Battle of Littleferry

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Battle of Littleferry
Part of Jacobite Rising
View from Rhives above Golspie looking south across battlefield towards Littleferry & Loch Fleet.
Date 15 April 1746 Location Littleferry, Scotland grid reference NH8198 Coordinates: 57°57′37″N 4°0′11″W / 57.96028°N 4.00306°W / 57.96028; -4.00306 Result Victory for Scottish forces loyal to the British government
Belligerents
Scottish Hanoverians from Clan Sutherland[1]	Scottish Jacobites from Clan MacKenzie[1]
Commanders
Ensign Mackay	George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie
Strength
Unknown	400-500
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown but high 172 captured.[2][1]

Second Jacobite Rising Highbridge – Prestonpans – 1st Carlisle – Clifton – 2nd Carlisle – Inverurie – Falkirk – Fort William – Littleferry – Culloden

The Battle of Littleferry (also known as the Skirmish at Golspie, Battle of the Little Ferry, Battle of Bonar Bridge^{[citation needed]}) took place during the Jacobite rising in 1746, just before the Battle of Culloden. Scottish forces loyal to the British government defeated a Scottish Jacobite force.^[3]

Contents 1 Background 2 The Battle 3 Aftermath 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Background

William Sutherland, the 17th Earl of Sutherland (who had changed his surname from Gordon to Sutherland) was loyal to the Hanoverian government, but he had not raised and armed his clan quickly enough to take action against Bonnie Prince Charlie. This led to a suspicion in London that Sutherland might be disloyal. However, the Jacobites also questioned Sutherland's loyalty, and the Jacobite Earl of Cromartie was sent with 500 men against the Earl of Sutherland. Cromartie's force stormed Dunrobin Castle; the Earl of Sutherland narrowly escaped them through a back door of the castle.^[3]

[edit] The Battle

Believing that all of Sutherland's followers had dispersed, the Jacobite officers had allowed their men to march ahead of them, confident that they, the officers on horseback, could quickly catch up with the marching men. However, there were still some Sutherland men in the hills above Dunrobin. Led by Ensign Mackay, the Sutherland men came down from the hills near Golspie, attacking into the gap between the rebel officers and their soldiers. Most of the Jacobite officers were captured; many of the men were killed, and the rest were driven onto the beach, where several were drowned trying to swim Loch Fleet.

[edit] Aftermath

Not long afterwards, the Earl of Cromartie was captured at Dunrobin Castle by men of the Clan Mackay who supported the British government. After detaining him, they put him on a vessel that carried him to London. Cromartie, along with the Earl of Kilmarnock, Lord Lovat, and Lord Balmerino were all impeached of high treason, tried, and condemned. Cromartie was later pardoned, but the others were executed.^[4]

Despite this victory, some in the government in London were still inclined to associate the Sutherlands with the Cromartie rebels that they had defeated. The Earl of Sutherland spent several years before his death in 1750 attempting to obtain compensation from the government for the damage done to his estates by the rebels.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Browne, James (1849), A History of the Highlands and of the Highland Clans, Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co, pp. 258-9, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zYQLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA258 

• Keltie, John Scott (1887), History of the Scottish Highlands, Highland Clans and Highland Regiments, Edinburgh: Thomas C Jack, http://www.electricscotland.com/history/charles/75.htm . Updated edition of Browne, transcribed at ElectricScotland.com