On 16 April 1746, the Battle of Culloden was fought in Scotland between the Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart and the British under the Duke of Cumberland during the Jacobite Rising.
Why did it happen?
After the British defeat at the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, the British Isles suddenly became vulnerable to French invasion. In July 1745, Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of the deposed Stuart king James II, landed in Scotland with a small army of French soldiers to raise a revolt aimed at restoring the Stuart dynasty to the British throne. After raising an army of several thousand followers, known as “Jacobites”, he marched into Edinburgh where he defeated a British army at Prestonpans in September. However, few English Jacobite’s rallied to his cause and Charles decided to march north back to Scotland, where he defeated a second British army at Falkirk in December before wintering at Inverness. In January 1746, a British army under the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh before marching up the east coast to Aberdeen where his army spent six weeks training. Upon hearing the approach of this army, Charles Edward Stuart, despite the advice of his Scottish Highlanders, who counselled a tactical retreat, decided to give battle at Culloden Moor, just east of Inverness.
Who was involved?
The Jacobite army at Culloden numbered 5,400 troops, of which 650 were French and Irish soldiers who had served in the French army. The rest of the Jacobite army consisted largely of Highland and Lowland Scots armed with swords and halberds and a small contingent of Englishmen from Manchester. The Jacobite army arranged itself in three lines: In the vanguard stood most of the Scottish Highlanders supported by artillery; in the second line stood the French and Irish infantry with muskets flanked by cavalry regiments; in reserve stood more cavalry under Charles Edward Stuart’s command. The Jacobite army suffered from poor morale and a shortage of provisions which meant that they were at a severe disadvantage to the British. The British army at Culloden numbered 9,000 troops, primarily English soldiers with a small force of Scots, Austrians and Hessians from Germany and a battalion of Ulstermen. The British centre consisted of two lines of infantry with the vanguard supported by heavy artillery and cavalry deployed on the flanks.
What happened?
The Battle of Culloden opened with an artillery duel between both sides with the Jacobite army receiving heavier losses than the British. After thirty minutes, Charles ordered his Scottish Highlanders to charge the fixed lines of British infantry armed only with swords and halberds. As the Scots charged across the moor, they came under heavy musket fire and despite their bravery, sustained heavy casualties while the Scots that made it to the British lines engaged the British in hand-to-hand fighting: swords versus bayonets. As the battle degenerated into melee combat, a small force of British infantry and cavalry on the British left-wing swung around to attack the Jacobite right-wing in the flank and rear, surrounding them on three sides. Meanwhile, on the Jacobite left-wing, the Macdonald regiments of Scottish infantry charged the British across the boggy moor, only to be halted by British musket and artillery fire. Sensing their chance, the British cavalry on the right-wing charged the disordered Macdonald forces and routed them. The rest of the Jacobite army subsequently retreated only to be cut down by the British cavalry. The Jacobites incurred 1,000 casualties while the British suffered just 50 killed and 260 wounded.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Culloden was a decisive victory for the British. Ever since James II was deposed by his son-in-law, William of Orange, in 1688 and the Hanoverian dynasty had replaced the Stuarts as monarchs of England, the Stuarts had twice tried and failed to win back their right to rule. The Battle of Culloden put an end to that dream, and after five months on the run, Charles sailed to France disguised as a lady’s maid where he led a life of drinking and womanising until his death in 1788. The battle also led to the suppression of the Scottish Highlanders, who saw their way of life destroyed. In the months after Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland used “terror tactics to quell the population. The traditional rights of the chiefs were formally rescinded. Weapons had to be handed in and the trappings of the clan system were outlawed” (David, 2009, p.163). Despite these retributions, some Scottish Jacobites fled to mainland Europe and North America where they served in foreign armies before being permitted to return to Scotland.
Bibliography:
David, Saul. War: The Definitive Visual History. New York, Dorling Kindersley, 2009.
Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Mackenzie, John. “Battle of Culloden.” British Battles. Accessed October 16, 2020. https://www.britishbattles.com/jacobite-rebellion/battle-of-culloden/
McNab, Chris. The World’s Worst Military Disasters. London, Amber Books, 2005.
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