Siege of Inverness (1746)
Siege of Fort George (1746) | |||||||
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Part of the Jacobite rising of 1745 | |||||||
![]() The Castle of Inverness, J. Clack | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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British Government[1] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
3,000 | 266 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Light | 266 killed, wounded and captured | ||||||
Location within Inverness area |
The siege of Inverness (also known as the siege of Fort George)[2][note 1] took place in February 1746 and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1745.[1]
Background
By early February 1746,
Siege
The Old Fort George had somewhat cramped lines of defence, with the tower of the original tower house still standing inside the newer bastioned rampart.[2] The governor of the fort, Major George Grant, had at his disposal two Independent Highland Companies, those of the Laird of Grant and the Master of Ross, as well as eighty or so regular troops of Guise's 6th Regiment who were reckoned "some of Loudon's best men".[2]
The defenders of the fort were powerless to stop the progress of the mining; their hand grenades had little effect and they could not depress the barrels of their cannon sufficiently to bring them to bear on their enemies.[2] Major George Grant, with good reason, feared that the rampart would be blown up beneath him, and therefore surrendered the fort on 21 February 1746.[2]
Aftermath
When news of the surrender reached the Lord Justice Clerk in Edinburgh, he complained that Grant could have held the Jacobites at bay for a few more days, and the Duke of Cumberland exclaimed that he was "no way able to explain how, or by what it is so, but a silly affair it is".[2] The Jacobites plundered the ample provisions from inside the fort and Prince Charles Edward Stuart ordered the curtain walls to be razed and the bastions blown up[2] in order for the fort to be of no use if it fell back into the hands of the government.[3] This however cost the life of one of his French sergeants who was inspecting a demolition charge that had hung fire.[2] The two Government Independent Highland Companies that had been captured were later reformed after the Battle of Culloden and carried out useful service for the government.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-85976-432-X..
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7538-2262-3.
- ^ "Inverness Castle Am Balie". ambaile.org.uk. Am Ballie. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
Notes
- ^ The original Fort George in the Scottish Highlands was built on the site of Inverness Castle after the Jacobite rising of 1715 and is not to be confused with the later Fort George built north-east of Inverness after the Jacobite rising of 1745.