Culloden, battle of
Culloden, battle of, 1746. Fought on Wednesday 16 April about 5 miles south-east of the Highland capital of Inverness. The retreating Jacobites occupied Inverness in February 1746. An attempted night attack on the advancing army of the duke of Cumberland failed on 15 April, and Charles Stuart decided to offer battle on the bare boggy Drumossie Moor above Culloden House, despite the view of Lord George Murray that less suitable ground for Highlanders was difficult to find. The Jacobites could assemble only 5,000 men. Cumberland had 9,000 men including many Scots. Unlike Charles, he had a good, well-served field artillery.
Cumberland's field guns decimated the Jacobite ranks for 20 minutes. Charles, in command for the first time, fatally delayed the order to charge. Lord George launched the Jacobite right and centre, but gallantry could not match discipline, canister shot from the guns, musketry, and ultimately the bayonet's superior reach to the broadsword. The Macdonalds on the Jacobite left rightly pulled back at first in good order, pursued by cavalry. Retreat became rout.
Cumberland's field guns decimated the Jacobite ranks for 20 minutes. Charles, in command for the first time, fatally delayed the order to charge. Lord George launched the Jacobite right and centre, but gallantry could not match discipline, canister shot from the guns, musketry, and ultimately the bayonet's superior reach to the broadsword. The Macdonalds on the Jacobite left rightly pulled back at first in good order, pursued by cavalry. Retreat became rout.
Bruce Philip Lenman
Culloden, Battle of
Culloden, Battle of (April 16, 1746) Decisive conflict of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Government forces under the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, defeated the Jacobites (largely Highlanders) led by Charles Edward Stuart near Inverness. Culloden ended Stuart attempts to regain the throne by force. Ruthless subjugation of the Highland clans followed the conflict, the last pitched battle on the British mainland.
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Culloden, Battle of
Culloden, Battle of the last pitched battle on British soil, and the final engagement of the Jacobite uprising of 1745–6, fought on Culloden moor near Inverness. The Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland crushed the small and poorly supplied Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart, and a ruthless pursuit after the battle effectively prevented any chance of saving the Jacobite cause.
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