A military historian has called for a memorial to soldiers who fought the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden.
Trevor Royle said the government army has no equivalent to the markers on the battlefield which recall their foes.
Writing in the National Trust for Scotland's magazine, he said little was known of those who served in the red coat regiments on 16 April 1746.
The site where fallen government soldiers were buried was only recently identified by archaeologists.
In the article, Mr Royle said some of the Duke of Cumberland's red coats went on to play a part in unpleasant aspects of the battle's aftermath.
However, he said the thousands who fought at Culloden should be remembered because the battle and regiments involved were important to the future development of the nation and the British Army.
In the latest edition of Scotland in Trust, he writes: "Quite properly, none of Cumberland's regiments was granted Culloden as a battle honour, but 264 years later is it not fitting that their role in the battle should be dignified by a memorial?"
Last summer, a new book on the battle, Culloden: The History and Archaeology of the Last Clan Battle, said the precise location of where fallen government soldiers were buried had been discovered.
University of Glasgow's Dr Tony Pollard, who edited the book, said it was a breakthrough as the grave sites had been previously unknown.
He believed a German coin dated 1752 and found in the Field of the English at Culloden was dropped by a soldier who was visiting the graves when they were still marked.
This location also corresponded with a geophysics anomaly which suggested a pit.
In 2008, the trust launched a search for children with ancestors who fought at Culloden.
After first drawing a blank, a descendent of soldiers who served on both sides was found.
An examination of Inverness schoolboy Philip Nicol's family tree revealed three brothers of the Farquharson family of Allargue in Aberdeenshire.
Two were officers with the Jacobite army, while their brother fought with the government troops.
The Red Coats earned the victory at Culloden, but thoroughly wrecked their reputation by the way they went about wielding their position as victors over the vanquished. Nonetheless, the dead of the Hannoverian Army laid down their lives as they were expected and required to do, and should not be forgotten on account of the misdeeds that followed. In death, all are equal.
ReplyDeleteThe statement that no Hanoverian regiment was awarded the battle honour may need revising! The 4th (Lt Gen Barrel's) Regiment of foot was awarded this by The Butcher himself! They became the King's Own Border Regiment now amalgamated as The Duke Of Lancaster's Regiment. When did they stop displaying this 'hard won' honour? Is the establishment trying to rewrite history again? The battle of Culloden & the aftermath, continues to be a stain on the honour of the British Army!
ReplyDeleteEthnic cleansing, even after 300 years, is still ethnic cleansing! The Westminster government has apologised to just about everyone else who were brutalised by the British Empire, why not to the PBI, of Charles Edward Stuart, and all the innocents killed by the zelots of all political factions within the Whig party in power?
War is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.