Jacobites and the '45

[mildred_of_midgard]

It all started when selenak talked about Charles II's escape from England during the English Civil War.


Primary sources: some of the people involved, and C2 himself, who told diarist Samuel Pepys when returning to Britain on the journey across the channel, and Pepys noted it down in his diary.

So, when Dad C1 got executed, young C2 made one last attempt to retake the kingdom by allying with the Scots. He promptly got defeated by Cromwell at Worcester. (C2 learned lesson of the day: Cromwell is a way better general. If you ever want your kingdom back, it can't happen via conquest. C2 learned that lesson and waited till Cromwell was dead, his son sucked at the Protector job, and popular support for the Bring Back The Monarchy idea was overwhelming.) But back to the days when C2 was a young pub, who got defeated, and whose Dad had just been executed, meaning C2's future life span was less than assured. Also a £1000 reward was announced for information leading to Charles's capture.

C2: has about 60 people with him. (They'll be way less by the end, as a discreet number, this was not)

Lord Derby: So, there's this secret Catholic network. We should use that! I did myself more recently.

Gang of 60: *shows up at White Ladies*

Secret Catholic Pendrell brothers: Sure, we'll help! Anything for the martyr's son. But you need to switch outfits. Would you be okay with disguising yourself as a farm laborer?

C2: Will do, and also, we'll never make it if we remain together. Everyone, I appreciate your loyalty, but we need to split up. I'll go alone, aside from Lord Wilmot.

Lord Wilmot: *is famous for this and for being the father of the most infamous rake of the Restoration, Rochester*

C2 and Wilmot: *get their hair cut, - long hair being a sign of the nobility -, get put in farmer outfits, and get a crash class in how to talk none-posh*

Pendrell brothers: One big problem. As in, a huge problem. You, C2, are a man so tall that unborn FW's heart would beat faster and he'd conscript you immediately. There aren't many people your size in England, which makes you stand out. Also, your feet are accordingly large. And we don't have boots your size. Meanig you have wear shoes which are several sizes too small.

C2: An escaping uncrowned king's gotta do what an escaping uncrowned king's gotta do.

C2: *has bleeding and sore feet very quickly, but manages to keep going for three days before getting somewhere where it was possible to bind them and get other shoes*

In between:

Cromwell's soldiers: *show up in pursuit*

C2: *hiding in the woods*

Rain: *falls, which C2 later concluded was why the hiding worked*

Miller: Provides an old horse, so C2 has no longer to walk

Horse: *stumbles*

Pendrell brother: "No wonder, it bears the weight of three kingdoms on its back!"

(England, Scotland and France, if you're wondering. At this point, the British kings still called themselves "Kings of France". They'd keep doing that until Team Hannover got the crown and finally ditched that claim and the lily from the heralds)

Moseley Hall: C2 gets dry clothes and a meal, but Cromwell's soldiers arrive, so he has to hide in a "priest hole", one of those hiding places for Catholic priests first established when E1 reigned*

C2: *there meets also hiding Father Huddleston; when he finally converts to Catholicism on his deathbed, he will do so with said Father Huddleston as his admininstring priest, though how sincere that final conversion was is debated to this day*

C2: *adopts a new disguise, that of servant William Jackson who works for a lady named Jane Lane, who volunteered to bring him to Bristol*

C2 and Jane, riding on a horse together: *horse loses a shoe*

C2, in his diguise as a servant, takes the horse to a blacksmith:

C2, twelve years later, to Sam Pepys: ""As I was holding my horse's foot, I asked the smith what news. He told me that there was no news that he knew of, since the good news of the beating the rogues of the Scots. I asked him whether there was none of the English taken that joined with the Scots, He answered he did not hear if that rogue, Charles Stuart, were taken; but some of the others, he said, were taken. I told him that if that rogue were taken, he deserved to be hanged more than all the rest, for bringing in the Scots. Upon which he said I spoke like an honest man; and so we parted"

C2 and Jane Lane arrive at Long Marston where they stay at a relation of Jane's.

C2, posing as servant, gets put to work in the Kitchen.

Cook: You, wind up the jack! (Used to roast the meat in the fireplace)

C2: *has never done this before*

Cook: What kind of loser servant are you?

C2: I'm the son of people so poor that we hardly ever eat meat! That's why I've never used a roasting jack before!

Cook: *accepts that story*

Jane Lane and C2: *arrive at Bristol, stay at a family called the Nortons, who aren't told who C2 is*

The Nortons' butler: I'm an ex Royalist Soldier. You're totally C2, aren't you?

C2: I am.

Butler: I won't tell, and I'll check to see whether any ship leaves for France.

Next Ship for France: Won't leave for another month*

Wilmot: Okay, we can't stay here for another month.

C2: The daughter of my former nurse married a guy who lives about 40 miles from here, we could stay at here place.

They're about to leave, when:

Their hostess, Mrs. Norton: *goes into labor*

Mr. Norton: Jane Lane, as a woman, you'll surely stay and help my wife, won't you?

Jane: Err...

Pope the butler, the Jeeves of his time: *forges a letter from Jane's father saying he's seriously ill and she needs to come to him IMMEDIATELY+

Jane, C2 and Wilmot: *leave*

The gang arrives at Trent House, home of the daughter of C2's ex nurse and deflowerer.

Lord of the Manor: Good news! A tenant of mine sails for St. Malo next week! You and Wilmot can pose as merchants hunting down a debtor. But you need to switch women to escape with as cover; my niece Juliana volunteers*

Wilmot's horse: *loses a shoe*

Wilmot: *gets recognized by a Parliamentarian soldier at the blacksmith's*

Escape: is afoot again!

Wilmot and C2: stay overnight at the George Inn, Charmouth

50 Soldiers: Also arrive there.

Luckily for C2: A woman with them (the soldiers, that is) goes into labor

C2 and Wilmot: *make their escape in the commotion before anyone can recognize them (again)*

C2, Wilmot and Juliana: *go to Salisbury next; C2 also visits Stonehenge, because why not*

Wilmot: finds a Captain who agrees to take them to France on his coal boat for 80 pounds

Captain Tatersell, when he sees C2: WTF? That's C2! I want danger money! 200 pounds!

C2: Done.

Coal boat Surprise: Leaves with C2 and Wilmot, arrives safely in France.

Fritz: Some people have all the luck!

ETA: On his return to England in 1660, C2 granted a variety of annuities and gifts to some of the people who had aided him, including the Pendrell brothers and Jane Lane. Thomas Whitgreave and Richard Pendrell received annual pensions of £200, with £100 to be paid to the descendants of Richard Pendrell in perpetuity. The other Pendrell brothers received lesser pensions. Pensions to the Penderels (an alternate spelling of Pendrell) are still being paid to a number of descendants today. (Jane Lane doesn't have still living descendants.)

That led to a comparative discussion of royal escapes:


cahn: Fritz: Some people have all the luck!

Oh Fritz, I hate to break it to you, but... it wasn't just luck (although yeah, a lot of luck too). Though I guess C2 was older and more mature -- *checks dates* *blinks* Huh, C2 was only 19 or 20 when all this happened? Well, he certainly had a very different life (and escape trajectory).

selenak: Young Fritz and young Charles weren't that much apart in age, true, though in fairness the circumstances of their respective escapes or non-escapes were truly very, very different. Fritz didn't have a small but loyal network of underground Catholics coming to his aide, and he never made it far enough to be aided anyway. Otoh, Fritz wasn't on the run after a lost battle in a country where he was on top of the "WANTED!" list, and he had months to prepare, whereas Charles had to improvise after losing the battle.

mildred_of_midgard: Agreed. The biggest difference is that Fritz was never out of FW's direct power--even the remnants of a beaten army gives you a head start over your pursuers that Fritz never had. Who was actually *lucky* was Peter Keith, stationed in Wesel, far away from FW, when this happened.

Which in turn led mildred_of_midgard to talk about the '45 in very general terms, focusing on Bonnie Prince Charlie's escape from Scotland in 1746:

Escape
Similar to Charles II's escape story in this respect--lost a battle, had to flee the country, had a network of Catholic supporters, hunted by the enemy, had narrow escapes, is his great-nephew, one hundred years later, in Scotland. Like C2 and unlike Fritz, great-nephew made it.

Great-nephew, cahn, is Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of C2's younger brother James II, often called by romanticizers of the past Bonnie Prince Charlie. "Bonnie" because he was good-looking and charismatic when he was young. I'll abbreviate him BPC because the opportunity to have a non-confusing, unique name in our fandom is too good to be passed up!

So after James II lost his throne to William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution, *he* had to flee overseas (are you seeing a Stuart theme here?). He, his son, and then his grandson BPC kept trying to get the British throne back with foreign (Catholic) support, meaning some combination of France, Spain, and the Pope, depending on whose interest they could get on a given year.

After the War of the Spanish Succession forced France to recognize the Hanoverian succession and kick out the Stuarts, they went to live in Rome, the last place that would actually have them. (They were kind of a huge political liability; being nice to them would piss off powerful Britain, and not one of them inspired great confidence that they could actually pull off a successful revolution.) Foreign support usually consisted of "Well, we're at war with Britain already for other reasons, so let's stage an invasion of Britain to attempt a Stuart revolution. Not because we think there's more than a very slim chance, but because an invasion at home will force the British to pull troops off the Continent, which will help us in our wars! Stuarts, what Stuarts?

So in 1745, France is at war with Britain because of the War of the Austrian Succession. BPC has appeared in France to bug Louis XV. "Can I have money and troops and ships to land me in Scotland, can I can I can I?"

To summarize the complicated developments that ensued, the final response was, "You can have a ship to take you there, and then if it looks like you're actually going to win, we'll send you more money. Have fun storming the castle!"

Literally everyone: "BPC, this is not the stuff of which successful rebellions are made. Stay where you are, get a pension from Louis, get your head out of the clouds and stop dreaming about how you're going to make your dad King of England."

BPC: "No, it'll be great, it's my destiny, what could go wrong! Divine right of kings FTW!"

BPC: *invades Scotland with 7 friends*

Local Scots: *OMG, you promised French support! Go home, go home!"

BPC: "Sir, I am come home." (Famous quote.)

Through a small miracle, he actually manages to raise an army and start the most successful Jacobite Rebellion of them all, the Forty-Five aka the 45. Oh, "Jacobite" = "supporters of James", because "Jacobus" is the Latin for James.

But after some initial success, the Jacobites end up losing the Battle of Culloden, in April of 1746. This is the last land battle to be fought on the island of Great Britain.

Opposite BPC is the Duke of Cumberland, favorite son of G2 and Caroline of Ansbach, the one they really wanted to make their heir over Fritz of Wales.

The battle turns into a slaughter. The British adopt a take-no-prisoner attitude even after the battle: wounded and surrendering Jacobites are killed on sight. The army occupies the Highlands and imposes martial law. Various high-ranked members of the army are taken prisoner, transported to London, and publicly executed. Parliament passes various laws to oppress the culture of the Scottish Highlands: no wearing kilts, for example. William, Duke of Cumberland, earns the nickname "Butcher Billy," and is hated by Scots to this day.

So now BPC is fleeing for his life. He goes into hiding in the Highlands, and he isn't betrayed despite the occupying army, the price on his head, the fact that Jacobite resistance is effectively over at this point; BPC, despite his delusions to the contrary, will never have enough support to raise an army again.

It was an eventful escape, but it's been 20 years since I studied it and none of my Jacobite books made it through the book cullings of my several moves since then, so the only things I remember are:

1. Cluny's Cage, a cave/hole in the ground where he hid out in the mountains with Cluny of MacPherson, who was also being hunted by the Hanoverians.

2. Flora MacDonald, who went down in history as one of the most romantic figures of the rebellion. She risked her neck helping smuggle BPC in a boat over to the Isle of Skye, where BPC could be picked up by a ship that would take him to safety in France.

The most entertaining part of this episode is that BPC was disguised as Flora's lady's maid and going by the name of Betty Burke. Yes, this escape attempt has disguises via cross-dressing.

BPC made it to safety, having spent about 5 months on the run from Hanoverian supporters. He then faded into a lifetime of alcoholism and obscurity on the Continent.

Flora, who was imprisoned and interrogated by the Brits, but later released unharmed, eventually migrated to the American colonies. During the revolution, like many survivors of the Forty-Five who had seen what happens when you stand up to the British government, she was on the Tory side. Oops. So after being on the losing side of this war, she had to move back to Scotland.

3. BPC saying goodbye to Flora was immortalized in art, and is now a popular image to put on shortbread containers. If you've ever seen this, that's BPC and Flora MacDonald. And next time you're in a grocery store, you can look for this bit of 18th century history.

(No, they didn't have an affair. He did have an affair with another, very obscure and known only to students of the Jacobite rebellions, woman while in Scotland, but not Flora.)

4. Lots and lots of popular culture romanticizing the rebellion. "The Skye Boat Song" aka "Over the Sea to Skye" is one of the most well-known pieces of music to come out of his escape.

And a bit of backstory to the Jacobites:

Cahn, you basically just need to know that James II lost the throne in 1688-1689 for being 1) too Catholic 2) not politically savvy enough. His Protestant daughter Mary and son-in-law William of Extremely-Protestant-Orange took it away from him, then his Protestant daughter Anne succeeded them, and Catholics were henceforth forever disbarred from the British throne. (That's how the Hanovers ended up on the throne, because they were descended from the Winter Queen, sister of C1, and they were Protestant.)

Of course, James II tried to get the throne back, then his son tried to get the throne back, then his son (J2's grandson) BPC tried to get the throne back. This meant a series of Jacobite rebellions, culminating in the big famous one, in 1745, the "Forty-Five" aka "the '45", which luzula will proceed to tell you about, as [pronoun?] hands allow.

Just so it's also in salon and not just email, this is the scribbled family tree I emailed Cahn the other night, with the usual apologies for my handwriting:



Those in the know will see that I left out Henry Benedict. I think he can safely be left out of the beginner's lesson and added in later.

Cahn, you can mentally add C1's grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots to complete the theme. Losing your throne and/or head was kind of a tradition in this family.

Lehndorff: So weird!

J2: At least I escaped in time to keep my head! Unlike Dad.

Then luzula came through with the entire story!

The Backstory for the '45
I was supposed to write about the '45, but to do that, I really have to start at the Glorious Revolution (so named by the victors, of course). So, James II/VII really pushed the Catholic agenda, and besides that, seems to have had a general ability to piss people off. Apart from the Highlands, where he seems to done all right when he was sent there before he got on the throne? Might explain why many of them fought for him later.

There was a failed coup by the Duke of Monmouth (illegitimate son of Charles II) in 1685, and then a successful one by William of Orange, married to James' sister Mary, in 1688. The differences between James and William can be seen by:

William: *sends bland and diplomatic letter to Scotland making vague promises of goodwill, asking if he can be their king*
James: *sends rude and autocratic letter demanding that Scotland support him since he is obviously the rightful king*

The "Glorious Revolution" is supposed to be the beginning of democracy, with more influence from Parliament; my impression is that William had no particularly democratic inclinations and in fact there wasn't even any Parliament elected in England during his and Mary's rule--he just kept going with the convocation that offered him the crown [I'm very sure I read this but now I can't find the reference. If you want I'll make more of an effort to track down the source]. The increased influence of Parliament was a much more gradual process.

First Jacobite Rebellion, in 1689:
James pretty much fled to Ireland, where he found some support, and in '89, John Graham of Claverhouse, later Viscount of Dundee, called "Bonnie Dundee", raised the standard for James, though he didn't have that much support. (Also compare previous famous Graham, the Marquess of Montrose, Scottish Royalist leader during the Civil War.)

Snarky historian Bruce Lenman: Claverhouse was "the sort of unimaginative soldier for whom the arrival of an order from a superior terminated all speculative thought, if indeed he ever indulged in such".

Loyal protagonist of Rosemary Sutcliff book "Bonnie Dundee": Claverhouse was the noblest man ever to live!

Whatever the truth, Claverhouse won at the battle of Killiecrankie, but died there, and his successor failed to keep the troops together. James lost in Ireland as well, and found refuge in France, along with a lot of Irish and Scots, who served in France's army. This is the origin of the Irish Brigade, for example, which distinguished itself at Fontenoy.

The 90's and 00's were not great for Scotland--harvests were bad, William of Orange didn't care much, there was a failed colonial venture. In 1707 the union with England was accomplished, with Queen Anne (Mary's sister) appointing the negotiators for both England and Scotland, and plenty of bribes to go round to buy the votes of the Scottish elite. The usual corruption (sorry, patronage) of 18th century politics!

Failed Jacobite attempt of 1708:
France: we're at war with Britain, so let's distract them with the Stuarts! : D
They sent 5,000 troops to Scotland, with James "III/VIII" (the future "Old Pretender") on board. He looked wistfully at the shore, but the British navy turned up and the ships had to turn back.

Many people in Scotland were not happy with the union, because Scotland was decidedly the junior partner and was for example forbidden trade with France (which obviously led to smuggling instead). Jacobitism was linked with opposition to the Union in the popular mind (even though previous Stuarts had tried for a union!), and also with Episcopalianism in Scotland and Catholicism in Ireland.

Second Jacobite Rebellion, in 1715:
The Hanoverian succession was in 1714, and in 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the second Jacobite Rebellion after failing to gain favor with the new regime (he was nicknamed "Bobbing John"). This was the biggest one, in terms of mobilization (about 15,000 men, twice the Jacobite army of the '45), and had nothing to do with foreign support! People were unhappy with the Union and George I. But the Earl of Mar was a bad leader and didn't press his advantage when he should have, and the different groups just sort of milled around. Instead, the Duke of Argyll took the initiative for the government and won (although he was criticized for moving without instructions from London, which explains why the Campbells were so slow to move in '45).

Abortive Jacobite attempt, in 1719:
Spain: we're at war with Britain, so let's distract them with the Stuarts! : D
But the ships were scattered by storms, and the small party that was left was quickly defeated at the battle of Glenshiel. (George Keith was in this one!)

Then follows over 20 years of solid Hanoverian and Whig rule. You would be forgiven for thinking that the Stuarts would just live out their lives in Rome and never be seen in Britain again.

Abortive Jacobite attempt, in 1744:
France: we're at war with Britain, so let's distract them with the Stuarts! : D
They meant to send 15,000 men led by de Saxe across the channel and take London. But there were storms and disagreement in the French government.

First Part of the '45 (up to Derby)
Third Jacobite Rebellion, in 1745:
Finally, our main event! So, Charles Edward Stuart/Bonnie Prince Charlie (henceforth BPC) was 25 at the time and ambitious (but not always smart, he made an enemy of George Keith, for example, who would've been a great help to him). When the French wouldn't back him and he was discouraged by both Scottish and English Jacobites unless he came with lots of French troops, he turned to the Franco-Irish community, some of whom invested in outfitting two ships for him. The ships carried arms and 700 volunteers from the Irish Brigade. But the largest of the ships ran into a RN ship and had to turn back. (This is the divergence point of my alternate history If Fate Should Reverse Our Positions, by the way, where both ships made it and subsequently the course of the war was changed! : D)

So BPC famously invaded the West Highlands with seven men. Understandably, many Jacobites were reluctant to back him. But he wheedled, ordered, and guilted several clan chiefs into doing so--a key figure here is Cameron of Lochiel, without whom he would likely have failed. Lochiel was guaranteed the value of his estates if the venture failed (and BPC kept his promise--Lochiel got a French regiment), and with that respected clan chief behind him, recruitment went better.

Scottish clans were built around military service--the clansmen owed it to the chief. Some chiefs were beginning to erode that structure by evicting tenants and letting the land to the highest bidder, such as the Campbells, which is why they had a harder time recruiting. Lochiel had actually planned to do so, but had been dissuaded by James III/VIII who didn't want him to let go of that military power.

Sorry, too much detail. *zooms out* Anyway, the Scottish Highlands: some clans were Jacobite (Camerons, MacDonalds, Stewarts, ...), some Hanoverian (Campbells, Mackays, ...), some fence-sitters or divided (Frasers, Mackenzies, ...).

First skirmish of the war: 16th August, two companies of redcoat recruits (= 200 soldiers) were marching south along the Great Glen, and were famously ambushed at a bridge by twelve Macdonalds (pretending to be many more). The redcoats fled and were captured.

BPC famously raised his standard at Glenfinnan on 19th August. He had about 1,200 men (also the captured redcoats were present). During the next week he went up the Great Glen and then up to the Correyarrick Pass, marching on foot at the head of his little army.

Backtracking: what were the Hanoverians doing? Well, most of their troops were in Flanders, and they initially didn't take the rumours of BPC very seriously. In the 1707 union, some parts of the Scottish government that could have reacted quickly had been dismantled, and strategy was dictated from London. The ranking military officer, General Cope, was ordered to attack. He took about 1,700 men and went into the Highlands, but when he got to the Correyarrick Pass, he looked up at that steep slope and was afraid of being ambushed there, and couldn't stay because of lack of rations. So he went north to Inverness instead, to gather support there.

The Jacobite army: Well, I guess the way is open for us to invade the Lowlands now! : D

Incidentally they were marching on roads that were built after the '15 to give easy military access to put down rebellions in the Highlands, but that were really useful to the Jacobite army. They made their way down to Edinburgh, recruiting along the way (the north-eastern part of the Lowlands was strongly Jacobite), and were joined by Lord George Murray, who was to become the senior military commander. Opinions differ about him: Duffy calls him "gifted, energetic, highly unstable". They reached Edinburgh and took it by sneaking in at night.

Cope and his army: Uh, I guess we'll just...go round in a big circle and come back to Edinburgh?

They met at the battle of Prestonpans outside the city. The numbers were fairly even (Cope's 2,000 against the BPC:s about 1,800) and the Jacobites won by a Highland charge, that is, they ran at the enemy, fired their muskets once at close range, then dropped the muskets and attacked with swords. This is not how redcoats were trained to fight! They were trained to load and fire their muskets fast, at another line of soldiers that was also standing still and firing at them. Neither side had good artillery. After the battle, hundreds of captured redcoats actually changed sides (though many of them deserted later).

BPC stayed in Edinburgh some time to wait for more recruits, after which there was a council.
Most of the Scots: Let's stay here and hold Scotland, and wait for French reinforcements!
BPC: I want the whole shebang! Let's invade England! : D

BPC won by one vote, but had to give up the eastern route. Instead they marched southwest on the 1st of November, now 5,000 strong, and took Carlisle, then continued south to Manchester, where they were joined by the only group of English volunteers they were to have, and reached Derby on 4th of December. Duffy praises their logistics and staff work highly, crediting it to O'Sullivan, one of the French-Irish officers who came over with BPC. Also, BPC had tax officers who appropriated all the taxes (since he considered himself the rightful monarch), using them to pay his way.

Let's just stop and appreciate how weird it is that this war is going on during the winter. The huge armies on the continent have correspondingly huge numbers of horses, which can't graze during the winter. So you would have to bring feed for them, which of course is pulled by horses, along with everything else you need because it's winter, and the soldiers will get sick and freeze...well, it's not a great idea. So usually war takes a break during the winter--but not this one.

By now Wade had pulled his army together (consisting of regiments brought from Flanders) and they gave chase, but it didn't go so well. They tried to get through the Tyne Gap but couldn't get through the snow. Soldiers froze to death. Why did the Jacobites not have this problem? Well, perhaps the Highlanders were hardier (that's certainly what the PR says), but also, soldiers were not allowed to be billeted in ordinary people's houses in England, because it gave the army bad press. So they slept in tents and froze. OTOH, the Jacobites did billet their soldiers in people's houses (and paid for it).

Another army was also assembling, under the Duke of Cumberland (George II's second son). They tried to intercept the Jacobite army but were outmaneuvered, so that BPC could have gone on straight for London. Odds are that he could have initially taken it, but then Cumberland would have come a couple of days behind him...anyway, we'll never know what would have happened, because at a council the Jacobites decided to turn around, possibly affected by the testimony of the Hanoverian spy Dudley Bradstreet who told them there was yet another army between them and London.

The '45: from Derby to Culloden and after
BPC was bitterly disappointed, but his opponents argued that they had gotten much less English and French support than they needed. In fact the French, having heard of BPC's early successes, were planning an expedition across the channel...but a combination of the British Navy and hearing about BPC turning back at Derby dissuaded them. So the Jacobite army marched back north, with Cumberland chasing them, but they had no problem getting away--also, Cumberland had left most of his infantry behind to guard against the possible French invasion.

Meanwhile, more recruiting had been going on in Scotland, along with French reinforcements. BPC sent Colonel Lachlan MacLachlan of MacLachlan (whose name I only include because it is such a delight) to have them come down south to meet them, but their commander Lord John Drummond (a Scotsman serving in the French army) refused. He claimed King Louis had told him to first clear out the enemy fortresses, but in fact the king had told him to put himself at BPC's disposal. So that's another road not taken.

The Manchester regiment, along with some other forces, was unfortunately put in charge of holding Carlisle, which was taken pretty quickly. As English Jacobites the wrath of the Hanoverian government would fall heavily on them--they were penned up without water, food or sanitation, and several of them died. Later more of them died in jail where they were given rotten offal to eat, and then they were all executed or transported. All officers were executed except those with French commissions, who were treated well and exchanged to France.

A pause here to discuss the very different treatment of prisoners by the Jacobite army. After Prestonpans, they made sure the wounded on the other side got medical treatment, food, etc. The officers were released on parole if they undertook not to fight for the duration of the war.

The difference is not because the Hanoverians were evil and the Jacobites good. In the 18th century, war can only be declared by (the sovereign of) a country, and in war one has to follow certain rules, such as extending parole to captured officers, and setting up cartels to exchange them. BPC made claim to be the sovereign of Britain and as such regarded himself as having every right to declare war--and really wanted to show that he could conduct himself according to the honourable rules of war: he paid for food and billets, he treated the captured well, he didn't harm civilians (which is also just common sense if you're hoping to be accepted as their king). But in the eyes of the Hanoverians, the Jacobites are NOT in a position to declare legitimate war: they are traitors and should not be treated as honourable opponents in war. Their officers shouldn't be given parole, they should be hunted down and executed! Unless they had French commissions. The Hanoverians were furious with the Hessians when, later on, they were considering setting up a cartel with the Jacobites to exchange prisoners (there were some Hessian mercenaries on the Hanoverian side).

The Hanoverian officers taken prisoner at Prestonpans had respected their paroles--until an expedition was sent to forcibly "liberate" them. They were ordered to break their paroles, on direct order from George II himself. Most did, except for a few, for example Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Halkett who said that [the king] was master of their commissions, but not of their probity and honour.

Anyway. The Jacobites meet up with their reinforcements, unsuccessfully besiege Stirling Castle for a while, and then clash with the Hanoverian forces that have been building up near Edinburgh. They are led by General Henry Hawley, or "Hangman Hawley", so called not for his treatment of Jacobites but of his own men. A contemporary source: Nobody disputed Mr Hawley's genius for […] prosecuting with vigour any mortal to the gallows.

So the two sides meet at Falkirk, a confusing battle in a January rain- and hailstorm, at the end of which the Jacobites went "We...won? I think?" They did indeed win and the Hanoverians retreated, leaving behind their artillery which was bogged down in a mire. But the Jacobites did not go on the offensive, which BPC wanted to do; instead they decided in council to retreat to the Highlands, yielding Montrose and other harbours on the north-east coast which were their hope of further French reinforcements.

The Highland clans in the Jacobite army wanted very much to smash up the three forts in the Great Glen, which they proceeded to do with Forts George and Augustus, but failed with Fort William. But meanwhile Cumberland had taken over command of the Hanoverian army and was marching up the northeast coast towards Inverness. The Jacobites besieging Fort William were hastily recalled, getting to Inverness in time for the famous battle of Culloden.

The Jacobite army by this time was hungry and tired, and so were its commanders. BPC had failed to get hold of a shipment of French gold which had landed north of Inverness among Whig clans, and had no more money to pay his troops or pay for food. Cumberland had been drilling his troops in holding the line and not yielding to the Highland charge, and they had more artillery, more men, and more food. So the Jacobites lost badly, and the army was dispersed (the ones who could get away).

Then followed the great scourging of the Highlands. The feeling among the Hanoverians was that they had been too lenient after the '15 and look what happened. There was killing of unarmed people, burning of houses, rape, driving off with their cattle, and withholding of grain imports in the hopes of a famine. Here's the opinion of the Earl of Albemarle, one of the commanders: I [...] always feared from the bad inclination of the people in most of the northern counties and from their stubborn, inveterate disposition of mind, nothing could effect it but laying the whole country waste and ashes, and removing all the inhabitants (excepting a few) out of the kingdom.

Actually some of the worst officers were not Englishmen but Lowland Scots, among them Captain Caroline Scott, named after his godmother the queen, Caroline of Ansbach. The Campbells OTOH, who were traditional rivals to the Jacobite clans, were more moderate, and some said they would surrender, but only to a Campbell.

You can read more about BPC:s escape [above], courtesy of mildred_of_midgard. When he got back to the continent he got a letter from Frederick the Great, saying among other things: All Europe is astonished at the greatness of your enterprise, for though Alexander and other heroes have conquered kingdoms with inferior armies, you are the only one who engaged in such an enterprise without any. But BPC sank slowly into bitterness and alcoholism after losing.

In the aftermath of the rising, many who had fought were rounded up and brought to trial, though the terrible conditions in jails and prison-hulks killed more than were actually executed. Those who survived were transported. Eventually there was another disarming act, Highland dress was forbidden, and measures were taken to weaken the clan system. A couple of decades later, when the clan elites had been more tightly tied to the Hanoverian government, the Highlands were used as recruiting grounds for regiments that would fight in the American colonies.

Major sources:
The Jacobite Risings in Britain 1689-1746 by Bruce Lenman (1980)
Fight for a Throne: the Jacobite '45 Reconsidered by Christopher Duffy (2015)

Salon discusses the Fritz letter:

Verdict: fake
luzula: Sadly I can't track down the actual letter.

felis: Google gave me this version, and while I'm sure Mildred knows more about the circumstances and will correct me if I'm wrong here, I'm pretty sure it's fake. It's not in his Political Correspondence, it doesn't sound like him at all IMO, and then there's the "General Keith, whom I have had the good fortune to engage in my service" line, which is just wrong, since neither James nor George Keith were in Fritz' service in 1745 or 1746. (James, who I think is meant here, was a General in the Russian Army at the time.)

mildred_of_midgard: It seemed dubious to me from the beginning, although some 50% of the things I think are fake turn out to be real and vice versa, so I've learned to qualify that. ;) But I was already pretty sure before you checked that it wasn't in Trier, since I wrote code a couple years ago to download a list of his correspondents so we could read the letters we were interested in, and I feel like if BPC were on the list I would have downloaded the letter and read it.

One thing nobody's commented on yet is the alleged date of that letter: 1745. That's impossible, because in 1745, BPC was in Britain and had not yet been defeated. The letter, if it's real, would have to be from 1746. ([personal profile] cahn, Culloden was April 1746).

Now, that's not definitive, first because it's in brackets and I take that to mean the editor isn't claiming it's in the original, and second because it's a typo, and third because most of these letters are dated by the editor based on their best guess. But it definitely doesn't inspire confidence.

As for whether it sounds like him...It doesn't, but as Selena said, Fritz is one of the biggest trolls to ever live.

As counterevidence, Asprey claims that G2 asked Fritz for military support against the planned French + BPC invasion in 1744:

Frederick replied that if Britain were attacked, he would at once march to her defense, but that her aggressive naval actions had brought war with France, and therefore Prussia was not bound to furnish the troops called for in a defensive treaty.

That absolutely does not prevent him from having written that letter to BPC in 1746, but like felis, I'm suspicious, and the Keith dating almost clinches it. (I say almost because Keith is supposed to have entered Fritz's service in 1747, and since BPC arrived in France in September 1746, it's just barely possible the letter was written in January or something, or that Keith left Russia at the end of 1746.)

Okay, looking through his letters in the Political Correspondence, he writes to Podewils, after he learns in February 1746 that BPC is retreating and losing men, and that therefore the Hanoverians are no longer in danger:

We are therefore in no danger at the present moment of promising to keep our contingent ready to be transported to England in case of need

So Fritz *did* (reluctantly, because of the defensive treaty he'd signed), promise that he'd keep men ready to fight BPC.

I'm not aware that the political situation had changed *that* much between February 1746 and, say, October 1746, so I'm going with "fake" until I get more evidence.

felis: Yeah, I saw the date problem but, given the brackets, kind of filed it under typo/editor mistake.

or that Keith left Russia at the end of 1746

Fritz still wasn't sure if Keith had left Russian service in July 1747 (repeatedly writing to his Russian envoy to inquire about his status and whereabouts), and Keith only arrived in Berlin in October. Fritz to Finckenstein on October 28th: Moreover, General Keith arrived here a fortnight ago. I have just taken him into my service and appointed him Field Marshal General.

That said, it's possible that there was some secret poaching going on and that's why Fritz was so eager to know more about Keith's whereabouts. On the other hand, this seems like a very risky thing to do and it makes zero sense to me that Fritz would have told anyone, let alone BPC, before Keith was even safely out of Russia.

See also this letter George wrote to his brother early in November 1747: All the Gasettiers cannot be mistaken; he of Ausbourg sais you are made Field-Maréchal by the King of Prussia. If so, I heartily wish you joy of being in the service of a Prince of such merit, of being out of Russia, and off the sea. That you got out of Russia seems a miracle to me. As far as I know, due to the English putting pressure on the Russians, George was refused entry into the country when he wanted to visit James in the summer of 1746. Both the refusal and the English meddling seem to have been reasons for James' decision to quit Russian service, but he had to be delicate and careful about it.

mildred_of_midgard: Ooh, you are awesome! Good find, and I'm going with "fake" now!

Was that letter cited in Duffy, luzula? Or another book? Duffy in my experience does readable military history and is valuable in that respect, but when it comes to his source analysis, he repeatedly falls for fake and dubious sources in a way that is more egregious than your average Fritz biographer.

luzula: It is from Duffy, yes! I don't know much about your Fritz, and so wasn't in a position to be critical of that bit.

Duffy wrote two books about the '45; the second one is an updated and expanded version of the first, where he says he went through four times as much source material as for the first. It has an incredible amount of detail compared to other books I've found, which is valuable for writing fanfic set during the war. : )