RUIN ON DRUMMOSSIE MOOR

      Cumberland's army reached Perth on 6th February and sent out parties to seize various forts in the surrounding area. One consisting of 600 men was sent to take Blair Castle and it fell to Cluny to deal with the potential of this being a prelude to the advance of the rest of the Hanoverian army through Badenoch toward Inverness. The alternative was the longer coastal route via Aberdeen but which of these would be taken was unknown. Guarding the passes such as Drumochter was the only way to make sure. The ensuing operation has been called the Atholl Raid and occupied the Badenoch regiment from 16th March to 2nd April 1746. This operation also included laying siege to Blair Castle but this failed primarily due to the lack of capable artillery to breach the walls. After two weeks the besiegers returned to their homes.

      In the interim Cumberland's army moved slowly to Aberdeen and then along the coast crossing the Spey at Fochabers on 12 April and reached Nairn on the 14th, crossing two other rivers where a reasonable defence could have been mounted but wasn't. Cumberland was only fourteen miles from Inverness and eight from Culloden House. The 15th was Cumberland's birthday and the Jacobites undertook a night raid on the encampment to take advantage of the diminished caution that they expected due to the celebration. However, the raid went awry leaving the Highlanders both sleepless and hungry when the two armies met on the following morning on Drummossie Moor near Culloden House.

      The Jacobite army had managed to assemble some 4500 men but the Hanoverians had twice that many including a substantial artillery component which subjected the line of Highlanders to a 20-minute barrage as the battle began which added to the misery of the sleet that blew in their faces. When the charge was ordered, the MacDonalds on the left side of the line refused to move while the centre veered right to avoid boggy ground that lay in their path. The Highlanders were so tightly packed that they were unable to fire their muskets. The right and centre broke through the first line of the Hanoverians but sustained heavy casualties from a withering fire from the second line as well as from the first line at their rear. Efforts to disengage persuaded the reluctant MacDonalds that the battle was lost and they turned to flee as the Hanoverian cavalry charged and completed the rout.

      The battle had begun about 1 PM and lasted for less than an hour; the slaughter continued until nightfall and resumed the next day; and for weeks afterward the bloody roundup and reprisals continued. Hanoverian losses are estimated to be around 300 killed; Jacobite losses on and off the field of battle were closer to 2000 killed. It was the bloodiest engagement battle fought on British soil. It was also Britain's last pitched battle between organized military combatants. But the Macpherson Regiment did not participate.