The Battle of Culloden, 1746: The End of the Jacobite Cause

Background

By April 1746 the Jacobite campaign — which had reached Derby the winter before — was in retreat and short of money, food and men. Charles overruled his ablest commander, Lord George Murray, and chose to stand on open, flat, boggy moor that favoured the government’s guns and horse. A failed night march on Cumberland’s camp left the Highlanders exhausted before a shot was fired.

The battle

It lasted little more than an hour. An artillery duel the government won overwhelmingly, its guns firing round shot and then grapeshot into the stationary Jacobite lines. When the Highland charge finally came, it ran into a storm of musketry and canister; boggy ground and a wall funnelled the clans together under fire. Where it struck home the fighting was ferocious — Barrell’s regiment was briefly broken — but the assault collapsed with heavy loss, and Cumberland’s dragoons rolled up the flank.

Outcome & significance

Culloden ended the Jacobite cause and broke the military power of the clans. Charles fled “over the sea to Skye” with Flora MacDonald’s help and into lifelong exile; the government then set out to dismantle Highland society by law. It is remembered as the moment the old Gaelic order was broken.

The battlefield today

The National Trust for Scotland cares for the moor, with a visitor centre (2007), the 1881 Memorial Cairn, the clan grave markers naming the fallen, and the Well of the Dead. It is one of the most affecting places in Scotland.

The clans & people involved

• Clan Donald, Cameron, Fraser, Stewart of Appin, MacGregor and Gordon — among the Jacobite regiments.
• Clan Campbell (the Argyll Militia) and Clan Munro — the principal Highland clans on the government side.

Sources

• Battle of Culloden — Wikipedia; National Trust for Scotland; National Army Museum.