The Battle of Culloden
Thursday, September 17, 2020
The English name "James" derives, through Latin, from the Hebrew name Ya'akov, Anglicized as "Jacob." So the "Jacobites" were followers of James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766). This James was the son of King James II of England and Ireland, who was also King James VII of Scotland. But James II and VII reigned a little less than four years before he was deposed in what the English call the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and he went into exile in France.
James his son was born six months before that, and raised on the continent, while his half-sister Mary became monarch with her husband William. When James II and VII died in 1701, James the younger claimed the crown as James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland. This pretense at being king earned him the nickname, "The Old Pretender." In 1715, he made his play in what has come to be called the Jacobite rising of 1715.
But this was only the first of several such actions; the last one of any note was the Jacobite rising of 1745, led by Charles Edward Stuart, James Francis Edward Stuart's son. Charles was taking advantage of the absence of most of the British Army, who were off fighting in mainland Europe.
The Forty-five Rebellion culminated in the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Though the United Kingdom has been in many wars since, this was the last pitched battle to be fought on British soil.
Charles had won several battles. But the British government wisely recalled troops from the continent, stymieing the Jacobites. At Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland, British King George II's son, bested the Jacobites in about an hour. Over 5,000 rebels surviving the battle, but their leaders saw the futility of continuing, and disbanded the troops.
The British continued to pursue the Jacobites, searching them out and destroying or confiscating their property. This earned Cumberland the nickname "Butcher." Some 3,500 Jacobites were indicted for treason; 120 were executed, 650 died awaiting trial, 900 were pardoned, and the remainder were transported to British colonies. Several Jacobite leaders were decapitated.