As for Argyll, from Allan Water he commenced retracing his steps to confront Mar, who had returned to the field with the victorious Jacobite right wing. Upon returning, Mar had found the Master of Sinclair and the bulk of the Jacobite horse—which had not come to blows—on a small hill known as the Stoney Hill of Kippendavie, to the west of their position at the time of the battle’s commencement. Of the horse in question Peter Rae commented: ‘They stood without attempting any Thing, with their swords drawn, for near four hours space.’
From the Stoney Hill of Kippendavie Mar watched Argyll approach. The duke may have had nearly 1,500 soldiers—the figure is often put at 1,000—and either way he was substantially outnumbered. He reformed with the Scots Greys on the right, the infantry in the centre, and Evan’s and some of Stair’s dragoons on the left. According to his biographer, Robert Campbell, his position was among ‘some Enclosures and mud Walls, which would serve for a Breast-work in Case they were attack’d.’ It was about 4.00pm.
A stalemate ensued. Sinclair recalled that the opposing forces ‘stood looking at one another about four hundred yards distance, for half an hour.’ At least some in the Jacobite camp wished to take the offensive. According to Sinclair, one such was John Gordon of Glenbucket who, frustrated by Mar’s inaction, exclaimed: ‘Oh! For one hour of Dundee’; a reference to the courageous leader of the Jacobite revolt of 1689 who, it is safe to assume, would not have dithered if he had been in Mar’s shoes.
Sinclair states that ‘with night comeing on, the Duke of Argyle seem’d first to make a feint as if he was moveing towards us, and inclined after to Dunblain, and it being almost dark, we soon lost sight of them.’ The duke and his men spent the night in and around the town. Then, the following morning, they returned to Sheriffmuir where they collected a large quantity of discarded arms, as well as some cannon which had played no part in the battle. They then returned to Stirling.
As for Mar, after Sheriffmuir he moved to Ardoch where he spent the night. With an army weakened by desertion, he then fell back to Perth.
John Baynes has calculated that Argyll’s casualties at Sheriffmuir were roughly as follows: 377 killed, 153 wounded, and 133 taken prisoner (most of whom were soon released owing to lack of means to feed and accommodate them). In contrast, Mar’s casualties are said to have been 60 killed, 90 wounded and 82 taken captive. Even if the figures for the number of Jacobites killed or wounded err somewhat on the low side, it is evident that Argyll’s losses were greater than those of his opponent. However, Mar did lose more people of note—the Earl of Strathmore, the Captain of Clanranald and Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse. On the government side the most notable fatality was the Earl of Forfar who died of his wounds following the battle.
The end of the rising is soon told. On 22 December James Stuart landed at Peterhead near Aberdeen, having sailed to Scotland from Dunkirk. On the 27th he was met by Mar and a party of leading Jacobites at Fetteresso Castle, the seat of the Earl Marischal, and was subsequently escorted to Perth.
He entered Perth on 9 January 1716. However, his long awaited arrival failed to raise the spirits of the depressed and depleted Jacobite army for he had come to Scotland without arms or men save for a few companions. Moreover, although brave—he had conducted himself with great gallantry at the Battle of Malplaquet—James was not an inspirational character. Nonetheless, it was something of a miracle that he arrived in Scotland at all for the government of France’s new king, Louis XV, had tried to obstruct him while the British ambassador in Paris, Lord Stair, had arranged an assassination attempt. Furthermore, bad weather had added to James’ difficulties.
By this date Argyll had been joined by General Cadogan (with whom he was on bad terms), and substantial reinforcements. Hence in late January he marched out of Stirling once again, and moved north against the Pretender. Faced with his advance, the Jacobites left Perth—having burned to the ground villages between Dunblane and Perth in order to hamper Argyll—and fell back to Dundee. From there they retreated to Montrose. Here, on 4 February, James, Mar and some other leading Jacobites, boarded a ship, the Marie-Therese, and sailed for France in the early hours of the 5th.
Before departing, James appointed General Gordon commander-in-chief of the Jacobite army, and Gordon proceeded to lead the dispirited force north to Aberdeen. He was closely pursued by Argyll, despite inclement weather. Shortly after this, in mid February, what remained of the army fell apart after entering the Highlands when the clansmen melted away into the hills and glens, heading for home. As for Argyll, he set out for London leaving his successor, Cadogan, a more ruthless character, to pacify the Highlands.
Sheriffmuir is sometimes described as an inconclusive engagement. This view is wrong. It was a victory for Argyll, albeit a costly one. The battle was a major reverse for the Jacobite cause. When the Pretender arrived at Perth he found an army filled with despondency and plagued by desertion. This was primarily due to the outcome of Sheriffmuir. The battle highlighted more clearly than ever before Mar’s incapacity for generalship and led to widespread disaffection, something which James with his uninspiring personality and lack of resources could not allay. Not for nothing did Peter Rae observe of Sheriffmuir, ‘by this battle the heart of the Rebellion was broke.’ It was a view shared by others. James Keith, for example, declared in his memoirs that the engagement ‘was the entire ruin of our party.’ Moreover, Sheriffmuir had a long-term effect. In future years fewer Scots were to rally to the Jacobite cause, and this is undoubtedly partly attributable to the outcome of the events that occurred on and about Sheriffmuir on 13 November 1715.
Mar’s performance during the campaign and battle has been highly criticised and rightly so. His lengthy stay at Perth before advancing south was a major blunder. True, during this period his army was augmented by reinforcements, but then so too was Argyll’s. As a result of the delay, much of Mar’s army became increasingly disillusioned by the quality of his leadership and this led to desertion even before the crowning failure of Sheriffmuir.
At Sheriffmuir itself Mar again demonstrated his military inepitude when, after routing part of Argyll’s army, he failed to move against what remained. As Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson has commented, he ‘could have swept down to deliver the coup de grace at any moment of his choosing.’ Instead, he did nothing, and his failure to act clearly demonstrates his weakness and incompetence.
In short, there can be little doubt that in 1715 Mar squandered the best chance the Jacobites ever had of bringing about the restoration of the House of Stuart. To be fair, it is only right to mention that he showed courage and determination by initiating the rising in the first place. Furthermore, he was not the only Jacobite who failed to distinguish himself. The Master of Sinclair, for example, who subsequently poured scorn on Mar, simply watched proceedings at Sheriffmuir instead of coming to blows with the enemy. Not for nothing did Rae comment that the quality of the Jacobite leadership was such that it ‘counteracted the warlike spirits of the clans,’ leaving the rank and file amazed.
And what of Argyll? He has justly been criticised by John Baynes for not positioning ‘himself where he could control the whole of his forces’ at Sheriffmuir. However, his overall performance during the rising is worthy of commendation, not disparagement, and it is clear that some historians (though not Baynes) have underestimated the difficulties he faced. For a start, his own clan, the Campbells, was divided. It is true that the majority followed his lead and supported the House of Hanover, but hundreds joined the ranks of Mar’s army and in so doing must have caused Argyll some distress.
Furthermore, throughout much of the campaign he received little material support from the government which, fearing Jacobite insurrections in England, was unwilling to send him large numbers of reinforcements. Thus Argyll found himself facing the threat posed by an opponent commanding a stronger army than he, in a country which was largely pro-Jacobite. Nonetheless, on the whole
he met the threat with skill and resolution. For instance, he reacted promptly to the news that Borlum was threatening Edinburgh, and later, boldly advanced to confront Mar, thereby forcing his opponent off balance.
As noted, this was a courageous move. True, Mar’s force was made up of irregular soldiers, but it is also true that in 1689 clansmen under Dundee had routed a numerically superior government force at Killiekrankie, something of which Argyll was no doubt well aware. Furthermore, when it is borne in mind that in later years Highlanders were to rout regular soldiers again (including of course part of Argyll’s army at Sheriffmuir) it becomes clear that the duke deserves commendation for driving much of Mar’s army back to Allan Water for it was no foregone conclusion.
Following his arrival in London, Argyll received appropriate thanks for his services. However, as Robert Campbell relates, ‘this sunshine did not last long’ for he was soon ‘turned out of all his places’ by the government. His downfall was due to the spite of persons such as Cadogan who accused him of being too magnanimous to the king’s enemies. Nevertheless, Argyll was later restored to favour and created Duke of Greenwich. Upon his death in 1743 he was buried in Westminster Abbey and his splendid monument bears the following inscription honouring a brave, able, and compassionate soldier who, admittedly assisted by his opponent’s ineptitude, saved Scotland for the House of Hanover. It reads:
In memory of an Honest Man, a Constant Friend,
John the Great Duke of Argyle and Greenwich.
A general and orator exceeded by none in the
Age in which he lived.
28
CULLODEN 16 April 1746
‘I am come home, sir’
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Despite the failure of the 1715 rebellion, hopes of the restoration of the House of Stuart continued in the hearts of many Jacobites and resulted in subsequent risings. The greatest of these was the ‘45, which culminated in the Battle of Culloden, one of the most famous engagements in British history and one surrounded by an aura of romance.
The rising was led by Charles Edward Stuart—Bonnie Prince Charlie— whose father, James, had belatedly participated in the ‘15 rebellion and was known as the Old Pretender. Charles was born in Rome in 1720 and grew up to be intensely proud of his Stuart blood and determined to oust the Hanoverian dynasty from the domains which his grandfather James II and VII had lost.
Determined he certainly was, for he overcame setbacks which would have daunted other men. For instance, initially it seemed as though he would receive great French assistance. France was a major participant in a war known as the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), and in 1743 a French army was defeated by a British and Hanoverian force under George II at Dettingen. Following this reverse, the French planned to weaken Britain’s war effort by stirring up a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland (which was to be led by a veteran Scottish Jacobite, Lord Marischal, who was living as an exile in France), and by threatening to invade England from Dunkirk with an army under Marshal Maurice de Saxe. Word of this was leaked to the Old Pretender who thus sent Charles from Rome to Paris to play a part in the proceedings.
By March 1744 Charles was at Gravelines waiting to embark. As for Marischal, he believed that the French were simply playing a selfish game and so refused to play along with their schemes. Moreover, he wrote to Charles while the latter was at Gravelines urging him to ‘guard against being made a tool of France.’ Marischal was right. The French had no intention of supporting a Jacobite rising in Scotland, and their planned invasion of England was merely a feint to force the British government to recall troops from Flanders and lift a blockade of the main French fleet at Toulon. Hence, upon hearing that the blockade had ended and that soldiers had been recalled from Flanders, Saxe left Dunkirk (on about 16 March) with the bulk of his men and marched into Flemish territory.
Charles remained at Gravelines for some weeks after receiving the disappointing news of Saxe’s departure, and then returned to Paris. As time passed it became increasingly apparent that waiting for French assistance was a waste of time. Charles thus faced a stark choice: he could either give up and accept that nothing was going to happen, or he could lead a rising himself in Scotland in the hope that success there would propel the French into rendering assistance and helping to administer the coup de grâce to the Hanoverian dynasty in Britain. Boldly, he chose the latter.
Consequently, on 5 July 1745, he set sail for Scotland from Bell-Ile (near St Nazaire) on board an 18 gun frigate, Du Teillay, one of two vessels provided by Jacobite owners: the other ship was a 68-gun man-o’-war, the Elizabeth. With Charles was a small group of companions, one of whom was a notorious Irish soldier of fortune, Colonel John O’ Sullivan. The vessels also carried arms and ammunition Charles had acquired himself. It was a tremendously daring enterprise upon which they were set, but the prince and his associates must have been encouraged by the knowledge that on 11 May Saxe had defeated a British army and its allies at Fontenoy. Not all was going well for the British abroad—it was Charles’ intention that British forces would now suffer reverses at home.
After five days at sea Du Teillay and the Elizabeth were intercepted off Lizard Point, Cornwall, by a 64 gun man-o’-war, HMS Lion. A vicious struggle ensued between the Lion and the Elizabeth in which the captains of both perished. When night fell, the Lion sailed off, after which the Elizabeth commenced returning to France taking with her the bulk of the arms Charles had acquired for she was too damaged to press on.
Despite this, the prince continued sailing towards Scotland, and experienced stormy weather as he did so. On 23 July he landed on the impoverished island of Eriskay off the west coast of Scotland. The following day he was met by Alexander MacDonald of Boisdale who told him that two important chiefs upon whom the prince was relying for support, Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat and Norman MacCleod, were not prepared to ‘come out’ in rebellion on the grounds that Charles had arrived without French troops. This was a major blow to the prince, who was bluntly told by Boisdale to go home, to which he retorted, ‘I am come home, sir.’
The likelihood that Charles could lead a successful rising certainly did not seem high. True, the English government was unpopular in Scotland, even among non-Jacobites, and there were other factors in favour of a successful rebellion, but on the whole the chances of a rising succeeding were not as good as they had once been. For a start, in the 1720s and 1730s a chain of strategically placed forts, linked by military roads, had been created in the Highlands by General Wade, thereby making the region more accessible and easier to police for government forces. Furthermore, the failure of previous Jacobite risings, especially the ‘15, must have added to any feelings of apprehension felt by potential rebels.
On the 25th Charles came ashore on the mainland at Lochailort in Arisaig. Again, the prince and his companions met with disappointment. Other senior MacDonalds refused their support, influenced by the stance of MacDonald of Sleat. But despite entreaties from the clan luminaries and his companions to throw in the towel, Charles remained adamant and managed to win over a number of the unenthusiastic MacDonalds, such as young Ranald of Clanranald.
Shortly after this, Charles was visited by Donald Cameron of Lochiel, chief of the Camerons, a man whose father had fought at Sheriffmuir. Exactly what was said at their meeting is unknown. What matters is that Lochiel finally yielded to the prince’s entreaties and gave his conditional support, one of the conditions being that the Young Pretender promised him security for his estates if the rising failed: the prince pledged jewels which had belonged to his late mother. Lochiel’s decision was a major boost to Charles for he was one of the most influential figures in the Highlands and his continued adherence to the Jacobite cause inspired other chiefs to likewise rally to the prince’s side.
On 19 August the Stuart standard was raised at Glenfinnan, at the head of Loch Shiel, and Charles’ father, James, was p
roclaimed king. Looking on were about 1,300 Highlanders, many of them Clanranald and Keppoch MacDonalds. The remainder—approximately 700 men—were Camerons for Lochiel had promised the prince that ‘every man over whom nature or fortune’ had given him any power would be committed to the rising and had been as good as his word, having had to resort to threatening many of his reluctant clansmen with burning their bothies over their heads. It was a momentous day for Charles and his feelings of excitement were no doubt enhanced by knowledge that other chiefs and their men were marching to join him.
By this date news of the prince’s landing had arrived in London. George II was in Hanover and thousands of British troops were likewise on the continent. The government reacted by recalling regiments and by offering a reward of £30,000 for the apprehension of the Young Pretender. Then, in late August, George returned to England ‘in good humour,’ confident that the rising would come to nothing.
Regular forces in Scotland only numbered 3,750 men in scattered garrisons. Their commander was General Sir John Cope, an experienced soldier who had fought at Dettingen. He marched north from Edinburgh towards Fort Augustus in the Highlands, intending to bring the Jacobites to battle before they grew stronger. Charles, however, whose force had been augmented since the standard had been raised at Glenfinnan, decided to move northeast to the Corrieyairack Pass to block Cope’s route. Fearful that his men would be ambushed as they made their way through the pass, Cope thus changed his mind and headed north to Inverness in the hope of rallying loyal clans. Hence the Jacobites made their way down the pass and proceeded to Perth—which they entered on 4 September—having obtained recruits en route. At Perth itself the Jacobite army was again augmented. One of those who joined Charles was Lord George Murray, a 51-year-old veteran of the ‘15 and ‘19 risings, and a man who enjoyed a significant degree of prestige in Scotland.
Hastings to Culloden - Battles in Britain 1066-1746 Page 27