2 Battle

The Duke of Cumberland and his army arrived at Nairn on April 14; the Jacobite forces were around ten miles away near Drummossie . The two sides met at Drummossie Moor , also known as Culloden, on April 16. The Prince had around 5000 men and the Duke between 7000 and 9000; Charles had also decided to take personal command of his forces. The weather was very poor, and the rough moorland terrain highly advantageous to the Duke, the marshy and uneven ground making the famed highlander charge somewhat more difficult. This was a short and bloody battle, according to most accounts lasting little more than an hour.

The Duke's forces arrayed themselves in two lines to met the Jacobite forces, and the Duke and Prince parleyed in the morning. At some point during their discussions the Prince's artillery, outnumbered some three to one, opened fire. With shots flying overhead both leaders quickly retired to their own lines.

Over the next twenty minutes the superior artillery of the Hanoverian forces continued to batter the Jacobite lines, until the Camerons had finally had enough and charged of their own accord. The Highlanders advanced bravely but were constantly subjected to the heavy volley fire of the Hanoverian troops and the artillery which had switched from roundshot to grapeshot. Some Jacobites did reach the Hanoverian lines, and they fought bravely, but the Duke was well aware of the Highland sword charge, having commanded the Black Watch at the Battle of Fontenoy, and the Hanoverian troops had been trained in new bayonet tactics to withstand the charge. Each soldier would use his mounted bayonet on the highlander attacking the soldier to his right, getting behind the guard of the highlander's targe (shield), while relying on his comrade to his left to deal with any attack. In the face of the brutal gunfire, and threatened by cavalry, the Jacobites were forced to retreat. The Duke ordered in his cavalry to rout the Jacobite forces, but the small contingent of elite Irish covered the retreat and the Jacobites withdrew.

In a total of about 60 minutes the Duke was victorious, around 1250 Jacobites were dead and possibly 300 of the Hanoverian forces.

3 Aftermath

After their victory, Cumberland ordered his men to execute all the Jacobite wounded and prisoners, around 450 persons, and for that he was known forever afterward as "the Butcher". Certain higher-ranking prisoners did survive to be tried and executed later in Inverness. The Prince fled the battlefield and survived for five months in Scotland despite a £30,000 reward for his capture. The Prince eventually returned to France.

Immediately after the battle, Cumberland rode into Inverness, his drawn sword still covered in blood, a symbolic and menacing gesture. The following day, the slaughter continued, when patrols were sent back to the battlefield to kill any survivors; contemporary sources indicate that about 70 more Jacobites were killed as a result of this. Cumberland emptied the jails of English prisoners, and replaced them with Jacobite sympathisers. As well as dealing out summary justice to his captives, Cumberland was equally ruthless with deserters from his own forces found amongst the prisoners, executing 36 of them. Numbers of the prisoners were brought south to England to stand trial, charged with high treason. Executions were conducted on the basis of drawing lots on a ratio of about 1 in 20.

The Hanoverian forces' assault on the Jacobite sympathizers continued in the coming months -- destroying the clan system, banning the kilt and the tartan, and extending their control with new roads and forts. The destruction of the clan system was conducted by enforcement of existing laws which effectively disarmed the clansmen; the prohibition of the wearing of kilts, statutes aimed at proscribing the perceived religion of the Jacobites, episcopalianism.

4 Armies

It is important to note that this last major clash of arms on British soil was contested between two factions rather than two nations: the British Army, not an English Army, as is commonly believed, comprised German Hanoverians, English and Scots whereas the Jacobite Army was made up predominantly of Highlanders, who contrary to popular legend had only 20-25% of their men armed with swords. The army also consisted of many Lowland Scots volunteers, some veteran Irish soldiers, a few English, and several hundred French conscripts.