| Battle Of Culloden |
Article Index for Battle Of |
Website Links For Battle |
Information AboutBattle Of Culloden |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BATTLE OF CULLODEN | |
| 1746 in great britain | |
| conflicts in 1746 | |
| highland history | |
| battles of the 1745 jacobite rebellion | |
The Battle of Culloden ( April 16 , 1746 ) was the final clash between the French-supported Jacobites and the Hanoverian British Government in the 1745 Jacobite Rising . It was the last battle to be fought on Mainland Britain . Culloden brought the Jacobite cause—to restore the House Of Stuart to the throne of Great Britain—to a decisive defeat. The Jacobites—most of them Highland Scots—supported the claim of James Francis Edward Stuart (aka "The Old Pretender") to the throne; the government army, under the Duke Of Cumberland , younger son of the Hanoverian sovereign, King George II , supported his father's cause. The aftermath of the battle was brutal and earned the victorious general the name "Butcher" Cumberland. Charles Edward Stuart eventually left Britain and went to Rome, never to attempt to take the throne again. Civil penalties were also severe. New laws attacked the Highlanders' clan system, and even highland dress was outlawed. BACKGROUND ''For further detail see Jacobite Rising .'' Prince Charles Edward Stuart , known as ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' or the ''Young Pretender'', successfully raised forces, mainly of Scottish Highland Clansmen and defeated the Hanoverian Army stationed in Scotland at the Battle Of Prestonpans . Edinburgh was occupied. The British government recalled forces from the War With France In Flanders to deal with the rebellion. After a lengthy wait, Charles persuaded his generals that English Jacobites would stage an uprising in support of his cause. He was convinced that France would launch an invasion of England as well. His army of around 5000 invaded England on November 8 , 1745 . They advanced through Carlisle and Manchester , to Derby , and a position where they appeared to threaten London . King George II made plans to decamp to Hanover . The Jacobites met only token resistance. There was, however, little support from English Jacobites, and the French invasion fleet was still being assembled. The armies of General George Wade and of William Augustus, Duke Of Cumberland , also known as the "Wee German Lairdy" and "The Butcher", were approaching. A militia was forming in London and the Jacobites had (fictitious) reports of a third army closing on them. The Jacobite general Lord George Murray and the Council of War insisted on returning to join their growing force in Scotland. On 6 December 1745 , they withdrew, with the Prince petulantly leaving the command to Murray. On the long march back to Scotland the Highland Army wore out its boots and demanded all the boots and shoes of the townspeople of Dumfries as well as money and hospitality.This made them rather unpopular in the borders which had more Hanoverian sympathies. The Jacobites reached Glasgow on 25 December . There they reprovisioned, and were joined by a few thousand new men. They then defeated the forces of General Henry Hawley at the Battle Of Falkirk . The Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on 30 January , to take over command of the government army from General Hawley. He then marched north along the coast, with the army being supplied by sea. Six weeks were spent at Aberdeen training. The King's forces continued to pressure Charles. He retired north, losing men and failing to take Stirling Castle or Fort William . But he invested Fort Augustus and Fort George in Invernessshire in early April. Charles now took command again, and insisted on fighting a defensive action. Hugh (Rose of Kilravock), 16th Baron, entertained Prince Charles and the Duke of Cumberland repectively on 14th and 15th April 1746, before the battle of Culloden. On the occasion the Prince Charles' manners and deportment were described by his host as most engaging. Having walked out with Mr. Rose, before sitting down, he observed several persons engaged in planting trees. He remarked, "How happy, Sir, you must feel, to be thus peaceably employed in adorning your mansion, whilst all the country round is in such commotion." Kilravock was a firm supporter of the Hanoverian family; but his adherence was not solicited, nor were his preferences alluded to. Next day, the Duke of Cumberland called at the castle gate, and when Kilravock went to receive him, he bluffly observed, "So you had my cousin Charles here yesterday." Kilravock replied, "What am I to do, I am Scottish", To which Cumberland replied, "you did perfectly right." ARMIES Jacobite Army
British Government Army The British Army under Cumberland, assembled and trained at Aberdeen , was well supplied. It included:
THE BATTLE The Duke of Cumberland and his army of around 8,811 men arrived at "did not like the ground" and with other senior officers pointed out the unsuitability of the rough moorland terrain which was highly advantageous to the Duke with the Marshy and uneven ground making the famed Highland Charge somewhat more difficult while remaining open to Cumberland’s powerful artillery. They had argued for a guerrilla campaign, but the Prince refused to change his mind. On 15 April the Government army celebrated Cumberland's birthday, drinking his health at his expense. At the suggestion of Murray the Jacobites tried that evening to repeat the success of Prestonpans by carrying out a night attack on the government army encampment, but the half-starved Highlanders who had only had one biscuit apiece during the day were still 2 miles (3 km) short of Nairn by dawn and had to march back, then dispersed to search for food or fell asleep in ditches and outbuildings. Many of them lay exhausted in the grounds of Culloden House throughout the battle. Early on 16 April the Government army marched from Nairn, and Jacobite guns sounded the alarm (though not all heard) to bring their troops to form two lines. The front line of exhausted highland foot soldiers had guns in the centre and on the flanks, the second line included their horse regiments, worn out from the night march, and the Scots and Irish regiments of the French army. The weather was very poor with a gale driving sleety rain into the faces of the Jacobites. The Duke's forces arrived around mid day and arrayed themselves in two lines to face the Jacobite forces, their left flank anchored on a low stone wall running along the south end of the field towards Culloden Park. Horse Dragoons and Government militia moved round behind the wall to infiltrate the park around the Jacobite flank. The Prince's Artillery , outnumbered some three to one, opened fire first but due to a lack of trained gunners had little impact. Over the next twenty minutes Cumberland's superior artillery continued to batter the Jacobite lines, while Charles, moved for safety out of sight of his own forces, waited for the government forces to move. Inexplicably, he left his forces arrayed under the Government fire for over half an hour. Although the marshy terrain minimised casualties, the morale of the Jacobites began to suffer. Several clan leaders, angry at the lack of action, pressured Charles to issue the order to charge. When he was eventually persuaded to issue the order, the McDonalds refused, angry because they had been placed on the left flank overturning their traditional right to take the right flank. The Clan Chattan was first away, but an area of boggy ground in front of them forced them to veer right so that they obstructed the following regiments and the attack was pushed towards the wall. The Highlanders advanced on the left flank of the Government troops but were subjected to several volleys of musket fire and the artillery which had switched from Roundshot to Grapeshot . Despite this, a large number of Jacobites reached the Government lines; however, unlike in previous battles, their uncoordinated charge meant that the line arrived piecemeal. The newly introduced Bayonet drill used by the government troops meant that in a few places the charge, already flagging, was crushed against the Government lines. Despite this, the right flank of the Jacobites broke through the first line of Government troops and was only halted by Cumberland's second line of defence. While the attack was still in progress, a small number of the Government forces had breached the park wall and the Campbell militia advanced unseen to fire at the right flank of the Jacobite lines. This added to all the other brutal gunfire, and threatened by Cavalry the Jacobites were forced to retreat. The Duke ordered in his dragoons to rout the Jacobite forces, but the small contingent of elite Irish and other regular regiments covered the retreat as the Jacobites withdrew. In a total of about 60 minutes the Duke was victorious, around 1,250 Jacobites were dead, a similar number were wounded, and 558 prisoners (336 Scots and Irish as well as 222 Frenchmen) were taken. Cumberland had about 52 dead and 259 wounded among his Government forces. AFTERMATH After their victory, Cumberland ordered his men to execute all the Jacobite wounded and prisoners, an act for which he was known afterwards as "the Butcher". Certain higher-ranking prisoners did survive to be Tried and executed later in Inverness . The Prince fled the battlefield and survived for five months in Scotland despite a £ 30,000 reward for his capture. The Prince eventually returned to France , making a dramatic if humiliating escape disguised as a "lady's maid" to Flora MacDonald . Immediately after the battle, Cumberland rode into Inverness , his drawn sword still covered in blood, a symbolic and menacing gesture. The following day, the slaughter continued, when patrols were sent back to the battlefield to kill any survivors; contemporary sources indicate that about 70 more Jacobites were killed as a result of this. Cumberland emptied the jails of English prisoners, and replaced them with Jacobite sympathisers. A numbers of the prisoners were taken south to England to stand trial for high treason. Trials taking place at Berwick Upon Tweed , York and London . Executions were conducted on the basis of drawing lots on a ratio of about 1 in 20. In total 3,470 Jacobites supporters and others were taken prisoner in the aftermath of Culloden, with 120 of them being executed and 88 dying in prison; 936 transported to the colonies and 222 more "banished". While many were eventually released, the fate of nearly 700 is unknown. As well as dealing out summary justice to his captives Cumberland was equally ruthless, executing 36 deserters from his own forces found amongst the prisoners. By contrast to the ruthless treatment of many captured clansmen, the detachments of Irish soldiers from the French army were permitted to formally surrender and were treated well and eventually returned to France. They were considered as regular soldiers of a foreign ruler and accordingly subject to the normal practices of warfare. The captured Jacobites were regarded as traitors (even if many had had no choice but to follow their clan leaders) and treated accordingly. The Hanoverian Force s' assault on the Jacobite sympathizers continued in the coming months—destroying the Clan System with the Act Of Proscription disarming them, banning the Kilt and the Tartan , the Tenures Abolition Act ending the feudal bond of military service and the Heritable Jurisdictions Act removing the virtually sovereign power the chiefs had over their clan. Statute provisions were aimed at proscribing the perceived religion of the Jacobites, Episcopalianism (Catholicism was already banned). Government troops were stationed in the Highlands and built more Road s and Barracks to better control the region, adding to the ''Wade roads'' constructed for Major-General George Wade after the 'Fifteen rising, as well a new fortress at Fort George to the east of Inverness . The proscribed clan dress of Kilt and Tartan was, at least officially, only permitted in the Highland regiments serving in the British Army. ORDER OF BATTLE Jacobite Army (approximately 5,400 men)
Note 1: Of the commanding officers listed above:
Other persons of note on the Jacobite side to be killed at Culloden were:
Note 2: More clans fought (and died) at Culloden than is apparent from this order of battle. The Atholl Highlanders Regiment (also known as the Atholl Brigade) was mostly made up of members of Clan Murray, Clan Ferguson, Clan Stewart of Atholl, Clan Menzies, and Clan Robertson. Also, the clan regiments are not quite as easily defined as their names suggest. Note that:
British Government Army
Note: Of the British officers present, Lord Robert Kerr, was killed. Colonel Rich who served in Barrell's 4th Regiment of Foot lost his left hand and was badly cut on his head by a Jacobite swordsman, plus a small number of captains and lieutenants received wounds ranging from severe to minor. Note 2: The majority of the casualties sustained by the British were borne by Barrell's 4th Regiment of Foot. Of the 438 men present, 17 were killed and 108 wounded. BRITISH CASUALTIES 1st): 0 killed, 4 wounded 3rd): 1 killed, 2 wounded 4th): 17 killed, 108 wounded 8th): 0 killed, 1 wounded 34th): 1 killed, 2 wounded 14th): 1 killed, 9 wounded 48th): 1 killed, 5 wounded 13th): 0 killed, 0 wounded 25th): 1 killed, 13 wounded 21st): 0 killed, 7 wounded 27th): 0 killed, 0 wounded 37th): 14 killed, 69 wounded 36th): 0 killed, 6 wounded 20th): 4 killed, 17 wounded 62nd): 0 killed, 3 wounded Highland Militia: 6 killed, 4 wounded Cobham's Dragoons: 1 killed, 0 wounded Kerr's Dragoons: 3 killed, 3 wounded Kingston's Dragoons: 0 killed, 1 wounded CITE REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
FILM AND DOCUMENTARIES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|