Culloden

Cabinet 12

The Battle of Culloden (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising, and was the last pitched battle on British soil.

Taking place on Culloden Moor, three miles south of Drummossie Moor on 16 April 1746, it featured the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart (the ‘Young Pretender’ ) against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government.

In less than an hour, some 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded, while government losses were lighter with 50 dead and 259 wounded.

James Johnstone (later Chevalier) was at one time aide-de-camp to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and wrote his Memoir some 45 years after the event.

John Prebble’s classic coverage of Culloden is also on display.

Chevalier de Johnstone, A Memoir of the Forty-five. 2nd ed. London: Folio Society, 1970.