16. The end of the Jacobite insurrections
In the aftermath of the defeat at Culloden, Prince Charles fled the battlefield and his army. Despite several officers and counselors pleading with the prince to remain at the head of his army, which could still rally as much as 9,000 men according to some estimates, Charles made clear his intention to return to France without delay. He did, was received at first as a hero, and never again returned to Scotland (though he did make a clandestine trip to London years later). When James Edward died the pope refused to recognize Charles as the rightful king. During the Seven Years War (known in North America as the French and Indian War) Charles was considered as part of another planned invasion of Great Britain by the French, but the possibility was dismissed due to the perception of Charles being too gone with drink.
Although the Jacobite uprisings and insurrections began initially as religious wars between Catholic and Protestant, they evolved over time to being driven by nationalism rather than faith. In many ways British laws which were intended to subjugate the clans strengthened them by appealing to their shared national heritage rather than their local tribal systems, such as with laws which denied them the right to wear their traditional tartans. The harshness of the British reprisals following the defeat of the ’45 at Culloden is also remembered by both Scot and English with somewhat difference perspectives, as are the divisive issues which remain in Ireland and elsewhere. The end of the Jacobite movement did not take place at Culloden Moor, but it was the beginning of the end, which by the death of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1788, was already old history.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Massacre of Glen Coe”. BBC History Trails, The Making of the Union. September 19, 2014. Online
“Siege Timeline”. The Siege Museum. Online
“The Battle of the Boyne”. BBC, History. Online
“The Failed French Invasion of 1708”. Entry, Culloden Battlefield Online. July 22, 2018
“The 1715 Jacobite rising”. Entry, National Library of Scotland. Online
“James Edward, the Old Pretender”. Entry by the editors, The Encyclopedia Brittanica. Online
“The Battle of Glen Shiel”. Ellen Castelow, Historic UK. Online
“A Short History of Britain”. Jeremy Black. 2015
“The Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-46”. Gregory Fremont. 2011
“Bonnie Prince Charlie: Truth or Lies”. Roderick Graham. 2014
“Jacobites: A New History of the ’45 Rebellion”. Jacqueline Riding. 2016
“The Jacobite in Scotland and in Exile, 1746-1759”. Doron Zimmerman. 2003
“Culloden: The Last Charge of the Highland Clans”. John Sadler. 2006
“The myths of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites”. BBC News Scotland. June 23, 2017. Online