Jacobite Rising

Each Jacobite Rising formed part of a series of military campaigns by Jacobites attempting to restore the Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland (and after 1707, Great Britain) after James VII of Scotland and II of England was deposed in 1688 and the thrones "usurped" by his daughter Mary II jointly with her husband William of Orange.

The "Old Pretender"

The Old Pretender's attempted invasion

After a brief peace, the War of the Spanish Succession renewed French support for the Jacobites and in 1708 James Stuart, the Old Pretender, sailed from Dunkirk with 6000 French troops in almost 30 ships of the French navy. Their intended landing in the Firth of Forth was thwarted by the Royal Navy under Admiral Byng which pursued the French fleet and made them retreat round the north of Scotland, losing ships and most of their men in shipwrecks on the way back to Dunkirk.

Related Topics:
War of the Spanish Succession - 1708 - James Stuart, the Old Pretender, - Dunkirk - Firth of Forth - Royal Navy - Admiral Byng

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The 'Fifteen

Following the Act of Union of 1707 and the arrival from Hanover of George I in 1714, Tory Jacobites in England conspired to organise armed rebellion, but were to prove indecisive and frightened by government arrests of their leaders. In Scotland discontent with the Union led to what is often referred to as the First Jacobite Rising (or Rebellion).

Related Topics:
Act of Union of 1707 - George I - 1714

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The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) had ended hostilities between France and Britain. From France, as part of widespread Jacobite plotting, James Stuart, the Old Pretender, had been corresponding with the Earl of Mar and in the summer of 1715 called on him to raise the Clans. Mar, nicknamed Bobbin' John, rushed from London to Braemar and summoned clan leaders to "a grand hunting-match" on August 27, 1715. On September 6th he proclaimed James as "their lawful sovereign" and raised the old Scottish standard, whereupon (ominously) the gold ball fell off the top of the flagpole. Mar's proclamation called on men to fight "for the relief of our native country from oppression and a foreign yoke too heavy for us or our posterity to bear". This brought in an alliance of clans and northern Lowlanders united mainly in detesting the Union and recent Whig repression, and they quickly overran many parts of the Highlands.

Related Topics:
Treaty of Utrecht (1713) - James Stuart, the Old Pretender, - Earl of Mar - 1715 - Braemar - August 27 - Whig

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Mar's Jacobites captured Perth on September 14th without opposition and his army grew to around 8,000 men, but a force of less than 2,000 men under the Duke of Argyll held the Stirling plain for the government and Mar indecisively kept his forces in Perth. He waited for the Earl of Seaforth to arrive with a body of northern clans, but Seaforth was delayed by attacks from other clans loyal to the government. Planned risings in Wales and Devon were forestalled by the government arresting the local Jacobites.

Related Topics:
Perth - Duke of Argyll - Stirling - Earl of Seaforth - Wales - Devon

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Starting around October 6th a rising in the north of England grew to about 300 horsemen under Thomas Forster, a Northumberland squire, then joined forces with a rising in the south of Scotland under Lord Kenmure.

Related Topics:
Thomas Forster - Northumberland - Lord Kenmure

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Mar sent a Jacobite force under Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum to join them. They left Perth on October 10th and were ferried across the Firth of Forth from Burntisland to East Lothian. Here they were diverted into an attack on an undefended Edinburgh, but having seized Leith citadel they were chased away by the arrival of Argyll's forces. Mackintosh's force of about 2,000 then made their way south and met their allies at Kelso in the Scottish Borders on October 22nd, and spent a few days arguing over their options. The Scots wanted to fight government forces in the vicinity or attack Dumfries and Glasgow, but the English were determined to march towards Liverpool and led them to expect 20,000 recruits in Lancashire.

Related Topics:
Mackintosh of Borlum - Firth of Forth - Burntisland - East Lothian - Edinburgh - Leith - Kelso - Scottish Borders - Dumfries - Glasgow - Liverpool - Lancashire

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The Highlanders resisted marching into England and there were some mutinies and defections, but they pressed on. Instead of the expected welcome the Jacobites were met by hostile militia armed with pitchforks and very few recruits. They were unopposed in Lancaster and found about 1,500 recruits as they reached Preston on November 9th, bringing their force to around 4,000. Then Hanoverian forces (including the Cameronians) arrived to besiege them at the Battle of Preston (1715), and the surviving Jacobites surrendered on November 14th.

Related Topics:
Lancaster - Preston - Hanoverian - Cameronians - Battle of Preston (1715)

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In Scotland, at the Battle of Sheriffmuir on November 13th, Mar's forces were unable to defeat a smaller force led by the Duke of Argyll and Mar retreated to Perth while the government army built up. Belatedly, on December 22nd 1715 a ship from France brought the Old Pretender to Peterhead, but he was too consumed by melancholy and fits of fever to inspire his followers. He briefly set up court at Scone, Perthshire, visited his troops in Perth and ordered the burning of villages to hinder the advance of the Duke of Argyll through deep snow. The highlanders were cheered by the prospect of battle, but James' councillors decided to abandon the enterprise and ordered a retreat to the coast, giving the pretext of finding a stronger position. James boarded a ship at Montrose and fled to France on February 4th, 1716, leaving a message advising his Highland followers to shift for themselves.

Related Topics:
Battle of Sheriffmuir - Perth - Peterhead - Scone, Perthshire - Montrose - 1716

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Spanish supported Jacobite invasion

With France still at peace, the Jacobites found a new ally in Spain's Minister to the King, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni. An invasion force set sail in 1719 with two frigates to land in Scotland to raise the clans, and 27 ships carrying 5,000 soldiers to England, but the latter were dispersed by storms before they could land. When the two Spanish frigates successfully landed a party of Jacobites led by Lord Tullibardine and Earl Marischal with 300 Spanish soldiers at Loch Duich they held Eilean Donan castle, but met only lukewarm support from a few clans and at the Battle of Glen Shiel the Spanish soldiers were forced to surrender to government forces.

Related Topics:
Giulio Alberoni - 1719 - Lord Tullibardine - Earl Marischal - Loch Duich - Eilean Donan - Battle of Glen Shiel

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Aftermath of the 'Fifteen

In the aftermath of the 'Fifteen, the Disarming Act and the Clan Act made ineffectual attempts to subdue the Scottish Highlands. Government garrisons were built or extended in the Great Glen at Fort William, Kiliwhimin (later renamed Fort Augustus) and Fort George, Inverness, as well as barracks at Ruthven, Bernera and Inversnaid, linked to the south by the Wade roads constructed for Major-General George Wade.

Related Topics:
Scottish Highlands - Great Glen - Fort William - Fort Augustus - Inverness - Ruthven - Bernera - George Wade

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In 1725 Wade raised the independent companies of the Black Watch as a militia to keep peace in the unruly Highlands, but in 1743 they were moved to fight the French in Flanders. Tellingly, their commander at the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745 was the Duke of Cumberland, soon to command at Culloden.

Related Topics:
1725 - Black Watch - 1743 - Flanders - Battle of Fontenoy - 1745 - Duke of Cumberland

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