Video: Tour of Culloden Moor

We visit Culloden Moor, scene of the Battle of Culloden in 1746. At Culloden Moor on a sleeting April day in 1746, Charles Edward Stuart led his Jacobite army to ultimate disaster at the Battle of Culloden. The last battle to be fought on British soil took less than an hour to reach its bloody conclusion.

Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army of 5,000 Jacobites faced 9,000 well-armed British troops under the command of the prince’s distant cousin, General William Cumberland. Many Jacobites were killed as they lay wounded on the battlefield or after being taken prisoner.

History of Culloden Moor

Government dragoons were dispatched to hunt down fleeing Jacobites. The dragoons roamed far and wide, indiscriminately killing rebels, bystanders, spectators, residents and anyone else who was within reach in the aftermath of the battle. It is estimated that the total dead on the Jacobite side was well over 1,000. Nearly 3500 Jacobites, supporters and others were taken prisoner in the aftermath of Culloden. Cumberland later became known as “Butcher Cumberland” for the atrocities committed after the battle ended. Culloden marked the end of a sporadic civil war for Succession that had lasted 60 years. After that, Jacobite hopes of another “Restoration” were effectively dead.