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2023 - Clifton Anniversary
At the close of the day on Saturday,18th December 1745, elements of The Prince's Army fought a brilliant rearguard action under the command of Lord George Murray.
The last battle on English soil took place by intermittent moonlight between four regiments of Jacobite Infantry, the Macphersons, the MacDonells of Glengarry, John Roy Stuart's Edinburgh Regiment and the Stewarts of Appin. The Hanoverian troops comprised dismounted dragoons - for dragoons are defined as mounted infantry, obliged by the trappy terrain to forsake their mounts. They were Bland's, Kerr's and Cobham's, with Ligonier's, Kingston's and Montagu's in support
That terrain was of great assistance to the Prince's troops; they had the advantage of cover and concealment, hilltops and hedges, ditches and darkness .... save for the moonlight, which shone brightly upon the leather crossbelts of the Government troops; it was a near perfect ambush.
An outflanking tactic to cut off the retreat via Brougham had failed - the Hanoverians were late to the party and their commander, General Oglethorpe faced court martial as a result, although he was exonerated.
People have downplayed the significance of the engagement; Cumberland slept that night at Town End Farm, on the Southern tip of the village, so was he the victor? The answer has to be a most emphatic negative, for this was never designed to be an action to retain Clifton, it was mission accomplished for the homeward bound Jacobites; they crossed the Esk unharried and regained their native land, save for the brave souls of the Manchester Regiment and some others who formed a garrison at Carlisle Castle and who held out until the end of the year.
Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Honeywood, a Government commander, later referred to by a Jacobite prisoner as the man in the muckle boots, had been seriously wounded at Dettingen, was severely wounded again but survived and went on to be Member of Parliament for Appleby in Westmorland for many years.
Heroes served on both sides in that hour long action, and it is fitting that we as an apolitical association recognize the courage displayed in the darkness of that December day all those years ago.
On the anniversary this year, tributes were laid at the foot of the Jacobite Oak - also known as the Rebel Tree (Remember, history is written by the victors); white roses at the memorial on the traditional site of the burial of the Jacobite casualties, likely to be Macphersons, (which is opposite Town End Farm), and red roses in the churchyard at the modern memorial to Bland's Dragoons.
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest.
Some photographs can be accessed by clicking here. Thanks to our Vice-Chair Ian Wear.
From Jacobite To ‘Judas’? A Re-Assessment Of The Reputation Of ‘Pickle The Spy’ AKA Alistair Ruadh MacDonell, 13th Chief Of Glengarry
In September of 2022 Samantha MacLaren, an undergraduate at the University of Wales, contacted the 1745 Association seeking information relating to the death of Young Glengarry in Falkirk in January 1746. This was in connection with a dissertation she was writing about his older brother Alistair Ruadh MacDonell who was an active Jacobite during the ’45 and became the 13th Chief of the MacDonells of Glengarry on the death of his father John in 1754. Our member Glen MacDonald duly provided some assistance and she has since shared her completed and very interesting work with the Association. The dissertation seeks to examine the motivations behind Alistair Ruadh MacDonell’s conversion from ardent Jacobite during the ’45 to his secret turncoat role after the Rising as the Hanoverian government informant known as “Pickle the Spy”, and in particular his betrayal of the Elibank Plot of 1752.
The document can be accessed by clicking here.
Prince Charles' escape through the Redcoat lines July 1745
This article was originally available through our previous website incarnation and the author, our current treasurer Peter D Brown, has kindly made this available again for visitors to our site.
The document can be accessed by clicking here.
