Battle of Culloden

In the mid 18th century, England was negotiating a number of wars abroad with Spain and then Austria when it suddenly faced an internal threat from just across the border.

In 1745, Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the "Young Pretender" to the throne of England, rounded up around 10,000 loyal highlanders and headed south to seize his claim. Despite a relatively stable and comfortable domestic situation it riled the government enough to suggest the Bank of England take precautionary measures against a run on Sterling. They did so by the innovative measure of issuing everybody's withdrawals in sixpences.

The Jacobites only made it as far as Derby before the Duke of Cumberland was dispatched to shoo them away. He chased them as far as Inverness and Culloden Moor where battle finally ensued. Better armed and with a bigger army Cumberland routed the Scots who suffered 4 times as many losses as the English and many of the wounded were killed where they lay on the battlefield.

Although quite small, the Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion had far reaching consequences for Scotland. The English government took dramatic action - they outlawed the bearing of arms, wearing of tartan and playing of bagpipes. More importantly they banned local chiefs from having their own armies, effectively destroying the ancient clan system in one go. Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to Rome, never to attempt to claim the English throne again. The Battle of Culloden was the last military battle to be fought on British soil.