Battle of Culloden Ends Jacobite Rising of 1745

Context

The Jacobite cause originated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when Parliament replaced the Catholic James II with the Protestant William III and Mary II. This settlement established a Protestant succession that passed to the House of Hanover in 1714, sidelining the exiled Stuart line. Supporters of the Stuarts, known as Jacobites, mounted several risings in Scotland and England to reverse these changes and restore James II’s descendants.

What Happened

In July 1745 Charles Edward Stuart landed in the Western Isles and raised a Highland army that defeated government forces at Prestonpans in September and advanced as far south as Derby before retreating. By early 1746 the Jacobites were based around Inverness, short of supplies and facing a reinforced government army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. On the night of 15 April the Jacobites attempted a surprise march on Cumberland’s camp at Nairn but aborted the attack after delays and exhaustion; many men dispersed in search of food before the armies met the next day.

Aftermath

On 16 April the two forces confronted each other on Drummossie Moor. After a brief artillery exchange the Jacobites launched their traditional Highland charge, only to be broken by disciplined government volleys and bayonet tactics within less than an hour. Roughly 1,500 to 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded and several hundred captured, while Cumberland’s army suffered about fifty dead and 259 wounded. Charles Edward Stuart escaped the field and eventually reached France after months in hiding.

Legacy

The defeat extinguished organized Jacobitism as a political force in Britain and secured the Hanoverian succession and the post-1688 constitutional order. In the following years Parliament passed the Disarming Act, banned Highland dress and weapons, and imposed other pacification measures that accelerated the integration of the Scottish Highlands into the United Kingdom and diminished the power of the clan system.