WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:05.200 The Jacobite Rebellion was the name given to the movement to reinstate the House of 00:05.200 --> 00:11.160 Stuart and put the Catholic James Francis Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender, 00:11.160 --> 00:18.040 on the throne. Jacobite comes from the Latin for James. After several unsuccessful attempts 00:18.040 --> 00:23.560 by James Francis Edward Stuart to reclaim the throne, his son, Charles Edward Stuart, 00:23.560 --> 00:29.720 took up the claim. Known as the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles allied 00:29.720 --> 00:35.080 himself with Louis XV of France, who was at war with Britain, which by now was ruled by 00:35.080 --> 00:38.720 George II. The Jacobite Rebellion is often incorrectly 00:38.720 --> 00:45.080 portrayed as an Anglo-Scottish war. It was not. Many Scottish clans fought alongside 00:45.080 --> 00:50.440 the government troops in support of King George. The Jacobites did, however, raise a large 00:50.440 --> 00:57.680 following amongst many of the Highlanders. On 23 July 1745, Charles landed at Eriskay 00:57.680 --> 01:02.960 in the Hebrides. Over the next nine months a series of battles followed, with victories 01:02.960 --> 01:10.320 on both sides. By April 1746, the Highland Army had been pushed back to Culloden near 01:10.320 --> 01:16.560 Inverness. The 3,000-strong Highland Army faced a formidable government army numbering 01:16.560 --> 01:24.040 around 9,000 troops and led by the King's favourite son, the young Duke of Cumberland. 01:24.040 --> 01:28.680 The government forces were well trained, having spent much time practising volley firing and 01:28.680 --> 01:35.680 also the use of the bayonet. The government army rose early on 16 April 1746 and began 01:35.680 --> 01:42.840 its approach march to Culloden. The troops were well fed and rested, confident and determined. 01:42.840 --> 01:47.480 The alarm was given in the Highland camp and guns were fired to summon the clans to their 01:47.480 --> 01:50.920 battle positions. During the course of the morning there had 01:50.920 --> 01:57.040 been heavy showers of rain, the last of which fell as the Royal Army was forming. The battle 01:57.040 --> 02:02.760 began at around one o'clock, with the makeshift Jacobite artillery opening fire from its position 02:02.760 --> 02:07.800 in the centre of the line. Their target was the group of mounted officers around the Duke 02:07.800 --> 02:14.400 of Cumberland. The government army guns opened fire in reply. Senior Jacobite officers insisted 02:14.400 --> 02:19.640 that the Prince move out of sight of the Royal guns. In his new position, Prince Charles 02:19.640 --> 02:24.760 was unable to see what was happening to his army, for around half an hour guns bombarded 02:24.760 --> 02:31.120 the Highland line, using ball and grape shot. The impact was considerable and many casualties 02:31.120 --> 02:37.720 were inflicted. It was Prince Charles' expectation that Cumberland would attack first. He waited 02:37.720 --> 02:43.320 for the word that he was advancing, but the Royal Army did not move. 02:43.320 --> 02:48.040 The bombardment continued, inflicting more casualties on the Highlanders and wreaking 02:48.040 --> 02:53.480 havoc with the morale of many of the less steadfast rebel regiments. Prince Charles 02:53.480 --> 02:58.080 was finally persuaded that he must order the Highlanders to charge before the army began 02:58.080 --> 03:04.120 to melt away. The Highlanders' charge was a fearsome spectacle. Crowds of clansmen running 03:04.120 --> 03:10.720 at top speed with broadswords, target shields and dirks, yelling their clan war cries. One 03:10.720 --> 03:15.160 of the drawbacks of the position selected was an area of boggy ground that lay unnoticed 03:15.160 --> 03:20.960 to its front. To maintain momentum, a group of clansmen veered to its right, avoiding 03:20.960 --> 03:26.520 the bog and following the road that passed diagonally on firm ground across the moor. 03:26.520 --> 03:31.120 They crowded across in front of the clan regiments to their right, obstructing the path of the 03:31.120 --> 03:36.600 attack and pushing their neighbours towards the park wall, causing large numbers of Jacobites 03:36.600 --> 03:42.320 to perish in the crossfire. All the foot regiments in the Royal first line fired on the attacking 03:42.320 --> 03:49.320 Highlanders, the guns discharging canisters of ball. The wind was behind them, pushing 03:49.320 --> 03:55.240 the choking clouds of powder smoke, a feature of every 18th century battle, down on the 03:55.240 --> 04:01.480 Highlanders. The Highlanders stood their ground courageously but suicidally against the murderous 04:01.480 --> 04:07.200 barrage of government cannon fire. Hand to hand fighting of considerable ferocity took 04:07.200 --> 04:14.200 place. This time, unlike the two earlier battles, the Royal troops fought it out. Jacobite casualties 04:15.080 --> 04:21.520 were appalling. The dead lay in heaps which littered the desolate battlefield, many of 04:21.520 --> 04:27.280 the clan chiefs amongst them. The remnant of the Highland army fled the battlefield. 04:27.280 --> 04:32.320 Charles himself, having made an unsuccessful attempt to rally what was left of his decimated 04:32.320 --> 04:37.200 army, was led from the field. Cumberland's cavalry pursued the remainder of the fleeing 04:37.200 --> 04:43.880 Jacobites, killing any wounded they came across. The day after the battle, patrols were sent 04:43.880 --> 04:50.880 back to the area and found and killed 70 more injured Jacobites, and on the day after that 04:51.080 --> 04:58.080 another 72 were discovered and executed. Cumberland's men also indiscriminately butchered many people 04:58.080 --> 05:03.480 thought to be Jacobite sympathisers. The Battle of Culloden was to see the end of the Jacobite 05:03.480 --> 05:10.480 rebellion and the end of Charles Edward Stuart's claim to the throne. By late June, Charles 05:11.280 --> 05:18.040 was in the Outer Hebrides. From here he made his famed escape in a small boat, assisted 05:18.040 --> 05:25.040 by Flora MacDonald and dressed as her Irish maid, Betty Burke. This flight, much romanticised, 05:25.040 --> 05:32.040 is commemorated in the lyrics of the Sky Boat Song. On the 19th of September 1746, Charles 05:35.440 --> 05:42.400 escaped sailing back to France. He remained in exile for the rest of his life and went 05:42.400 --> 05:57.080 into a swift decline, but the image that survives of him is of the dashing boy prince.