Accidental Cannae

After Fontenoy, Charles Edward Stuart, son of “James III & VIII,” decided the time had come to lead a highland uprising that would restore the Stuarts to the British throne. Against all advice, and without the blessing of Louis XV, …

1745-09-21

HC04

After Fontenoy, Charles Edward Stuart, son of “James III & VIII,” decided the time had come to lead a highland uprising that would restore the Stuarts to the British throne. Against all advice, and without the blessing of Louis XV, “Bonnie Prince Charlie” landed in Scotland. At first the news of Charlie’s arrival was treated as a tall tale, giving him time to gather his forces and seize the highlands as well as Edinburgh. At Prestonpans the Jacobites confronted a force under the mediocre John Cope. Although Cope’s dragoons managed to detect their flank march, in the confusion the Jacobite line became separated, and they overwhelmed Cope’s weak flanks when the dragoons fled. This “accidental Cannae” allowed “the Young Pretender” and his rag tag army to invade England. The race for London was on.

Prestonpans, Scotland

The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was fought on 21 September 1745, near Prestonpans, in East Lothian; it was the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745, which is generally viewed as a subsidiary conflict of the War of the Austrian Succession.

Wikipedia: Battle of Prestonpans

Jacobite

British