When the Jacobite army lined up on Drumossie Moor on 16th April 1746, their
stomachs were empty, they were exhausted from their night march the failure
of which had undermined their already fragile morale, and they were heavily
outnumbered, almost two to one.
On the right of the Jacobite line stood the Athollmen and this place of honour had been given them at the request of their leader Lord George Murray. To their left were the Appin Stewarts and then the Frasers. Next came Clan Chattan and the Farquharsons, followed by a regiment consisting of men of mixed clans, Roy Stewart's regiment and finally on the left the Macdonalds. Ever since Bannockburn the MacDonalds had claimed the right of the Scottish line as their own and this morning they were still bitter at losing their place to Lord George Murray's Athollmen. There was a second line but the fury of the charge was such that the first line was the more important. In the second line were the Irish and Scots soldiers of the French king, the Ogilvies, the Duke of Perth's regiment, Lord Gordon's men and assorted units of horse. The government's first line consisted of Pulteney's regiment on the right facing the Macdonalds, then the Royals, Cholmondley's, Price's, the Fusiliers, Munro's and Barrel's on the left. It was common in those days for regiments to be named after their commander. The second line consisted of (from right to left) Battereau's, Howard's, Fleming's, Conway's, Bligh's, Sempill's and Wolfe's. Two battalions were held in reserve. At the southern end of the field, between the armies and the water of the River Nairn, were two enclosures bound by a stone wall. This wall, almost the height of a man, stretched from the extreme left of the first government line to the rear of the right flank of the second Jacobite line. It was a terrible oversight on the part of the Jacobites to have left the wall standing. This failure to have the wall pulled down would have a dramatic effect on the action that followed. The battle began, some say, with
a shot from a Jacobite gun probably trying to hit Lord Bury, a government
officer who had ridden out to make a last reconnaisance of the field. The
shot was unsuccessful and now the government guns opened up in reply. The
Jacobite guns were few, short on ammunition and manned by inexperienced
or poorly trained men. The government artillery was just the opposite and
within ten or fifteen minutes all the rebel guns had been silenced. Soon
the government roundshot were tearing into the tightly packed ranks of
clansmen waiting for the order to charge. No order came and the men stood
in impotent fury as their ranks were thinned again and again by the enemy
cannonballs.
On the right of the Jacobite line
the Athollmen , the Appin Stewarts, the Camerons and Frasers rushed towards
the battalions of Barrell's and Munro's. Barrell's men had fought at Falkirk
and had been one of the few battalions not to run away. Having successfully
held a Highland charge before, they were confident they could do it again.
It was a great misfortune indeed that the most powerful section of the
charge and the part with the least distance to cross should be faced with
a battalion sure of itself and with less fear than most. The Athollmen
never reached the government line. From behind the shelter of the stone
wall, the Campbell Militia poured fire into the flank of the Athollmen.
Running past that threat they then passed in front of Wolfe's battalion
and again were savaged by flanking fire this time much more intense and
deadly. The Athollmen fell back.
The Macdonalds on the left of the Jacobite line went forward when they heard Clan Chattan charge. They had, however, a greater distance to cross and the ground was broken and uneven in front of them. Again the grapeshot and musketry had a terrible effect and maybe one third of the Macdonalds had fallen before they were a hundred paces from the redcoats.Their charge was not one single advance but more a series of rushes. They ran forward, stopped, fired their muskets and pistols and went forward again. in front of the government line they stopped again and fell back, a simple feint intended to draw the government infantry after them in pursuit. It didn't work, and standing in front of the redcoat line they were easy targets and cut down in great numbers, much to the amusement of government officers. By this time the Jacobite right had already begun to retire and when redcoated cavalry in the shape of Kingston's horse came up round the right of the government line and threatened the Macdonalds on their left flank, the clansmen broke and ran. Highlanders had always had a great fear of mounted men in large numbers and the Macdonald retreat became a panicked rout. The battle was not quite over yet but at that moment when the clansmen turned their backs on the government line and started to drift or run away, Jacobitism was a threat no longer to the Hanoverian dynasty and a chapter of British history came to an end. The battle continued though and Walter Stapleton, commander of the Scots and Irish soldiers in the service of the King of France and now standing on the left of the second Jacobite line, saw the Macdonalds break and start to run. He must have known then that the battle was lost but still he determined to try and prevent it becoming a rout. His men opened their ranks to let the fleeing Macdonalds pass through them and then reformed to meet the pursuing English horse. The redcoated cavalry was held and the Scots-Irish infantry began a slow retreat. Seven times they turned and faced their pursuers and each time successfully blunted the attack. On the left of the Jacobite line, the 500 dragoons in the enclosures finally crossed the sunken road and into the rear of the Jacobite position. Here they were faced by about sixty men of Fitzjames Horse and a handful of foot under Gordon of Avochie who even against such great odds managed to slow the dragoons attack. The English horse under Henry Hawley, who had lost the battle of Falkirk, seemed disinclined to press their attack with much courage though they were to prove enthusiastic butchers of wounded Jacobites when the battle was over. There can be no doubt that many clansmen's lives were saved by these determined rearguard actions at either end of the Jacobite line. Walter Stapleton was terribly wounded in the attack by Kingston's horse and died some weeks later. when his men finally surrendered later that morning he appealed directly to Cumberland for quarter for his men. This was granted as they were soldiers of a foreign king and as such not rebels against King George. There was to be no quarter for the clansmen. Barely an hour had passed since the opening of the battle when finally the redcoats were ordered to stop firing and rest their muskets. The cannon ceased fire soon after. Cumberland rode before his men in triumph praising their courage and no doubt savouring their cheers of "Billy, Billy." Then the government line moved forward and took formal possession of the field of battle. It was over; the battle, the rising of 1745 and the Stuart claim to the British throne.
God grant that we never have to see another. |