Battle of Killiecrankie 1689: The Last Act of the Killing Times

by Stuart Reid

Overview

The fifty-odd years of Scottish history dominated by the Jacobite Risings are amongst its most evocative and whilst the last battle, Culloden in 1746, is deservedly remembered as a national tragedy, the first battle on the braes of Killiecrankie was unquestionably the most dramatic.

It was very much a Scottish battle. The later Jacobite risings would be launched against kings and governments in London. Killiecrankie, on the other hand, pitted Scot against Scot in the last bloody act of the bitter religious struggle known as ‘The Killing Times.’

Killiecrankie saw the first, and most successful, Highland Charge, as the clansmen broke the line of the Government’s redcoats ‘in the twinkling of an eye,’ and though outnumbered the Jacobites achieved a stunning victory. The Highlanders, however, suffered debilitating losses of almost one third of their strength, and their leader, John Graham the Viscount of Dundee, was killed.

The Jacobites continued their advance until stopped by Government forces at the Battle of Dunkeld a little more than three weeks later. Though the Jacobites had failed, the struggle of the Highland clans to return the Catholic James, and his successors, to the throne of Scotland and England would continue for the next two generations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526709943
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	05/18/2018
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Stuart Reid is a prolific and well-known writer on a wide range of military subjects, and he is an expert on the military history of Scotland. His pioneering study Like Hungry Wolves remains unchallenged as the best narrative account of Culloden. His other books include: The Campaigns of Montrose, All the King's Armies: A Military History of The English Civil War, Wolfe: The Life and Career of General James Wolfe, Wellington's Highland Warriors: From the Black Watch Mutiny to the Battle of Waterloo and The Battle of Plassey 1757: The Victory That Won an Empire.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

List of Maps x

Chapter 1 The Killing Time 1

Chapter 2 Revolution 21

Chapter 3 Highland Summer 39

Chapter 4 The Battle of Killiecrarikie: Armies with Banners 57

Chapter 5 The Battle of Killiecrankie: An Avalanche of Steel 76

Chapter 6 Holding the Line: The Battle of Dunkeld 94

Chapter 7 The End of an Old Song: Cromdale and After 113

Appendices

Appendix I The Scots Army of 1689 129

Appendix II The Highland Clans with Sword in Hand 157

Appendix III General Mackay's Account of Killiecrankie 169

Appendix IV The Battle of Dunkeld 181

Appendix V Balhaldie's Account of Killiecrankie 190

Appendix VI The Siege of Edinburgh Castle 211

Bibliography 245

Index 249