Thursday 26 May 2011

The last Jacobite town falls - On this day in Scottish Military History - 1746

On 15th April 1746 the Jacobite forces in the Far North under the Earl of Cromartie were routed at Golspie. On 16th April The Duke of Cumberland decisively beat the Jacobites on Drumossie Moor at the Battle of Culloden. On 18th April the Highland Army disbanded at Ruthven Barracks and Fort Augustus, and Bonnie Prince Charlie went on the run.

It was all over for the Jacobites in the British Isles. Except for one isolated spot. In Kirkwall in Orkney the Jacobites were still in control.

The British Government and Royal Navy were busy in late April and early May stamping out the Jacobites on the mainland but by late May it was time to remove them from Orkney.

On this day two hundred and sixty five years ago, and six weeks after Culloden, the last Jacobite occupied territory was retaken. A party of Royal Marines under local man Benjamin Moodie of Melsetter was landed by Royal Navy ships and without much of a fight retook the islands in the name of King George.

Rule Britannia.

No comments:

Post a Comment