Culloden, Last Battle Fought on British Soil
The Final Defeat for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites
Sep 17, 2009
The last battle to be fought on British soil took place on Culloden Moor, four miles east of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. It was the culmination of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion or Rising and the final attempt to regain the throne of Great Britain for the exiled House of Stuart, which had been deposed in 1688.
The Road to Culloden Moor
Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender to his enemies and Bonnie Prince Charlie to his friends, initially met with considerable success after he landed in Scotland in the summer of 1745.
However, when the tide turned against the Jacobites, they retreated north to Inverness, the Highland chiefs in his army believing they could make a better stand on home ground.
Culloden Moor Chosen as the Battleground
Bonnie Prince Charlie made his headquarters at Culloden House, just outside the Highland capital and just down the hill from what was to become the battle site.
Although some of the Prince's advisers were in favour of the chosen ground, his commander-in-chief, Lord George Murray, did not like it at all, thinking it "not proper for Highlanders." (Cuil Lodair/Culloden, National Trust for Scotland, 2007.)
Lord George believed the flatness of the ground and the lack of cover it offered from the cannon balls and grapeshot of the Government's artillery would cause the Highland regiments of the Jacobite front line to immediately take heavy casualties, drastically undermining the power of the famous and ferocious Highland charge.
The Two Commanders at Culloden
Prince Charles Edward Stuart led the Jacobite army.
The leader of the opposing Government army was Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and son of the Hanoverian King George II. Cumberland and Bonnie Prince Charlie were distant cousins and also the same age.
On 15th April, the night before the Battle of Culloden, Cumberland celebrated his 25th birthday in his camp at Nairn, 12 miles east of Culloden Moor.
Numbers of the Two Armies at Culloden
The National Trust for Scotland estimates the number of soldiers in the Government Army at 7,500 and those in the Jacobite Army at 5,500. Other authorities dispute these figures. For example, Dr Jeremy Black, in his well-respected Culloden and the '45, Alan Sutton, Stroud, 1990, puts the figures at 9,000 and 5,000 respectively.
The Night March to Nairn
The Jacobites learned that the Government Redcoats were to be issued with strong drink to celebrate the Duke of Cumberland's birthday. Believing this would make their adversaries sleep soundly and put them off guard, a plan was hatched to launch a surprise attack on the Government camp before dawn on April 16th. However, this tramp through the woods in the dark ended only in failure, exhaustion and recriminations.
The Battle of Culloden Moor
The battle began shortly after 1 pm on 16th April and was over one hour later. Lord George Murray was proved right about the ground being ill-chosen for Highlanders and about the power of the Government artillery. Many Jacobites were felled by it as they waited for the order to charge. It never came. A young aide-de-camp to Bonnie Prince Charlie, Lachlan MacLachan, had his head taken off by a cannonball on his way to deliver it.
The right wing of the Jacobite army charged forward anyway. Some of them never reached their enemies' front line. Many, like Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass, who led the Clan Chattan regiment, fell dead or dying near what is now known as the Well of the Dead.
Others did reach the Government line, inflicting heavy casualties on the men of Barrell's Regiment. Jacobite losses were, however, much greater.
Although the men of the Jacobite Army fought fiercely and with great bravery, they were outgunned and outmanned. They were also fighting foes who, unlike themselves, were well-fed and well-rested. This was a battle that was lost before it was even begun.
As Bonnie Prince Charlie left the field and it became obvious that the Duke of Cumberland and his Redcoats had decisively won the battle, some Government soldiers began finishing off wounded Jacobites where they lay. This brutality led to them and their young commander being accused of being butchers rather than soldiers, the Duke being bitterly referred to then and ever since as Butcher Cumberland.
Significance of Culloden Today
While some modern Scots are highly critical of Bonnie Prince Charlie, huge sympathy and respect remains for the ordinary Jacobites who died or were wounded at the Battle of Culloden.
Each year, on the Saturday nearest to 16th April, hundreds of people come together to remember the men who fought and died on the moor. A prayer is said in Gaelic and English, a bagpiper plays a pibroch in lament and flowers are laid at the commemorative cairn on the battlefield and at the stones marked by the names of the clansmen buried beneath them.
The site of the Battle of Culloden is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, which has recently opened a new visitor centre at the site. Many displays and artefacts tell the story of the Battle and put it into its historical context.
Read an overview of the Scottish Royal Stuarts.
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