Stuart, Charles Edward, called The Young Pretender, The Young Chevalier, and Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-88), was claimant to the British throne and led the Scottish Highland army in the Forty-five Rebellion. The son of James Francis Edward Stuart and grandson of James II of England, Charles Edward was born December 31, 1720, in Rome.

In 1744, after his father had obtained the support of the French government for a projected invasion of England, Charles Edward went to France to assume command of the French expeditionary forces. Unfavorable weather and the mobilization of a powerful British fleet to oppose the invasion led to cancellation of the plan by the French government. Charles Edward persisted in his determination to drive George II from the British throne, however, and in 1745 he arrived in Scotland, where a number of Highland clans came to his assistance. He took Edinburgh, defeated an English force at Prestonpans, and by December had advanced as far south as Derby, England, before being forced to retreat Northwards, in April he came to Culloden Moor also known as Drummoissie Muir, an elevated expanse of moorland,in northeastern Scotland, 8km east of Inverness.

Culloden was to be the scene of the last land battle fought in Britain, on April 16th 1746. The Jacobites were pulling back into the Highlands, ending their siege of Stirling as they headed for Inverness. Despite their victory at Falkirk, Jacobite morale was declining. Hunger saw the men spreading out wide to find their own food, some of them breaking ranks for home. Most of their artillery had been ditched since reinforcements from France were growing more unlikely. Things were very different for the Duke of Cumberland, now leading the Hanovarian army. His army was being well supplied by sea as he followed Prince Charles up the east coast. Lord George Murray advised his Prince that the Jacobites would be best dispersing into the hills to use guerrilla strikes, bringing the army back together in the summer. Charles chose however, to reject the tactics the Highlanders knew best and opted to meet the enemy again in an open area. On the night of the 15th, a mismanaged strike was launched on Cumberland’s camp which achieved nothing, resulting only in sleepless, hungry Highlanders for the next day. When they met on the Moor near Culloden, the Jacobites numbered four and a half thousand to Cumberland’s nine thousand Hanovarians. Restricted by flanking dykes, the Jacobites presented a narrow, dense front. For the first twenty minutes of the hour-long battle the Hanovarian cannons pummelled the crowded area. When the Jacobites advanced the men in the centre with Lord John Drummond found themselves having to squeeze to the right to avoid soft ground. There were so many men in such a small area that muskets could not be used. Nevertheless they butchered on through the Hanovarian left only to meet another regiment behind. The Jacobite left consisting mainly of the MacDonald Clan and commanded by James Drummond Duke of Perth had not joined the attack, this was due to the MacDonalds taking umbrage at not being assigned to the right wing which they believed was their privilege since the Battle of Bannockburn, the Duke tried to spur them on saying that if the they fought with their normal courage they would make the left wing into the right and he would forever call himself a MacDonald, however the MacDonalds still would not fight, and ,with two-thirds of the men now in difficulties, Cumberland’s cavalry had little trouble sweeping in to end the battle by two’o’clock. The Duke of Cumberland, the third son of George II, ordered the wounded to be killed, and they were in fact searched for and murdered for several days after the battle.This savagery lost Cumberland popular support even though Parliament awarded him £25000 a year for his 'services', Handel wrote Judas Maccabaeus in his honour and the English named the flower 'Sweet William' after him, the Scots however renamed the Stinkwort weed 'Stinking Billy' ,history would record him as 'Billy the Butcher'.

The accounts of fatalities differ and depending upon which account is read they numbered between fifty and three hundred Hanovarians and between twelve hundred to two thousand Jacobites. This was the end of the second Jacobite Rising. This battle brought about the defeat of the Jacobites of the '45 rising and marked the collapse of Charles Edward Stuart's attempt to seize the throne from the Hanoverians.

After Culloden, Charles was hunted as a fugitive for more than five months, a price of £30,000 was put on his head but the Highlanders never betrayed him, and he escaped to France in September 1746. Two years later he was expelled from that country in accordance with one of the provisions of the second Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), which stipulated that all members of the house of Stuart were to be driven from France. For a number of years Charles Edward wandered about Europe. Secretly visiting London in 1750 and in 1754, he attempted without success on both occasions to win support for his cause. In 1766, on his father's death, Charles Edward returned to Italy, where he spent his last years. He died in Rome on January 31, 1788.

There is a romantic notion that Culloden and the previous battles were an England versus Scotland affair with the noble Scots fighting only to free Scotland from the tyranny of an foreign king, and that if they had been successful, Charles would have taken his throne in Scotland and would have been a just and well liked ruler. However, while these notions are ideally suited to the history re-written by Hollywood in the spate of 'Scottish hero' films, they are far from the truth of what actually happened and what would surely have followed.

The Jacobite wars were civil wars in which brother fought brother and neighbour fought neighbour, Scots and English fought together on each side depending upon their political ideology. The greater majority of both the Scots and English peoples took no part in the fighting and were content to sit back and watch the outcome. If Charles had won he would have claimed the throne of BRITAIN, i.e England, Scotland, Wales and all other lands of 'Britain' at that time and would have ruled from London. Scotland, who it is claimed by romantics, fought against rule by a 'foreign' king would have been no better off for having this half Polish, Italian born king on the throne of Britain.

The regiments that fought at Culloden are as follows :

Government Forces.

St. Clair's, 2/1st, The Royal Regiment. (Later known as the Royal Scots)., Howard's (3rd - became The Buffs or East Kent, later the Queen's Reg't)., Barrell's (4th - became The King's Own Royal Reg't, later The King's Own Border Regiment)., Wolfe's (8th - became The King's (Liverpool) Reg't)., Pulteney's (13th - later The Somerset Light Infantry, later The Light Infantry). ,Price's (14th, - later The Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshire Reg't, later Prince of Wales' Own Reg't of Yorkshire)., Bligh's (20th, - later The Lancashire Fusiliers, later The Royal Reg't of Fusiliers).,Campell's (21st, - Royal North British Fusiliers, later the Royal Scots Fusiliers, later the Royal Highland Fusiliers). ,Semphill's (25th - later The King's Own Scottish Borderers)., Blakeney's (27th - later the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, later The Royal Irish Rangers). ,Cholmondley's (34th - later The Border regiment, later the King's Own Royal Border Reg't. See Barrell's) ,Fleming's (36th - later The Worcestershire Reg't, later The Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters)., Dejean's (37th - formerly Munro's. Later The Royal Hampshire Reg't). ,Conway's (59th - formerly Ligonier's. Later The Northhamptonshire Reg't, later The Royal Anglian Reg't)., Battereau's (62nd - disbanded 1748). Highland Battalion (Mamore's) (inaccurately referred to as the Argyll Militia, actually comprised at least 3 companies of Loudon's 64th Highlanders along with the Argyllshire companies. Some officers also belonged to the 43rd Highlanders.) 10th (Kingston's) Horse 10th (Cobham's) Dragoons 11th (Kerr's) Dragoons Cumberland's Hussars (probably small bodyguard unit) Royal Artillery.

Jacobite Forces

(Some are by "clan" regiment, others by commander) Glengarry, Keppoch, Clanranald ,Chisholms John Roy Stewart's Edinburgh Reg't., MacLachlans, MacLeans & Raasay, MacLeods, Farquharsons, Clan Chattan ,Lovat's Frasers ,Stewarts of Appin & MacLarens, Camerons Atholl Brigade ,Ogilvy ,Gordon ,Glenbucket, Duke of Perth, Eccosais Royale, Irish Picquets, Kilmarnock, Strathallan, Pitsligo, Balmerino & Elcho, Fitzjames

Thanks to Ninety3rd@aol.comnospam for the information on forces at Culloden.

Further information on Culloden and the Jacobite uprisings is contained in the following books,

CULLODEN by Phil Skeld, published by The National Trust for Scotland

THE JACOBITES IN LANCASHIRE by Fred Holcroft 1995

and an excellent site giving full details of the battle is at

http://www.queenofscots.co.uk/Culloden\cull.html