Culloden was the last pitched battle fought in Scotland & indeed mainland Britain.  The outcome of this battle of 1746 were astronomical for Scotland, and few could see what would happen in the future.  For a start attempts were made to destroy the Clan system over a period of time after the battle subject to Government attempts to wipe it from the face of the earth, and indeed they nearly succeeded, but the clans survived, albeit the Clan system would never be the same again.  At this time I have to stress that not all the Highland clans fought for the Jacobite cause for whatever reason, perhaps mainly because they had embraced Protestantism & as I say below, the Jacobites sought to restore the Catholic monarchy under JamesVIII & his son Charles Edward.

      The article below is not about Culloden, but rather about one of the many battles that the Jacobite army won on their way to their inevitable fate on the damp & windswept Drummossie moor, indeed Culloden was the only battle they lost in the campaign, but it was the most important of all perhaps.....

BATTLE OF PRESTONPANS - AN EVENT OF THE 1745-6 JACOBITE WARS.

 INTRODUCTION:

     The late 16th Century in England was an extremely turbulent time.  Earlier that Century Civil War had raged throughout that land as Cromwell's "Roundheads" took on the "Royalists" under King Charles I, who was later executed just like his grandmother by having his head parted from the rest of his body.  After a spell in the wilderness, the monarchy was restored under Charles II & the House of Stewart reigned in the male line until 1688 when James II (VII of Scotland) was forced to abdicate his throne & flee to safety in France.  James II was a convert to the Church of Rome, and as if this had not been as unpopular in itself in what was predominantly then a Protestant country, he had also ruled unwisely it was said.  James's daughter Mary & her husband William, of the House of Orange became joint sovereigns in 1789.  James's Catholic son James Francis (James VIII) was excluded from the right of succession to the throne, but James Francis's daughter, Anne, a Protestant became Queen after William died in 1702.  She died without issue in 1714 & the crown was passed over to German Prince George Louis of the House of Hanover, he became George I.

 WHO WERE THE JACOBITES?:

     The Jacobites were the supporters of James II & III right to the throne.  They took their name from the Latin for James; Jacobus.  James II died in 1701, but the cause endured through James Francis & his Grandson, Charles Edward, who both grew up in exile, but never once relinquished their claim to the throne.  These two became known as "The Old Pretender" & "The Young Pretender," (from the French word 'pretendant' which means 'claimant').  

REBELLIONS:

     Several attempts were made over the years to win back the throne, but all had met with failure.  One of the most famous was the campaign of 1715, but this ended in the inconclusive battle of Sherriffsmuir, were neither side won, but both claimed victory.  At this point I feel I must also add that Scotland & England now (technically at least - or so it was meant to be) did not exist & in their place was the so called Great Britain.  The hated act of union between our two countries was passed on May 1st 1707.  Crowds rioted in the streets of Edinburgh screaming "NO UNION" but to no avail, once again the will of the common man had been cynically ignored by the mighty Noblemen, but back to the story...

     In 1739, Great Britain (more likely than not at English instigation) became involved in war with Spain & 3 years later they were at war with France (Scotland's 'Auld Allies').  Charles Edward & his supporters forged an alliegance with France in 1743 & together they plotted an invasion of England.  The French fleet sailed in 1744, but due to stormy conditions at sea they had to abandon the plan & turn back & the plan was abandoned by them...but not by Charles Edward!!!!  In 1745 he set sail for Scotland on a perilous voyage to recruit the support of the Highland Chiefs (the Highlands were still mainly Catholic back then), who had so  often served his Royal house so well.

THE ROAD TO PRESTONPANS:

     So it was that on July 23rd, 1745, Charles Edward landed on the island of Eriskay with but a small company of friends, who were ill armed, were very short of money, and had no troops!!!!  The local Clan Chiefs he met were understandably anxious to pack him back off to France again, but Charles Edward would have none of it & had already decided that this time it was now or never as far as his claim to the throne was concerned, and so it was that he travelled onward to the mainland, were after his intial misgivings the Gentle Lochiel (Cameron of Lochiel), the powerful & influential Chief of Clan Cameron, offered himself & his Clansmen to the cause.  Charles landed on the mainland on the shores of Loch nan Uamh.  Following on the example of Lochiel, by the time Charles Edward raised his standard at Glenfinnan on the 19th August the ranks had swollen to well over 1000 supporters.   Over 1000 men heard him that day appointing himself Regent.

     In London George II had not been unaware of these facts, and a price of £30,000 was raised on the head of Charles Edward.  Lieutenant General, Sir John Cope was ordered to march & crush the insurgency in the north, to aid him he was given the King's troops.  There was little military cover in Britain at this time as most were involved in war in the Low Countries.  Nevertheless he set out for Fort Augustus from Edinburgh, knowing that the Jacobite force was on the march south from Glenfinnan, perhaps he hoped to check them before they did too much damage.  By the 4th September the Jacobites had reached Perth.  Cope, who had diverted his troops to Inverness when he had failed to enlist support in the north, heard of this & set out for Aberdeen intending to sail south to Edinburgh & prevent the Jacobites from taking Edinburgh, the weather was good to the Jacobites & the forces of Cope had to divert to Dunbar.  On the 14th September Stirling fell to the Jacobites & Edinburgh followed suit on the 17th, though the Castle held out against them.  Charles Edward installed himself in Holyrood Palace & his troops were billetted on the slopes of Arthur's Seat (A huge extinct volcano in the Palace Grounds).  Sir John Cope's army of around 2,200 men reached Dunbar on the 17th September & by the 20th they had arrived at Preston (today called Prestonpans).  Here they took up a position which faced west, on a flat piece of ground (today a school playing field!!!) protected to the north by the sea & to the south by an impenetrable marsh. 

THE BATTLE OF PRESTONPANS:

     The Jacobite Army struck camp on the 20th September & by this time numbered approximately 2,400 men, mainly Highlanders.  Marching through Musselburgh they took to the high ground behind Tranent (see my earlier article BLOODBATH OF TRANENT for an act of Genocide the British Government tried to cover up here almost half a century later), were they stopped & turned to face the Government troops below.  On seeing the Jacobites the Government troops raised a tremendous shout, & in typical wild Highland fashion returned the challenge by out-roaring the opposition.  Cope immediately wheeled his forces into action & changed the front of his army from west to south, to face the enemy.  In front of him now were the Jacobites & behind them Tranent, but between the 2 armies lay an impenetrable marsh which would hinder any charge by the Jacobites, indeed it would be suicidal for them to charge in such a manner.  There appearing to be a impasse of sorts, both armies bivouacked for the night in the fields.  Robert Anderson of Whitburgh, a follower of Charles Edward, who had now started to become known as "The Bonnie Prince" (a title he picked up in Edinburgh), knew of a route through the marsh & silently & slowly the Jacobites began their march just before 4am.  They took no horses with them lest they wake the enemy & betray their approach. 

     As dawn came, the dragoons on the Government side raised a great shout & Cope wheeled his army around from south to east, no doubt surprised that the enemy was approaching from this direction, to face the enemy & await the inevitable conflict.  The Highlanders, as always before battle, recanted their geneaologies, as they felt that the strength of their illustrious ancestors would be present in them during the conflict by doing this.  A typical geneaology may have sounded like this;

Is mise Iain Alasdair vic Alasdair vic Iain Alasdair vic Domnhaill.

     Shortly after sunrise the left wing led by the Clan Cameron predominantly, broke & led the infamous Highland charge.  Throwing away their plaids they raced on with a hideous shout.  The Government artillerymen (because of the troop shortage, in the main volunteers) turned on their heels & fled straight away, leaving a Colonel Whitefoord & a Mr. Griffith to open fire.  The Highland line wavered, but soon they were back on course again & advanced onward to face the dragoons under the command of a Lieutenant Colonel Whitney.  They too only managed to get off a few shots before fear, or good judgement, or both, got the better of them & they too fled.  Then came the dragoons of Colonel Gardiner (a local man).  They too only managed to fire a few shots before fleeing, Hamilton's dragoons taking their place.

     Perhaps an explanation of the Highland charge would be in order at this juncture.  The Highlanders would charge the enemy lines but would stop just outside range of their musket fire.  Once the enemy had discharged their muskets & before they could reload, the Highlanders would be upon them.  Back to the battle...............

     The Highlanders discharged their own muskets & threw them down, and rushed furiously upon the enemy with their broadswords, claymores & axes flailing around in the morning light.  The infantry, had lost the support of the dragoons who had, by this time all fled ,and so gave in at once without reloading their muskets.  Cope tried & failed to raise his men & retreated at the head of an extremely terrified group of Dragoons along a little lane, which has been known as Johnnie Cope's Road since & is today a fairly major road in East Edinburgh.  Only one small group fought on under Colonel Gardiner, but this soon was vanquished.  Gardiner was wounded & died of his wounds the next day.

     In a battle that had lasted not much longer than 10 minutes & a little under 15, the troops of Sir John Cope had been utterly routed, and it was just another military success for the Jacobites who had thus far won every encounter they had been involved in.  The Government troops sustained 300 dead & 1400 of them were taken prisoner (500 of these wounded), the Jacobites on the other hand had lost only 30 men & had 70 wounded.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: