Prestonpans, Battle of Prestonpans Monument
Who Fought
Jacobite force of fewer than 2,000 men under Charles Edward Stuart and George Murray; British government army under Sir John Cope, comprising cavalry, infantry, and artillery
History & Significance
The Battle of Prestonpans, 21 September 1745, took place near Prestonpans, in East Lothian. It was the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Jacobite forces, led by the exiled Charles Edward Stuart and George Murray, defeated a British government army under Sir John Cope, whose inexperienced troops broke in the face of a Highland charge. The battle lasted less than thirty minutes, was a huge boost to Jacobite morale, and established the revolt as a serious threat.
The War of the Austrian Succession began in 1740, and by 1745, much of the British Army was based in Flanders. Encouraged by French victory at Fontenoy in April 1745, Charles Edward Stuart sailed for Scotland in July, hoping to take advantage of the situation. On landing at Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides on 23 July, most of those contacted advised him to return to France, but enough were eventually persuaded, notably Donald Cameron of Lochiel, whose tenants provided a large proportion of the Jacobite force. The rebellion was formally launched at Glenfinnan on 19 August.
Sir John Cope, government commander in Scotland, was a competent soldier with between 3,000 and 4,000 troops available, but many were inexperienced recruits. He was hampered by poor intelligence and advice, particularly from the Marquess of Tweeddale, the Secretary of State for Scotland, who consistently underestimated the severity of the revolt. Once Charles's location was confirmed, Cope left his cavalry and artillery at Stirling under Thomas Fowke and marched on Corrieyairack Pass, the primary access point between the Western Highlands and the Lowlands. Control would allow Cope to block the route into Eastern Scotland, but he found the Highlanders already in possession and withdrew to Inverness on 26 August.
Jacobite objectives remained unclear until early September, when Cope learned they were using the military road network to advance on Edinburgh. Concluding that the only way to reach the city first was by sea, his troops were loaded onto ships at Aberdeen. They began disembarking at Dunbar on 17 September but once again he was too late: Charles had entered the Scottish capital earlier that day, although Edinburgh Castle remained in government hands.
Joined at Dunbar by Fowke and the cavalry, Cope was confident that he was strong enough to defeat a poorly armed Jacobite army of fewer than 2,000. At the same time Charles ordered his forces to move eastward from Edinburgh, and the two armies made contact on the afternoon of 20 September. Cope drew up his forces facing south, with a marshy area immediately in front, park walls protecting their right and cannon behind the embankment of the Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway, which crossed the battlefield.
The ground they fought on
The site of Prestonpans, Battle of Prestonpans Monument lies on Clackmannan Group, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is sedimentary rock cycles, clackmannan group type.
One of the more striking episodes of the battle concerned the artillery commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Whitefoord, who was left deserted by his gunners as the Highland charge came on. Facing certain capture, his life was spared by Stewart of Invernahyle, a Jacobite officer, and Whitefoord walked from the battlefield unharmed. He later returned the favour by securing a pardon for Stewart after he was captured at Culloden in April 1746, a personal act of honour that stood in sharp contrast to the wider fate of the Jacobite prisoners taken after that final defeat.
- Government losses approximately 300 to 500 killed or wounded and a further 500 to 600 captured; Jacobite casualties estimated at 35 to 40 dead and 70 to 80 wounded
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Battle of Prestonpans · Wikipedia
- Prestonpans · Wikipedia