April 16, 1746. The 37th Foot at Culloden Moor

The Jacobite Rebellion – the effort to oust the new Hanoverian King George and put the last Stuart claimant on the English throne – came to a dramatic and bloody conclusion on 16 April 1746. Stuart Prince James’ and his Highland Scot supporters had an epic, final clash with government troops on a field just outside Inverness that destroyed James’ royal hopes and nearly destroyed the Highland clans. Central to this outcome was the government’s 37th Regular Infantry Regiment and a new tactic borne from the lessons of their prior defeat.

Raised in Ireland in 1702, the 37th fought for the Hanoverian government in the Jacobite rebellion under the command of Sir Robert Munro, the 6th Baronet of Foulis. Munro was a Scot himself and had relatives in the Jacobite ranks. But secure in the British Army and with the baronet in hand, Sir Robert declined to join them. In 1745, James’ son, Charles, launched a rebellion in the Scottish Highlands. The effort met with initial success, capturing Edinburgh. A few weeks later, at the Battle of Prestonpans, a pro-government force was routed by a furious Highland charge.

The Highland charge was a response to the age of gunpowder. Traditionally, Scottish warriors had preferred heavy, two-handed swords and axes. But the dawn of muskets and cannon changed that, so the Highlanders adopted a new tactic: They traded their heavy, two-handed weapons for something lighter that allowed them to close with their opponents quickly. The new weapons adopted were the one-handed claymore sword and the small targe shield.

The muskets of the day were hardly accurate, but there was still a deadly zone beginning about 40 yards from your opponent that had to be crossed. Even at a sprint, they’d be exposed to at least one effective volley. A few years ago a cache of mid-18th-century weapons was discovered in some Scottish laird’s castle. Historians were allowed to test-fire a few. At 15 yards, they were lethal. But at any range over 50 yards, the armorers conducting the tests could not reliably hit the 4X8 plywood sheets to which the targets were fixed. The weapons had no sights, which explains why the commands were not “Ready. Aim. Fire,” but rather “Ready. Present. Fire.” It was more or less “Point them that’a way”.

The idea behind the Highland charge was to close quickly, deflect your opponent’s blade or bayonet with the target in your left hand and strike him with the claymore or dirk in your right. Against inexperienced Royalist troops at Prestonpans, it had proved deadly. (Below: Depiction of Highland charge at Prestonpans from the Penicuik Drawings, 1745-46.)

But how would things fare against experienced British troops? Driving one’s enemies from the field at the point of the bayonet was practically Holy Writ in the British Army. They were experts in its use. The irresistible force of the Highland charge was to meet the immovable object of the Thin Red Line.

The first clash was at Falkirk Muir in January 1746. There, some government forces, including the experienced 37th Foot, performed poorly and were swept away. With the battle half-won, many Highlanders entertained themselves sacking the abandoned English camp. Only the snow prevented a disaster. The commander of the 37th, Sir Robert Munro, was killed, and his brother, an unarmed doctor who rushed to Sir Robert’s side, was cut down as well.

The 37th was in a foul mood. But the Highlanders were not the only ones who could adapt. After Falkirk, the English received some new commanders: the 37th was commanded by Colonel Dejeans, and the Army itself by the King’s son, William, Duke of Cumberland. To counter the Highland charge and prevent routs like Prestonpans and Falkirk, a new bayonet drill was devised. Previously, once combat became man-to-man, each soldier attacked the opponent immediately to his front. Cumberland changed that. Now, when meeting the Highlanders, each English soldier would thrust at the opponent attacking the comrade to his right. The idea was that he would be able to deliver a bayonet thrust to the attacker’s upraised and unguarded underarm. The soldier on his left would do the same for the Scot attacking him. After three months of training with the new technique, they met the Highlanders at Culloden.

The Scots were hungry and tired. They had marched most of the night for what they’d hoped would be a surprise dawn attack on the English the morning after Cumberland’s birthday on April 15th. (Think Washington arriving at Trenton on Christmas morning.) But it was not to be. They arrived too late. And the charge, when it finally came, took too long. English artillery took a fearsome toll. But for all that, the right side of the Highland formations succeeded in reaching the English lines. The Charge hit the 37th and their neighbors, the 4th. And the new technique worked exactly as planned. It was later said of the 37th and the 4th that “not a bayonet was unbloodied or unbent.” Nearly 1,000 Highlanders were killed – 20% of those in action. There were few Highland wounded. After having their commander’s unarmed brother cut down at Falkirk, the 37th was in no mood for prisoners. It was the beginning of what would today be called the ethnic cleansing of all things Highland. The clans and their customs were outlawed. Crops and houses were burned. Flocks and herds were driven off. It was, too, the end of the Jacobite cause. And while Cumberland enjoyed a few months of celebrity after his great victory, he soon became known as “The Butcher.”