In the autumn of 1745, following the capture of Edinburgh and the victory at Prestonpans in September, Charles Edward Stuart's Jacobite army faced a pivotal strategic decision. A Council of War, consisting of 15 to 20 senior leaders and dominated by the Highland chiefs who provided the bulk of the manpower, had been established at Charles' insistence by the Scots, who were concerned by his autocratic style and his perceived over-reliance on Irish advisors. Charles deeply resented this arrangement, viewing it as an imposition by subjects upon their divinely appointed monarch, but the council proceeded to agree military strategy. The decision reached was to march south and invade England, with Charles and his commanders hoping to attract English sympathisers and benefit from a French landing in southern England.
A field army of roughly 5,500 men crossed into England in early November 1745. Command was nominally split between three lieutenant-generals, Murray, Tullibardine, and James Drummond, the titular Duke of Perth, rotating on a daily basis, though in practice Lord George Murray exercised effective command given Tullibardine's poor health and Perth's inexperience. The expected English support and French landing failed to materialise, and after reaching Derby on 4 December the council voted in favour of retreat. Although supported by the vast majority of the Scots in the army, the decision to turn back caused an irretrievable split within the Jacobite senior command, and Charles was never able to recover the momentum the rising had briefly enjoyed.
The Council of War that sanctioned the march south was a body Charles Edward Stuart had been compelled to accept under pressure from his Scottish commanders, who from the outset were uneasy about his autocratic manner and his reliance on Irish exile advisors. Consisting of 15 to 20 senior figures and dominated by the Highlanders who furnished most of the fighting men, the council's decisions reflected Highland priorities above all others, creating a divided leadership that competed with a separate civilian Privy Council drawn more heavily from Lowland gentry.
not recorded
Jacobite field army of roughly 5,500 men; council of 15 to 20 senior leaders dominated by Highland chiefs
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