Siege of Culloden House (1745)

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Siege of Culloden House
Part of the
Duncan Forbes
Date15–16 October 1745
Location
Inverness-shire, Scotland, Great Britain
Result Government victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Great Britain Government Jacobites
Commanders and leaders
Duncan Forbes
 Simon Fraser[1][2]
Strength
Unknown 200[1]
Casualties and losses
None 1 killed[3]
1 wounded[3][4]

The siege of Culloden House took place on the night of 15/16 October 1745 and was part of the

Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden who was the Lord President of the Court of Session, the most senior legal officer in Scotland
.

Background

Holyrood House on 23 September 1745 that was addressed to James Fraser of Foyers who was head of the aggressively Jacobite Stratherick men to carry Duncan Forbes as "prisoner to us at Edinburgh". Lovat actually wrote to Duncan Forbes informing him that he was about to be kidnapped and Forbes fortified and garrisoned Culloden House.[5]

The siege

200 of the Stratherrick Frasers advanced on the battlemented Culloden House.[1] They were led by Fraser of Foyers and Fraser of Byerfield who was Lovat's aggressive chamberlain.[5] According to Duffy they scampered off when they came under fire.[1] As the Jacobites approached they were met with a rally of gunfire and a Swivel gun was also used to fire at them.[4][3] According to Sarah Fraser, some of John Campbell, Lord Loudoun's men from his Independent Company[A] had been on sentry duty who the Jacobites exchanged musket fire with, but as cannon balls tore into their cover, the Jacobites fled.[5] The Jacobites had suffered one man killed.[3] A search of the area the next day found another Jacobite who was wounded and who confessed that they had been led by James Fraser of Foyers and had been sent by Lord Lovat.[4][3] According to Alexander Mackenzie's History of the Frasers of Lovat, the Stratherrick men failed to take Culloden House, referring to it as the Castle of Culloden, which was strongly fortified and had several pieces of cannon on its ramparts.[6]

Aftermath

According to Sarah Fraser, Lovat wrote to Duncan Forbes apologising for the "base barbarous, inhuman, and distracted attempt and behaviour" of the Stratherick men at Culloden House. Lovat also said that his son, the Master of Lovat, was on the point of leaving to join the rebels, taking hundreds with him, and that he was powerless to stop him.[5] Lord Loudoun (John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun) who supported the British-Hanoverian Government, suspecting the loyalty of Lord Lovat, sent an expedition to Castle Downie on 11 December 1745 where they captured Lovat and brought him back as a prisoner to Inverness.[1] However, Lovat escaped to freedom on the night of 19 December 1745.[1] According to historian Ruairidh MacLeod, the reaction in the Highlands to the unsuccessful attempt of James Fraser of Foyers to capture or kill the Lord President Forbes at Culloden House, was of profound shock.[7]

In April 1746, the Jacobite leader Charles Edward Stuart requisitioned Culloden House and used it as his headquarters in the days leading up to the more famous Battle of Culloden that brought an end to the Jacobite rising.[8]

Notes

  • A ^ The source from Sarah Fraser refers to the Independent Highland Companies that were raised by Duncan Forbes of Culloden, however Lord Loudoun had his own companies of soldiers in Loudon's Highlanders who were also "independent" at this time as they were not regimented until 1747 and therefore they are often confused with the Independent Highland Companies raised by Forbes of Culloden.[9]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7538-2262-3
    .
  2. ISBN 9781780968070
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e "Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden". Culloden Battlefield. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Warrand, Duncan (1929). More Culloden Papers (PDF). Vol. 4. Inverness: Robert Carruthers & Sons. pp. 103–104.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9780007229499
    .
  6. ^ Mackenzie, Alexander (1896). History of the Frasers of Lovat, with genealogies of the principal families of the name: to which is added those of Dunballoch and Phopachy. Inverness: A. & W. Mackenzie. pp. 384-385.
  7. ^ MacLeod, Ruairidh (1984). Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. Vol. LIII. p. 314. Retrieved 4 August 2023. Quoting: Dr Duncan Fraser to Lord Loudoun, 8am, 16th Oct 1745 (Loudoun Papers 11543) and to Rev. David Ross, 19th Oct 1745 (More Culloden Papers, 4, p.103)
  8. ^ "Old Culloden House". ambaile.org.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  9. ^ MacLeod, Ruairidh (1984). Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. Vol. LIII. p. 310. Retrieved 4 August 2023.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siege_of_Culloden_House_(1745)&oldid=1168737112"