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The Battle of Culloden:

How the Jacobites Might have Won

Michael Bishop

elekton@blueyonder.co.uk



1) Bonny Prince Charlie had demobbed part of his army before the battle so they could go home and see their families. Thus the Jacobites only fielded 5000 men vis 9000 by the British. He need not have released so many. Anyway, in spite of the numbers, the Highlanders were better than their enemies in that they were the finest hand to hand fighters of their day. They would not have needed to outnumber their foes to win.

2) O Sullivan, the commander whom Bonny Prince Charlie  appointed just before the battle, ordered the wrong size cannon ball (this is absolutely true!) Had he bought the right sized ones, the Jacobites would have had three guns vs ten British as opposed  zero v ten on the day.


3) If General Murray had not been sacked, it is likely that the battle would have fought with the Jacobites on a nearby hill line instead on the flat land where Bonny Prince Charlie actually decided to fight the battle. Had his suggestion been followed, the terrain would have been in their favour as opposed to as neutral as in OTL.

4) If the Jacobites had not expected to fight the previous day (it was Cumberland's birthday so his army remained at Nairn to celebrate it instead of continuing their advance from Aberdeen) they would neither have stood on the battle field in the rain waiting for an enemy who never came nor attempted a night march. Instead they would have been fresh as the British.


5) During the battle a messenger sent to order the first line forward was killed before he could deliver the order to half the troops. Thus, the first charge was by only half the front line.m  The other half of it charged a short while later.


On another time line where the above cock ups did not take place, things went very differently....

Having won the first three battles in the Third Scottish War of Independence (the First being against Edward Longshanks, the Second against Oliver Cromwell), the morale of the Jacobite army at Culloden was good. Murray  formed his 8000 Highland infantry on a ridge facing the British camp. After an initial bombardment with their cannon, the Jacobites launched a thunderous charge at Cumberland's army, sweeping them off the battlefield. Only 5000 including Cumberland managed to evade the pursuit and make it to Aberdeen. Before the British navy could reinforce the town, patriots opened the gates and it fell to the Jacobites. Three months later, the rest of Scotland was in Stuart hands.


A stand-off between the two sides then materialised: it was painfully obvious that neither could prevail in the territory of the other yet both could hold their own. In the light of this, an English delegation met Bonny Prince Charlie at Berwick and agreed to the secession of Scotland from Britain in return for the House of Stuart renouncing all claims on the throne of England. In the following year, the English Parliament voted through the Act of Dissolution in which the crowns of England and Scotland were separated and renounced all claim on the Scottish crown.


A further meeting was held in which the borders between the two countries was defined, the agreement being ratified in the Treaty of York. On 1st June  James VIII was crowned King of Scotland. In recognition of his deeds, his son Prince Charles (the future Charles III) was proclaimed Guardian of the Realm.

For having fought for the British at Battle of Culloden  the entire Campbell clan was expelled from the realm. Most were ferried to America or Ireland.

In 1756 the Highland Reform Act was past in which the lands of the clans were apportioned amongst the male members of them. Whilst, this was unpopular with the chieftains, it gave the monarchy a solid power base from which it could resist the power of leading nobles  for the next hundred and fifty years) (In OTL, the chieftains gained title to clan titles and eventually evicted many crofters from their homes).


In order to block any future invasions from Scotland, the British built two large forts on the border, one on the east coast (Fort George) and one on the west (Fort Frederick).


In the longer term??


1)   Outside the British Isles England military potential was reduced: England deemed it necessary to station an army in the north well into the nineteenth century (just in case). This tied up troops which could otherwise been deployed on "empire building".


2)   On OTL Scots played an important role in the industrialisation of Britain. On the ATL whilst they would still have some impact, their part in the English Industrial Revolution was not as great as it might have been. When Scotland finally industrialised at the end (and not beginning) of the ineteenth century, it was with English ideas and  England money. Consequently,  much of generated wealth flowed south.


3)   Being both geographically and culturally close, Scotland governments were sympathetic to Irish rebels and often actively supported them.  In doing so they weakened the English position there to the extent that in 1917 a second Celtic state was born.


4)   It is unlikely that a succession crisis like that of  Elizabeth I would have be re-occurred. It is also reasonable to assume that post Culloden Scottish governments would have avoided hacking off England to the point where the latter would launch a full scale invasion.  Thus, thanks to the Jacobite Victory at Culloden, on the ATL Scotland has been an independent state for the last two hundred and seventy five years. During the First and Second World Wars it remained neutral although many Scots join the English army in both conflicts. In 1973 it joined the EEC along with its southern neighbors.