Culloden Battlefield

The Battle of Culloden  was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government. The Jacobite cause of overthrowing the reigning House of Hanover and restoring the house of Stuart to the British throne was dealt a decisive defeat at Culloden; Charles Stuart never mounted any further attempts to challenge Hanoverian power in Britain. The conflict was the last pitched battle fought on British soil.

Charles Stuart's Jacobite army consisted largely of Scottish Highlanders, as well as a number of Lowland Scots and a small detachment of Englishmen from the Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites were supported and supplied by the Kingdom of France and French and Irish units loyal to France were part of the Jacobite army.  

The government force was mostly English, along with a significant number of Scottish Lowlanders and Highlanders, a battalion of Ulster men from Ireland, and a small number of Hessians from Germany and Austrians. Meeting on Culloden Moor, the battle was both quick and bloody, taking place within an hour. Following an unsuccessful Highland Charge against the government lines, the Jacobites were routed and driven from the field.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle, while government losses were lighter with 50 dead and 259 wounded. The aftermath of the battle and subsequent crackdown on Jacobinism was brutal, earning Cumberland the sobriquet "Butcher". Efforts were subsequently taken to further integrate the comparatively wild Highlands into the Kingdom of Great Britain; civil penalties were introduced to weaken Gaelic Culture and attack the Scottish Clan  system.

Bayonet drill innovations said to have been developed to counter the "Highland Charge". Each soldier would thrust at the enemy on his right—rather than the one straight ahead—in order to bypass the targe of Highlanders.  

Following his flight from the battle, Charles Edward Stuart made his way towards the Hebrides with some supporters. Finally on 19 September Stuart reached Borrodale on Loch nan Uamh in Arisaig where his party boarded two small French ships which ferried them to France. He never returned to Scotland.

Prisoners were taken south to England to stand trial for high treason. Many were held on hulks on the Thames or in Tilbury, and executions took place in Carlise, York and Kennington. Common.  It was for Cumberland's insistence that these aristocrats should not be pardoned, rather than for his actions in Scotland, that he was nicknamed "Butcher" by some.

Following up on the military success won by their forces, the British Government enacted laws to incorporate Scotland—specifically the Scottish Highlands—within the rest of Britain. Members of the Episcopalian clergy were required to gives oaths of allegiance to the reigning Hanoverian dynasty.  The Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions Act of 1747 ended the hereditary right of landowners to govern justice upon their estates through barony courts. 

Anti-clothing measures were taking against the highland dress by an Act of Parliament in 1746. The result was that the wearing of  tartan was  banned from everyone in Scotland except as a uniform for officers and soldiers in the British Army and later landed men  and their sons.

On the way, we again passed beautiful country 

As we arrived at Culloden, we saw our first Highland cows  

Sorry - they were so cute and unusual, we took way too many pictures

Looks like a pile of fur

Then to the Battlefield

As you read in the beginning of this page, this was a very short, vicious, bloody battle

What happened here is engrained into Scot culture as well as history

The red and blue lines representing the opposing forces are thematic and seen throughout the visitor center and battlefield

The visitor center is a must see

Rifles carried by government troops

   VS

                                                                                    Blades carried by their opposition

This battle is much remembered in verse, song and historical writing 

The battle field is a large undulating area, almost unmarked by prominent displays - other than red and blue flags.  The flags are very effective in not only showing troop arrangements, but also creating the forlorn atmosphere of the vast, quiet battlefield - you can almost hear the cries of those fighting. 

Its like a huge cemetery without tombstones

 Our guide stand before the battlefield

  Yes, its windy and cool 

Heather shares patches with the long grass 

The sole monument on the battlefield

The clan's members were buried in mass graves

The graves are now but small, narrow mounds covered with grass

At one end of most, there is a small clan gravestone

Mass graves line the path to the monument

     The field have been allowed to grow - to be the same as the day of the battle

as nearly as possible 

Red and blue flags mark the lines of troops prior to contact 

 The boggy area where the clans charged - knee deep in mud

Mud - blades - charging rifles and cannon

The path follows the line that was charged

A beautiful stone building with the lone two trees on the battlefield

This wall on the battlefield side of the visitor's center has a block pulled out for each that died that day

The government on the left - the clans on the right

With a last look at the highland cows, we leave this sad, bloody place

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~