Confusion on the Moors

The 1715 Jacobite rebellion began auspiciously. The Jacobites managed to secure almost half of Scotland without much fighting. Their army numbered over 10,000, the largest Jacobite force ever raised. James Francis Edward Stuart, who would be James III with any …

1715-11-13

HC02

The 1715 Jacobite rebellion began auspiciously. The Jacobites managed to secure almost half of Scotland without much fighting. Their army numbered over 10,000, the largest Jacobite force ever raised. James Francis Edward Stuart, who would be James III with any luck, was expected to arrive. The rebellion had support in the courts of France and Spain. However, the Jacobite leader, John Erskine, Earl of Mar, was inexperienced and unsure of himself. He was also a political shifter and was not trusted by his men. Near Dunblane his forces ran into the Loyalist army, led by John Campbell, Duke of Argyll. He was a veteran of Marlborough’s campaigns and he had a few heavy cavalry regiments, but Mar out-numbered him. On the moors a confusing battle erupted in which neither side used their artillery. Mar shattered the left flank, only to see his own left routed by Argyll. Mar had the advantage, but he was unnerved by the battle and many senior Jacobites had died. Mar withdrew and his army, disgusted by his lack of vigor, melted away. James arrived a few weeks later only to find that his rebellion was a lost cause. He would remain the “old pretender” of myth and legend for centuries to come.

Sheriffmuir, Scotland

The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising in England and Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009. Sheriffmuir was and is a remote elevated plateau of heathland lying between Stirling and Auchterarder on the north fringe of the Ochil Hills.

Wikipedia: Battle of Sheriffmuir

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