Drumossie Moor

Culloden Tales: Stories from Scotland's Most Famous Battlefield

Drumossie Moor

The memorial cairn at Culloden erected in 1881 to commemorate the battle there.

A bleak stretch of open moorland, also known as Drumossie Moor, marks thespot where the last battle between opposing armies was fought on British soil. Here, on a raw and blustery day, 16 April 1746, the five thousand strong Jacobite army of Prince Charles Edward Stewart faced a vastly superior government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. An hour later, having been heavily bombarded by the opposing artillery, then routed when they attacked, the clansmen fled from the field in disarray.  It was the last act in the Jacobites'
attempt to regain the Scottish, English and Irish thrones for the Stewart dynasty and it was the end of Bonnie Prince Charlie's 'rebellion, which had begun with high hopes the previous summer. Ill-equipped and badly led, the Jacobite army was defeated because its commanders had chosen ground unsuited to the Highlanders' traditional tactic of a headlong charge.

During the 19th century many changes were made to the surrounding area and until recently it was difficult for the visitor to visualise the extent of the sweeping moorland that gave such tactical superiority to Cumberland's artillery and cavalry. Conifer plantations covered
most of the ground, and in 1835 a road had been driven straight across the field that had lain between the opposing armies. Fortunately, the National Trust for Scotland has now restored the battlefield to its original condition; the road has been realigned and the mature trees have been cut down and removed.

In the aftermath of the battle the government forces behaved with terrible brutality towards the wounded survivors and the local population. The restored cottage at Old Leanach beside the visitors' centre marks the spot where 30 Highlanders were burnt alive in a barn belonging to Leanach Farm. The atrocities continued for months after as the security forces took their revenge on the Highland families suspected of supporting the Jacobite cause. To tame further the Highland population the government also passed punitive laws banning the wearing of Highland dress, the playing of bagpipes and the carrying of arms. The hereditary power of the clan chiefs was also eroded by the passing of the Heritable Jurisdictions, Scotland, Act of 1747 and in time the clan system that had supported the Stewart cause was broken up, and disappeared entirely.

A visitors' centre includes a colourful historical exhibition, and houses an auditorium where an audio-visual programme about the Jacobite uprisings is shown. There is also a bookshop and a restaurant. The centre provides a starting point for visiting the principal sites on the battlefield.  Most moving of these are stones marking the graves of the clans, which run along the western line of the field where the Jacobite army stood. About a thousand men in the Prince's army fell at Culloden and they were later buried in a common grave.  Headstones were erected in 1881 and these bear the names of all the clans who fought in the battle, the biggest grave being that of Clan Mackintosh. There is also a monument to the government troops, while another stone commemorates the bravery of the Irish mercenaries who covered the clansmen's retreat.