The Battle of Culloden

We went to the Culloden Battlefield Memorial just outside of Inverness, to learn more about the history of the Jacobites and the British government.

In the museum, we learned some very interesting facts that had a big impact on our lives.  There were some special presentations that taught us about weapons, uniforms, medical treatment and the battle.

For the weapons in battle the Jacobite soldiers would use a musket, basket hilted sword, a targe (shield) and a dagger called a dirk.

I learned that firing a musket is more that just pulling the trigger.  It is actually very dangerous and can blow your hand off if you are not careful.  The dangerous part of loading the gun is when you use the ramrod and push gunpowder and the bullet down the barrel of the musket.  The ramrod is metal and can make a spark on the inside and set fire to the powder.

The targe is a shield with a spike in the middle.  The shield is used with the dagger and the basket hilted sword.

The Jacobite uniform was the tartan dress with a blue beret and white bow.  It represented Bonnie Prince Charlie.

A former Jacobite

The girls and a former Jacobite.

The uniform for the British forces were red and blue.  The red coat is long and red represents royalty.

We went to watch a presentation and the “soldier” gave Mikhaila and I each one silver coin and asked us to figure out what it was.  We later discovered that we were just enlisted to serve in the British army for 3 years!

If a British soldier gives you the King’s coin and you take it, it means you are in the British army.  The soldiers would usually play tricks on young men to take the coin and force them to join the army.  Tricks like this were often played at the local pub.  The soldiers would offer to buy a man a drink and would put the coin in the mug.  When the man was done drinking, they would look in the mug and take the coin out and the soldier would drag them away to enlist.  To prevent this from happening, the pub owners and bartenders would make clear bottomed mugs (tankard) so the young men could see if the there was anything in it , and if there was, they could put it off to the side and not drink it.  My dad has one of those clear bottom tankards from when he was in the military.

The battlefield was interesting.  The officer who picked this battlefield did not check in advance what the it was like.  The grounds were really swampy.  The Jacobites could not do their famous Highland Charge which was charging at their opponent, yelling and screaming with their large weapons.  The Jacobites got stuck in the swamp and ran to one section and the British were able to surround them.  The  British won the battle in 45 minutes after the Jacobites were wiped out and the survivors tried to run away.  This was the first time the Jacobites had lost a battle to the British – but it was the most historical one.

We went on an audio guided tour around the battlefield.  We saw the graves of some of the soldiers, and the red and blue flags to show where the two sides fought.

After the victory, the British decided to give the Jacobites a choice between a move to North America or go to prison.  This is how some of the Scottish made their way to North America – including Canada.

Afterwards, we went to Fort George and learned that the British built the fort in case of another Jacobite uprising.  Thankfully, the fort has never been used for military battle.

What I wonder about is…..What would have happened if the Jacobites had won the battle at Culloden, or kept marching towards London?  Maybe they would have captured England and our history would be different than the one we study today.