BattlefieldsFraser of Lovat pursuit and capture 1746
Jacobite Risings

Fraser of Lovat pursuit and capture 1746

1746
Scotland
Era
Jacobite Risings
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Lord Lovat
Forces
Lord Lovat with servants and a few retainers
VS
Victor
Government forces
Forces
Government search party
Outcome
Lord Lovat captured on island in Loch Morar; brought to London and executed; last public beheading in Britain
The Battle

History & Significance

Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, the cunning chief of Clan Fraser who had finally committed to the Jacobite cause in 1745, was one of the most eagerly sought Jacobite leaders after Culloden. Government soldiers pursued him through the western Highlands as he attempted to reach the coast and a ship to France. Lovat, obese and nearly eighty years old, was carried in a litter as he fled. He hid on an island in Loch Morar but was discovered and captured. Government soldiers surrounded the island and rowed out to arrest him. He was brought to London, tried for high treason and beheaded on Tower Hill in April 1747 — the last person publicly beheaded in Britain. He reportedly laughed at the crowd of spectators.

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