Jacobite Risings - Common Misconceptions About The Jacobites and The '45

Common Misconceptions About The Jacobites and The '45

• It was not a war between Highlanders and Lowlanders. Many major Highland clans supported the British government including: Clan Sutherland, Clan Sinclair, Clan Campbell, Clan MacKay, Clan Munro, Clan Ross, Clan Gunn, Clan MacLeod, Clan Grant of Freuchie and others, along with Scottish Lowlands regiments. On the Jacobite side, Scottish Episcopalians provided over half of their forces in Britain, and although Dundee's rising in 1689 came mostly from the western Highlands, in later risings Episcopalians came roughly equally from the north-east Scottish Lowlands north of the River Tay and from the Highland clans. In the '45 the Jacobite forces were joined by about 250 English Episcopalians, and at Culloden by 800 men from the Écossais Royaux (Royal Scots) and Irish Brigade Regiments of the French army.
• It was not a war between England and Scotland. It was actually a bid to reclaim not just the defunct Scottish throne but that of Great Britain as well as the Irish throne with support from Europe. Though donning Highland garb for psychological effect, the Jacobite army was made up of both Highland and (about one-third) Lowland troops, not to mention French and Irish troops and small numbers of northern English (a contingent which is often overlooked).
• Jacobite soldiers were not always plaid-wearing, sword-wielding highlanders. Many Jacobite troops dressed as any other Northern-European man would've at the time, bar their Scottish bonnets. The romanticised view of the kilted highlander only applied to troops from mountainous areas. Few troops also carried swords and shields, but instead would use local firearms or imported French muskets and equipment. Contrary to popular belief, the highlanders by this point did not wield two-handed so-called Claymores, but would only use broadswords by the time of the uprising, or the Lochaber axe, a simple polearm.
• Not all Lowlanders were forced to join the Jacobite army. Recruiting records show the Lowlands north of the Tay provided many volunteers, including some gentry. England also supplied some volunteers, including a small regiment. Indeed, Highlanders were probably more often pressed into service than Lowlanders. The act of pressing was not exclusive to the Jacobites; it was also used by most other contemporary armies, including the British Army.
• Although the Jacobite army's organisation has been characterised as a backward clan-based relic, with inexperienced commanders and untrained troops, it was similar to most other contemporary armies. Many Jacobite commanders had seen service in various armies, and field commander George Murray was capable and experienced in modern warfare. While many Jacobite soldiers were of poor appearance, some without even shoes, they proved capable of defeating British regulars under certain circumstances. The hardiness, individuality, and resourcefulness of Highlanders made them known as some of the best troops in the British Army.
• It is said that London was defenceless and might easily have fallen to the rebels had they advanced in 1745. In fact London was garrisoned by significant forces at that time and King George II had no intention of abandoning his capital.
• It is said that Jacobite soldiers were ordered to "give no quarter" at Culloden. That is what Cumberland’s troops believed, because that is what Cumberland told them after the battle: that an order to that effect, signed by the Jacobite General Lord George Murray, had been found on a prisoner. But the 'order' was apparently a forgery, which helped to dehumanise the Jacobite troops and perpetuate their image as savages. Many in Britain at once believed the story of a "no quarter" order, and many also thought it justified their own army’s uncommonly savage behaviour after winning the battle, when government troops abused and butchered many prisoners, and even onlookers (including children). To deepen the mystery of who wrote the alleged order, it has been persuasively argued that the 'forgery' was no such thing; that "Whoever wrote it cannot seriously have drawn it up with a view to passing it off as genuine orders issued by Lord George." On the contrary, the inserted command "to give no Quarters to the Electors Troops on any account whatsoever" may genuinely have been found on the official, signed orders in a Jacobite prisoner's pocket; it may indeed have been interpolated by a Jacobite hand, and Cumberland may have been sincere when he announced the discovery of the apparently incriminating document to his outraged army. After issuing instructions for the coming battle, Lord George Murray tried to pre-empt it by leading a bungled attempt to ambush the Hanoverian army in their tents as they slept. He refused to give any separate orders for this attack because "everybody knew what he had to do": that is, "to cut the tent strings and pull down the poles, and where we observed a swelling or bulge in the fallen tent there to strike and push vigorously” with “sword, dirk and bayonet". It is conceivable that a Jacobite officer, in the absence of any separate orders for the intended merciless night-attack, simply amended those he had already been given. (Speck, 148–155). Nonetheless, in the morning the exhausted Jacobite soldiers were certainly not ordered to “give no quarter” at the Battle of Culloden itself.