1689 James landed in Ireland and began a military
campaign to subdue the island and invade England. He was opposed by Scots
and English Protestants who held him at bay until the English and Dutch
Armies arrived and defeated him at the Boyne River, after which James
returned to France. The Army of James was defeated and forced to surrender
and depart for France in 1691.
Like this and all subsequent Stuart attempts to regain the Throne of
England, Ireland and Scotland, support from France was minimal and
demonstrated a willingness to support the Stuarts as long as France was at
war with England while involving as few troops and spending at little as
possible.
In 1691 the government in Scotland established a deadline of 1
January 1692 for all the clan chiefs to take a loyalty oath to William. In
the view of the clan chiefs, permission to take this oath had to be
granted by James, which was forthcoming on 29 December 1691. There was a
failure to meet a series of unexplained, inflexible administrative
requirements in the case of the loyalty oath of Alasdair MacIan, chief of
the MacDonald’s of Glencoe and he was not on the list of “loyal” clan
chiefs. Robert Campbell of Glenlyon arrived in Glencoe on 12 February with
120 men, enjoyed the hospitality of the MacDonalds for 12 days. Before
dawn on the 12th day Campbell and his men massacred or turned the
occupants of three villages out into the snow. The only punishment for the
massacre was the dismissal of the Scottish Secretary of State. The
Campbells were not rewarded with MacDonald land, as they had hoped, and
the highland nobility trusted the government less than they had before.
Kings in Exile 1692-1744
In 1694 Mary died, leaving the unpopular William to rule alone. At the
1697 Peace of Ryswick between France and England the French recognized
William as King of England, and agreed to permanently stop all military
support to James. James left France for Rome.
In 1698 many in Scotland realized that the accumulation of wealth
required colonial possessions and being hindered from access to English
colonies, a subscription was raised from all of Scotland to establish a
colony in Central America called Darien. The climate proved deadly and
English support was denied to the point of refusing to send a relief
expedition to the starving colony in 1699. The Darien settlement was
abandoned in 1700 and with it went a considerable amount of Scottish
capital.
In 1701, James died and war broke out between England and France. On
the death of James II and VII, his son, James Francis Stuart was
proclaimed the King of England, Scotland and Ireland, James III and VIII
in exile. In 1702 William died as a result of a riding accident in which
his horse stumbled in a mole’s hole. This is the origin of the Jacobite
toast to “that brown coated gentleman.” With the accession of childless
Queen Anne, the youngest daughter of James II and VII, the English
Parliament, with no Scottish consultation, passed an Act of Settlement
which barred Catholics from English Throne. The Succession was conveyed to
Sophia the Electress of Hannover and her heirs. This act ensured that King
James could not take the English throne.
In 1703 the Scottish the Parliament passed the Act of Security
giving Scotland the right to decide who would be the monarch of Scotland
and the Act of Peace and War giving Scotland the right to decide when it
would go to war. Queen Anne reluctantly gave her assent, and the stage was
set for the struggle over Scottish independence. The English Parliament
passed the Alien Acts in 1705 effectively disrupting trade between
Scotland and England and putting Scottish property rights in England at
risk.
The Act of Union and “The 08”
Queen Anne directed a treaty of Union be negotiated between England and
Scotland in 1705. There were a number of Scottish nobles who supported
Union, due primarily to economic interests. Enough of those that were not
initially supportive of union were convinced, usually by bribery, that it
was in their best interests. The burghs represented in Parliament were,
for the most part, consistently against the union but were overruled and
out numbered by the nobles who supported union. Supporters of the Union
were reimbursed for their losses from the Darien colony and were rewarded
with representing Scotland in the English Parliament. Scotland did retain
control of its separate legal system, church and educational system. The
last Scottish Parliament met on 25 March, 1707. The act of Union ended
Scottish independence as a separate kingdom and caused considerable
hostility in Scotland, to the benefit of the Jacobite cause.
In 1708 James attempted a landing in Scotland with French troops.
The French naval commander refused to land troops as highlanders were
rowing out to greet the fleet in the Firth of Forth. With the appearance
of an English fleet, the French ships fled back to France.
In 1713 the Terms of the Treaty of Utrecht between France and
England forced James to leave France for Rome where he remained for the
rest of his life. In the latter years of Anne’s reign there was
considerable hope that she would approach James asking him to take the
throne upon her death. James’ unwillingness to give up his Catholic faith
in the end made such an option unacceptable to the English. Anne died on
31 July 1714 and George, Elector of Hanover ascended to the Throne on 20
October of that same year. George I was never popular with his English,
Scottish and Irish subjects and was seen by many as a usurping foreigner.
In England he displaced the Tory party, associated with a strong monarchy
and the “High Church” Episcopalians with the Whigs who were interested in
maintaining a constitutional monarchy. In Scotland the government fell
under the control of the Presbyterian faction and the Episcopalians and
small Catholic minority found themselves excluded from government because
of their religious beliefs. Hostility to existing government, however, did
not necessarily translate into supporting armed revolt, as the Jacobites
were to learn repeatedly. The English reinstated a tax on malt in 1714
that had been lifted at the Act of Union to curb the Scottish practice of
making their own whiskey, the resulting riots and military suppression of
those riots was another cause of widespread disaffection. In 1715 Louis
XIV died but his successor Louis XV continued the policy of limited
support to the Jacobites, ignoring them when at peace, and using them as
an annoyance to the English when they were at war.
“The 15”
Taking advantage of widespread anti-Hanoverian and Anti-Union sentiment,
the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard on 6 September 1715 in the
north-east Highlands without the Jacobite Court in exile’s knowledge.
Individual motivation mattered little in Scottish highland, and to some
extent, lowland societies where the landed aristocracy expected tenants to
turn out in support of the landowners cause. Both the lowlands and
highlands turned out equally for Mar in relatively large numbers.
Inverness was occupied by the Jacobites on the 12 of September, but
was back in government hands by November. Dundee was taken without a shot
by Jacobite forces on 16 September and Perth fell to 40 Jacobites on the
17th after a truce and surrender of arms by 150 plus government
supporters. The seizure of these and other key towns made it possible to
mass Jacobite contingents who were wandering directionless across
Scotland. On 6 October, English Jacobites mustered and, upon being turned
away by local government forces at Newcastle, took Hexam with a force of
300 augmented by Scots from north of the Border. Victory by intimidation
as opposed to actual combat was the rule during the early stages of the
uprising.
In September government forces began moving into Scotland from
England and Ireland but not in sufficient numbers to satisfy the
government military commander in Scotland, the Duke of Argyll. The
government remained, throughout the uprising, more concerned about keeping
the peace in England, Ireland and Wales than operations in Scotland, and
their subsequent troop deployments reflected that concern. Argyll,
outnumbered by the Jacobites, established a blocking position along the
river Tay and continued to recruit and train government supporters to
augment his army of approximately 3,500 regulars.
Throughout October, small scale raiding by both sides ensued in
Scotland while the Jacobites trained, recruited and armed their unprepared
soldiers. A southern Scottish and northern English army began to coalesce
in early October and made its way into England on 1 November with
approximately 1,400 men. It proceeded south unopposed, and was reinforced
with only perhaps as many as 200 men, until it got to Preston. At Preston,
government forces surrounded the Jacobite army in the town on the 12 of
November and accepted the Jacobite surrender on the 14th.
By the first of November the Earl of Mar had assembled a force of
approximately 9,000 soldiers at Perth from the west and east of Scotland.
The Jacobite force under the command of General George Hamilton moved
south towards the Forth west of Stirling on the 11th in an effort to
outflank Argyll’s forces. Argyll’s moved towards Mar’s force, resulting in
a meeting engagement at Sherrifmuir in 13 November. Both armies’ left
flank’s were routed by cavalry almost simultaneously, creating a chaotic
situation for both armies. Argyll’s exhausted forces retreated in the face
of the equally exhausted Jacobite force. Government forces lost
approximately 1,000 men it could ill afford and the Jacobites lost
approximately 1,500. Jacobite losses were exacerbated by the departure of
as many as half of the remaining army of 7,500 after the battle.
After Sherrifmuir, some of the Scottish nobles attempted to
negotiate a peace with the Duke of Argyll. Argyll was in favor of offering
an honorable peace but the English government insisted on total
capitulation. The unwillingness of the government to negotiate gave the
Jacobites nothing to lose and increased the will to resist and hope of
French support.
In early December, General Cadogan arrived in Scotland to take
command of government forces, replacing the Earl of Argyll and setting the
stage for a more aggressive approach to dealing with the Scottish
Jacobites. James arrived in Scotland on 22 December with 2 attendants, no
money, no arms and no soldiers while many Scottish nobles had returned to
their estates to begin gathering their forces for the coming spring
campaign.
On the 27th of January government forces launched a winter offensive
from Stirling and Dunblane to Perth unopposed. The Jacobites retreated
from Perth to Dundee. The government army had no artillery and was, low on
rations and marching in near arctic winter conditions as the Jacobites
retreated from defenses in Perth and then in Dundee. The Jacobite army
arrived at Montrose on 1 February, demoralized by desertion and down to
approximately 4,000 men. The Jacobite army remained in Montrose until 5
February, the day after James returned to France, and disbanded into small
units that eventually went home.
* * *
Many of those English participants in the 15 that did not flee to France
were executed or transported. Government soldiers were garrisoned
throughout northern England and Catholics were fined regardless of their
involvement in the uprising. In Scotland there were few leaders imprisoned
or fined. Some did flee for France with the majority of participants
permitted to return to their pre-uprising lives. The harshest penalty
suffered by the Scots was a Disarming Act of 1716 forbidding all Scots in
the highlands, regardless of loyalty, from carrying weapons.
In 1719, an Anglo-French alliance declared war on Spain. In an
effort to open a second front, the Spanish and Jacobites planned an
invasion of England with a small diversionary force in Scotland. The main
force was destroyed in bad weather but the diversionary force landed at
Loch Duich with 300 soldiers led by Lord Tullibardine and Earl Marischal.
This force was joined by a group of Jacobite exiles from France. There was
little support from the Scots. Government forces from Inverness met the
dug in Jacobite force, both with about 1,000 troops, at Glenshiel and
defeated them with the Spanish surrendering and Scots disappearing into
the highlands. That same year James married Climentia Sobieski the
following year his son and heir Charles Edward born, followed by another
son Henry in 1725.
General George Wade was appointed the military commander of North
Britain in 1724. His first act was to put down malt tax riots in Glasgow.
In 1725 General Wade began construction of a road network n the highlands
to facilitate the movement of men and materiel. By 1738 the network
consisted of approximately 242 miles. Under his command, a total of six
independent companies were reformed, as they had been off and on since
1603, to police the highlands. Wade constructed Fort George at Inverness,
transformed Fort Augustus from barracks to a fort and reinforced 17th
century Fort William, the southernmost of the forts in the Great Glen.
Other lesser garrisons were established at Ruthven and Bernera. In 1727
George I died, and the equally unpopular George II ascended to the Throne.
Scottish efforts to avoid payment of the hated malt tax resulted in
aggressive smuggling of malt from Germany. In 1736, the arrest of three
smugglers and execution of one of them resulted in riots in the death of
six rioters at the hands of the Edinburgh City Guard. The commander of the
City Guard, John Porteous, was charged with murder, sentenced to death and
lynched by a mob before the sentence could be appealed or carried out.
In 1740 the War of Austrian Succession between France and Britain
created renewed interest on the part of the French in opening a second
front to distract the English on the continent. Seeing the opportunity for
a Jacobite uprising in Scotland, a group of nobles sent a petition to the
French in March of 1741 promising an army of 20,000 soldiers if the French
sent the Irish Brigade to Scotland. There was no response to the petition.
A French force was assembled for an invasion of England and Scotland
in early 1744. The invasion force consisted of 20,000 French regulars. The
3,000 man Irish Brigade under the Earl Marischal was to be a diversionary
force landing in Scotland. Prince Charles was summoned from Rome to France
to represent his father as Prince Regent in England. As the invasion fleet
was about to sail in February 1744 a gale blew up which dispersed and
decimated the warships which were to protect the ships transporting the
troops. The troop transports were destroyed or damaged in Dunkirk harbor
by two successive storms in February and March and the invasion was called
off. This was the last planned large scale French effort on behalf of the
Jacobites.
In late 1744 Charles was introduced to a group of Irish privateers
and slaver traders who operated out of northern French ports. They had
Jacobite sympathies, a desire to distract the Royal Navy from their
privateering activities and supported Prince Charles in his effort to take
troops, arms, ammunition, himself and his companions to Scotland. Charles
embarked on a planned invasion without the knowledge or support of Louis
XV, relying on limited support from one of his ministers. Charles did not
his father, James, of his plans.
Charlie’s Year 1745-46
“Bliadhna Thearlaich”
Charles was convinced of Scottish lingering disaffection over the Union of
1707 and the imposition of English taxes, particularly the malt tax. There
was considerable talk and some correspondence between the Jacobite and
several Scots nobles indicating their unhappiness with the current state
of affairs. The correspondence from the Scots Jacobites always emphasized
the need for French forces to serve as the core of any army raised in
Scotland and that Charles need not come to Scotland without them.
Adherents of the large Scottish Episcopal Church were a major source of
support for the Jacobite cause, and made it clear they were willing to
overlook James’ Catholicism, unlike many of the lowland Presbyterians. The
small Scottish Catholic minority was willing to support James if granted
toleration, but in the case of Keppoch’s regiment and others, when they
were denied their own Priest they deserted.
Charles was equally convinced that English disaffection over the
imposition of excise and property taxes and a legal code that favored the
propertied classes would result in armed support. This view was more
informed by his Irish councilors in France than any intelligence gathered
in England. His English supporters promised little, and in the final
analysis, delivered less.
After writing letters to his father and Louis XV asking for support,
delivered after his departure, Charles put together an expedition of two
ships, one a light frigate, the "Du Teillay", the other a much larger
French naval vessel of 64 guns, the "Elisabeth" which set sail from the
Loire on 5 July 1745. On 9 July they encountered the British 54 gun HMS
“Lion,” which damaged Charles' larger ship so badly it had to return to
France. It was carrying all of the Prince’s troops and most of his arms
and ammunition. Charles landed on the island of Eriskay on 23 July 1745
with “The Seven Men of Moidart,” comprised of only two expatriate
Scotsmen, the rest being three Irishmen, one Frenchman and an Englishman.
He also brought 1,500 firelocks, 1,800 swords and 4,000 Pounds Sterling in
gold. Thomas Sheridan and John O’Sullivan, two of the Irishmen in his
company, would be the faction in Charles’ Council of War that was
continuously at odds with the Scots field commanders, who tended to follow
Lord George Murray’s lead. Charles arrived on the mainland at Loch nan
Uamh on 25 July. On 7 August, the Duke of Argyle was made aware of the
landing and the government in London was informed.
Initially the clan chiefs who meet with him were unenthusiastic
about an uprising, given the absence of French forces and the government
retribution after 1715. Once Charles secured the reluctant support of
Cameron of Lochiel, other clans began to turn out in support of the
uprising. The first engagement took place on 16 August when two newly
recruited companies of the government’s Royal Regiment of Foot were
defeated between Fort Augustus and Fort William. On 19 August the Jacobite
standard was raised at Glenfinnian in the presence of approximately 1200
men. On 20 August, the government in London requested troops on the
continent be sent back to England, not so much in response to Charles
army, but more to defend England from a French invasion which was
perceived as the greater threat at the time. General Cope set out with a
government army of 3,000 to march from Edinburgh to Fort Augustus in the
Great Glen. He diverted the army north to Inverness to avoid the Jacobite
controlled Corrieairack Pass, arriving at Inverness on 29 August. In an
effort to secure food for the Jacobite army, Colonel O’Sullivan, with no
artillery, engineers and only Highland troops failed in an attempted siege
of the government Ruthven Barracks on 30 August. Charles took Perth on 3
September with approximately 3000 soldiers. At Perth, Charles was joined
by the Duke of Perth and his brother, Lord George Murray, the most
experienced officer in the Jacobite army. The Jacobite army now numbered
approximately 4,000 men. The Jacobite army left Perth on 11 September and
was at Stirling on 13 September.
The Jacobite Army moved on to Edinburgh. Edinburgh at the time was
one of the four largest population centers in Britain with a population of
approximately 50,000. A detachment under Lochiel entered the city early on
the morning of 17 September through a gate mysteriously left open. All but
the castle capitulated and the local populace proved to be unsupportive.
Prestonpans
General Cope moved south from Inverness and arrived near Aberdeen on the 19th. He took up a position at Prestonpans with stone walls on his right, a bog on his left, a ditch to the front and the sea to his rear on 20 September. It was a defensive position with no means of escape or withdrawal. The Jacobite army repositioned twice on the 20th and suffered from confusion as a result of its effort to find suitable terrain from which to attack Cope’s stationary force. Before dawn the Jacobites seized the much needed government baggage train, moved into a position 200 paces from Cope’s army and, at dawn, attacked from an unexpected direction. The Jacobite Brigade under Murray charged the government forces leaving the other Brigades under the Duke of Perth and the reserve, under the command of Charles to follow and support. The Government artillery fire was ineffective and brief as the crews fled, followed soon by the dragoons on both flanks of the infantry in the center. The infantry held briefly then fled or surrendered. The engagement lasted approximately 15 minutes. Both sides consisted of approximately 2,500 men. Jacobite losses were approximately 25 killed. Government losses were approximately 150 killed with over 1,000 captured. English dragoon horses were slaughtered by Highland soldiers denying mounts for Jacobite cavalry. There was some desertion of Scots fighting for the government to the Jacobite army, but the numbers are not clear. Allegations of Jacobite soldiers killing wounded government soldiers after the battle were made but cannot be substantiated in the literature. What is important is that government soldiers believed the allegations and this influenced their behavior following the battle of Culloden.
* * *
Following Prestonpans, land owners in the Lowlands under Jacobite control
were required to contribute towards the equipping and raising of
regiments. This levy changed the character of the Jacobite army. Of those
forces raised in Scotland, approximately half were Lowland and half were
Highland in origin. All soldiers were expected to adopt Highland dress,
including the English Manchester Regiment which wore bonnets and plaids
over their shoulders. Highland dress was used in 1689, 1715 and 1745 to
indicate support for the Jacobite cause. Highland attire, it was hoped,
would also intimidate English opponents on the field of battle. It is not
possible to establish the proportion of men forced into Jacobite military
service with any degree of certainty. What is beyond doubt is that it
occurred.
The emissary Charles sent to France described the victory of
Prestonpans in such glowing terms and reported that the Jacobite army was
so large that many French Ministers believed that their support was
unnecessary. Cope’s defeat energized the English Government and
expressions of support and money were forthcoming from all strata of
society. On 23 September, General Ligonier arrived in England with 10
regiments from the continent. The generally combat ineffective English
militia was mustered, not so much to engage in combat, but to keep the
peace locally and forestall local insurrection. Catholics were disarmed
and ordered to leave the large population centers of England. General Wade
moved to Newcastle with an English army of approximately 8,000 to cover
the eastern approaches to the English border and was in place by the end
of October. General Ligonier established a blocking position in Lancashire
with approximately 10,000 soldiers.
The Jacobite Council of War agreed to take the army south into
England based on Charles’ claim of English support and a French invasion
of England. The Scottish commanders on the council had not anticipated an
invasion of England, but in the face of Charles insistence, relented.
There was an economic aspect to the invasion as well, because the army
needed whatever financial support could be gained from English towns in
order to support itself. Lord Strathallan was left in Scotland as
commander in chief. Smugglers delivered 2,500 firelocks to the Jacobite
army at Montrose just in time to equip the Jacobite forces invading
England. The Jacobite army departed Edinburgh on 31 October with
approximately 6,000 men.
The Jacobite army moved south in two columns with the western column
moving through Peebles and Moffat. The eastern most column, under Charles,
went through Kelso and Jedburg. The two columns linked up at Longtown and
arrived at Carlisle on 9 November. Carlisle surrendered on the 14th after
a 4 day siege and the castle surrendered the following day. The Duke of
Perth, a Catholic, was given the privilege of accepting the surrender of
Carlisle despite warnings from Lord Murray. The Government, as expected,
made much of the first city taken by the Jacobites in England being
surrendered to a Catholic. On the 20th the Jacobite army continued south.
On 26 November Lord John Drummond and 800 soldiers in French service
comprised of the Royal Ecossois as well as a company of 50 men from four
of the six regiments in the Irish Brigade, referred to as the Irish
Picquets, arrived in Scotland and garrisoned Perth. By 27 November the
Jacobite army was resting in Preston with none of the English Jacobites
flocking to join them as Charles had predicted. The following day an
English deserter in the Jacobite army, Sergeant Dickson, pushed ahead of
the main body and with his girlfriend and a drummer captured Manchester
for Charles. Manchester provided the only support to Charles contributing
the Manchester Regiment, consisting of 200 men commanded by Colonel
Francis Townley.
On 28 November, the Duke of Cumberland replaced an ailing Ligonier
and took command of the government forces in Lancashire. He was shortly
out maneuvered by the Jacobite army which slipped by him south into Derby.
The Jacobite army entered Derby on 4 December, 125 miles from London.
Charles and his Irish advisors called for a march on London and his
Scottish field commanders called for a withdrawal to Scotland in the face
of two armies in the field, either of which outnumbered the Jacobite army.
Cumberland was at Coventry with approximately 9,000 men and Wade was at
Wetherby with approximately 6,500 men. The council was also told of a
nearby fictional third field army from a double agent. There was an army
gathering north of London with the Guards Regiments as its core
formations. There was no indication London, a city of over 50,000 people,
would be supportive of the Jacobite cause. Beginning on 2 December France
began assembling a force of perhaps as many as 15,000 at Dunkirk for an
invasion of England. A shortage of transport, lack of artillery, internal
discord over the invasion was more important than the war in Flanders,
and, finally, English naval interdiction prevented the invasion. The march
back to Scotland began on 6 December 1745 after violent disagreement in
the War Council.
The march south into England had been for the most part unopposed
with the exception of militia units destroying bridges and roadways in the
Jacobite Army’s path. Towns and cites along the army’s route of march had
grudgingly supplied and housed the army and local Jacobites had shown some
hospitality to Charles and his officers. The march north was entirely
different. The army received a violent reception in many communities and
was forced to defend itself on more than one occasion. Stragglers were
killed and the Jacobite Army resorted to looting in the absence of
voluntary support. Manchester, the only English town that had provided
soldiers to the Jacobite army, closed its gates to the army as it made its
way north. Charles deliberately slowed his pace, and, therefore, that of
his army, in order to avoid giving the appearance of fleeing England,
putting his soldiers at risk from the hostile local population.
In the absence of Charles and his army, much of Scotland either
reverted to government control or experienced a marked loss of Jacobite
enthusiasm. Government Independent Companies, recruited from Clans Munro,
Grant, MacKay, MacLeod and MacKenzie gathered at Inverness and by early
December numbered 10 companies of approximately 1,000 men. On 10 December,
a force of 700 men from the Independent Companies moving to Aberdeen was
defeated at Inverurie by Lord Lewis Gordon’s Regiment and the Royal
Ecosse, forcing them to retreat to Elgin and leaving the Jacobites in
control of Aberdeen and its environs. Campbell of Mamore raised a militia
in Argyllshire of 1,000 men in December as well. On 12 December, the
garrison of Edinburgh Castle was reinforced and the government regained
control of the city. Lord Loudon and a force of 600 men from the
Independent Companies took Fort Augustus from Lord Lovat’s Regiment in
December.
On 13 December, government volunteer cavalry under General
Oglethorpe attacked the Jacobite rear guard as the army was departing
Preston. Elcho’s Horse and Cluny Mac Pherson’s Regiment forced them to
withdraw. On 18 December the Jacobites rear guard near Clifton, under the
command of Murray, was under pressure from Cumberland’s dragoons. Murray
established a defensive position with the Atholl Brigade, the Stuarts of
Appin Regiment, Cluny MacPherson’s Regiment and MacDonald of Glengarry’s
Regiment, exchanging fire with the dragoons. After dark, Cumberland’s
dragoons advanced while firing until Murray led the Appins and
MacPherson’s men in a charge, closing with the dragoon’s, forcing them to
flee. Murray ordered a retreat and Cumberland occupied Clifton but was
unable to pursue the retreating Jacobite army.
The Manchester Regiment, with attached companies, stayed at Carlisle
as the main body of the Jacobite army crossed into Scotland on 20
December. Charles insisted that the city and castle be garrisoned, perhaps
as a gesture that he would return to England shortly. The garrison
surrendered to the Duke of Cumberland on 30 December after a nine day
siege. The English Jacobite troops were sent to London where the officers
were condemned to a traitor’s death and the men either joined the
government army or were transported to the West Indies.
On Christmas Day the Jacobite army entered Glasgow and stayed for 10
days while the strongly pro-government city was reluctantly forced to
refit it. There was talk of burning this hostile city, which was saved as
a result of Lochiel’s efforts. On 4 January, Drummond and his forces
linked up with Charles and the rest of the Jacobite army. On departing
Glasgow the Jacobite army went to Stirling and began a siege of Stirling
Castle on 7 January. General Hawley came out of Edinburgh with a force of
8,500 and Charles moved to meet him with a force of 8,000 men leaving
approximately 1,000 to maintain the siege of Stirling.
Falkirk
Charles, having little remaining faith in his subordinate commanders, took
personal command of the Jacobite Army. He waited 2 days for Hawley at
Bannockburn and then moved on to Falkirk Muir, occupying the high ground 2
miles away from the government forces on 16 January. The government forces
were caught off guard and moved to engage the Jacobite army, getting their
artillery mired in the process. The Jacobite right was anchored on soft
ground. The government forces deployed down hill from the Jacobites and
their line was behind a ravine on their right. The Jacobite right flank
overlapped the government left and the government right overlapped the
Jacobite left.
The action began with Lord Murray on the right flank firing on and
charging the government dragoon regiments on the government left. The
dragoons fled the field carrying the infantry they retreated through and
trampled with them. The Jacobite formations continued their pursuit and
were unavailable to support the rest of the army as it faced those
regiments that had not broken and fled. The right flank government forces
withdrew in an orderly fashion and the Jacobite army was only able to
pursue them as far as Falkirk due to onset of darkness, exhaustion,
disorganization and bad weather. The engagement lasted 20 minutes.
Hawley’s force had 420 killed and numerous wounded. Charles’ army had
approximately 50 killed and 60 to 80 wounded. After the government forces
fled, the Jacobite commanders were unable to reorganize their forces and
follow up with a move to Edinburgh the following day. The government
baggage train in the town of Falkirk was looted and large numbers of
highland soldiers left for home with their loot, as was their tradition.
* * *
The siege of Stirling castle resumed and Murray remained at Falkirk with
the rapidly shrinking highland regiments. Charles remained at Bannockburn
House with the lowland regiments, which were also subject to desertion. In
late January, Cumberland took command of the government forces in and
around Edinburg and was reinforced. The Highland commanders needed time to
regroup their forces depleted by desertion and made a strong case for the
army to move north to Inverness. Charles was against this retreat but was
grudgingly forced to accept the logic behind the decision.
Charles split the Jacobite army with half accompanying him and half
with Murray up the coast road. Cumberland followed the coast road from
Stirling to Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen plundering, killing and detaining
any suspected persons of Jacobite sympathies. On 10 February Gordon of
Glenbucket besieged Ruthven Barracks, captured it and burned it to the
ground. Loudon with a government force of 1500 attacked the Jacobite army
headquarters at Moy on the night of 16 February. Loudon’s force was
spooked by five shouting servants and fled to Inverness. Loudon withdrew
from Inverness on the 17th and the Jacobite army occupied the city shortly
thereafter. Loudon’s forces retreated to Dornoch where they were surprised
on 20 February and forced to retreat to the Isle of Skye.
Cumberland believed the rebellion was over until the Jacobite
capture of Inverness. Realizing that it was not over he established his
headquarters at Aberdeen and began massing his forces remaining in the
city from 27 February until 8 April. Charles was in the process of massing
forces as well in Inverness.
The Jacobite army also began operations in the Great Glen against
the government forts there. Fort George, the northernmost fort, fell
shortly after the occupation of Inverness. Fort Augustus, in the Great
Glen, fell to the Jacobites on 7 March after a two day siege. Lochiel
besieged Fort William from 20 March to 3 April, giving up the siege after
failing to cut off re-supply of the garrison by water and losing their
guns to a sally from the fort on 31 March. Lochiel and his men remained in
Lochaber until being recalled by Charles to Inverness in April.
Murray conducted several raids in Atholl as well as a siege of Blair
Castle from 12 March to 2 April. He lacked the artillery to end the siege
successfully, and Charles refused to provide additional forces to support
large scale offensive operations, forcing Murray to withdraw to Inverness.
The Royal Navy was making its presence felt by successfully
preventing re-supply, reinforcement and money from reaching the
increasingly desperate Jacobite army. Cumberland’s army was by contrast
well supplied, paid and increasing in size. Cumberland was training his
infantry formations to respond to a highland charge by stabbing with
bayonet to the right into the exposed abdomen of attacking swordsmen. This
technique presupposed a well trained formation of relatively calm soldiers
who trust those to their left and right.
Cumberland moved north across the Spey unopposed on 12 April as
Perth and Drummon’s Jacobite force retreated to Elgin and beyond. By the
14th Cumberland’s army of approximately 9,000 men was at Nairn, well
rested and re-supplied by sea on a regular basis. Charles brought his army
out of Inverness and moved it to Culloden Park. There were only 12 miles
between the two armies. Murray recommended establishing a position on a
piece of thoroughly examined boggy, hilly terrain, making deployment of
horse and cannon problematic for Cumberland but was overruled by Charles
who chose an open moor south east of Culloden House recommended by
O’Sullivan. Charles’ army was unpaid, hungry and sleeping on open ground
with stockpiles of food sitting in Inverness.
At 8 PM on 15 April, 3,500 men of the Jacobite army attempted a
cross country move in total darkness in order to conduct a surprise attack
on Cumberland’s army in hopes it would be unprepared, having celebrated
Cumberland’s birthday that evening. The army moved in two columns, Murray
leading, and Charles following. Murray’s column consisted of highlanders,
who were clearly in their element conducting such operations. Charles
column consisted in part of the French provided regulars who proved to be
unused to night cross country movement and lagged behind. By 2 AM,
Murray’s column was approximately 3 miles for Cumberland’s alert pickets
and Charles column was as much has half a mile behind. As the pre dawn
light became brighter, Murray gave the order to turn around. By 5 AM the
Jacobite army had returned to Culloden and was scattering to find food,
sleep and shelter. Cumberland’s army advanced and Charles, despite the
advice given him by all his subordinate commanders, decided to stay and
fight, mustering approximately 4,500 exhausted, hungry men to face
Cumberland’s army of twice its size.
Culloden
Cumberland’s early deployment on the move forced Charles to occupy terrain
that had not been examined west of the position occupied on the 14th, a
mile and a half south of Culloden House. The Jacobite army deployed in two
ranks. There was a sleet and rain mixture blowing in their faces. In the
first rank, the right wing was commanded by Murray and the left by Perth.
The second line was commanded by General Stapleton, in three separate
formations as opposed to a single line due to a shortage of men. There
were three four gun artillery batteries in the center and wings of the
front line. The government forces deployed in two solid ranks with
artillery interspersed in 2 gun batteries between the five front line
regiments. Government cavalry was positioned on both flanks with Argyll
Militia and the Independent Companies positioned on the left flank.
After the Jacobite opening rounds at 1 o’clock, the government
artillery opened fire disabling the Jacobite artillery and causing a few
casualties in the increasingly anxious stationary infantry. Charles
repositioned to place of safety, but from which he could not observe his
forces. After withstanding 10 to 15 minutes of sustained artillery fire
the Jacobite right charged without orders. There was a ripple effect
across the Jacobite front as each regiment in turn joined the charge. As
the Jacobite forces came within 300 meters of the government forces they
were hit with as many as 5 to 6 volleys of grapeshot. Once they came
within 50 meters they were hit with at least two volleys of musket fire
before closing with the government forces on their right. As the Jacobite
front line closed with the government forces, the center veered right in
the face of heavy fire. The Jacobite left was unable to close with the
government forces due to heavy fire and swampy intervening terrain.
The heavily depleted right flank, however, did close with Barrel’s
and Munro’s regiments. Barrels regiment was depleted and retreated.
Monro’s held formation with the first rank at “charged bayonets” and the
second and third rank firing as many as nine volleys point blank into
Cameron of Lochiel’s Regiment, Stuart's of Appin Regiment, the Atholl
Brigade, Lady MacIntosh's Regiment, Lord Lovat's Regiment that had closed
with the government forces. Four second rank regiments reinforced Barrels
and Monro’s regiments surrounding the Jacobites on three sides subjecting
them to as many as 1,200 muskets firing in ranks.
The Argyll Militia and Independent Companies broke down the wall of
the enclosure on the Jacobite right, allowing for flanking fire on the
attacking Jacobite first line and the repositioning of the Government
horse to outflank the Jacobite army. Part of the right most second rank of
the Jacobite army responded and held off the Government horse. In doing
so, they were unable to reinforce the attack of the Jacobite front line
against the government main body. Within 40 minutes it was over. Charles
fled the field, his army retreated, for the most part disintegrating and
pursued by the government horse and foot. The French forces held off the
government forces long enough for more of the Jacobite army to disperse
than otherwise might have been possible. Cumberland’s army killed anything
they saw for two days after the battle. The Estimates vary from 1,500 to
3,000 men of the Jacobite army killed during and in the pursuit after
battle. Approximately 310 men of Cumberland’s army were killed.
* * *
Charles fled the field and spent five months on the run in Scotland before
sailing to France. On the 20th of April the remainder of the Jacobite
army, approximately 1,500 men rallied at Ruthven barracks and from there
dispersed. English government forces ravaged Scotland, making little or no
distinction between those who had remained loyal and those who had been in
the uprising. Scots who had supported the government in many cases did
their best to defend those who had participated in the uprising from the
worst of the English army’s atrocities. Many of the Jacobite nobles fled
for France and only four were executed. A total of approximately 3,500
prisoners, men women and children were taken into custody and send to
England for trial. Of the officers, fifty two were executed and all twenty
four officers in the Manchester Regiment were executed at traitors. Of the
other prisoners, those that did not die in captivity were transported to
the colonies or released by 1747.
Parliament passed laws against the carrying of arms, suppressed the
Episcopal Church and transformed the traditional clan nobility into land
lords. Charles Edward Stuart died on 30 Jan 1788. His brother, Henry,
became a Catholic priest not long after the uprising ending any slim hope
of a Stuart return to the Throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. Henry
died in 1807.
Jacobite Regiments 1745-46 ▾
Scots (Bagot’s) Troop of Hussars (Sep 1745-Apr 1746) ▾
Cameron of Lochiel's Regiment (Aug 1745-May 1746) ▾
Cluny MacPherson's Regiment (?- May 1746) ▾
Earl of Cromartie's Regiment ▾
Lifeguard of Horse (Sep-1745-Apr 1746) ▾
Fitzjames Horse ▾
John Gordon of Glenbuchat's Regiment (?- Apr 1746) ▾
Irish Picquets ▾
Lord Kilmarnock's Footguard Regiment (Mar 1746- Apr 1746) ▾
Lord Lewis Gordon's Regiment ▾
Lord Lovat's Regiment (Oct 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
MacDonald of Clanranald's Regiment (Aug 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
MacDonald of Glengarry's Regiment (Aug- 1745- May 1746) ▾
MacDonald's of Keppoch (Aug 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
MacGregor's Regiment ▾
Lady MacIntosh's Regiment ▾
Manchester Regiment (Dec 1745) ▾
Lord Ogilvy's Regiment ▾
Duke of Perth's Regiment (Sep 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
Royal Ecossois Regiment ▾
Lord Strathallan’s/Drommond’s Troop of Horse (Aug 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
Stuart's of Appin Regiment (Aug 1745- Apr 1746) ▾
John Roy Stuart's Regiment ▾
Government Regiments 1745-46
Prestonpans, 21 Sep 1745 ▾
Falkirk, 17 Jan 1746 ▾
Culloden, 16 Apr 1746 ▾
Sources:
- Black, Jeremy, Culloden and the ’45, Guild Publishing, London, 1990
- Carlton, Charles, Charles I, The Personal Monarch, Routledge, London, 1995
- Coote, Stephen, Royal Survivor, The Life of Charles II, Palgrave Press, UK, 1999
- Cowan, Edward J., Montrose for Covenant and King, Cannongate, Edinburgh, 1977
- Douglas, Hugh, Jacobite Spy Wars, Moles Rogues and Treachery, Sutton, UK, 1999
- Gibson, John, Lochiel of the 45, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1994
- Gibson, John, Playing the Scottish Card, The Franco-Jacobite Invasion of 1708, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1988
- Johnstone, James, Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746, Longman, London, 1820
- Kemp, Hilary, The Jacobite Rebellion, Almark, London, 1975
- Lenman, Bruce, The Jacobite Rising in Britain, 1689-1745, Methuen, London, 1984
- Livingston, Alastair, ed. No Quarter Given, The Muster Rolls of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-46, Neil Wilson Publishing, Glasgow, 2001
- Lord, Evelyn, The Stuarts’ Secret Army, English Jacobites 1689-1753, Pearson, Harlow, 2004
- McCall, Colin, Routes, Roads, Regiments, and Rebellion, A Brief History of the life and work of General George Wade (1673-1748) the Father of the Military Roads in Scotland, SOLCOL, Derbyshire, 2003
- McLynn, Frank, The Jacobite Army in England, 1745 The Final Campaign, John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh, 1998
- Miller, John, James II, A Study in Kingship, Methuen,London, 1999
- Pittock, Murray, The Myth of the Jacobite Clans, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1995
- Reid, Stuart, The Scottish Jacobite Army, 1745-46, Osprey Publishing, UK, 2006
- Reid, Stuart, 1745: A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising, Sarpedon, New York, 1966
- Roberts, John, The Jacobite Wars, Scotland and the Military Campaigns of 1715 and 1745, Polygon, Edinburgh, 2002
- Scott-Moncrieff, Lesley, ed. The 45, To Gather an Image Whole, Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 1998
- Simpson, Peter, The Independent Highland Companies, 1603-1760, John Donald Publishing, Edinburgh, 1996
- Speck, W.A. The Butcher, The Duke of Cumberland and the suppression of the 45, Welsh Academic Press, Caernafon, Wales, 1995
- Stewart, Alan, The Cradle King, The Life of James IV and I the First Monarch of a United Great Britain, St. Martins Press, New York, 2003
- Szechi, Daniel, 1715 The Great Jacobite Rebellion, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2006
- Tomasson, Katherine, The Jacobite General, William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh, 1958
- Tomasson, Katherine and Buist, Francis, Battle of the 45, Book Club Associates, London, 1978
- Van Der Kiste, John, William and Mary, Sutton, UK, 2003
- Waller, Maureen, Ungrateful Daughters, The Stuart Princesses who stole their Fathers Crown, St Martins Press, New York, 2002
- Whatley, Christopher, Bought and Sold for English Gold, Explaining the Union of 1707, Tuckwell Press, Scotland, 1994
Recommended Reading:
Contemporary Accounts
- Burt, Edward, Letters from the North of Scotland (1754)
- Forbes, Robert, The Lyon in Mourning (1775)
- Johnstone, Chevalier de, A Memoir of the Forty-Five (Folie Society, 1958)
Narratives
- Douglas, Hugh, Jacobite Spy Wars, Moles Rogues and Treachery (Sutton, 1999)
- Ferguson, W. M., Scotland, 1698 to the Present (Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. 4, Praeger, 1968)
- Hook, Michael and Ross, Walter, The Forty Five, the Last Jacobite Rebellion (The National Library of Scotland, 1995)
- Kemp, Hilary, The Jacobite Rebellion (Almark Pub. Co., 1975)
- Lenman, Bruce, The Jacobite Rising in Britain, 1689-1745 (Metheun, 1984)
- Lord, Evelyn, The Stuarts’ Secret Army, English Jacobites 1689-1753, (Pearson, 2004)
- Mackie, R. L., A Short History of Scotland (Praeger, 1962)
- Pittock, Murray, The Myth of the Jacobite Clans (Edinburgh University Press, 1995)
- Reid, Stuart, 1745: A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising (Sarpedon, 1966)
- Reid Stuart, Like Hungry Wolves, Culloden Moor 16 April 1746 (Windrow and Greene, 1994)
- Roberts, John, The Jacobite Wars, Scotland and the Military Campaigns of 1715 and 1745 (Polygon, 2002)
- Scott-Moncrieff, Lesley, ed. The 45, To Gather an Image Whole, (Mercat Press, 1998)
- Simpson, Peter, The Independent Highland Companies, 1603-1760, (John Donald Publishing,1996)
- Speck, W.A. The Butcher, The Duke of Cumberland and the suppression of the 45 (Welsh Academic Press, 1995)
- Tomasson, Katherine & Buist, Francis, Battles of the '45 (Batsford, 1962)
Personalities
- Gibson, John, Lochiel of the 45 (Edinburgh University Press, 1994)
- McCall, Colin, Routes, Roads, Regiments, and Rebellion, A Brief History of the life and work of General George Wade (1673-1748) the Father of the Military Roads in Scotland,(SOLCOL, Derbyshire, 2003)
- Tomasson, Katherine, The Jacobite General (Blackwood, 1958)
Militaria
- Caldwell, David, The Scottish Armoury (Blackwood, 1979)
- Campbell, Lord Archibald, Scottish Swords from the Battlefield at Culloden (Mobray, 1971)
- Forman, James D., The Scottish Dirk (Historical Arms Series No. 26, Museum Restoration Service, 1991)
- Livingston, Alastair, ed. No Quarter Given, The Muster Rolls of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-46,( Neil Wilson Publishing, 2001)
- National Trust for Scotland, The, Culloden: The Swords and The Sorrows (The National Trust for Scotland Trading Co. Ltd., 1996)
- Nicholson, Robin, Curator, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Royal House of Stuart, 1688-1788 (The Drambuie Liqueur Company, LTD., 2002)
- Wallace, John, Scottish Swords & Dirks (Stackpole, 1970)
- Woosnam-Savage, Robert C., ed., 1745: Charles Edward Stuart and the Jacobites (Glasgow Museums, 1995)
Stuart-Jacobite Background
- Carlton, Charles, Charles I, The Personal Monarch, (Routledge, 1995)
- Coote, Stephen, Royal Survivor, The Life of Charles II, (Palgrave Press, 1999)
- Cowan, Edward J., Montrose for Covenant and King, (Cannongate, 1977)
- Miller, John, James II, A Study in Kingship, (Methuen, 1999)
- Stewart, Alan, The Cradle King, The Life of James IV and I the First Monarch of a United Great Britain, (St. Martins Press, 2003)
- Szechi, Daniel, 1715 The Great Jacobite Rebellion, (Yale University Press, 2006)
- Waller, Maureen, Ungrateful Daughters, The Stuart Princesses who stole their Fathers Crown, (St Martins Press, 2002)