Cromartie Regiment 1745-46
Origins and Actions
There can be few events in Scottish and indeed British history which have had a more profound effect on the development, not only of one small country on the north-western fringe of Europe, but of the entire developing world of the mid-18th century, than the Jacobite Uprisings and the events following on from the Battle of Culloden. Fought on a bleak sleet-swept heather moor to the south-east of Inverness on the morning of 16th April 1746, this battle was the culmination of events which had begun 58 years earlier in England and which would see the Feudal Highland Clan system changed for ever. Many thousands of Highland Scots gave their energy, resources and in many cases, lives, fighting on one side or the other, or more sadly fighting on one side and some time later fighting on the other. Out of the savage end of this “great adventure” came the building blocks which not only made the British army and British Empire the envy of the world, but thousands of Highlanders became the foundations upon which modern Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and the United States of America, to name but 6 countries, have flourished and taken their place among the great nations of the 20th century. Highlanders, both high born and humble, marched from the Highlands to Derby and back again, not because they wanted to, but because honour required them to. This two day tour follows some of the paths taken by men like the 3rd Earl of Cromartie and his faithful retainers and tenants, including Donald Jacque aged 58, an ale seller from Avoch on the Black Isle or Donald McKenzie aged 25, a servant of the Earl at Castle Leod. Then there were the 3 Alexander McKenzie’s aged 30,32 and 40, all from Cromartie. What all these men and many hundreds of others had in common was that after the battle they were captured and rather than being hung, were transported to the American Colonies as Indentured servants, to work on the plantations. They drove the development of the Continent west, many fighting for king George III thirty years after they opposed his grandfather George II. Following defeat in the Wars of Independence, many became the settlers of Virginia and the other Southern states. You may be their descendants . Let us show you where they were born and grew up, worked and went to fight for the Bonnie Prince, before defeat and transportation led them to a new continent and world far away from home. Inverness has always been regarded as the key to control of the Highlands. It sits at the point where the sea leads to the east and south and links with Europe, Central Scotland and England. It sits close to the north of Loch Ness and the Great Glen and through these to the West Coast and the Isle of Skye. Its strategic position was recognised both with the building of Fort George and the creation of the Caledonian Canal. From Inverness we travel north through both friendly and alien territory to Dunrobin, the home of the powerful Hanoverian Earls of Sutherland and scene of the Battle of Littleferry, fought the day before Culloden. We return to Tain, the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland (1066), a seat of wealth through the rich farmlands around it, passing both the Hanoverian Ross and Munro territories and the Jacobite Mackenzie ones. Day 2 sees us in Mackenzie territory, passing through the homeland of many of the transported clansmen, before arriving at the magnificently preserved Georgian merchant town of Cromarty. Our route then takes us along the North side of the Moray Firth, now famous for its dolphin and seal populations and finally up to Culloden itself and the site of the last land battle fought on British soil. A brisk walk round the battlefield is recommended so wear sensible shoes! The exhibition explains much about the battle and the bookshop run by the National Trust for Scotland is one of the best stocked in the Highlands. |
