Culloden Battlefield was the site of the final bloody defeat
of Bonnie Prince Charlie's 1745 uprising and the effective
end of the Jacobite cause. It was also the last battle to
be fought on British soil.
Charles had landed in August 1745 and raised his standard
at Glenfinnan, convinced he would receive enormous support,
but rising prosperity after the 1707 Union ensured there was
much less than he had expected. Following initial successes,
including a triumphant entry into Edinburgh and victory at
Prestonpans, the Prince convinced Jacobite commander Lord
George Murray to march south into England.
Supposed English enthusiasm for the Stewart restoration never
materialised and by the time the Jacobite army reached Derby,
with a government army preparing to meet them, Charles was persuaded
to retreat. Despite victories at Clifton (in the English Lake
District) and at Falkirk, the Jacobite commanders knew they
were much weaker than the Duke of Cumberland's army which relentlessly
pursued them and they withdrew, tired and hungry, towards Inverness.
Murray tried to persuade the Prince to fight a guerrilla war
from the hills, but was dismissed for his efforts and Charles
proposed a battle which revealed his poor tactical skills; the
site was unsuitable, his army out-numbered, tired and poorly
armed. Thus, on the 16th April, 1746, the Jacobites were routed,
with more than 1000 dead, although the Bonnie Prince escaped.
