Charles Edward Stuart's Flight - Historical Background

Historical Background

Charles Edward Stuart, also known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart and the Princess Clementina Sobieska of Poland. His father, who is commonly known as the Old Pretender, was the only surviving son of James II who reigned England, Scotland and Ireland from 1685 to 1688. When James II died in 1701, his remaining son was considered the prospective king of the realm by his Jacobite adherents. However, that was not his opponents’ opinion. The adherents of the Hanoverians supported William III and Mary II who claimed the throne in 1689. The resulting hostility forced James Francis Edward Stuart into exile which he found in France and Italy. Although supported by Louis XIV of France, he never prevailed to acclaim the throne. In 1745 at the age of twenty-five, his son Charles Edward Stuart, later to be known as the Young Pretender, attempted to regain his father’s throne, encouraged as he was by Louis XV of France, who was at war with England, at that time reigned by George II. Despite the dreadful obstacle of shipwreck that reduced Charles’ plan, he eventually reached the west coast of Scotland in the armed brig Doutelle and landed, together with a few adherents, in Loch nan Uamh, which is located between Moidart and Arisaig, on 25 July 1745.

From there, he marched towards Edinburgh with the gradually increasing Highland army whose nucleus consisted of Macdonalds of Clanranald and Keppoch, and Lochiel’s Camerons. Panic stricken as it was, Edinburgh offered no resistance, although the castle could not be conquered. After the successful Battle of Prestonpans they reached London marching through Carlisle and Manchester. There he was out of luck as the Highland army refused to encounter the three-thousand men strong Hanoverian army lying at Finchley to defend London. The Highlanders went back to Scotland on behalf of Lord George Murray, the Prince’s lieutenant-general, who overruled the Prince together with others. Nevertheless, after a small victory at Falkirk they advanced to Inverness, followed by the Hanoverian army led by the Duke of Cumberland, who had taken command of it in the north. Put under pressure, and nearly starved to death because of bad supplies, the Jacobites mustered quickly to encounter their enemies at Culloden Moor on 16 April 1746. On account of terrible bodily conditions caused by hunger and strain, they eventually lost the extremely bloody battle, struck by the merciless Hanoverian army. When Charles realised his failure, he took refuge at the farm of Balvraid near Culloden Moor, from where his long and confusing flight began. Today, several massive gravestones spread over Culloden Moor remain in silent remembrance of hundreds of Scottish clansmen who lost their lives in the dreadful Battle of Culloden.