Jacobite rising of 1745

The Forty-five Rebellion[1]
Part of Jacobite risings
The Battle of Culloden by David Morier
Date 19 August 1745 – 20 April 1746 Location Great Britain Result Decisive government victory End of Jacobitism as a significant political force
Belligerents
Jacobites  France	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Charles Stuart Lord George Murray John O'Sullivan	Duke of Cumberland Sir John Cope Henry Hawley

The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 (Scottish Gaelic: Bliadhna Theàrlaich [ˈpliən̪ˠə ˈhjaːrˠl̪ˠɪç], "The Year of Charles"), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of the British Army was fighting in mainland Europe, and proved to be the last in a series of revolts that began in 1689, with major outbreaks in 1708, 1715 and 1719.

Charles launched the rebellion on 19 August 1745 at Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands, capturing Edinburgh and winning the Battle of Prestonpans in September. At a council in October, the Scots agreed to invade England after Charles assured them of substantial support from English Jacobites and a simultaneous French landing in Southern England. On that basis, the Jacobite army entered England in early November, reaching Derby on 4 December, where they decided to turn back.

Similar discussions had taken place at Carlisle, Manchester and Preston and many felt they had gone too far already. The invasion route was chosen to take them through areas considered strongly Jacobite but the promised English support failed to materialise, they were far from home and outnumbered by three government armies, each larger than their own. While the decision was supported by the vast majority, it caused an irretrievable split between the Scots and Charles. Despite victory at Falkirk Muir in January 1746, the Battle of Culloden in April ended the Rebellion and significant backing for the Stuart cause. Charles escaped to France, but was unable to win support for another attempt, and died in Rome in 1788.

Background[edit]

James Francis Edward Stuart, the 'Old Pretender,' or 'Chevalier de St George'

Cardinal Fleury, chief minister 1723 to 1743; reflected a majority view that the Jacobites were not a serious weapon for dealing with British power

The 1688 Glorious Revolution replaced James II and VII, then King of England, Ireland and Scotland, with his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William, ruling as joint monarchs. Neither Mary, who died in 1694, nor her sister Anne, had surviving children, leaving their Catholic half-brother James Francis Edward as the closest natural heir. To ensure a Protestant succession, the 1701 Act of Settlement excluded Catholics from the English and Irish thrones, and of Great Britain after the 1707 Acts of Union. When Anne became the last Stuart monarch in 1702, her successor was the distantly related but Protestant Sophia of Hanover, who died two months before Anne in August 1714. Her son became George I, giving the pro-Hanoverian Whigs control of the government for the next 30 years.^[2]

Louis XIV was a strong supporter of the Stuarts but after his death in 1715, French priorities were peace and rebuilding their economy.^[3] The 1716 Anglo-French alliance forced the Stuarts to leave France and they were invited to settle in Rome by Pope Benedict XIV.^[4] The Duke of Ormond, responsible for planning the 1719 Rising, concluded it had damaged the cause, writing that "it bid fair to ruin the King's Interest and faithful subjects in these parts."^[5]

While the birth of his sons Charles and Henry kept the Stuarts in the public eye, James' devout personal Catholicism made him less attractive to his Protestant supporters.^[6] By 1737, he was reported as "living tranquilly in Rome, having abandoned all hope of a restoration".^[7] In the 1730s, French statesmen began to see British commercial power as a threat to the traditional advantage provided by the revenue-raising powers of the centralised French state.^[8] For France, an ongoing low-level civil war was a far more cost-effective way of absorbing British resources than an expensive and risky Stuart Restoration. A combination of clan structure, remoteness and terrain made Scotland the best place to launch an insurgency, but potentially devastating for the local populace, a fact recognised by many Jacobites, including Charles.^{[a] [10]}

The 1737 Porteous Riots in Edinburgh

Commercial disputes between Spain and Britain led to the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739

The 1725 malt tax riots in Glasgow and the 1737 Porteous riots in Edinburgh showed a lack of sensitivity by the London government. In March 1743, the Highland-recruited 42nd Regiment or Black Watch was posted to Flanders; despite warnings this was contrary to an understanding that their service was restricted to Scotland, the move went ahead and led to a mutiny.^[11]

Trade disputes between Spain and Britain led to the 1739 War of Jenkins' Ear, followed in 1740–41 by the War of the Austrian Succession. The long-serving British prime minister Robert Walpole was forced to resign in February 1742 by an alliance of Tories and anti-Walpole Patriot Whigs, who then did a deal that excluded the majority of their Tory partners from government.^[12] Furious Tories such as the Duke of Beaufort now asked for French help in restoring James to the British throne.^[13]

By 1743, hostilities between Britain and France seemed only a matter of time, as French statesmen generally agreed British commercial power was a threat that had to be dealt with.^[14] However, the majority of Louis XV's ministers did not consider the Stuarts to be a useful tool in that process, exceptions being D'Argenson and Cardinal Tencin.^[15] When Cardinal Fleury, chief minister since 1723, died in January 1743, Louis assumed control of government and D'Argenson was appointed foreign minister in November 1744.^[16]

Post-1715; Jacobitism in the British Isles[edit]

Defeat at Aughrim in July 1691 ended Irish hopes of land reform and tolerance for Catholicism; many of Charles' senior advisors in 1745 were Irish exiles

In 1745, supporters of the exiled Stuarts, or Jacobites, remained a significant element in British and Irish politics but with different and often competing goals. These divisions, especially between the Scots and Irish, became increasingly apparent during the 1745 Rising, which also demonstrated estimates of English support often confused indifference to the Hanoverians with enthusiasm for the Stuarts.^[17]

Charles' senior advisors included Irish exiles such as John O'Sullivan, who wanted an autonomous, Catholic Ireland and the return of lands confiscated after the Irish Confederate Wars.^[18] James II promised these concessions in return for Irish support in the 1689-1691 Williamite War, and only a Stuart on the throne of Great Britain could ensure their fulfilment.^[19]

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1692–1749), Welsh landowner and MP; the sky-blue waistcoat worn here was a symbol used by Tory Jacobites.

In England and Wales, one element of Tory opposition to the Hanoverians was their long-held preference for a mercantilist strategy. This meant protecting British maritime trade at home and abroad by focusing resources on the Royal Navy; European land commitments were viewed as expensive, and primarily of benefit to Hanover.^[20] This view was particularly strong among merchant bodies like the City of London but foreign diplomats observed opposition to 'foreign entanglements' was true 'only so long as English commerce does not suffer.'^[21]

A high percentage of active participants in the 1715 rising had been Catholic, while most Tories were members of the Protestant Church of England.^[22] They opposed anything that undermined the primacy of the national church, including Nonconformists; in Wales, many 'Jacobite' demonstrations stemmed from hostility to the 18th century Welsh Methodist revival.^[23] The most prominent Welsh Jacobite was Denbighshire landowner and Tory MP, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, head of the Jacobite White Rose society. He met with Stuart agents several times between 1740 and 1744 and promised support 'if the Prince brought a French army;' in the end, he spent the Rebellion in London, with participation by the Welsh gentry limited to two lawyers, David Morgan and William Vaughan.^[24] The exiled Jacobites failed to appreciate these distinctions or that Tory support derived from policy differences with the Whigs, not simply Stuart loyalism.^[25]

Opposition to the 1707 Act of Union was the most consistent element in Scottish Jacobite ideology

After the failed 1719 Rising, new laws in Scotland and England imposed penalties on nonjuring clergy, those who refused to swear allegiance to the Hanoverian regime, rather than the Stuarts.^[26] The main issue in England was whether it was permissible to switch allegiance and so the problem naturally diminished as these priests died. In Scotland, they preserved their independence due to doctrinal differences with the majority Church of Scotland, which continues today in the Scottish Episcopal Church; many of the Rebellion's leaders and participants were members of non-juring episcopalian congregations.^[27] Lastly, the most consistent indicator for those who supported Charles in 1745 was opposition to the 1707 Acts of Union, where loss of political control had not been matched by promised economic benefits.^[28]

In summary, Charles wanted to reclaim the throne of a united Great Britain and rule using the principles of the divine right of kings and absolutism, ideas rejected by the 1688 Glorious Revolution. These aims were reinforced by the advisors he brought with him, many of whom were long-term Catholic exiles, unfamiliar with either Scotland or England.^[29] They differed sharply from the bulk of his support, mostly Protestant Scottish nationalists who opposed the Union and 'arbitrary' rule.^[30]

Charles in Scotland[edit]

Charles Edward Stuart, late 1745; note similarities to that of Louis XV, right

Louis XV of France

In the secret 1743 Treaty of Fontainebleau or Pacte de Famille, Louis and his uncle, Philip V of Spain, agreed terms for co-operating against Britain, which included an attempt to restore the Stuarts.^[31] In November, Louis advised James the invasion was planned for February and the French began assembling 12,000 troops and transports at Dunkirk, selected because it was possible to reach the Thames in a single tide.^[32] The Royal Navy was well aware of this, so the French squadron in Brest made ostentatious preparations for putting to sea, in hopes of luring their patrols away.^[33] As speed and surprise were essential, James remained in Rome while Charles travelled in secret to Gravelines in France to join the invasion.^[34]

Despite these precautions, when Admiral Roquefeuil's squadron left Brest on 26 January, the Royal Navy remained on station, guarding the exits from Dunkirk.^[34] Naval operations against Britain often took place in the winter, when wind and tides made it harder to enforce a blockade but increased weather risks. As with the Spanish in 1719, storms sank a number of French ships and severely damaged many others, Roquefeuil himself being a casualty, while the British government arrested a number of suspected Jacobites.^[35] In March, Louis cancelled the invasion and declared war on Britain.^[36]

In August, Charles travelled to Paris to argue for an alternative landing in Scotland and met with Sir John Murray of Broughton, the liaison between the Stuarts and their Scottish supporters. Murray later claimed to have advised against the idea but that Charles replied he was "determined to come the following summer [...] though with a single footman".^[37] When Murray returned with this news, the Scots reiterated their opposition to a rising without French military support but Charles gambled once he was in Scotland, the French would have to support him.^[38]

Charles spent the first months of 1745 purchasing weapons, while French victory at Fontenoy in April encouraged them to provide him with limited support. This included 700 volunteers from the Regiment du Clare of the French Army's Irish Brigade and two transport ships: Elizabeth, an elderly 64-gun warship captured from the British in 1704 and the 16-gun privateer Du Teillay.^[39]

The Glenfinnan Monument; erected in 1814 to commemorate the Rebellion

Lord George Murray (ca 1715); Jacobite military commander

In early July, Charles boarded Du Teillay at Saint-Nazaire accompanied by seven companions later known as the "Seven Men of Moidart".^[40] The most prominent of these was John O'Sullivan, an Irish exile and former French Army officer who acted as Charles' chief of staff. After meeting Elizabeth, the two ships left for the Western Isles on 15 July but were intercepted four days out by the British warship HMS Lion. A four-hour battle left both Lion and Elizabeth so badly damaged they had to return to port. This was a major setback, as Elizabeth carried most of the weapons and the Irish volunteers, but Du Teillay continued and Charles landed on Eriskay on 23 July.^[41]

Many of those contacted on landing advised Charles to return to France, including MacDonald of Sleat and Norman MacLeod.^[42] In addition to Sleat, other Jacobite loyalists such as Alexander of Boisdale also refused to join the Rising; by arriving without French military support, they felt Charles failed to keep his commitments and were unconvinced he had the qualities to succeed.^[43] Enough were eventually persuaded, although the choice was rarely simple; Lochiel, whose tenants provided many of the first Jacobite recruits, committed only after Charles provided 'security for the full value of his estate should the rising prove abortive,' while MacLeod and Sleat raised pro-government militia but helped Charles escape after Culloden.^[44]

On 19 August, Charles launched the rebellion by raising the Royal Standard at Glenfinnan, accompanied by a force Sullivan later estimated as around 700.^[45] The Jacobites advanced on Edinburgh, reaching Perth on 4 September where they were joined by more sympathisers, including Lord George Murray. Murray was an experienced soldier, previously pardoned by the government for his role in the 1715 and 1719 risings; he replaced O'Sullivan as commander due to his better understanding of Highland culture and spent the next week re-organising his forces.^[46] Murray of Broughton told Charles of his concerns over Lord George's loyalty; this was allegedly to maintain his influence with Charles, it raised suspicions that would have significant consequences.^[47]

The senior government legal officer in Scotland, Lord President Duncan Forbes received confirmation of the landing on 9 August, which he forwarded to London.^[48] The military commander, Sir John Cope, had only 3,000 soldiers, mostly untrained recruits, and initially could do little to suppress the rebellion. Forbes relied on his personal relationships instead and while he failed with Lochiel and Lord Lovat, others remained loyal to the government as a result, including the Earl of Sutherland, Clan Munro and Lord Fortrose.^[49]

Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, the senior government legal officer in Scotland.

1753 engraving of Edinburgh Castle; this remained in government hands throughout the Rising

On 17 September, Charles entered Edinburgh unopposed, although Edinburgh Castle itself remained in government hands; James was proclaimed King of Scotland the next day and Charles his Regent.^[50] On 21 September, the Jacobites intercepted and scattered Cope's army in less than 30 minutes at the Battle of Prestonpans, just outside Edinburgh. The London government now recalled the Duke of Cumberland, then commanding the British army in Flanders, along with 12,000 troops.^[51]

Jacobite morale was further increased in mid-October when the French landed supplies of money and weapons, together with an envoy, the Marquis d'Eguilles.^[52] This validated Charles' claims of French backing but one of his supporters, Lord Elcho, later recorded concerns among his fellow Scots at Charles' autocratic style and fears he was overly influenced by his Irish advisors.^[53] A 'Prince's Council' was established, containing between 15–20 senior leaders which convened on a daily basis to discuss strategy; Charles resented it as an imposition by the Scots on their divinely appointed monarch, while its meetings accentuated deep divisions between the factions.^[b][55]

These differences were exposed when the Council met on 30 and 31 October to discuss the invasion of England. The Scots wanted to consolidate their position and although willing to assist an English rising or French invasion, they would not do it on their own.^[56] For the Irish exiles, only a Stuart on the British throne could provide the autonomous, Catholic Ireland promised by James II. Charles argued removing the Hanoverians was the best guarantee of an independent Scotland and thousands of supporters would join once they entered England, while the Marquis d'Eguilles assured the Council a French landing in England was imminent.^[57]

Despite their doubts, the Council agreed to the invasion, on condition the promised English and French support was forthcoming.^[c] Previous Scottish incursions into England had crossed the border at Berwick-upon-Tweed, but Murray selected a route via Carlisle and the North-West of England, areas strongly Jacobite in 1715.^[59] The last elements of the Jacobite army left Edinburgh on 4 November and government forces under General Handasyde retook the city on 14th.^[60]

Invasion of England[edit]

The March of the Guards to Finchley by William Hogarth; soldiers mustered to defend London against Jacobite forces

Murray divided the army into two columns to conceal their destination from General Wade, commander of government forces in Newcastle, and entered England on 8 November without opposition.^[61] They reached Carlisle on 10 November; an important border fortress before the 1707 Union, the castle defences were now in poor condition, held by a garrison of 80 elderly veterans. Despite these deficiencies, without siege artillery the Jacobites would have to starve it into submission, an operation for which they had neither the equipment or time. It capitulated on 15 November, after learning Wade's relief force was delayed by snow; Cumberland wanted to execute those responsible for the surrender when he retook the city in December. ^[62]

Leaving a small garrison behind, the Jacobites continued south to Preston on 26 November, then Manchester on 28th, where they received the first notable intake of English recruits. 200-300 of these were formed into the Manchester Regiment, under the command of Francis Towneley; a member of a prominent Lancashire Catholic family, he and his brother John held commissions in the French Army, while his uncle Richard fought in the 1715 Rising.^[63]

Derby; a statue of Charles Stuart commemorates the Jacobite army reaching the town in 1745

The army entered Derby on 4 December and the Council convened on 5th to discuss their next steps.^[64] There was no sign of a French landing in England, and despite the large crowds that turned out to see them on the march south, only Manchester provided a significant number of recruits; Preston, a Jacobite stronghold in 1715, supplied three.^[65] At the Council meetings in Preston and Manchester, many senior Scots felt they had gone far enough and wanted to turn back. They had agreed to continue only when Charles claimed Sir Watkin Williams Wynn would meet them at Derby and that the Duke of Beaufort was preparing to seize the strategic port of Bristol.^[66]

Murray argued they had gone as far as possible and risked being caught between two armies, each twice their size; that of Cumberland, advancing north from London and Wade's moving south from Newcastle. Charles was asked for news of Sir Watkin and Beaufort and admitted he had not heard from the English Jacobites since leaving France; since this meant he lied when claiming otherwise, his relationship with the Scots was irretrievably damaged.^[67] The views expressed in Edinburgh that they should consolidate their position in Scotland were reinforced when they learnt Scots and Irish regulars from the Royal Écossais and the Irish Brigade had been landed at Montrose, with large quantities of weapons, ammunition and money. The Council was overwhelmingly in favour of retreat and turned north the next day.^[68]

Duke of Cumberland, ca 1757

While this has been debated ever since, contemporaries did not believe the Hanoverian regime would collapse, even if the Jacobites reached London.^[69] Their decision was driven by lack of English or French support, not proximity to the capital and its wisdom is supported by many modern historians.^[70] The chief advantage for the lightly-equipped Jacobite army was speed of movement but the lack of heavy weapons was a disadvantage if they had to fight. In a letter of 30 November, written by the Duke of Richmond, who was with Cumberland's army, he listed five possible options for the Jacobites, of which retreating to Scotland was by far the best for them and the worst for the government.^[71]

The British government was concerned by reports that the duc de Richelieu was assembling an invasion fleet at Dunkirk. It is unclear how serious these plans were; the threat of an invasion was far more cost-effective in consuming British resources than actually doing so, while Dunkirk was a major privateer base and always busy.^[72] Richelieu finally cancelled these plans in January 1746.^[73]

The biggest impact was on the relationship between Charles and his Scottish supporters, especially Murray, both sides now viewing the other with deep suspicion. Elcho later wrote that Murray believed they could have continued the war in Scotland "for several years", forcing the Crown to come to terms as its troops were desperately needed for the war on the Continent.^[74]

The fast moving Jacobite army evaded pursuit with only a minor skirmish at Clifton Moor, crossing back into Scotland on 20 December. Cumberland's army arrived outside Carlisle on 22 December, and seven days later the garrison was forced to surrender, ending the Jacobite military presence in England. Much of the garrison came from the Manchester Regiment and several of the officers were later executed, including Francis Towneley.^[75]

Road to Culloden[edit]

Stirling Castle; the Jacobites spent two months unsuccessfully besieging the strongest fort in Scotland

The invasion itself achieved little, but reaching Derby and returning was a considerable military achievement. Morale was high, recruits from the Frasers, Mackenzies and Gordons and reinforcement by Scottish and Irish regulars in French service bringing Jacobite strength to over 8,000.^[76] French-supplied artillery was used to besiege Stirling Castle, the strategic key to the Highlands. On 17 January, the Jacobites dispersed a relief force under Henry Hawley at the Battle of Falkirk Muir but the siege itself made little progress.^[77]

Hawley's forces were largely intact and advanced on Stirling again once Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on 30 January. Many Highlanders went home for the winter and on 1 February, the siege was abandoned and the Jacobites retreated to Inverness.^[78] Cumberland's army advanced along the coast, allowing it to be resupplied by sea, and entered Aberdeen on 27 February; both sides halted operations until the weather improved.^[79]

Several French shipments were received during the winter but the Royal Navy's blockade led to shortages of both money and food and when Cumberland left Aberdeen on 8 April, Charles and his officers agreed giving battle was their best option. The traditional view is that the ground was poorly-chosen; this originates in post-war disputes between supporters of Murray and Sullivan, largely responsible for selecting it, but defeat was a combination of many factors.^[80] In addition to supplies, numbers and equipment, Cumberland's troops had been drilled in countering Highlander offensive tactics, which relied on an initial charge to break the enemy line; when successful, it resulted in quick victories like Prestonpans and Falkirk but if it failed, they could not hold their ground.^[81]

Battle of Culloden; boggy ground in front of the Jacobite left forces them to the right; Wolfe's Regiment positioned on the flank behind the park wall, extreme right

The Battle of Culloden on 16 April, often cited as the last pitched battle on British soil, lasted less than an hour and was a decisive government victory. Exhausted by a night march carried out in a failed attempt to surprise Cumberland's troops, many Jacobites missed the battle, leaving fewer than 5,000 to face a well-rested and equipped force of 7,000 to 9,000.^[82]

Ruthven Barracks, where over 1,500 Jacobite survivors assembled after Culloden

Fighting began with an exchange of artillery fire, that of the government being superior in numbers and training and inflicting heavy casualties on the Jacobites. Charles held his position, expecting Cumberland to attack but he refused to do so and unable to respond to the artillery fire, some of the clan regiments began to withdraw. Seeing his army dispersing, Charles ordered his front line to charge; as they did so, the boggy ground in front of the Jacobite left pushed them to the right (see Map), where their movement was restricted by a park wall that provided cover for Wolfe's Regiment of Foot.^[83]

This slowed the momentum of the charge, while increasing the distance the Jacobite left had to cover to reach the government lines and exposing them to grapeshot fired by Cumberland's artillery at close range.^[84] Despite heavy losses, the Highlanders crashed into Cumberland's left flank which gave ground but did not break; they now came under flanking fire from Wolfe's regiment behind the wall and began to retreat. The regular troops in French service and cavalry that formed the Jacobite second line retired in good order, allowing Charles and his personal retinue to escape northwards.^[85]

Retreating troops that held together, like the French regulars, were far less vulnerable than those who simply fled and many Highlanders were cut down by government dragoons in the pursuit. Government casualties are estimated as 50 killed, plus 260 wounded; Jacobite wounded remaining on the battlefield were reportedly killed afterwards, their losses being 1,200 - 1,500 dead and 500 wounded.^[86] Over the next two days, an estimated 1,500 survivors assembled at Ruthven Barracks; on 20 April, Charles ordered them to disperse, arguing French assistance was required to continue the fight and they should return home until he returned with additional support.^[87] Lord Elcho later claimed to have told Charles he should "put himself at the head of the 9,000 men that remained to him, and live and die with them," but that he was determined to leave for France. ^[88]

After evading capture in the Western Highlands, Charles was picked up by a French ship on 20 September and never returned to Scotland but the collapse of his relationship with the Scots made a second campaign unlikely. Even before Derby, he had accused Murray and others of treachery; these outbursts became more frequent due to disappointment and his heavy drinking, while the Scots no longer trusted his promises of support.^[89]

Aftermath[edit]

Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat prior to his execution

After Culloden, government forces spent several weeks searching for rebels, confiscating cattle and burning non-juring Episcopalian and Catholic meeting houses.^[90] French regulars were treated as POWs and exchanged, regardless of nationality, but 3,500 captured Jacobites were indicted for treason. 650 of these died awaiting trial, 120 were executed, including 40 British Army deserters and several officers from the Manchester Regiment, 900 pardoned and the rest transported.^[91] The Jacobite lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino and Lovat were beheaded in April 1747, but public sympathies had shifted; Cumberland's insistence on severity earned him the nickname 'Butcher' among Jacobite sympathisers.^[92]

Prince Charles in Highland dress, ca 1750

The 1747 Act of Indemnity pardoned most participants, including Flora MacDonald who helped Charles escape after Culloden; aristocratic sympathisers, including Cumberland's elder brother Frederick, Prince of Wales, collected over £1,500 for her.^[93] Among those excluded were Lochiel, who died in France in 1748, Lord Elcho and Lord George Murray. Lochiel's younger brother Archibald Cameron, was the last executed on 7 June, 1753; he escaped into exile in 1746 but on returning to Scotland in March 1753, he was allegedly betrayed by members of his own clan.^[94]

To prevent future rebellions, new forts were built, the military road network was finally completed and William Roy completed the first comprehensive survey of the Highlands.^[95] Additional measures were taken to weaken the traditional clan system, which even before 1745 had been under severe stress due to changing economic conditions.^[96] The Heritable Jurisdictions Act ended powers exercised by chiefs over their clansmen, while the Act of Proscription outlawed Highland dress unless worn in military service; its impact is debated and the law was repealed in 1782.^[97]

Charles Edward Stuart as an old man

The Jacobite cause did not entirely disappear after 1746, but the exposure of the key factions' conflicting objectives ended it as a serious threat. Many Scots were disillusioned by Charles' leadership while areas in England that were strongly Jacobite in 1715 such as Northumberland and County Durham provided minimal support in 1745.^[98] Irish Jacobite societies continued but increasingly reflected opposition to the existing order rather than affection for the Stuarts and were absorbed by the Republican United Irishmen.^[99]

The Rebellion was the career highlight for both leaders; Cumberland resigned from the Army in 1757 and died of a stroke in 1765. Charles was initially treated as a hero on his return to Paris but the Stuarts were once again barred from France by the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Henry Stuart's entry into the Catholic Church in June 1747 was seen as tacit acceptance that the Jacobites were finished and Charles never forgave him.^[100] He continued his attempts to reignite the cause, including a secret visit to London in 1750 and met with French Chief Minister de Choiseul in 1759 to discuss another invasion but Choiseul dismissed him as incapable through drink.^[101]

Despite the urgings of Henry Stuart, Pope Clement XIII refused to recognise his brother as Charles III after their father died in 1766.^[102] He died of a stroke in Rome in January 1788, a disappointed and embittered man.^[103]

Legacy[edit]

Charles Stuart, romantic icon; from A History of Scotland by HE Marshall, published 1907

Modern commentators argue the traditional focus on 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' obscures the true legacy of the Rising; since nationalism was a key driver for many Scottish Jacobites, it should be seen as part of an ongoing political idea, not the last act of a doomed cause and culture.^[104] The Jacobite Army is often portrayed as one largely composed of Gaelic-speaking Highlanders; in 2013, the Culloden Visitors Centre listed Lowland regiments such as Lord Elcho's and Balmerino's Life Guards, Baggot's Hussars and Viscount Strathallan’s Perthshire Horse as 'Highland Horse'.^[105] Although a significant proportion were Highlanders, some of the most effective units came from the Lowlands, while this predominantly Scottish force included the English Manchester Regiment, as well as French and Irish regulars.^[106]

After 1745, the popular perception of Highlanders changed from that of 'wyld, wykkd Helandmen,' who were racially and culturally inferior to other Scots, to members of a noble warrior race.^[107] For a century before 1745, rural poverty drove increasing numbers to enlist in foreign armies, such as the Dutch Scots Brigade. However, while military experience itself was common, the military aspects of clanship had been in decline for many years, the last significant inter-clan battle being Maol Ruadh in August 1688.^[108] Foreign service was banned in 1745 and recruitment into the British Army accelerated as deliberate policy.^[109] Victorian imperial administrators adopted a policy of focusing their recruitment on the so-called 'martial races,' Highlanders being grouped with Sikhs, Dogras and Gurkhas as those arbitrarily identified as sharing military virtues.^[110]

George IV, portrayed in 1822 wearing Highland dress of his own design; critics claimed the 'kilt' was far too short

Reconciling the Jacobite past with a Unionist present meant focusing on a shared cultural identity, with Scottish history largely ignored by schools and universities until the mid-20th century.^[111] The emphasis on a literary culture that was distinctively Scottish and separate from that of England and the wider European context, began as a reaction to Union and was expressed by poets like Allan Ramsay writing in Scots vernacular.^[112]

Ossian Singing, by Nicolai Abildgaard, 1787; James Macpherson's Ossian cycle was immensely popular throughout Europe

The vernacular style was continued by Robert Burns, others looking back to a more distant past that was both Scottish and Gaelic. One example is the Ossian cycle, published by James Macpherson between 1760 and 1765, which he claimed to be a translation into English from the original Gaelic. Its authenticity has been disputed ever since but the post-1746 sense of a culture under threat led to an upsurge in Scottish Gaelic literature, much of it related to the events of the Rising. Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, generally credited as author of the first secular works in Gaelic in the early 1740s, was now followed by Gaelic poets such as Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, who participated in the Rising as part of a government militia, and Catriona Nic Fhearghais, who allegedly lost her husband at Culloden.^[113]

The Rising and its aftermath has been a popular topic for many writers, including Robert Louis Stevenson, D.K. Broster and more recently, Diana Gabaldon. Perhaps the most significant was Sir Walter Scott, who in the early 19th century presented the Rebellion as part of a shared Unionist history. The hero of his novel Waverley is an Englishman who fights for the Stuarts, rescues a Hanoverian Colonel and finally rejects a romantic Highland beauty for the daughter of a Lowland aristocrat.^[114] Scott's reconciliation of Unionism and the '45 allowed Cumberland's nephew George IV to be painted in Highland dress and tartans, previously symbols of Jacobite rebellion.^[115]

Perspectives were also shaped by 19th-century Scottish art; until the 1860s, the Highlands were portrayed by artists like Horatio McCulloch as wild, remote places largely empty of people.^[116] This was gradually replaced by the so-called 'Jacobite Romantic' artists who focused on events from the past, such as John Blake MacDonald's 1879 painting Glencoe, 1692.^[117] Replacing a complex and divisive historical past with a simplified but shared cultural tradition led to the Victorian inventions of Burns Suppers, Highland Games, tartans and the adoption by a largely Protestant nation of the Catholic icons Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie.^[118]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Aikman, Christian; No Quarter Given: The Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Army, 1745–46; (Neil Wilson Publishing, 2001);
• Blaikie, Walter Biggar; Origins of the Forty-Five, and Other Papers Relating to That Rising; (Forgotten Books, 2018 first published 2016);
• Buchan, James; Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind; (HarperCollins, 2003);
• Bromley, JS; Corsairs and Navies, 1600-1760; (Continnuum-3PL, 1987);
• Chambers, Robert; History of the Rebellion of 1745–1746; (W. & R. Chambers, 1869).
• Colley, Linda; Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837; (Yale University Press, 2009 ed);
• Cruickshanks, Eveline; Political Untouchables. The Tories and the '45 (Duckworth, 1979).
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External links[edit]

• "Forty-five Rebellion". Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
• "The Jacobite Attempt of 1719; Letters of the Duke of Ormonde to Cardinal Alberoni". Retrieved 18 February 2018.
• "Myth buster: Was tartan really banned after Culloden?". The Scotsman. 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
• "The '45 in Northumberland and Durham". The Northumbrian Jacobite Society. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
• Pittock, Murray (2004). "Charles Edward [Charles Edward Stuart; styled Charles; known as the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie]". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5145.
• "The Battle of Culloden". British Battles. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
• "The Inventory of Historic Battlefields – Battle of Culloden" (PDF). Historic Scotland; Alba Aosmhor. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
• "From Jacobitism to the SNP: the Crown, the Union and the Scottish Question" (PDF) (The Stenton Lecture). November 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
• McCulloch, Horatio. "Glencoe, 1864". Glasgow Museums. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
• MacDonald, John Blake. "Glencoe 1692". Art UK. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
• The Jacobite Rebellion, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Murray Pittock, Stana Nenadic & Allan Macinnes (In Our Time, May 8, 2003).