Jacobites Almost Won At Culloden
STEPHEN STEWART

It was a decisive victory for the notorious Duke of Cumberland that marked the end of the '45 rebellion and left lasting scars of the Scottish psyche.
For centuries, many historians believed that the red coated government soldiers at Culloden conclusively outfought the undisciplined Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
But new excavations at the site of the battle, which entered Scots folklore after its bloody denouement in 1746, revealed that the Jacobites came far closer to victory than most contemporary accounts suggest.
Dr Tony Pollard, of the Two Men in a Trench programme, and a team from Glasgow University archaeological research division, has discovered that the Highlanders came close to breaking the government line and rewriting history.
The almost suicidal attack of the Young Pretender's 7000-strong army, armed with dirks and broadswords, forced Cumberland and his troops loyal to George II to turn his heavy mortars, previously held in reserve, on to their serried ranks to prevent a rout of his troops, according to the new evidence.
Dr Pollard's team also discovered various important artifacts, including a bayonet and a pewter cross – which would have been worn by a Jacobite warrior as he went into battle.
His team made a huge metal detector survey of the battlefield, concentrating on the Field of the English area (actually a misnomer as the battle was not a simple England v Scotland conflict). They unearthed hundreds of musket balls and evidence of grape canister shot. He said: "It was clear that a huge amount of materiel was hurled at the Jacobites as they moved forward. We also managed to find, for the first time, the point at which the Jacobites hit home on the west of the government line.
"The evidence shows that they came a lot closer to breaking through the lines than the histories of the battle suggest."
First-hand accounts of the battle, fought near Inverness, speak of wild-eyed Jacobites being conclusively annihilated by a better-equipped, more disciplined government army. One source said that, in the dying moments of the battle, "Still a few rushed on, resolved rather to die than forfeit their well-acquired and dearly-estimated honour. They rushed on, but not a man ever came in contact with the enemy."
However, Dr Pollard said the new evidence showed that the result was far from being a foregone conclusion.
The graves of the Jacobite soldiers killed in the attack are well marked at Culloden, but experts were unsure of the location of government dead.
However, an extensive survey by Dr Pollard's team has revealed the whereabouts of the burial site of Cumberland's men, who suffered about 260, killed or injured compared to about 1000 Jacobite casualties.
He said: "The work shows how horrific the charge must have been. It was rewarding to find the government graves, as it is important to give a balanced interpretation of the site.
"Both sides deserve respect. These men were just soldiers doing their job and many of the government troops would rather have been off in Flanders fighting the French.
"The discovery of a pewter cross was particularly interesting and brought home the realities of the battle. The cross would have been kissed by a Jacobite as he went into battle and would have either fallen from him as he charged or been ripped from his chest as he tried to flee the field."
The archaeological research was part of the preparatory work for a new £7m visitor centre at the battlefield.
The National Trust for Scotland is to replace the 35-year-old building that receives 80,000 of the 250,000 people who visit the site every year.
In 2004, Culloden, site of the last pitched battle on British soil, was ranked above Little Bighorn and just behind Antietam, a key battle in the American civil war, by US archaeologists in the rankings of the world's best battlefields to visit.