Significant Scottish Battles
As a youngster I received my history in a traditional manner – namely that of battles and kings. I am aware that the teaching of history has progressed far from the format of my childhood days – nevertheless I believe some knowledge of these most important battles are pertinent for every Scot.
Mons Graupius AD 83 or 84
Athelstaneford 832
Largs 1263
Bannockburn 1314
Flodden 1513
Culloden 1746
Taken from the Scotsman
24th January 2005
Mons
Graupius, where the Romans defeated the Caledonii - AD 83 or 84
THE Roman occupation of Scotland was never as comprehensive as the
occupation of England. Although they built forts and walls, indigenous
tribes, especially in the north, were never very troubled by the might
of Rome. The closest Rome came to total domination occurred in around
AD83, when the Roman governor, Julius Agricola, was ordered by Emperor
Titus to crush the Caledonii tribes.Agricola, governor from AD77 – 83 or 84, was accompanied on his campaign by his son-in-law, the Roman writer Tacitus. His written record constitutes the first record of a Scottish battle – albeit from a particularly Roman perspective. Agricola marched north from his Perthshire base at Inchtuthil whilst his fleet sailed before him to raid and harass the coast. In what was probably the autumn of AD83 Agricola came face-to-face with Calgacus – the leader of the Caledonii – at the Graupian Mountain. While the precise location is up for conjecture, the scene was set for the battle of Mons Graupius.
Agricola led his army of 8,000 English and Dutch auxiliaries and 3,000 cavalry. He kept his Roman legions away from the front line to keep them in reserve but also, as Tacitus wrote,
”the
victory being more glorious if there was no cost in Roman blood.”
Facing the Roman army, outnumbering them, and possessing the advantage of the high ground, were the combined might of 30,000 Caledonians. But Calgacus’s men lacked the organisation and military tactics of a Roman legion, and the tightly disciplined Roman army with their short-stabbing swords soon took the lead. Time and again the Caledonian army pushed forward, only to be bested by the superior hand-to-hand combat of the Romans. Tacitus’s eyewitness report gives an indication of the scale of the rout:
The
spectacle that followed was awe-inspiring and grim. Arms, bodies,
severed limbs lay all around and the air reeked of blood.’
The tribesmen fled to the wood where for a time their local knowledge allowed them to ambush their pursuers. But as night fell, exhausted and defeated they retreated, burning their homes, killing their wives and children as they fled, terrified, to the hills.
As for the exact location of the battle, a book to be released this summer will suggest that it took place on the Gask Ridge near Perth. The camps leading up to the Gask Ridge used a style of gate that has been linked to the Roman army led by Agricola. The camp at Bennachie - one commonly accepted location of the battle at Graupian Mountain - does not use this style of gate and is also much bigger, according to author James Fraser, an expert on Scottish history.
According to Tacitus, the Romans lost 360 men, the Caledonii 10,000. After the battle ended he wrote that:
“A
grim silence reigned on every
hand, the hills were deserted … and our scouts found no-one to
encounter them.”
Whilst this rather exuberant description of total victory was sent to Rome, it should be remembered it may well have been an exaggeration. Such a decisive win would have served Agricola well back home, as his son-in-law would have known. Whether exaggerated or factual, the Romans did win the day, but failed to make capital out of their victory. Agricola was recalled to Rome where a growing threat from the German barbarians necessitated the withdrawal of troops from northern Scotland.
By 211AD the Roman invasion of Scotland was all but over. After that the Romans stayed safely behind Hadrian’s Wall in England, and left the unruly natives to their own devices.
Battle
of Mons Graupius: Tacitus's view
ONE Roman historian's view of the battle of Mons Graupius.
The Britons were... undaunted by the loss of the previous battle, and welcomed the choice between revenge and enslavement
HE [Agricola] sent his fleet ahead to plunder at various points and thus spread uncertainty and terror, and, with an army marching light, which he had reinforced with the bravest of the Britons and those whose loyalty had been proved during a long peace, reached the Graupian Mountain, which he found occupied by the enemy. The Britons were, in fact, undaunted by the loss of the previous battle, and welcomed the choice between revenge and enslavement. They had realized at last that common action was needed to meet the common danger, and had sent round embassies and drawn up treaties to rally the full force of all their states. Already more than 30,000 men made a gallant show....
The troops were made for action and ready to rush into it, but Agricola marshalled them with care. The auxiliary infantry, 8,000 in number, made a strong centre, while 3,000 cavalry were thrown out on the flanks. The legions were stationed in front of the camp wall; victory would be vastly more glorious if it cost no Roman blood, whilst, in case of repulse, the legions could restore the day. The British army was stationed on higher ground in a manner calculated to impress and intimidate its enemy. Its van was on the level ground, but the other ranks rose, as it were in tiers, up the gentle slope. The space between the two armies was taken up by the charioteers, clattering on in their wild career. At this point, Agricola, fearing that the enemy with their great superiority in numbers might fall simultaneously on his front and flanks, opened out his ranks. The line now looked dangerously thin, and many urged him to bring up the legions....
Arms, bodies, severed limbs lay all around and the earth reeked of blood
The spectacle that followed over the open country was awe-inspiring and grim. Our men followed hard, took prisoners and then killed them, as new enemies appeared. On the enemy's side each man now followed his bent, Some bands, though armed, fled before inferior numbers, some men, though unarmed, insisted on charging to their deaths. Arms, bodies, severed limbs lay all around and the earth reeked of blood; and the vanquished now and then found their fury and their courage again. Indeed, when they reached the woods, they rallied and profited by their local knowledge to ambush the first rash pursuers....Only night and exhaustion ended the pursuit. Of the enemy some 10,000 fell, on our side 360....
A grim silence reigned on every hand, the hills were deserted, only here and there was smoke seen rising from chimneys in the distance, and our scouts found no one to encounter them. When they had been sent out in all directions and had made sure that everything pointed to indiscriminate flight and that the enemy was not massing at any point, Agricola led his army into the territory of the Boresti. Summer was almost over, and it was impossible for operations to be extended over a wider area.
Tacitus, Agricola
Speech
by Calgacus before the Battle of Mons Graupius
WHENEVER I
consider the origin of this war and the necessities of our
position, I have a sure confidence that this day, and this union of
yours, will be the beginning of freedom to the whole of Britain. To all
of us slavery is a thing unknown; there are no lands beyond us, and
even the sea is not safe, menaced as we are by a Roman fleet. And thus
in war and battle, in which the brave find glory, even the coward will
find safety. Former contests, in which, with varying fortune, the
Romans were resisted, still left in us a last hope of succour, inasmuch
as being the most renowned nation of Britain, dwelling in the very
heart of the country, and out of sight of the shores of the conquered,
we could keep even our eyes unpolluted by the contagion of slavery. To us who dwell on the uttermost confines of the earth and of freedom, this remote sanctuary of Britain's glory has up to this time been a defence. Now, however, the furthest limits of Britain are thrown open, and the unknown always passes for the marvellous. But there are no tribes beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and submission. Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a desert and call it peace.
Nature has willed that every man's children and kindred should be his dearest objects. Yet these are torn from us by conscriptions to be slaves elsewhere
Nature has willed that every man's children and kindred should be his dearest objects. Yet these are torn from us by conscriptions to be slaves elsewhere. Our wives and our sisters, even though they may escape violation from the enemy, are dishonoured under the names of friendship and hospitality. Our goods and fortunes they collect for their tribute, our harvests for their granaries. Our very hands and bodies, under the lash and in the midst of insult, are worn down by the toil of clearing forests and morasses. Creatures born to slavery are sold once and for all, and are, moreover, fed by their masters; but Britain is daily purchasing, is daily feeding, her own enslaved people.
And as in a household the last comer among the slaves is always the butt of his companions, so we in a world long used to slavery, as the newest and most contemptible, are marked out for destruction. We have neither fruitful plains, nor mines, nor harbours, for the working of which we may be spared. Valour, too, and high spirit in subjects, are offensive to rulers; besides, remoteness and seclusion, while they give safety, provoke suspicion. Since then you cannot hope for quarter, take courage, I beseech you, whether it be safety or renown that you hold most precious. Under a woman's leadership the Brigantes were able to burn a colony, to storm a camp, and had not success ended in supineness, might have thrown off the yoke. Let us, then, a fresh and unconquered people, never likely to abuse our freedom, show forthwith at the very first onset what heroes Caledonia has in reserve.
Do you suppose that the Romans will be as brave in war as they are licentious in peace? To our strifes and discords they owe their fame, and they turn the errors of an enemy to the renown of their own army, an army which, composed as it is of every variety of nations, is held together by success and will be broken up by disaster. These Gauls and Germans, and, I blush to say, these Britons, who, though they lend their lives to support a stranger's rule, have been its enemies longer than its subjects, you cannot imagine to be bound by fidelity and affection. Fear and terror there certainly are, feeble bonds of attachment; remove them, and those who have ceased to fear will begin to hate. All the incentives to victory are on our side. The Romans have no wives to kindle their courage; no parents to taunt them with flight, many have either no country or one far away.
Few in number, dismayed by their ignorance, looking around upon a sky, a sea, and forests which are all unfamiliar to them; hemmed in, as it were, and enmeshed, the gods have delivered them into our hands. Be not frightened by the idle display, by the glitter of gold and of silver, which can neither protect nor wound. In the very ranks of the enemy we shall find our own forces. Britons will acknowledge their own cause; Gauls will remember past freedom; the other Germans will abandon them, as but lately did the Usipii. Behind them there is nothing to dread. The forts are ungarrisoned; the colonies in the hands of aged men; what with disloyal subjects and oppressive rulers, the towns are ill-affected and rife with discord. On the one side you have a general and an army; on the other, tribute, the mines, and all the other penalties of an enslaved people. Whether you endure these for ever, or instantly avenge them, this field is to decide.
Think, therefore, as you advance to battle, at once of your ancestors and of your posterity.
Athelstaneford 832
Taken from the Scotsman 21st January 2005
Saintly aid at the battle of Athelstaneford
Taken from the Scotsman 21st January 2005
Saintly aid at the battle of Athelstaneford
• Picts and
Scots defeat Athelstan's Angle army in East Lothian
• Trapped, Pict King Angus prayed
to St Andrew for divine intervention
• Saltire-shaped clouds appeared
on the morning of the battle, boosting
Picts' morale
• St Andrew became Scotland's
patron saint and the white on blue saltire
became the national emblem
East Lothian, 832 AD
NINTH century Scotland didn't really exist as a unified nation. The Picts ruled over much of the east and north, while the Scots ruled out of the Kingdom of Dalriada (now Argyll) in the west. What is now known as the Lothians belonged to neither Scots nor Picts and was in a constant state of flux between the Angles and the "Picto-Scots".
In 832AD a raiding party made up of Picts under King Angus (Ununst or Hungus) and Scots led by Eochaidh, King of Dalriada, were fleeing from a large contingent of Northumbrian Angles under the command of Athelstan.
The Northumbrian force pursued the Picts to Markle, in East Lothian - now Athelstaneford. There they found their passage barred by the wide valley of the River Peffer. The Northumbrian army surrounded the Picts and King Angus realised he’d have to turn and fight. The night before the battle, as the forces mustered around him, he prayed for a miracle. According to legend, Saint Andrew came to him in a vision and not only promised that he would survive but also that he would be victorious in battle. King Angus vowed that if this came true he would adopt Saint Andrew as the patron saint of Alba.
As the two armies met the next day it is said that a white cloud formation of a saltire - or X-shaped cross - formed against the blue sky. This highly effective morale-boost encouraged the Picts to fight on, and they triumphed on the battlefield, killing Athelstan and routing the Angle army.
From that day on, the Saltire was adopted as the emblem of Scotland and Saint Andrew was indeed adopted as our national Saint.
• Viking threat thwarted at Largs
• Viking King Hakon Hakonson sailed with 200 longships to confront Scots King Alexander III
• Storms grounded the Viking fleet and Scots forced them back to Orkney
• Victory led to Scots sovereignty over the Western Isles
DURING the 11th century, Viking raiders seized many of the islands surrounding the Scottish mainland, where they settled alongside the Gaels. The Scots ceded dominion of the Outer and Inner Hebrides to Hakon Hakonson, King of Norway in a treaty, but the Gaels still regarded the isles as their own.
Hakon relaxed his grip on the Western Isles by appointing local lords to rule them, prompting the Scots to raid the coasts. Olaf the Black, King of the Isle of Man, another vassal of Norway, appealed to Hakon for aid against the forces of King Alexander III of Scotland.
Hakon sailed from Norway in the summer of 1263 with a massive fleet of approximately 200 longships, gathering men along the way and raiding Scotland's western coast until confronting Alexander's men at Largs, Aryshire.
In some versions of the battle, Alexander opened negotiations with the Viking leader to deliberately stall his enemy. In any event, Hakon kept his ships at sea for too long. In the autumn of 1263 heavy gales caught the longships in the Firth of Clyde and forced many of them onto the beach. The Norwegians went ashore to reclaim their boats and were met by Scots soldiers stationed at Largs who forced them back to sea. They retreated to Orkney where their King later died, it is said, of a broken heart as he compared his deeds with those of his ancestors from the Norse sagas.
Although different historical accounts claim victory for both sides, the battle turned the political tide in favour of the Scots. After the death of King Hakon in Kirkwall, his successor, King Magnus Barelegs, signed the Treaty of Perth in 1266, surrendering sovereignty of the isles except Orkney and Shetland to King Alexander III. The battle itself is commemorated in the ancient ballad of Hardyknute and by the villagers of Largs every year during their Viking Festival.
Bannockburn: the decisive
victory over the English -
23 & 24 June 1314
• Scots under Robert the Bruce, outnumbered 3-1, won a decisive victory
against Edward II's English army • Local knowledge and new Scots battle formation nullified superior English forces
• English army fled in panic when local townsfolk joined the battle
• Bannockburn was the decisive victory for Robert the Bruce
• Some claim Robert the Bruce had help from the Knights Templar, who are associated with the mysterious Rosslyn Chapel
BANNOCKBURN
was the decisive battle in Scotland's wars of
independence.
Robert the Bruce
fought a bloody guerrilla war against the English for
18 years after Scotland was occupied by Edward I, "Hammer of the
Scots". By the time Edward I died, the Bruce had regained most of the
lowlands of Scotland. In 1314, Bruce besieged the only castle south of
the Forth under English control - Stirling. Sir Philip Mowbray, the English commander of Stirling Castle, agreed to surrender to the Scots if his force was not relieved at the end of June. Edward II, new King of England, decided to send a large force - perhaps 25,000 men - to relieve the garrison and deliver a crushing blow to the Scots' rebellion.
Robert the Bruce's army was outnumbered 3-1, with some accounts having the English force so large that it stretched for 20 miles. However, the Scots stole the tactical advantage from the superior English army.
The chief advantage of the English army was its heavy cavalry. As these knights smashed through infantry the weight and momentum of their charge crushed the enemy’s front lines and spread panic. Without the protection of their formations the now disorganised infantry were easy pickings for the knights who had the advantage of striking down on their enemies from height and who could see the tide of battle from horseback.
But the knights needed space and solid ground to charge, so the Bruce cunningly positioned his soldiers on a hill between two woods that protected his flanks. The knights relied on a frontal assault, but the only direct route to the Scottish infantry was over marsh land between two burns that lead to the River Forth. The English knights were trapped on dangerous ground with their retreat cut off by the water.
The Bruce had another weapon to steal the thunder from the English cavalry’s charge. To counter the armoured horse, the Scots developed a new infantry formation called the schiltron – a cluster of soldiers armed with extra long spears rammed into the earth. When the knights charged they would be confronted by a wall of spears that could not be swept aside and would be impaled on the Scottish pikes by their own momentum.
The first skirmish of the battle took place on 23 June 1314 when a contingent of English knights was sent by Edward II to relieve the garrison at Stirling Castle. The Scots spotted their deployment and sent a company of schiltrons to block their route. When the English came upon them they charged but were broken under the Scottish pikes. As the knights fled the Scots spearmen did something unheard of and counter-attacked. For the first time in medieval warfare infantry had stood against an assault of heavy cavalry and won.
The English knew they had conceded the tactical advantage by confronting the Scots on their own terms. To make their assault over the marsh they took doors and thatch from the roofs of nearby homes and formed bridges over the marsh.
The following day the English knights charged the bulk of the Scots force, but they were disorganised by having to cross the narrow bridges and were beaten back. The English dispatched their archers to break-up the Scots infantry but the arrows peppered the retreating English knights as well the Scots. The dominance of the Scots' schiltrons was assured when the English archers were swept from the field by mounted infantry.
As the English cavalry was pressed back into the marsh, the order for the English infantry to advance was given. But the knights could only flee over the same makeshift bridges that their infantry were advancing on. The infantry could not retreat except through the marsh while the weight of their rear pushed them forward into their own cavalry. In the clash between the two forces the English infantry was crushed underneath the heavy horse or drowned in the marsh.
The Scots now advanced without the English archers to impede them. With victory in sight, the Bruce had one final trick up his sleeve. He had positioned camp followers and townsfolk in the woods disguised as soldiers and as news of the battle spread they arrived in numbers to view the victory. The English, believing they were about to be flanked by a second Scottish army, fled the field in blind panic. Their king only narrowly escaped capture.
Some other accounts claim the "townsfolk" were in fact a contingent of the near mythic Knights Templar, an order of dedicated religious warriors from the Continent. While this appears fanciful it is not entirely incredible. The Knights Templar had a base in Scotland, at Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, after being excommunicated by the Pope. Also there are questions as to how the Bruce, a homeless king with minimal resources, managed to fund a prolonged campaign against England. Those who support the involvement of the Knights Templar, whose order had become vastly rich from the Holy lands, believe they provided Bruce with funds so they could secure a Scottish home.
Regardless of the identity of the "second army", the English were crushed at Bannockburn. They had arrived certain of ending the Scottish uprising once and for all with a massive army and using forces never before defeated on the field of battle. Instead of breaking the Scots, they were themselves broken and their heavy cavalry was no longer unbeatable. The Scots had taken Stirling Castle, the gateway to the Highlands, and instead of fighting on two fronts could now focus on the final English force on Scottish soil in the Borders. Bannockburn was a battle against such overwhelming odds that its victory made Bruce a military legend. Without it, one could argue, there would be no Scottish nation.
- Flodden field, where the flower of Scottish manhood was slaughtered
- James IV invaded England in support of France
- Scots' outmoded tactics and weaponry no match for superior English artillery and billhooks
- James, many nobles and over 10,000 Scots soldiers met their deaths
on 9 September 1513
James IV
JAMES IV's invasion of England was an unpopular cause with some of his countrymen. However, he was committed to Scotland’s alliance with France and when Henry VIII joined the Holy League against that country and invaded, James IV came to his ally's aid.
The Scots King gathered his army in what is now
the Morningside area of
Edinburgh. The army crossed into England in August 1513 and besieged
Norham Castle in Northumberland. Although impossible to confirm, there
is speculation that the King further alienated his commanders by
dallying for several days with an English lady following one of the
sieges.The two armies met at Flodden Field, just south of Coldstream, by which time James IV's army had been reduced by desertions to around 30,000 men. The Scots King ignored a chivalric agreement with Lord Surrey, the English commander, and positioned his force on Flodden Hill where James’s artillery could attack an English advance from the south.
However, Surrey’s troops saw the ploy and circled their forces over the River Till around the back of the Scots, cutting off their retreat. According to some, James IV’s first mistake was not attacking the English as they took position. Instead, he had his forces re-deploy to the adjacent Branxton Hill.
The battle began on 9 September with a bombardment. The Scots artillery of heavy cannon proved to be ineffective on the battlefield, flying over the English forces. Left with no choice, the Scots charged in a diagonal line with the right flank in the lead.
At first the battle went well as the Scots' pikes on the right charged on solid ground and forced the first line of English soldiers under Edmund Howard to flee. But the English Border Lancers, cavalry under Thomas Lord Dacre, rescued the stricken English commander.
The Scots centre under the Earls of Errol, Crawford and Montrose met the English centre moments later, but the pikemen lost formation on marshland and were cut down by English archers and superior infantry. James IV, leading his own contingent of pikemen suffered a similar fate. With their backs to Branxton Hill, the Scots could not retreat and the battle turned into a rout.
The Scots were defeated by England’s superior tactics and technology. Their 18ft pikes, largely unchanged from Bannockburn and adapted to Swiss tactics, were no match for English billhooks in close quarters. The battle was also the first in Britain to show the dominance of artillery, and that the Scots had not adapted as well to the new weapon.
Defeat at Flodden was a disaster for Scotland. Around 10,000 men and the flower of Scotland's nobility were killed. James IV died as he attempted a suicidal charge to engage Lord Surrey in personal combat. The terrible price of Flodden is remembered in the ballad of the Flowers of the Forest, recomposed from the original in the 18th century.
The
Flowers O The Forest
THE ancient folk song "The Flowers O The Forest" laments the loss of so
many lives on Flodden Field.Oh
I've heard them liltin' at the ewe milkin'
Lasses a-liltin' before dawn o' day.
Now there's a moanin' on ilka green loanin,
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
At bughts in the mornin', nae blyth lads are scornin',
Lassies are lanely, an' dowie, an' wae;
Nae daffin', nae gabbin', but sighin' an' sabbin',
Ilk ane lifts her leglin', an' hies her away.
At e'en in the gloamin, nae swankies are roamin',
'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play;
But ilk maid sits dreary, lamentin' her dearie,
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
In har'st, at the shearin', nae youths now are jeerin',
Bandsters are runkles, an' lyart, or grey;
At fair or at preachin', nae wooin', nae fleechin',
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
Dool for the order sent our lads to the Border,
The English, for ance, by guile won the day;
The Flow'rs o' the Forest that fought aye the foremost,
The prime o' our land, lie cauld in the clay.
We'll ha'e nae mair liltin' at the ewe milkin',
Women an' bairns are heartless an' wae;
Sighin' an' moanin' on ilk green loanin',
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
Lasses a-liltin' before dawn o' day.
Now there's a moanin' on ilka green loanin,
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
At bughts in the mornin', nae blyth lads are scornin',
Lassies are lanely, an' dowie, an' wae;
Nae daffin', nae gabbin', but sighin' an' sabbin',
Ilk ane lifts her leglin', an' hies her away.
At e'en in the gloamin, nae swankies are roamin',
'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play;
But ilk maid sits dreary, lamentin' her dearie,
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
In har'st, at the shearin', nae youths now are jeerin',
Bandsters are runkles, an' lyart, or grey;
At fair or at preachin', nae wooin', nae fleechin',
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
Dool for the order sent our lads to the Border,
The English, for ance, by guile won the day;
The Flow'rs o' the Forest that fought aye the foremost,
The prime o' our land, lie cauld in the clay.
We'll ha'e nae mair liltin' at the ewe milkin',
Women an' bairns are heartless an' wae;
Sighin' an' moanin' on ilk green loanin',
The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away.
• Culloden: bloody scene of the defeat of the Jacobites
• 6,000 Highlanders faced government forces on Drumossie Moor, near Inverness
• 1,000 - 2,000 Highlanders slain; 50 government soldiers died
• Battle ended the Jacobite rebellion and led to suppression of Highland culture
15-16 April 1746
Culloden was the final defeat for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
IN 1746, the cause of the Stewart monarchy deposed only a few decades before already seemed lost. The "Old Pretender" James II was sent packing back to France after a failed revolt in 1715. So, when Prince Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charlie or the "Young Pretender", to you and me) famously hoisted his standard at Glenfinnan in August 1745, he arrived with only seven men and a few French arms. Neither his father nor Louis XV of France supported the uprising.
In truth, rising prosperity in Scotland since 1707 meant there was little support for the Stewarts outside the Highlands and even less in England where a return to both an absolutist and Catholic monarchy was unthinkable.
The Jacobite uprising was initially, therefore, a great achievement. Bonnie Prince Charlie nearly succeeded in his invasion of England, reaching as far south as Derby, 125 miles from London. But in the face of victory, caution got the better of Charles as French support failed to materialise and he retreated back to Scotland when government soldiers mobilised against him.
After an initial success at Falkirk, Charles retreated further north, relentlessly pursued by English troops led by the Duke of Cumberland. Charles's army had dwindled to around 6,000 soldiers, mostly Highlanders. This was the last feudal army in Britain. The soldiers summoned by their clan chiefs could not refuse the obligation to bear arms. On the other side, Cumberland is reputed to have told his soldiers to leave if any did not wish to fight. Scots regiments fought for the government alongside English soldiers - in at least one case, brother faced off against brother.
On 15 April 1746, the Jacobite Highlanders attempted a surprise attack on the government forces who were celebrating Cumberland's birthday in Nairn along the Moray Firth coast. However, the Highlanders could not reach their enemy before dawn broke and retreated, exhausted and hungry. The two forces met at Drumossie Moor near Inverness. Prince Charles, an inexperienced soldier, took personal command and positioned his soldiers on boggy ground, unsuited to the quick Highland charge that was his only hope against superior forces.
The battlefield today is
owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
The armies faced each other and the battle began on 16 April with an exchange of gunfire. Charles, compounding his tactical failure, waited for the enemy to attack before announcing a charge, but the government forces were better armed and trained and their artillery decimated the Jacobites.
After several minutes and heavy casualties, Clan Chattan charged from the centre and the other Highlanders followed suit. But the charge was uncoordinated and government fire forced Chattan members to veer right into the men of Atholl, themselves pushed left by a stone wall where Campbell soldiers fired at their exposed flank.
Although the Jacobites reached their enemy, the damage was already done with 18 of the 21 officers of Clan Chattan dead. The MacDonalds attempted a suicidal series of feints to draw the government soldiers out, but were gunned down. The battle lasted a little less than an hour and between 1,000 and 2,000 Highlanders were slain. Only 50 government soldiers died.
The infamous aftermath of the battle lent Cumberland the nickname of "the Butcher" in the Highlands. Cumberland told his soldiers to give no quarter to the wounded, who were killed on the field of battle. Cumberland's soldiers rode into Inverness pursuing those who escaped, indiscriminately slaying any men, women or children they encountered. In two days, around 140 men were captured and killed, and it is said 30 were burned alive.
Fourteen rebel colours were captured by the government forces and brought to the hangman's cross in Edinburgh. Charles' own standard was carried by the hangman and the rest by chimney sweepers. Each colour was ordered burnt by the hands of the common hangman, starting with the prince's own standard.
After Culloden many clan chiefs fled to Europe, their kinsmen to America. In the following years the Highland people were suppressed. Bagpipes and tartan were outlawed and the jurisdiction of clan chiefs terminated, a forerunner of the clearances that ended the Highland way of life.