Culloden Moor

Culloden Moor , moorland, Highland, NE Scotland. There, on Apr. 16, 1746, English forces under the duke of Cumberland defeated the Highlanders under Prince Charles Edward Stuart, thus ending the Jacobite uprising of 1745 (see Jacobites ).

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.

Culloden, battle of, 1746. Fought on Wednesday, 16 April, south‐east 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 offered battle on the bare boggy Drumossie Moor above Culloden House. The Jacobites could assemble only 5, 000 men. Cumberland had 9, 000 men including many Scots. Cumberland's field guns decimated the Jacobite ranks for 20 minutes. Charles, in command for the first time, fatally delayed the order to charge. When the Jacobite right was launched, gallantry could not match discipline. The Macdonalds on the Jacobite left rightly pulled back at first in good order, pursued by cavalry. Retreat became rout.