BACKGROUND OF THE BATTLE

The battle of Culloden was the culmination of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion led by Charles Edward Louis Philippe Casimir Stuart, otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. His Grandfather was James VII of Scotland and II of England, who was forced to leave power and rule in 1688. He never returned to Scotland, and died in France in 1701.

His son, the would-be James VIII of Scotland, made an attempt to return to the Scottish coast in 1708, one year after the act of union between Scotland and England, with a reasonably large army composing of French troops and a number of ships. However, it was not to be, as at the last minute a substantial English fleet of ships turned up and he was forced to return to France.

In 1715, yet another attempt on his behalf was made by the Earl of Mar which resulted in the battle of Sheriffmuir. Although James VIII arrived in Scotland later that year, he did not enjoy support and again left for France in 1716. He never returned.

In 1745, Charles Edward Stuart, eldest son of James VIII, landed in Scotland to claim his right to his grandfathers throne. The Jacobites, so-called after the latin for James, Jacobus, were led by the inexperienced and Italian-born Charles into the final attempt to restore a Stuart king. The 1745 Jacobite rebellion had begun.

William Augustus, the son of the Hanoverian king George II, was the man charged with the task of ending the Jacobite rebellion and the Stuart bid for power. He was a brutal man, full of confidence, known for his cruel and heartless methods, and although somewhat inexperienced himself, commanded the Hanoverian Army. After the battle of Culloden he would become known in the highlands as 'The Butcher'- a reflection of his barbarous treatment of wounded Jacobite men and local people following the confrontation.

A flower was named after him in England called 'Sweet William', and predictably a weed in Scotland bore the name 'Stinking Willy'. He also lent his name to the highland settlements of Fort William and Fort Augustus, and was to be revered by the British Government and King George II as the saviour of Hanoverian rule in the face of an evil Jacobite attempt against them.

Opinions in Scotland, even among non-Jacobites, would be very different. His actions ensured that the whole of the highlands, over a long period of time, would pay the price for the Jacobite cause and his arrival was the beginning of the end for the old highland way of life.