Jacobite Rising of 1745
Encyclopedia
The Jacobite rising of 1745, often referred to as "The 'Forty-Five," was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart
to regain the British throne
for the exiled House of Stuart
. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession
when most of the British Army was on the European continent. Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or "the Young Pretender," sailed to Scotland
and raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan
in the Scottish Highlands
, where he was supported by a gathering of Highland clansmen
. The march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans
near Edinburgh
. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle
, over the border in England. On reaching Derby
, some British divisions were recalled from the Continent and the Jacobite army retreated north to Inverness
where the last battle on British soil took place on a nearby moor at Culloden
. The Battle of Culloden
ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head. His wanderings in the north west Highlands and Islands
of Scotland in the summer months of 1746, prior to finally sailing to permanent exile in France, have become an era of Scottish history which is steeped in romance.
of 1688–89 resulted in the Roman Catholic Stuart king, James II of England and VII of Scotland
, fleeing to exile in France under the protection of Louis XIV
. James' daughter and her husband, who was also James's nephew, ascended the British throne as joint sovereigns William and Mary
. In 1690 Presbyterianism was established as the state religion of Scotland. The Act of Settlement 1701
settled the succession of the English throne on the Protestant House of Hanover
. The Act of Union 1707 applied the Act of Settlement to Scotland. With the death of Queen Anne
in 1714, the Elector of Hanover, George I
, succeeded to the British throne. James II's son, James Francis Edward Stuart
, the 'Old Pretender', attempted to gain the British throne in 1715 but failed to do so. The accession of George I ushered in the Whig supremacy, with the Tories deprived of all political power. George II
succeeded his father in 1727. In February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole
resigned as Prime Minister
after nearly 21 years, being replaced by Lord Wilmington
until his death in July 1743. Thereafter the Whig Henry Pelham
was Prime Minister until 1754.
In 1743 war broke out between Britain and France, as part of the larger War of the Austrian Succession
. Later that year Lord Francis Sempill
, James Francis Edward Stuart's representative at the French court, carried a message from English Tories to the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
(Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou
) requesting French help in a Stuart restoration. It was signed by the Duke of Beaufort
(one of the four richest people in Britain), Lord Barrymore, Lord Orrery
, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Sir John Hynde Cotton
and Sir Robert Abdy
. Amelot replied that the French government would need considerable proof of English support for Jacobitism before it could act. The Tory leaders had requested 10,000 French soldiers and arms for 10,000 for the officers on half pay and broke soldiers. The French were to land in Maldon
in Essex, a section of coast not patrolled by the Royal Navy, obviating a crossing of the River Thames
and counting on support from Jacobite sentiment there. They advised that Maurice of Saxony should command the French army because he was personally known to most of them and was a Protestant. A parallel expeditionary force for a Scottish landing under the command of Lord Marischal
(the exiled Earl Marshal of Scotland) was requested as well. These plans were kept secret from James Francis Edward Stuart and the Duke of Ormonde
and known only to the six Tory leaders and to Sir John St. Aubyn (a Member for Cornwall and owner of tin mines), Sir William Carew (a Member for Cornwall), Sir Henry Slingsby (a Member for Knaresborough in Yorkshire), John Baptist Caryll
(a landowner, the only Catholic involved), Charles Gray
(a Member for Colchester), Samuel Savill (a Member for Colchester), Thomas Bramston (a Member for Essex), Henry Read (an Essex landowner), and Sir Edward Smith.
James Butler, Louis XV
's Master of Horse, toured England ostensibly for purchasing bloodstock but in reality to gauge the health of Jacobitism in England. Before he left for England the French king briefed him personally to assure the Tory leaders that all of their demands would be met. In early August Butler arrived in London and met with twenty to thirty members of the corporation of London and had private talks with Robert Willimot (Lord Mayor and Member for London until 1741), Robert Westley (the next Lord Mayor), George Heathcote (an MP), Edward Gibbon (Member for Southampton), William Benn (a powerful member of the corporation) and Daniel Lambert (a Member for London). He reported back that they showed "great zeal for a revolution". A list of the corporation's members given to Butler showed that out of 236 members, 176 were listed as "Jacobite Patriots" and Butler was also told that the recent loss of Court control of the City of Westminster was due to the Independent Electors' "attachment to their rightful King". John Sample, a spy for Walpole, told the Duke of Newcastle that plans for a French invasion had been planned by Wynn and Sir William Carew disguised as Independent Electors' meetings. Butler attended Lichfield races in September to meet with Wynn and other Jacobites, who were greatly joyed when they learnt that Charles Edward Stuart would lead the invasion. Although not a written agreement, the arrangements were based on James Francis Edward Stuart abdicating the crown to Charles and according to a French source this had been a precondition for French support. Butler returned to France in October and had an audience with Louis XV, who said he was satisfied. The next month Amelot told Sempill officially that Louis XV was resolved to restore the House of Stuart and plans for a French invasion began. The "Declaration of King James" (written by the Tory leaders) was signed by James Francis Edward Stuart on 23 December 1743 and was to be published in the event of a successful French landing. James also signed a separate Declaration for Scotland, denouncing the "pretended union". William Macgregor of Balhaldy gave Charles Edward Stuart in Rome the drafts of these declarations and requested he leave immediately for France in disguise. On 8 February 1744 Charles arrived at Paris and during February and March he was with the French invasion force.
Maurice of Saxony had between 12,000 and 15,000 French troops at Dunkirk ready for a landing in Essex. A declaration was drawn up for Maurice declaring that Louis XV had no territorial designs on England and had imposed no conditions on King James. The rivalry between France and England was due only to the Elector of Hanover and were not in the interests of England. Furthermore, Maurice's troops would be withdrawn as soon as a Stuart restoration occurred and commerce would bring mutual prosperity. However François de Bussy, a senior clerk in the French Foreign Office, informed the Duke of Newcastle (in a coded message) of the plans in return for £2,000. The message was decoded on 14 February and Bussy had named the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, Wynn and Cotton. On 15 February George II told Parliament that a French invasion was planned, helped by "disaffected persons from this country", and the House of Commons passed a loyal address by 287 to 123. On 24 February a storm scattered the French fleet under Admiral de Roquefort
and the British fleet under Sir John Norris. That same day arrests of suspected Jacobites took place. The planned invasion was cancelled by the French government. In April Parliament passed an Act outlawing correspondence with James Francis Edward Stuart's sons.
In Scotland the Association (or Concert) was a group of Jacobite noblemen similar to the Duke of Beaufort's circle. These included the Catholic Duke of Perth
, his uncle Lord John Drummond of Fairntower, Lord Lovat
, Donald Cameron of Lochiel
and Lord Linton, with John Murray of Broughton
an intermediary between the Highlands and the Lowlands and linking the Association with the House of Stuart.
In spring 1744 Charles Edward Stuart sent Balhaldy to England on an intelligence mission. Balhaldy reported that the English Tory Jacobites wished for Charles to come as soon as possible. On 24 July Charles wrote to Louis XV, saying he had been informed that England could be retaken without civil war as it was stripped of soldiers. In August he met Murray of Broughton at Tuileries Palace
, who told him he would not get the support of more than 4,000 Highlanders and that he must drop his plans to come to Scotland. When Murray said French backing was extremely unlikely given their defensive position in Flanders, Charles replied that he was "determined to come the following summer to Scotland, though with a single footman". In early 1745 the Association wrote that it objected to a Jacobite rising if it was not supported by 6,000 French soldiers, however Lord Linton was unable to find a safe way of transporting the letter to Charles. Charles went to Paris again in defiance of a French government ban of his presence there, determined to go to Scotland to force the French to back him. As Colonel John William O'Sullivan wrote:
from Parisian banker George Walters (who later extended Charles' credit to 120,000) to purchase broadswords. The commander of the Irish Brigade
of the French Army, Lord Clare
, introduced Charles to Irish shipowners who agreed to help him get to Scotland with money, volunteers and arms. Sir Walter Ruttlidge gave Charles the captured 64-gun British warship Elisabeth, which had on board 700 volunteers from the Irish Brigade, 1,500 muskets and 1,800 broadswords. Charles' ship was to be the 16-gun privateer Doutelle, which also had on board muskets, swords and 4,000 louis d'or
. Charles was accompanied by the "Seven Men of Moidart" on his voyage to Scotland: the banker Aeneas Macdonald; Francis Strickland, an Englishman and former tutor to Charles' brother Henry
; and four Irishmen: Sir Thomas Sheridan; Reverend George Kelly; Sir John Macdonald; and John William O'Sullivan.
The Doutelle disembarked from Nantes
on 22 June 1745, meeting the Elisabeth at Brittany on 4 July and then sailing together for Scotland. On 9 July the British 64-gun warship HMS Lion
attacked the two ships 100 miles (160.9 km) off Lizard Point, Cornwall
, with the Elisabeth nearly sunk and returning to France. The British officers of the Lion believed that the French ships were bound for North America so did not inform the government. The Doutelle sailed on and Charles landed on the isle of Eriskay
on 23 July.
The British government was unsure of Charles' planned landing. On 5 June Norman MacLeod
of Skye
wrote to the Scottish Lord President, Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, to ignore the "extraordinary tale" of Charles coming to the Highlands. On 15 July he wrote again to say that "as I've heard nothing further from any of these places, but peace and quiet, I think you may entirely depend on it, that either there never was such a thing intended, or if there was, that the project is entirely defeated and blown into the air". Aware of rumours of a Jacobite rising, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, a son of George II and involved in fighting on the Continent, wrote to the Duke of Newcastle on 28 July:
Newcastle advised Cumberland to request from George II the home command. However George discounted the Jacobite threat and wanted Cumberland to remain in Flanders
and leave the home defence to the 6,000 Dutch soldiers due to Britain from treaty.
Charles spent the night on Eriskay and returned to the Doutelle the next morning. Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale, younger brother of the chief MacDonald of Clanranald, came to visit him. Boisdale was a Jacobite but believed the planned rising had no chance of succeeding and told Charles to return home. Charles replied: "I am come home, sir, and can entertain no notion of returning to the place whence I came. I am persuaded that my faithful Highlanders will stand by me". Charles sailed to the Loch nan Uamh
and stayed at the Clanranald farm of Borrodale. On 29 July the Doutelle crossed the Sound of Arisaig to Forsay, Moidart
. MacDonald of Clanranald and MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart visited Charles on the ship to dissuade Charles of going through with the rising. They continued to argue until the younger brother of Kinlochmoidart, Ranald MacDonald, grasped his sword, with Charles asking him when he saw this: "Will you not assist me?" Ranald replied: "I will! I will! though not another man in the Highlands should draw a sword; I am ready to die for you!". Charles responded with tears that he wished all Highlanders were like him. The two chieftains then decided to support Charles. On 11 August the Doutelle sailed to Glenuig Bay and Charles travelled by land from there to Kinlochmoidart. The contents of the Doutelle were unloaded, to be transported to the house of MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart. This done, Charles ordered the Doutelle to sail back to France. On 18 August Charles left Kinlochmoidart and the Clanranald MacDonalds helped transport Charles' stores to Glenfinnan
, where Charles planned a meeting of the chiefs of the clans. With a bodyguard of approximately 400, mostly from the MacDonalds of Clanranald and Morar, Charles met the chief of Clan Cameron (who had an escort of 800 Camerons) on 19 August at Glenfinnan. The Jacobite standard was erected, a banner of red silk with a white space in the centre. The Catholic bishop Hugh MacDonald blessed the standard. The Marquis of Tullibardine read aloud the Declaration of King James to the assembled clans, James' commission appointing Charles his Prince Regent, and Charles' manifesto (dated 16 May 1745). In this manifesto, Charles declared he was executing the will of his father in asserting his undoubted right to the throne of his ancestors. After all this the Highlanders "threw their bonnets in the air and huzza'd 3 different times, crying alowd long live K. James the 8, and Charles P. of Wales, prosperity to Scotld and no union".
On 3 August the London Gazette printed the Lords Justice (who governed Britain in George's absence in Hanover) proclamation putting a £30,000 bounty on the capture of Charles. On hearing this on 20 August, Charles issued a proclamation against "so insolent an attempt" and offered the same amount of money for the capture of George II. In the end, no one betrayed Charles for the bounty.
On 14 August the British Army sent reinforcements to Fort William
. Charles, hearing of this, informed his supporters and Captain John Sweetenham's 60 soldiers were captured by the MacDonnells of Keppoch. The first engagement between Jacobite and British Army forces took place at Highbridge
on 16 August. Captain John Scott was marching his 1st Foot to Fort Augustus
when he heard the sound of a bagpipe at Highbridge. Sending his servant and a sergeant to investigate, they were quickly captured by the Jacobite forces of Donald MacDonnell of Tirnadris, comprising 11 men and a bagpiper. Scott decided to retreat back to Fort Augustus, eighteen miles (29 km) away. The Keppochs arrived, bringing the Jacobite forces to approximately 50, and pursued Scott's force and surrounded it at Laggan
. In the ensuing skirmish
Scott lost six men before surrendering to Keppoch.
On 31 August George returned to London from Hanover. On 4 September the Duke of Newcastle wrote to the Duke of Cumberland, requesting ten battalions of British soldiers:
On 5 September the government declared that the penal laws against Catholics must be enforced.
On 15 September the Jacobites reached Edinburgh
. After negotiations failed the gates of the city were left open on the 17th and the Jacobites entered: Charles was met by a cheering crowd of 20,000. However Edinburgh Castle
held out against the Jacobites. Whilst in Edinburgh Charles touched for the King's Evil
. On 18 September King James VIII was proclaimed and Charles as his Regent. Charles held court at Holyrood Palace
for five weeks. On 9 October Charles issued a proclamation in response to George's summoning of Parliament, in which he forbade any of James' Scottish subjects from attending this unlawful "assembly". If they ignored this proclamation they would be "proceeded against as Traitors and Rebels to their King and Country...the pretended Union of these Kingdoms being now at an End".
The French commissioned four privateers to give the Jacobites £5,000 in gold, 2,500 muskets, 6 light field pieces, and 12 French artillerymen under the supervision of James Grant, a Franco-Scottish lieutenant colonel. They arrived at Montrose and Peterhead between 9 and 19 October. The personal representative of Louis XV, Alexander de Boyer, Marquis d'Eguilles, presented himself at Holyrood on 14 October.
Lieutenant General Sir John Cope, commander of the British Army in Scotland, was in pursuit of Charles. On 20 September Charles put himself at the head of his army, presented his sword and proclaimed to cheers: "My friends, I have thrown away the scabbard!". He learnt that Cope was in the area of Prestonpans
and he instantly set off for what he believed to be a good battle-ground, Falside Hill. The Battle of Prestonpans
on 21 September saw the rout of Cope's forces by the Jacobites in a battle that lasted no longer than 15 minutes. The news of the Jacobite victory reached London on 24 September and sent shockwaves. Charles Yorke
was amazed that Charles, despite landing almost alone in a remote corner of Scotland, could have accomplished so much in so short a space of time: "It is indeed a dreadful and amazing consideration to reflect...that a fabric of so much art and cost as the Revolution [of 1688] and its train of consequences, should be in danger of being overwhelmed by the bursting of a cloud, which seemed, at its first gathering, no bigger than a man's hand". It also led to an outbreak of anti-Catholic violence in England: "...the brave ship carpenters of Whitby
...being informed that the papists of Egton
in the moors made great rejoycings for the defeat of the king's forces...took their axes and cleavers...to hack and hew the said papists in pieces, and were with extreme difficulty brought back to Whitby after they had marched two miles towards their enemies".
By now Charles had spent the 4,000 louis d'or and although he possessed Cope's warchest of £3,000 he needed more money. The Bank of Scotland
and the Royal Bank of Scotland
had placed all specie in Edinburgh Castle but the former agreed to honour notes over £3500 held by Murray of Broughton. Letters were sent to all burghs of Scotland, collectors of land tax (the cess), the collectors and comptrollers of Customs and Excise and to the factors on forfeited estates demanding that they "produce their books, and to pay the balances due to them...on pain of being deemed, and treated as rebels". Charles sent a deputation to Glasgow to realise £15,000 but the Whig burgesses negotiated a compromise: Charles received £5000 in cash and £500 in goods.
A letter to Cumberland, dated 19 October, informed him that George wished for him to return to Britain. Cumberland was back in London by 28 October after embarking 25 battalions of infantry, 23 squadrons of cavalry and 4 companies of artillery.
At the end of October Colonel John Roy Stuart summoned Allan Ramsay to paint a portrait of Charles but Charles would not be in Scotland long. On 30 October Charles' Council met and debated whether to invade England. Charles wished to invade England through the north-east. Murray and most of the clan chiefs wished to remain in Scotland to consolidate their position and eliminate government forces in order to wait for French assistance. Charles and his supporters believed that their army was made for moving and he believed that only through a conquest of England could he gain the British throne for his father. The Council decided by a single vote to advance into England, as Murray persuaded them to invade through the north-west as French landings on the west coast of England or Wales would assist them. The Jacobite army that left Edinburgh was made up of more than 5000 foot soldiers and 500 cavalry.
On 8 November Charles, with an escort of Lochiel's Camerons and the hussars, entered England. On 9 November the hussars sent a captured countryman to Carlisle, requesting that it provide quarters for 13,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry or otherwise the city would be burnt. A string of cannon shots came from the city walls and the hussars retreated. Jacobite forces then besieged Carlisle
until it surrendered two days later on the 15th. The defenders of the city concluded there was no hope of defeating the siege when they were informed that Marshal Wade's forces would be unable to help them. (Wade did, in fact, march from Newcastle to Carlisle on the 16th but by then it was too late.) The surrender conditions were that the defenders of Carlisle must agree not to fight against Jacobite forces for one year and that the militia must give up their arms. On the 16th the mayor of Carlisle delivered the keys of the city to Charles at Brampton
. On the 18th Charles entered Carlisle on a white charger along with 100 bagpipers, with cheering Highlanders lining the streets. Salutes of cannon and muskets accompanied the constant ringing of church bells. The city rendered the Jacobites 1,500 muskets, 160 barrels of gunpowder, 500 grenades and about 120 horses. Cumberland believed that "the surrender of Carlisle to the rebels was the source of all the distress this part of the kingdom has felt from them, and it of so scandalous a nature that it deserves the strictest enquiry and punishment".
On 23 November Lord Derby
abandoned the defence of Manchester
. A 300 strong Manchester Regiment
was raised in the town. On the 26th the Jacobites entered Preston to cheering crowds. King James was proclaimed and Charles made a procession through the city to "the loudest acclamation of the people you can imagine".
The Jacobites reached Derby
on 4 December. A Council meeting was convened at Exeter House
on the morning of 5 December. Lord George Murray began by arguing for a retreat to Scotland, citing the three British armies in England: Cumberland's, Wade's and an army supposedly north of London. If the Jacobites defeated Cumberland's forces, Murray argued, they would still lose between 1000 and 1500 soldiers which would leave the army unfit for further fighting. If they were defeated in that battle then the militia would pick them off and a retreat to Scotland would be extremely difficult in such circumstances. Charles, after a long pause, spoke on preparations for the next day's marching. Murray interrupted to question the wisdom of marching on. Charles appealed to other officers, who pronounced in favour of Murray. Charles criticised them for giving up guaranteed victory and a Stuart restoration. Murray replied that everyone was in favour of a Stuart restoration and were prepared to die for it, but that all were certain to die if they proceeded.
Lord Elcho and Lord Ogilvy agreed with Murray and declared that the Jacobite army could not defeat two or three armies in succession and therefore it was likely that Charles would be killed or captured. Charles in reply pointed to the favourable strategic position of the Jacobite army and its morale. Moreover, he said the English Jacobites would finally come out in support in the event of a march on London and the French would land in Kent or Essex, citing a letter he received from Lord Drummond demonstrating French support. Murray said Drummond's letter only proved that the French would help the Jacobites in Scotland, not England, and that with Drummond's and Strathallan's armies amounting to the size of the present Jacobite army, it was wise to retreat to Scotland to combine with them. An advance on London could only be successful with English Jacobite support or French support. Charles professed that he believed the English Jacobites would rise but admitted he was not in touch with them. Lord Elcho intervened to say that the Jacobite army marched on England to combine with English Jacobites and the French but that no prominent English support had been given and the common people were antagonistic. Furthermore, the French had not landed and there were two armies between the Jacobites and London. He said the Jacobites came to aid the English sympathisers, not to enthrone a king when they refused to help. Lord Elcho finished by saying he would support a march on London only if Charles had written proof that this was what the English Jacobites had requested. Charles proclaimed that a Jacobite hold on London would cripple the Whig government; Murray responded by saying that relied on the Jacobites successfully winning London. Even if the Jacobites defeated Cumberland, the leftovers of his army would decimate the Jacobite army as they marched to London and would link up with other soldiers in London. A battle weary Jacobite army would not inspire Jacobite Londoners to come out in support of them with two British armies still in England.
Charles was supported only by Ranald Clanranald, John O'Sullivan and the Duke of Perth. When Murray of Broughton entered the Council, Charles requested his opinion and Murray pronounced in favour of a retreat. Lord George Murray, Lord Elcho and Lord Ogilvy argued that Londonders would make it hard for the Jacobites to capture the capital and even if they managed to capture it, they themselves would be besieged in turn by Wade and Cumberland's armies. A diversion to Wales, suggested by the Duke of Perth, was also defeated on the grounds that it would be cut off from Scotland. The Council retired until the evening. Charles spent the afternoon visiting the local gentry in order to persuade them to come out in support of him but failed. He managed to persuade the Duke of Perth and the Marquis of Tullibardine to support a march on London.
In the evening Council Lord George Murray set out the most advantageous way to retreat to Scotland. The Duke of Perth disagreed, arguing for an immediate attack on Cumberland, but when Murray of Broughton voiced his agreement he was asked to give this in writing but when he refused he was silenced. Charles pointed out that if the Jacobite army retreated they would be in increased danger due to being in between Wade and Cumberland, however Wade would not be an immediate danger if they marched on London. This was countered by the clan chiefs Cluny, MacDonald of Keppoch and Cameron of Lochiel who argued that the Highlanders could march faster than Cumberland and could defeat Wade if he attempted to intercept them on the way to Scotland. Then Dudley Bradstreet
entered the Council to inform them of new intelligence: that there was another army under the command of either Lieutenant General Hawley or Lieutenant General Ligonier, with 9000 soldiers, who stood between them and London. At this point Charles said: "That fellow will do me more harm than all the Elector's army". Ranald Clanranald and the Marquis of Tullibardine then dropped their support for an advance, leading Charles to say: "You ruin, abandon and betray me if you do not march on". However he eventually assented to the Council decision to retreat.
6 December came to be known as "Black Friday", a day when London panicked at the news of the Jacobites in Derby. London was "in such an uproar as cannot be expressed, and is scarce to be imagined". According to a story Chevalier de Johnstone
(a Jacobite officer) had on "good authority", the Duke of Newcastle "remained inaccessible in his own house, the whole of 6 December, weighing up in his mind the part it would be the most prudent for him to take, and even uncertain whether he should not instantly declare himself for the Pretender". However there is no evidence for this story and records show that Newcastle was that day dictating orders and official letters. Neither was George ordering a royal yacht in the Thames ready to flee, he was instead preparing to head his troops at Finchley. Stocks fell rapidly but there was no run on the Bank of England as there was after Prestonpans. On 6 December Newcastle wrote to the Lord Mayor telling him of George's desire for the internal security of London, including encouraging those who volunteered to give armed support. Newcastle also enforced the penal laws against Catholics and declared that Jesuits and other priests were to leave London by 9 December. £100 would be given to those who discovered a priest within 10 miles (16.1 km) of London from then. A chaplain of the embassy of Portugal was imprisoned at Newgate
.
engaged in a skirmish
with British forces on 18 December. The Jacobites lost control of Carlisle in a siege
, lasting from 21 December to the 30th. The Battle of Inverurie
on 23 December saw a small Jacobite victory. The Jacobites won again on 17 January 1746 at the Battle of Falkirk
. The Jacobites unsuccessfully besieged Fort William
from 20 March to 3 April. The 15 April saw the Jacobites defeated at the Battle of Littleferry. On 16 April the Jacobites suffered their final defeat at the Battle of Culloden
.
removed from Scottish lords heritable jurisdictions
. The Act of Proscription 1746
outlawed traditional Highland dress.
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
to regain the British throne
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
for the exiled House of Stuart
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
when most of the British Army was on the European continent. Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or "the Young Pretender," sailed to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan is a village in Lochaber area of the Highlands of Scotland. It is located at the northern end of Loch Shiel, at the foot of Glenfinnan.- Glenfinnan Monument :...
in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, where he was supported by a gathering of Highland clansmen
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
. The march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans
Battle of Prestonpans
The Battle of Prestonpans was the first significant conflict in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The battle took place at 4 am on 21 September 1745. The Jacobite army loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart and led by his son Charles Edward Stuart defeated the government army loyal to the Hanoverian...
near Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle
City of Carlisle
The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...
, over the border in England. On reaching Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, some British divisions were recalled from the Continent and the Jacobite army retreated north to Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
where the last battle on British soil took place on a nearby moor at Culloden
Culloden
Culloden may refer to any of the following:*Culloden, Highland, a village in Scotland**The Battle of Culloden, a battle which took place there in 1746...
. The Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
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...
ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head. His wanderings in the north west Highlands and Islands
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are broadly the Scottish Highlands plus Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied...
of Scotland in the summer months of 1746, prior to finally sailing to permanent exile in France, have become an era of Scottish history which is steeped in romance.
Background
The Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688–89 resulted in the Roman Catholic Stuart king, James II of England and VII of Scotland
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, fleeing to exile in France under the protection of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. James' daughter and her husband, who was also James's nephew, ascended the British throne as joint sovereigns William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
. In 1690 Presbyterianism was established as the state religion of Scotland. The Act of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...
settled the succession of the English throne on the Protestant House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. The Act of Union 1707 applied the Act of Settlement to Scotland. With the death of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
in 1714, the Elector of Hanover, George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, succeeded to the British throne. James II's son, James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, the 'Old Pretender', attempted to gain the British throne in 1715 but failed to do so. The accession of George I ushered in the Whig supremacy, with the Tories deprived of all political power. George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
succeeded his father in 1727. In February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
resigned as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
after nearly 21 years, being replaced by Lord Wilmington
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington KG, KB, PC was a British Whig statesman who served continuously in government from 1715 until his death. He served as the nominal head of government from 1742 until his death in 1743, but was merely a figurehead for the true leader of the government, Lord...
until his death in July 1743. Thereafter the Whig Henry Pelham
Henry Pelham
Henry Pelham was a British Whig statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 27 August 1743 until his death in 1754...
was Prime Minister until 1754.
In 1743 war broke out between Britain and France, as part of the larger War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. Later that year Lord Francis Sempill
Francis Sempill
Francis Sempill was a son of Robert Sempill the younger.No details of his education are known. His fidelity to the Stuarts involved him in money difficulties, tomeet which he alienated portions of his estates to his son. Before 1677 he was appointed sheriff-depute of Renfrewshire...
, James Francis Edward Stuart's representative at the French court, carried a message from English Tories to the French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (France)
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs became a Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1791.-See also:...
(Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou
Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou
Jean-Jacques Amelot de Chaillou was a French politician. He was marquis of Combrande, baron de Châtillon-sur-Indre, seigneur de Chaillou.-Life:...
) requesting French help in a Stuart restoration. It was signed by the Duke of Beaufort
Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset-Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort was born Henry Somerset, the elder son of Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort and his second wife, Rachel Noel. As his father's eldest son and heir to his father's title he was known as Marquess of Worcester, a courtesy title...
(one of the four richest people in Britain), Lord Barrymore, Lord Orrery
John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork
John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork and 5th Earl of Orrery, FRS was a writer and a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson....
, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Sir John Hynde Cotton
Sir John Hynde Cotton, 3rd Baronet
Sir John Hynde Cotton, 3rd Baronet was an English Jacobite MP. He has been called "one of the most zealous Jacobites in England"....
and Sir Robert Abdy
Sir Robert Abdy, 3rd Baronet
Sir Robert Abdy, 3rd Baronet FSA was a British Tory politician.He was the only son of Sir John Abdy, 2nd Baronet and his wife Jane Nicholas, the daughter of Sir Edward Nicholas. In 1691, aged only three, he succeeded his father as baronet...
. Amelot replied that the French government would need considerable proof of English support for Jacobitism before it could act. The Tory leaders had requested 10,000 French soldiers and arms for 10,000 for the officers on half pay and broke soldiers. The French were to land in Maldon
Maldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
in Essex, a section of coast not patrolled by the Royal Navy, obviating a crossing of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and counting on support from Jacobite sentiment there. They advised that Maurice of Saxony should command the French army because he was personally known to most of them and was a Protestant. A parallel expeditionary force for a Scottish landing under the command of Lord Marischal
George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal
George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal was a Scottish and Prussian army officer and diplomat...
(the exiled Earl Marshal of Scotland) was requested as well. These plans were kept secret from James Francis Edward Stuart and the Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
and known only to the six Tory leaders and to Sir John St. Aubyn (a Member for Cornwall and owner of tin mines), Sir William Carew (a Member for Cornwall), Sir Henry Slingsby (a Member for Knaresborough in Yorkshire), John Baptist Caryll
John Baptist Caryll
John Baptist Caryll was the third Jacobite Baron Caryll of Durford.Caryll was the eldest son of the Honourable John Caryll , who predeceased his father, the 2nd Baron Caryll....
(a landowner, the only Catholic involved), Charles Gray
Charles Gray (MP)
Charles Gray FRS was a lawyer, antiquary and Tory Member of Parliament for Colchester....
(a Member for Colchester), Samuel Savill (a Member for Colchester), Thomas Bramston (a Member for Essex), Henry Read (an Essex landowner), and Sir Edward Smith.
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
's Master of Horse, toured England ostensibly for purchasing bloodstock but in reality to gauge the health of Jacobitism in England. Before he left for England the French king briefed him personally to assure the Tory leaders that all of their demands would be met. In early August Butler arrived in London and met with twenty to thirty members of the corporation of London and had private talks with Robert Willimot (Lord Mayor and Member for London until 1741), Robert Westley (the next Lord Mayor), George Heathcote (an MP), Edward Gibbon (Member for Southampton), William Benn (a powerful member of the corporation) and Daniel Lambert (a Member for London). He reported back that they showed "great zeal for a revolution". A list of the corporation's members given to Butler showed that out of 236 members, 176 were listed as "Jacobite Patriots" and Butler was also told that the recent loss of Court control of the City of Westminster was due to the Independent Electors' "attachment to their rightful King". John Sample, a spy for Walpole, told the Duke of Newcastle that plans for a French invasion had been planned by Wynn and Sir William Carew disguised as Independent Electors' meetings. Butler attended Lichfield races in September to meet with Wynn and other Jacobites, who were greatly joyed when they learnt that Charles Edward Stuart would lead the invasion. Although not a written agreement, the arrangements were based on James Francis Edward Stuart abdicating the crown to Charles and according to a French source this had been a precondition for French support. Butler returned to France in October and had an audience with Louis XV, who said he was satisfied. The next month Amelot told Sempill officially that Louis XV was resolved to restore the House of Stuart and plans for a French invasion began. The "Declaration of King James" (written by the Tory leaders) was signed by James Francis Edward Stuart on 23 December 1743 and was to be published in the event of a successful French landing. James also signed a separate Declaration for Scotland, denouncing the "pretended union". William Macgregor of Balhaldy gave Charles Edward Stuart in Rome the drafts of these declarations and requested he leave immediately for France in disguise. On 8 February 1744 Charles arrived at Paris and during February and March he was with the French invasion force.
Maurice of Saxony had between 12,000 and 15,000 French troops at Dunkirk ready for a landing in Essex. A declaration was drawn up for Maurice declaring that Louis XV had no territorial designs on England and had imposed no conditions on King James. The rivalry between France and England was due only to the Elector of Hanover and were not in the interests of England. Furthermore, Maurice's troops would be withdrawn as soon as a Stuart restoration occurred and commerce would bring mutual prosperity. However François de Bussy, a senior clerk in the French Foreign Office, informed the Duke of Newcastle (in a coded message) of the plans in return for £2,000. The message was decoded on 14 February and Bussy had named the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, Wynn and Cotton. On 15 February George II told Parliament that a French invasion was planned, helped by "disaffected persons from this country", and the House of Commons passed a loyal address by 287 to 123. On 24 February a storm scattered the French fleet under Admiral de Roquefort
Jacques Aymar de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet
Jacques Aymar de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet was a French Navy admiral.-Family:...
and the British fleet under Sir John Norris. That same day arrests of suspected Jacobites took place. The planned invasion was cancelled by the French government. In April Parliament passed an Act outlawing correspondence with James Francis Edward Stuart's sons.
In Scotland the Association (or Concert) was a group of Jacobite noblemen similar to the Duke of Beaufort's circle. These included the Catholic Duke of Perth
James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth
James Drummond, sixth Earl and third titular Duke of Perth , born 11 May 1713, was eldest son of James Drummond, fifth earl and second titular Duke of Perth and Lady Jane Gordon, daughter of George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon .....
, his uncle Lord John Drummond of Fairntower, Lord Lovat
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat , was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser, who was famous for his violent feuding and his changes of allegiance. In 1715, he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover, but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of Scotland...
, Donald Cameron of Lochiel
Donald Cameron of Lochiel
Donald Cameron of Lochiel , was an influential Highland Clan Chief known for his magnanimous and gallant nature. His support of Charles Edward Stuart was instrumental in the Jacobite Rising of 1745...
and Lord Linton, with John Murray of Broughton
John Murray of Broughton
Sir John Murray of Broughton, 7th Baronet Stanhope was a Jacobite, who served as secretary to Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite Rising of 1745...
an intermediary between the Highlands and the Lowlands and linking the Association with the House of Stuart.
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
, who told him he would not get the support of more than 4,000 Highlanders and that he must drop his plans to come to Scotland. When Murray said French backing was extremely unlikely given their defensive position in Flanders, Charles replied that he was "determined to come the following summer to Scotland, though with a single footman". In early 1745 the Association wrote that it objected to a Jacobite rising if it was not supported by 6,000 French soldiers, however Lord Linton was unable to find a safe way of transporting the letter to Charles. Charles went to Paris again in defiance of a French government ban of his presence there, determined to go to Scotland to force the French to back him. As Colonel John William O'Sullivan wrote:
The Prince being dissatisfied with the treatment he had from the Court of France, & finding yt the French Ministry had no real design to restablish the King, was resol'd at any reat, to try what his presence cou'd do among his friends at home, without any other succor, & imagening at the same time, if he cou'd come to make a head, & have the least good success or advantage, yt yt wou'd engage the Frinch Court to send him a real succor. John Murray's arrival at Paris confirmed, as it is said, H.R.H.s in this resolution, & assur'd him, as I am told, yt the King's friends wou'd receive him with open Arms; & yt he did not even doubt but they wou'd surprise all the fortes and Castles of Scotland, wch woud procure him armes & ammunition, & by those means wou'd be Mastre of Scotland without being obliged to draw a Sword.
Charles in Scotland
Charles borrowed 40,000 livresFrench livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
from Parisian banker George Walters (who later extended Charles' credit to 120,000) to purchase broadswords. The commander of the Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade (French)
The Irish Brigade was a brigade in the French army composed of Irish exiles, led by Robert Reid. It was formed in May 1690 when five Jacobite regiments were sent from Ireland to France in return for a larger force of French infantry who were sent to fight in the Williamite war in Ireland...
of the French Army, Lord Clare
Charles O'Brien, 6th Viscount Clare
Charles O'Brien, , 6th Viscount Clare was a Irish military officer in French service.Charles O'Brien was the son of Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare and Charlotte Bulkeley...
, introduced Charles to Irish shipowners who agreed to help him get to Scotland with money, volunteers and arms. Sir Walter Ruttlidge gave Charles the captured 64-gun British warship Elisabeth, which had on board 700 volunteers from the Irish Brigade, 1,500 muskets and 1,800 broadswords. Charles' ship was to be the 16-gun privateer Doutelle, which also had on board muskets, swords and 4,000 louis d'or
Louis d'or
The Louis d'or is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse...
. Charles was accompanied by the "Seven Men of Moidart" on his voyage to Scotland: the banker Aeneas Macdonald; Francis Strickland, an Englishman and former tutor to Charles' brother Henry
Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
; and four Irishmen: Sir Thomas Sheridan; Reverend George Kelly; Sir John Macdonald; and John William O'Sullivan.
The Doutelle disembarked from Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
on 22 June 1745, meeting the Elisabeth at Brittany on 4 July and then sailing together for Scotland. On 9 July the British 64-gun warship HMS Lion
HMS Lion (1709)
HMS Lion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment and launched on 20 January 1709....
attacked the two ships 100 miles (160.9 km) off Lizard Point, Cornwall
Lizard Point, Cornwall
Lizard Point in Cornwall is at the southern tip of the Lizard Peninsula. It is situated half-a-mile south of Lizard village in the civil parish of Landewednack and approximately 11 miles southeast of Helston....
, with the Elisabeth nearly sunk and returning to France. The British officers of the Lion believed that the French ships were bound for North America so did not inform the government. The Doutelle sailed on and Charles landed on the isle of Eriskay
Eriskay
Eriskay , from the Old Norse for "Eric's Isle", is an island and community council area of the Outer Hebrides in northern Scotland. It lies between South Uist and Barra and is connected to South Uist by a causeway which was opened in 2001. In the same year Eriskay became the ferry terminal for...
on 23 July.
The British government was unsure of Charles' planned landing. On 5 June Norman MacLeod
Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod is a Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan, whose chief is Macleod of Macleod, are known in Gaelic as Sìol Tormoid ; the Macleods of Lewis, whose chief is Macleod of The Lewes, are known in...
of Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
wrote to the Scottish Lord President, Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, to ignore the "extraordinary tale" of Charles coming to the Highlands. On 15 July he wrote again to say that "as I've heard nothing further from any of these places, but peace and quiet, I think you may entirely depend on it, that either there never was such a thing intended, or if there was, that the project is entirely defeated and blown into the air". Aware of rumours of a Jacobite rising, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, a son of George II and involved in fighting on the Continent, wrote to the Duke of Newcastle on 28 July:
I desire you, that if this pretended design of an invasion should continue, to let me come home with whatever troops are thought necessary, for it would be horrid to be employed abroad when my home was in danger, and really, should it be found proper to detach home to England troops sufficient to secure it, there will be none left to save this little scrap of country we still have here, of the Austrian Netherlands.
Newcastle advised Cumberland to request from George II the home command. However George discounted the Jacobite threat and wanted Cumberland to remain in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and leave the home defence to the 6,000 Dutch soldiers due to Britain from treaty.
Charles spent the night on Eriskay and returned to the Doutelle the next morning. Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale, younger brother of the chief MacDonald of Clanranald, came to visit him. Boisdale was a Jacobite but believed the planned rising had no chance of succeeding and told Charles to return home. Charles replied: "I am come home, sir, and can entertain no notion of returning to the place whence I came. I am persuaded that my faithful Highlanders will stand by me". Charles sailed to the Loch nan Uamh
Sound of Arisaig
The Sound of Arisaig in Lochaber, Scotland, separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. At the eastern, landward end, the sound is divided by Ardnish into two sea lochs. Loch nan Uamh lies to the north of Ardnish, Loch Ailort to the south...
and stayed at the Clanranald farm of Borrodale. On 29 July the Doutelle crossed the Sound of Arisaig to Forsay, Moidart
Moidart
Moidart is a district in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.Moidart lies to the west of Fort William and is very remote. Loch Shiel cuts off the south-east boundary of the district. Moidart includes the townships of Dorlin, Mingarry, Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig. At Dorlin is located the ancient fortress...
. MacDonald of Clanranald and MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart visited Charles on the ship to dissuade Charles of going through with the rising. They continued to argue until the younger brother of Kinlochmoidart, Ranald MacDonald, grasped his sword, with Charles asking him when he saw this: "Will you not assist me?" Ranald replied: "I will! I will! though not another man in the Highlands should draw a sword; I am ready to die for you!". Charles responded with tears that he wished all Highlanders were like him. The two chieftains then decided to support Charles. On 11 August the Doutelle sailed to Glenuig Bay and Charles travelled by land from there to Kinlochmoidart. The contents of the Doutelle were unloaded, to be transported to the house of MacDonald of Kinlochmoidart. This done, Charles ordered the Doutelle to sail back to France. On 18 August Charles left Kinlochmoidart and the Clanranald MacDonalds helped transport Charles' stores to Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan is a village in Lochaber area of the Highlands of Scotland. It is located at the northern end of Loch Shiel, at the foot of Glenfinnan.- Glenfinnan Monument :...
, where Charles planned a meeting of the chiefs of the clans. With a bodyguard of approximately 400, mostly from the MacDonalds of Clanranald and Morar, Charles met the chief of Clan Cameron (who had an escort of 800 Camerons) on 19 August at Glenfinnan. The Jacobite standard was erected, a banner of red silk with a white space in the centre. The Catholic bishop Hugh MacDonald blessed the standard. The Marquis of Tullibardine read aloud the Declaration of King James to the assembled clans, James' commission appointing Charles his Prince Regent, and Charles' manifesto (dated 16 May 1745). In this manifesto, Charles declared he was executing the will of his father in asserting his undoubted right to the throne of his ancestors. After all this the Highlanders "threw their bonnets in the air and huzza'd 3 different times, crying alowd long live K. James the 8, and Charles P. of Wales, prosperity to Scotld and no union".
On 3 August the London Gazette printed the Lords Justice (who governed Britain in George's absence in Hanover) proclamation putting a £30,000 bounty on the capture of Charles. On hearing this on 20 August, Charles issued a proclamation against "so insolent an attempt" and offered the same amount of money for the capture of George II. In the end, no one betrayed Charles for the bounty.
On 14 August the British Army sent reinforcements to Fort William
Fort William, Scotland
Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...
. Charles, hearing of this, informed his supporters and Captain John Sweetenham's 60 soldiers were captured by the MacDonnells of Keppoch. The first engagement between Jacobite and British Army forces took place at Highbridge
Highbridge, Scotland
Highbridge is located on the River Spean, downstream from the village of Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands. The village takes its name from this bridge....
on 16 August. Captain John Scott was marching his 1st Foot to Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus
Fort Augustus is a settlement in the Scottish Highlands, at the south west end of Loch Ness. The village has a population of around 646 ; its economy is heavily reliant on tourism....
when he heard the sound of a bagpipe at Highbridge. Sending his servant and a sergeant to investigate, they were quickly captured by the Jacobite forces of Donald MacDonnell of Tirnadris, comprising 11 men and a bagpiper. Scott decided to retreat back to Fort Augustus, eighteen miles (29 km) away. The Keppochs arrived, bringing the Jacobite forces to approximately 50, and pursued Scott's force and surrounded it at Laggan
Laggan, Great Glen
Laggan is a village in the Great Glen, in the Highland region of Scotland.-Geography:It is on the main A82 road alongside the Caledonian Canal between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich. It gives its name to the Laggan locks and the Laggan swing bridge where the road crosses the canal....
. In the ensuing skirmish
Highbridge Skirmish
The Highbridge Skirmish was the first engagement of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 between British Government troops and Jacobites loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart...
Scott lost six men before surrendering to Keppoch.
On 31 August George returned to London from Hanover. On 4 September the Duke of Newcastle wrote to the Duke of Cumberland, requesting ten battalions of British soldiers:
Though I have constantly seen the reality and danger of this attempt to invade His Majesty's dominions, I did not imagine that, in so short a time, the Pretender's son, with an army of 3,000 men, would have got between the King's troops and England, and be within a few days' march of Edinburgh, where, some think, we shall soon hear that he is; and that he may attempt to call a Parliament there. Others rather suppose that he will proceed with his army through England, where there no regular troops to oppose him, 'till he comes towards London.
On 5 September the government declared that the penal laws against Catholics must be enforced.
On 15 September the Jacobites reached Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. After negotiations failed the gates of the city were left open on the 17th and the Jacobites entered: Charles was met by a cheering crowd of 20,000. However Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
held out against the Jacobites. Whilst in Edinburgh Charles touched for the King's Evil
Scrofula
Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis refers to a lymphadenitis of the cervical lymph nodes associated with tuberculosis. It was previously known as "scrofula".-The disease:...
. On 18 September King James VIII was proclaimed and Charles as his Regent. Charles held court at Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...
for five weeks. On 9 October Charles issued a proclamation in response to George's summoning of Parliament, in which he forbade any of James' Scottish subjects from attending this unlawful "assembly". If they ignored this proclamation they would be "proceeded against as Traitors and Rebels to their King and Country...the pretended Union of these Kingdoms being now at an End".
The French commissioned four privateers to give the Jacobites £5,000 in gold, 2,500 muskets, 6 light field pieces, and 12 French artillerymen under the supervision of James Grant, a Franco-Scottish lieutenant colonel. They arrived at Montrose and Peterhead between 9 and 19 October. The personal representative of Louis XV, Alexander de Boyer, Marquis d'Eguilles, presented himself at Holyrood on 14 October.
Lieutenant General Sir John Cope, commander of the British Army in Scotland, was in pursuit of Charles. On 20 September Charles put himself at the head of his army, presented his sword and proclaimed to cheers: "My friends, I have thrown away the scabbard!". He learnt that Cope was in the area of Prestonpans
Prestonpans
Prestonpans is a small town to the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the unitary council area of East Lothian. It has a population of 7,153 . It is the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, and has a history dating back to the 11th century...
and he instantly set off for what he believed to be a good battle-ground, Falside Hill. The Battle of Prestonpans
Battle of Prestonpans
The Battle of Prestonpans was the first significant conflict in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The battle took place at 4 am on 21 September 1745. The Jacobite army loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart and led by his son Charles Edward Stuart defeated the government army loyal to the Hanoverian...
on 21 September saw the rout of Cope's forces by the Jacobites in a battle that lasted no longer than 15 minutes. The news of the Jacobite victory reached London on 24 September and sent shockwaves. Charles Yorke
Charles Yorke
Charles Yorke was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Life:The second son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was born in London, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His literary abilities were shown at an early age by his collaboration with his brother Philip in the...
was amazed that Charles, despite landing almost alone in a remote corner of Scotland, could have accomplished so much in so short a space of time: "It is indeed a dreadful and amazing consideration to reflect...that a fabric of so much art and cost as the Revolution [of 1688] and its train of consequences, should be in danger of being overwhelmed by the bursting of a cloud, which seemed, at its first gathering, no bigger than a man's hand". It also led to an outbreak of anti-Catholic violence in England: "...the brave ship carpenters of Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
...being informed that the papists of Egton
Egton
Egton is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England about west of Whitby. There is a nearby village called Egton Bridge which is home to Egton railway station. The village was included in the Survey of English Dialects. Unlike the other sites, a full book...
in the moors made great rejoycings for the defeat of the king's forces...took their axes and cleavers...to hack and hew the said papists in pieces, and were with extreme difficulty brought back to Whitby after they had marched two miles towards their enemies".
By now Charles had spent the 4,000 louis d'or and although he possessed Cope's warchest of £3,000 he needed more money. The Bank of Scotland
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to...
and the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
had placed all specie in Edinburgh Castle but the former agreed to honour notes over £3500 held by Murray of Broughton. Letters were sent to all burghs of Scotland, collectors of land tax (the cess), the collectors and comptrollers of Customs and Excise and to the factors on forfeited estates demanding that they "produce their books, and to pay the balances due to them...on pain of being deemed, and treated as rebels". Charles sent a deputation to Glasgow to realise £15,000 but the Whig burgesses negotiated a compromise: Charles received £5000 in cash and £500 in goods.
A letter to Cumberland, dated 19 October, informed him that George wished for him to return to Britain. Cumberland was back in London by 28 October after embarking 25 battalions of infantry, 23 squadrons of cavalry and 4 companies of artillery.
At the end of October Colonel John Roy Stuart summoned Allan Ramsay to paint a portrait of Charles but Charles would not be in Scotland long. On 30 October Charles' Council met and debated whether to invade England. Charles wished to invade England through the north-east. Murray and most of the clan chiefs wished to remain in Scotland to consolidate their position and eliminate government forces in order to wait for French assistance. Charles and his supporters believed that their army was made for moving and he believed that only through a conquest of England could he gain the British throne for his father. The Council decided by a single vote to advance into England, as Murray persuaded them to invade through the north-west as French landings on the west coast of England or Wales would assist them. The Jacobite army that left Edinburgh was made up of more than 5000 foot soldiers and 500 cavalry.
Invasion of England
Siege of Carlisle (November 1745)
The siege and capture of Carlisle was an important event of the 1745 to 1746 Jacobite Uprising. Jacobite forces loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart captured the city of Carlisle and Carlisle Castle on 14th - 15th November 1745....
until it surrendered two days later on the 15th. The defenders of the city concluded there was no hope of defeating the siege when they were informed that Marshal Wade's forces would be unable to help them. (Wade did, in fact, march from Newcastle to Carlisle on the 16th but by then it was too late.) The surrender conditions were that the defenders of Carlisle must agree not to fight against Jacobite forces for one year and that the militia must give up their arms. On the 16th the mayor of Carlisle delivered the keys of the city to Charles at Brampton
Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria
Brampton is a small market town and civil parish within the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England about 9 miles east of Carlisle and 2 miles south of Hadrian's Wall. It is situated off the A69 road which bypasses it...
. On the 18th Charles entered Carlisle on a white charger along with 100 bagpipers, with cheering Highlanders lining the streets. Salutes of cannon and muskets accompanied the constant ringing of church bells. The city rendered the Jacobites 1,500 muskets, 160 barrels of gunpowder, 500 grenades and about 120 horses. Cumberland believed that "the surrender of Carlisle to the rebels was the source of all the distress this part of the kingdom has felt from them, and it of so scandalous a nature that it deserves the strictest enquiry and punishment".
On 23 November Lord Derby
Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby , known as Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet, from 1714 to 1736, was a British peer and politician....
abandoned the defence of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. A 300 strong Manchester Regiment
Manchester Regiment (Jacobite)
The Manchester Regiment was a unit of English soldiers recruited by the Jacobites during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. They owed their allegiance to Charles Edward Stuart and the House of Stuart and were in rebellion against George II....
was raised in the town. On the 26th the Jacobites entered Preston to cheering crowds. King James was proclaimed and Charles made a procession through the city to "the loudest acclamation of the people you can imagine".
The Jacobites reached Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
on 4 December. A Council meeting was convened at Exeter House
Exeter House
Exeter House was an early 17th century brick-built mansion, which stood in Full Street, Derby until demolished in 1854. Named for the Earls of Exeter, whose family owned the property until 1757, the house was notable for the stay of Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite Rising of 1745...
on the morning of 5 December. Lord George Murray began by arguing for a retreat to Scotland, citing the three British armies in England: Cumberland's, Wade's and an army supposedly north of London. If the Jacobites defeated Cumberland's forces, Murray argued, they would still lose between 1000 and 1500 soldiers which would leave the army unfit for further fighting. If they were defeated in that battle then the militia would pick them off and a retreat to Scotland would be extremely difficult in such circumstances. Charles, after a long pause, spoke on preparations for the next day's marching. Murray interrupted to question the wisdom of marching on. Charles appealed to other officers, who pronounced in favour of Murray. Charles criticised them for giving up guaranteed victory and a Stuart restoration. Murray replied that everyone was in favour of a Stuart restoration and were prepared to die for it, but that all were certain to die if they proceeded.
Lord Elcho and Lord Ogilvy agreed with Murray and declared that the Jacobite army could not defeat two or three armies in succession and therefore it was likely that Charles would be killed or captured. Charles in reply pointed to the favourable strategic position of the Jacobite army and its morale. Moreover, he said the English Jacobites would finally come out in support in the event of a march on London and the French would land in Kent or Essex, citing a letter he received from Lord Drummond demonstrating French support. Murray said Drummond's letter only proved that the French would help the Jacobites in Scotland, not England, and that with Drummond's and Strathallan's armies amounting to the size of the present Jacobite army, it was wise to retreat to Scotland to combine with them. An advance on London could only be successful with English Jacobite support or French support. Charles professed that he believed the English Jacobites would rise but admitted he was not in touch with them. Lord Elcho intervened to say that the Jacobite army marched on England to combine with English Jacobites and the French but that no prominent English support had been given and the common people were antagonistic. Furthermore, the French had not landed and there were two armies between the Jacobites and London. He said the Jacobites came to aid the English sympathisers, not to enthrone a king when they refused to help. Lord Elcho finished by saying he would support a march on London only if Charles had written proof that this was what the English Jacobites had requested. Charles proclaimed that a Jacobite hold on London would cripple the Whig government; Murray responded by saying that relied on the Jacobites successfully winning London. Even if the Jacobites defeated Cumberland, the leftovers of his army would decimate the Jacobite army as they marched to London and would link up with other soldiers in London. A battle weary Jacobite army would not inspire Jacobite Londoners to come out in support of them with two British armies still in England.
In the evening Council Lord George Murray set out the most advantageous way to retreat to Scotland. The Duke of Perth disagreed, arguing for an immediate attack on Cumberland, but when Murray of Broughton voiced his agreement he was asked to give this in writing but when he refused he was silenced. Charles pointed out that if the Jacobite army retreated they would be in increased danger due to being in between Wade and Cumberland, however Wade would not be an immediate danger if they marched on London. This was countered by the clan chiefs Cluny, MacDonald of Keppoch and Cameron of Lochiel who argued that the Highlanders could march faster than Cumberland and could defeat Wade if he attempted to intercept them on the way to Scotland. Then Dudley Bradstreet
Dudley Bradstreet
-Biography:He was born in 1711 in Tipperary, where his father had obtained considerable property under the Cromwellian grants, which, however, was much reduced by debts. Dudley, his youngest son, was left in his early years in charge of a foster father in Tipperary...
entered the Council to inform them of new intelligence: that there was another army under the command of either Lieutenant General Hawley or Lieutenant General Ligonier, with 9000 soldiers, who stood between them and London. At this point Charles said: "That fellow will do me more harm than all the Elector's army". Ranald Clanranald and the Marquis of Tullibardine then dropped their support for an advance, leading Charles to say: "You ruin, abandon and betray me if you do not march on". However he eventually assented to the Council decision to retreat.
6 December came to be known as "Black Friday", a day when London panicked at the news of the Jacobites in Derby. London was "in such an uproar as cannot be expressed, and is scarce to be imagined". According to a story Chevalier de Johnstone
Chevalier de Johnstone
James Johnstone , also known as Chevalier de Johnstone, and who sometimes signed himself as Johnstone de Moffatt was an army officer who took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and the Seven Years' War. He is notable for his memoirs.Johnstone joined the Jacobite Army in Perth shortly after the...
(a Jacobite officer) had on "good authority", the Duke of Newcastle "remained inaccessible in his own house, the whole of 6 December, weighing up in his mind the part it would be the most prudent for him to take, and even uncertain whether he should not instantly declare himself for the Pretender". However there is no evidence for this story and records show that Newcastle was that day dictating orders and official letters. Neither was George ordering a royal yacht in the Thames ready to flee, he was instead preparing to head his troops at Finchley. Stocks fell rapidly but there was no run on the Bank of England as there was after Prestonpans. On 6 December Newcastle wrote to the Lord Mayor telling him of George's desire for the internal security of London, including encouraging those who volunteered to give armed support. Newcastle also enforced the penal laws against Catholics and declared that Jesuits and other priests were to leave London by 9 December. £100 would be given to those who discovered a priest within 10 miles (16.1 km) of London from then. A chaplain of the embassy of Portugal was imprisoned at Newgate
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
.
Defeat
The retreating Jacobite army at Clifton, CumbriaClifton, Cumbria
Clifton is a small linear village and civil parish south east of Penrith in Cumbria, England.-History and geography:The civil parish of Clifton has its western boundary defined by the River Lowther, to the north and east lie the civil parishes of Brougham and Great Strickland, to the south is the...
engaged in a skirmish
Clifton Moor Skirmish
The Clifton Moor Skirmish took place between forces of the British Hanoverian government and Jacobite rebels on 19 December 1745. Since the commander of the British forces, the Duke of Cumberland, was aware of the Jacobite presence in Derby, the Jacobite leader Prince Charles Edward Stuart decided...
with British forces on 18 December. The Jacobites lost control of Carlisle in a siege
Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)
The Siege of Carlisle took place during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745–46 after Charles Edward Stuart was forced to retreat north back into Scotland...
, lasting from 21 December to the 30th. The Battle of Inverurie
Battle of Inverurie (1745)
For the battle of the same name during the Wars of Scottish Independence see: Battle of Inverurie .The second Battle of Inverurie took place on 23 December 1745 and was part of the second major Jacobite rising in Scotland.-Background:...
on 23 December saw a small Jacobite victory. The Jacobites won again on 17 January 1746 at the Battle of Falkirk
Battle of Falkirk (1746)
During the Second Jacobite Rising, the Battle of Falkirk Muir was the last noteworthy Jacobite success.-Background:...
. The Jacobites unsuccessfully besieged Fort William
Siege of Fort William
The siege of Fort William, Scotland took place between 20 March and 3 April 1746. Prior to the siege the Jacobites had forced the surrender of Fort Augustus after a siege of just two days, from where they proceeded to Fort William with cannons they had taken from Fort Augustus...
from 20 March to 3 April. The 15 April saw the Jacobites defeated at the Battle of Littleferry. On 16 April the Jacobites suffered their final defeat at the Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
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...
.
Legacy
The British government wished to ensure that another Jacobite rising could not take place. The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
The Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1746 was an Act of the British Parliament passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745....
removed from Scottish lords heritable jurisdictions
Heritable jurisdictions
Heritable jurisdictions were, in the law of Scotland, grants of jurisdiction made to a man and his heirs.They were a usual accompaniment to feudal tenures, and the power which they conferred on great families, being recognized as a source of danger to the state, led to frequent attempts being made...
. The Act of Proscription 1746
Act of Proscription 1746
The Act of Proscription was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which came into effect in Scotland on 1 August 1746. It was part of a series of efforts to assimilate the Scottish Highlands, ending their ability to revolt, and the first of the 'King's laws' which sought to crush the Clan...
outlawed traditional Highland dress.