Fighting back tears at the Culloden Battlefield

The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 is a topic that has come up often throughout my semester in Scotland. I’ve learned about it at castle museums, on guided tours, and in nearly all of my classes despite none of them being Scottish history courses. Today, Alyssa and I visited the place where the Jacobite Rebellion came to an end: the Culloden Battlefield.

For those of you who have seen the show “Outlander”, you probably know a bit about the Jacobites and the Battle of Culloden. That’s how I first learned about it. In case you haven’t heard of the Jacobite Rebellion, I’ll try to explain it the best I can.

The Rebellion of ’45 & the Battle of Culloden

The Jacobites were a group of people who believed that Charles Edward Stuart (also known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”) was the rightful heir to the throne. The Jacobite Army consisted mostly of Highland clans but also had support from the French. One of the main reasons people supported Stuart was because he was a Catholic.

The Jacobites traveled around Scotland, gaining support and raising money for their cause. They became powerful, taking over several cities during the first part of the ’45 Rebellion. The French had also agreed to send hundreds of ships of soldiers to support the Jacobites.

Unfortunately, a terrible storm wiped out all of the French ships leaving the Jacobites wondering where their promised help was. There was conflict within the Jacobite Army about what to do without help, but Stuart insisted that they continue on as planned.

They headed to Inverness and planned to attack the Government Army in the night since they had just celebrated the Duke of Cumberland’s birthday, but it was much harder to travel at night than they expected. They weren’t able to make it in time. To make matters worse, they were all exhausted and hungry.

They could have turned around and headed back to Inverness to better prepare for battle, but the Duke of Cumberland was already waiting for them when they arrived. Battle broke out between the Jacobites and the Government on April 16th, 1746 on Culloden Moor. The battlefield had absolutely no coverage, so the men were forced to fight hand-to-hand for what would be the last time in British history.

The battle lasted for less than an hour, and the Jacobites were defeated.

After the battle was over, the Duke of Cumberland ordered his men to kill any injured or fleeing Jacobite soldiers. Then, they went around the Highlands in search of those who escaped and killed them too. Foreign supporters of the Jacobite Army were not given such harsh punishments, as they had not committed treason. Charles Stuart managed to escape to France by dressing up as a maid and never returned to Scotland.

Getting to Culloden

You’re probably wondering how Alyssa and I were able to visit the Culloden Battlefield. Maybe not… but I’ll tell you anyway 😉.

We left Hillhead at 9am this morning, caught a bus to the train station, and then took a 2.5 hour train to Inverness. On the way, we saw several severely flooded fields. It’s no surprise, though, because it has been raining for over a week straight. In fact, the other day I was walking past Seaton Park and thought, “wow the river is really flowing today”, just to realize that the river isn’t supposed to flow there😂.

Once in Inverness, we took a half hour long bus and then walked another half hour to the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Center. Normally, there would have been a bus that went from Inverness all the way to the Visitor Center, but unfortunately it wasn’t running since it’s Sunday. We also had to make sure we could be back to the train station by 5:00pm because the next train wouldn’t leave until 9:30pm. We spent some time trying to figure out the logistics of walk/bus/train schedules, and decided that we would spend a quick 45 minutes at Culloden.

The second we walked through the Visitor Center doors, that plan went right out the window. I think both of us would have rather gotten home at midnight again than miss out on anything in that place!

Culloden Battlefield & Visitor Center

As someone who struggles to remember history, I think this museum was one of the best I’ve been to. Instead of having an overwhelming amount of information and artifacts, it told the story of the Jacobite Rebellion in a simple and organized way. The story of the Jacobite Army was written along the right side of the wall, while the story of the Government Army was written on the left side. The stories were broken up into sections by glass cases filled with artifacts such as swords, coins, and lockets. Overall, I found it very easy to follow along and get a good idea of how everything played out.

After we finished exploring the museum, we headed outside to the battlefield. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before.

Perhaps the fact that I had just finished learning all about the battle had something to do with it, but walking around the battlefield was simultaneously the most incredible and unsettling feeling ever. I could almost picture the tragic battle taking place right in front of me, the moor soaked with blood. The field was wide open with nothing more than grass blowing in the breeze. I cannot imagine fighting in battle, much less a hand-to-hand battle without any coverage at all. To make it worse, the ground is marshy which probably made it hard to run.

Flags marked the line where the soldiers fought, and gravestones indicated where entire clans were buried. Many of the gravestones had fresh flowers lying next to them. I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes the entire time I was there!

Back to Aberdeen

Since we had completely ditched our plan of walking and taking the bus back to the train station, Alyssa and I had to order a taxi if we wanted to catch our train. It was well worth it. We both agreed that Culloden was one of the best places we’ve visited and that we made the right decision to not rush through it.

We made it back to Aberdeen by 7:15 pm and went to Nando’s — a chain restaurant with delicious chicken — for dinner. I should probably get some homework done since I’m leaving again on Tuesday… so that’s all for now!

Until next time,

Clara