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Highland charge

The Highland Charge used shock, speed, and close-quarters combat to overwhelm enemy formations. It was a feature of the many wars fought between the Scottish highlanders and the English/British armies sent against them. This tag highlights battles where momentum and morale were central to the outcome.

Highlanders at Culloden, Painting by David Morier

💡The Culloden Bayonet Drill: How Cumberland’s army broke the Highland charge

How a minor change to the government army’s bayonet drill defeated the Highlander’s battle tactics— and why the critics who dismissed it were asking the wrong question. The weight of evidence establishes beyond reasonable doubt that Cumberland’s army trained in and used a new bayonet drill at Culloden, and that the drill was directed personally by Cumberland in the Aberdeen training period. None of the documentary evidence describes the precise mechanics of the drill explicitly.

An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745, an oil on canvas, painting by David Morier 

⚔️ Battle of Culloden, Scotland,
16 April 1746

The Battle of Culloden, fought on 16 April 1746, was the final and decisive confrontation of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The rebellion was the last serious attempt by the Jacobites to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British throne. Led by Charles Edward Stuart ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, the Jacobite forces aimed to overthrow the Hanoverian King George II and reinstate the Stuart line.

⚔️ Battle of Prestonpans, Scotland, 21 September 1745

⚔️ Battle of Prestonpans, Scotland,
21 September 1745

Bonnie Prince Charlie landed at Glenfinnan, Scotland in July 1745, aiming to reclaim the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. Gathering support from the Highland clans, he advanced towards Edinburgh, capturing the city on 17 September. British General Sir John Cope, who had been gathering government forces in response to the Jacobite threat, marched his army from Aberdeen to intercept the rebels, culminating in the confrontation at Prestonpans, a small town east of Edinburgh. Prestonpans was the first major battle of the ‘45 Jacobite rebellion.