In late March 1746, the French brig Le Prince Charles landed a substantial sum in gold — approximately 35,000 louis d'or — on the Kyle of Tongue in Sutherland, intended to pay the Jacobite army. An escort of some 100 Jacobite soldiers marched overland to bring the gold south. Near the Kyle of Tongue, they were intercepted by government forces under MacKay of Bighouse and a company of pro-government MacKay clansmen. After a skirmish, the Jacobite escort was defeated and the gold captured. This disaster was catastrophic: the Jacobite army at Inverness was owed weeks of back pay, and unpaid soldiers were deserting. The loss of the gold directly contributed to the weakness of the army at Culloden three weeks later.
Jacobite escort defeated; 35,000 louis d'or captured
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