Siege of Culloden House (1745)

Who Fought

History & Significance

The siege of Culloden House took place on the night of 15/16 October 1745 and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1745. 200 men of the Jacobite Clan Fraser of Lovat attempted to capture Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden who was the Lord President of the Court of Session, the most senior legal officer in Scotland.

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat, had for a long time held back in committing himself to the Jacobite cause. However, according to historian Christopher Duffy he sent one of his leading clansmen, James Fraser of Foyers, to kidnap Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden who was the leader of the British-Hanoverian cause in the north-east of Scotland. Historian Sarah Fraser, however, states that Lovat did not want anything to do with the kidnapping of his old friend Duncan Forbes of Culloden. Sarah Fraser states that the Jacobite leader Charles Edward Stuart issued an order at Holyrood House on 23 September 1745 that was addressed to James Fraser of Foyers who was head of the aggressively Jacobite Stratherick men to carry Duncan Forbes as "prisoner to us at Edinburgh". Lovat actually wrote to Duncan Forbes informing him that he was about to be kidnapped and Forbes fortified and garrisoned Culloden House.

200 of the Stratherrick Frasers advanced on the battlemented Culloden House. They were led by Fraser of Foyers and Fraser of Byerfield who was Lovat's aggressive chamberlain. According to Duffy they scampered off when they came under fire. As the Jacobites approached they were met with a rally of gunfire and a Swivel gun was also used to fire at them. According to Sarah Fraser, some of John Campbell, Lord Loudoun's men from his Independent Company[A] had been on sentry duty who the Jacobites exchanged musket fire with, but as cannon balls tore into their cover, the Jacobites fled. The Jacobites had suffered one man killed. A search of the area the next day found another Jacobite who was wounded and who confessed that they had been led by James Fraser of Foyers and had been sent by Lord Lovat. According to Alexander Mackenzie's History of the Frasers of Lovat, the Stratherrick men failed to take Culloden House, referring to it as the Castle of Culloden, which was strongly fortified and had several pieces of cannon on its ramparts.

According to Sarah Fraser, Lovat wrote to Duncan Forbes apologising for the "base barbarous, inhuman, and distracted attempt and behaviour" of the Stratherick men at Culloden House. Lovat also said that his son, the Master of Lovat, was on the point of leaving to join the rebels, taking hundreds with him, and that he was powerless to stop him. Lord Loudoun (John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun) who supported the British-Hanoverian Government, suspecting the loyalty of Lord Lovat, sent an expedition to Castle Downie on 11 December 1745 where they captured Lovat and brought him back as a prisoner to Inverness. However, Lovat escaped to freedom on the night of 19 December 1745. According to historian Ruairidh MacLeod, the reaction in the Highlands to the unsuccessful attempt of James Fraser of Foyers to capture or kill the Lord President Forbes at Culloden House, was of profound shock.

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Culloden House (1745) lies on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Culloden House (1745)

Lower Cullernie, settlement 415m SSW of

Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Lower Cullernie is a settlement situated 415 metres south-south-west of Cullernie in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The monument occupies ground underlain by Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock, a mixed deposit of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Middle Devonian perio…

Isle View,ring cairn 125m SW of

Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~0.8 mi

Isle View is a Bronze Age ring cairn located in Inverness-shire, Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The monument sits upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a formation of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Mid…

Allanfearn,barrows 300m WNW of

Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Allanfearn Barrows is a Bronze Age burial monument located 300 metres west-north-west of Allanfearn in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The site comprises a group of burial mounds constructed during the second millennium before Christ, when such barrows served as communal or individual graves for the d…

Blackhill, palisaded enclosure 260m SW of

Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~0.9 mi

Blackhill is a post-medieval palisaded enclosure located in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The monument lies on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a durable conglomerate and sandstone formation laid down during the Middle Devonian period. This geological foundation would have provided a firm base f…

Blackhill, pit circles 300m WNW of

Scheduled monument · ~1.1 mi

Blackhill pit circles is a Bronze Age ceremonial or domestic site located in Inverness-shire, around 300 metres west-north-west of Blackhill. The monument comprises a series of circular depressions, characteristic of pit circle structures that typically date to the Bronze Age and represent the re…

Lower Cullernie,ring-ditch 750m ESE of

Scheduled monument · ~1.2 mi

Lower Cullernie is a ring-ditch monument located in Inverness-shire, approximately 750 metres east-south-east of Cullernie. The site sits upon bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a formation of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Middle Devonian period. This geol…

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Battles near Siege of Culloden House (1745)

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• Siege of Culloden House · Wikidata
• Siege of Culloden House (1745) · Wikipedia