Culloden Moor is perhaps one of the saddest sites in the British Isles, the battlefield that played host to a massacre. It was also the last battle to take place on mainland Britain.
The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746. It marked the end of the Jacobite Rebellion. It’s also apparently given rise to ghosts of its own, and contributes to local legends inspired by the battle. Let’s find out more in this article.
A Brief History of the Jacobite Rebellion
We have to go back to 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England. Yes, the same James that wrote Daemonologie. When he came to the throne, it marked the end of the House of Tudor, and the start of the House of Stuart.
His son, Charles I, continued the line, until his execution in 1649. The return of Charles II in 1660 marked the Restoration of the Stuarts to the throne. Charles II had no legitimate heirs, and his younger brother became James II in 1685.
The problem was the fact that James II was Catholic, and people feared a return to the religious tensions of earlier decades.
In 1688, William of Orange invaded England in the so-called Glorious Revolution. He and his wife Mary, James II’s Protestant daughter, took the throne.
Mary died in 1694, and William died in 1702, and the throne passed to Mary’s younger sister, Anne. Under Anne, the Acts of Union saw England and Scotland united as Great Britain.
When Anne died in 1714, the British crown passed to George I, the next Protestant in line to the throne. This marks the start of the House of Hanover, and the Georgian period.
The Stuarts Fight Back
James II didn’t go into exile alone. He took his baby son, James Francis Stuart, with him. James II died in 1701, and James Francis Stuart decided to claim the crown from George I. After all, he felt he was the rightful king, and had it not been for the 1701 Act of Settlement, which meant only a Protestant could succeed to the throne, he should have been king.
Others around Great Britain and Ireland agreed with James. They felt he was a better option than the German George I, and supported his claim. Since James is Jacobus in Latin, they became known as the Jacobites.
1689 marked the first Jacobite uprising, the year after William of Orange deposed James II. The Jacobite army met government troops at Killiecrankie. While they won, they lost their key leader, John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee.
The rebellion got no further, for the time being. There were further attempts in 1708, 1715, and 1719, and James Francis Stuart finally lost heart.
Yet the Stuart cause had one more card to play. James had a son, Charles Edward Stuart – grandson of James II. Known as the Young Pretender, he launched his own bid for the crown in 1745.
He landed at Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel in the Highlands and began mustering troops. Some of the Highland clan chiefs threw their support behind Charles, or Bonnie Prince Charlie, but others advised Charles to give up. They saw the huge repercussions following previous uprisings and feared more reprisals.
Both France and Spain promised Charles their support, bolstering his confidence. The problem was their armies were tied up fighting wars elsewhere.
The 1745 Uprising Gets Underway
Still, Charles amassed his army and travelled south. They first defeated the government army at the Battle of Prestonpans, and occupied Edinburgh. Some 5000-strong, they reached England in November 1745, getting as far as Derby. Facing government forces recalled from the continent, the Jacobite army turned around to return north.
The Duke of Cumberland, Prince William Augustus, assumed command of the government troops. With military experience, he was also George II’s youngest son. It’s worth pointing out that Charles had almost no military experience (National Army Museum, no date).
It’s not fair to say that the uprising was Scotland versus England. Indeed, I saw someone on Instagram confidently assert that Culloden marked the Scots trying to win independence from the English…which is just patently false.
English, French, Irish, and Scottish men made up the Jacobite army. Scottish and Irish forces fought in the government army.
Culloden was the last ditch effort of someone trying to claim the British crown he felt was rightfully his.
The Battle of Culloden
The Jacobites continued their journey north. French reinforcements were on the way, but the army was tired from so much time spent on the move. Food supplies were low and people began to question Charles’ leadership. Why had they turned around when they were starting to see success?
By April 1746, the Duke of Cumberland’s army was gaining ground. On 15 April, they made camp 12 miles to the east of Culloden. It was the Duke’s birthday and he’d awarded extra rations to his men.
Charles decided to take a risk, with deadly results. He reasoned that the Duke’s men would be distracted by their celebrations and wanted to launch a surprise attack.
The Jacobite army wasn’t ready. Some of the men were missing, having gone in search of food. The two divisions struggled across uneven ground in driving rain, with some men getting lost in the dark. One commander took his men back to Culloden, while the other finally reached the Duke’s camp, but then received word to return to Culloden. In the 18th century, it was called Drumossie Moor.
On the day of the battle, the exhausted Stuart army found themselves outnumbered by the English army, with 5000 Jacobites facing 9000 government troops. Not only that, but the moor offered boggy ground and didn’t suit the Jacobites’ preferred fighting style. Charles favoured the highland charge, but the Duke of Cumberland had introduced a bayonet drill that could combat the charge (National Army Museum, no date).
In terms of weaponry, the Jacobites had just twelve cannons, and few mounted soldiers. The Duke’s army had ten 3-pound cannons and six mortars (National Army Museum, no date).
The battle lasted for just forty minutes, with the lines decimated by twenty minutes of artillery fire. Charles hurried from the battlefield when it became clear he couldn’t win.
Without any leadership from Prince Charles, what was left of the Jacobite army decided to charge the government line. The Highlanders were massacred, and any Jacobite men who managed to escape were hunted down. Only fifty died on the Duke’s side.
At first, people lauded the Duke of Cumberland for his success. But news broke of his treatment of wounded men and people called him the Butcher of Cumberland.
The battle also saw draconian punishments against the Highlanders, which suppressed Highland culture. Highlanders were forbidden from wearing their traditional highland dress, they couldn’t carry weapons, and laws were passed to limit the power of the clan system (National Army Museum, no date).
A Haunted Battlefield
As you might imagine, Culloden Moor is believed to be haunted by the fallen. Some say they’ve heard the wounded screaming on the anniversary, or the noise of a battle underway (McIntyre, no date).
Other people have reported seeing a tall man wearing tartan in the area around the battlefield. If anyone speaks to him, he simply says “defeated” (McIntyre, no date).
In 1936, a woman reported finding a tartan cloth on one of the grave mounds on the moor. She found the ghost of a wounded Highlander beneath it.
Charles slept in a house near the battlefield, which is now a hotel. According to legend, Charles still wanders the house, waiting for the battle (McIntyre, no date).
One local woman reported being woken in the early hours by the sound of armed men passing her house. Apparently, it had happened five times in ten years, but the map of their route confirmed the Jacobites would indeed have passed through the area now occupied by her garden (Abbot 2014).
In 2018, Diane Nicholson reported a strange experience one October morning while leading a tour group to the moor (2018). Despite the day beginning as clear with no wind, a mist rolled in. It only moved up the Jacobite line, which is now marked on the battlefield site. She includes the video on the website and the mist is quite remarkable.
Suddenly, the mist changed direction and ‘charged’ across the moor in the same direction as the original highland charge. The speed of the mist’s movement in the video is quite astonishing.
People claim birds never sing on the moor. The ghosts of Highlanders also haunt the nearby St Mary’s Well.
The Journey to Skye
While our focus has been on the battlefield, it’s worth remembering that Charles’ flight to Skye has also become the stuff of legend. A woman named Flora MacDonald helped him to escape and dressed him as her maid, Betty.
Both the disguise and the escape are the subject of stories. If you’ve heard ‘The Skye Boat Song’ – that’s what it’s about. (My favourite version is by The Corries, although you didn’t actually ask).
Charles went into exile in Rome, where he died in 1788.
The Impact of Culloden Moor
It’s hard to understate the impact of the battle, particularly in the Highlands. But I highly recommend Peter Watkins 1964 film Culloden for the BBC, which is a combination of documentary and drama. It explains the story better than I ever could, and you can watch it on YouTube.
Many people visit Culloden, often seeking the graves of their ancestors. It’s a forlorn and melancholy place. But in many ways, it’s as much about the men that led both sides. The Duke of Cumberland resigned his commission and never won a battle again. Meanwhile, Charles left for Italy and largely passed out of history. While the battle ensured victory for the House of Hanover, the battle is often overlooked in British history.
Its ghosts at least ensure its legacy survives.
References
Abbot, Frances (2014), ‘Ghost Army Still Haunts Culloden Moor’, Spooky Isles, https://www.spookyisles.com/culloden-moors-ghost-army/.
McIntyre, Kirsty (no date), ‘Folklore Thursday: The Ghosts of Culloden Battlefield’, Clan, https://clan.com/blog/folklore-thursday-the-ghosts-of-culloden-battlefield.
McMillan, Gill (2019), ‘What Happened at the Battle of Culloden?’, Wilderness Scotland, https://www.wildernessscotland.com/blog/what-actually-happened-at-the-battle-of-culloden/.
National Army Museum (no date), ‘Battle of Culloden’, National Army Museum, https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-culloden.
Nicholson, Diane (2018), ‘A Strange Mist on Culloden Battlefield…’, Outlander: The Past Lives Experience, https://outlanderpastlives.com/scotland-through-our-lens/mist-on-culloden-battlefield/.
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The facts that struck home with me when I studied tge battlefield as a teenager were:
The battle was not as simple as Scotland v England. If you look at the records of named dead, it was literally brother against brother. Members of same families were on both sides.
The Cumberland Stone, which is where the Duke directed his army, is more than two miles from he point of engagement. Such is the way of most wars. The leaders who send their troops to their deaths are usually remote from tge actual conflict.
Those ghosts could tell us a lot!
It was much the same as the earlier Civil Wars with families fighting against each other. All because people are the top were fighting over a crown!