The Jacobite Rebellion was the name given to the movement to reinstate the House of
Stuart and put the Catholic James Francis Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender,
on the throne. Jacobite comes from the Latin for James. After several unsuccessful attempts
by James Francis Edward Stuart to reclaim the throne, his son, Charles Edward Stuart,
took up the claim. Known as the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles allied
himself with Louis XV of France, who was at war with Britain, which by now was ruled by
George II. The Jacobite Rebellion is often incorrectly
portrayed as an Anglo-Scottish war. It was not. Many Scottish clans fought alongside
the government troops in support of King George. The Jacobites did, however, raise a large
following amongst many of the Highlanders. On 23 July 1745, Charles landed at Eriskay
in the Hebrides. Over the next nine months a series of battles followed, with victories
on both sides. By April 1746, the Highland Army had been pushed back to Culloden near
Inverness. The 3,000-strong Highland Army faced a formidable government army numbering
around 9,000 troops and led by the King's favourite son, the young Duke of Cumberland.
The government forces were well trained, having spent much time practising volley firing and
also the use of the bayonet. The government army rose early on 16 April 1746 and began
its approach march to Culloden. The troops were well fed and rested, confident and determined.
The alarm was given in the Highland camp and guns were fired to summon the clans to their
battle positions. During the course of the morning there had
been heavy showers of rain, the last of which fell as the Royal Army was forming. The battle
began at around one o'clock, with the makeshift Jacobite artillery opening fire from its position
in the centre of the line. Their target was the group of mounted officers around the Duke
of Cumberland. The government army guns opened fire in reply. Senior Jacobite officers insisted
that the Prince move out of sight of the Royal guns. In his new position, Prince Charles
was unable to see what was happening to his army, for around half an hour guns bombarded
the Highland line, using ball and grape shot. The impact was considerable and many casualties
were inflicted. It was Prince Charles' expectation that Cumberland would attack first. He waited
for the word that he was advancing, but the Royal Army did not move.
The bombardment continued, inflicting more casualties on the Highlanders and wreaking
havoc with the morale of many of the less steadfast rebel regiments. Prince Charles
was finally persuaded that he must order the Highlanders to charge before the army began
to melt away. The Highlanders' charge was a fearsome spectacle. Crowds of clansmen running
at top speed with broadswords, target shields and dirks, yelling their clan war cries. One
of the drawbacks of the position selected was an area of boggy ground that lay unnoticed
to its front. To maintain momentum, a group of clansmen veered to its right, avoiding
the bog and following the road that passed diagonally on firm ground across the moor.
They crowded across in front of the clan regiments to their right, obstructing the path of the
attack and pushing their neighbours towards the park wall, causing large numbers of Jacobites
to perish in the crossfire. All the foot regiments in the Royal first line fired on the attacking
Highlanders, the guns discharging canisters of ball. The wind was behind them, pushing
the choking clouds of powder smoke, a feature of every 18th century battle, down on the
Highlanders. The Highlanders stood their ground courageously but suicidally against the murderous
barrage of government cannon fire. Hand to hand fighting of considerable ferocity took
place. This time, unlike the two earlier battles, the Royal troops fought it out. Jacobite casualties
were appalling. The dead lay in heaps which littered the desolate battlefield, many of
the clan chiefs amongst them. The remnant of the Highland army fled the battlefield.
Charles himself, having made an unsuccessful attempt to rally what was left of his decimated
army, was led from the field. Cumberland's cavalry pursued the remainder of the fleeing
Jacobites, killing any wounded they came across. The day after the battle, patrols were sent
back to the area and found and killed 70 more injured Jacobites, and on the day after that
another 72 were discovered and executed. Cumberland's men also indiscriminately butchered many people
thought to be Jacobite sympathisers. The Battle of Culloden was to see the end of the Jacobite
rebellion and the end of Charles Edward Stuart's claim to the throne. By late June, Charles
was in the Outer Hebrides. From here he made his famed escape in a small boat, assisted
by Flora MacDonald and dressed as her Irish maid, Betty Burke. This flight, much romanticised,
is commemorated in the lyrics of the Sky Boat Song. On the 19th of September 1746, Charles
escaped sailing back to France. He remained in exile for the rest of his life and went
into a swift decline, but the image that survives of him is of the dashing boy prince.