Siege of Inverness (1715)
Who Fought
History & Significance
The siege of Inverness that took place in November 1715 was part of the Jacobite rising of 1715. The town of Inverness and Inverness Castle were being held by the Clan Mackenzie, led by Sir John Mackenzie of Coul who supported the rebel Jacobite cause. Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat besieged them, supported by men of the Clan Rose and Clan Forbes.
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat had been living in exile with the prospect of his clan and lands being taken over by a Mackenzie who was married to Lady Amelia Fraser of Lovat, daughter of the 9th Lord Lovat and second cousin of Simon. Upon the outbreak of the Jacobite rising of 1715, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat returned to Scotland and despite being a staunch Jacobite offered his services to John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll who was in overall command of British forces in Scotland in order to restore himself in Scotland. This would be a severe blow to the Jacobites and so Argyll had to give him a chance.
Lord Lovat and John Forbes of Culloden who also supported the Government met up at Kilravock Castle with Hugh Rose, chief of the Clan Rose. Rose was a staunch supporter of the Hanoverian Government.
Lovat, Forbes and Rose formed up their united forces on the side of the River Ness opposite Inverness Castle. The Inverness Burgh Council (who supported the Jacobites) sent out a messenger asking for help from the chief of the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch. The MacDonalds approached the Frasers from the rear but Lovat sent the Reverend Thomas Fraser of Stratherrick to parlay with them and as Keppoch MacDonald did not want to fight his way into Inverness he headed south through the hills. Sir John Mackenzie of Coul had also sent a message to the Clan Mackintosh chief at Moy Hall requesting that he send 500 men to reinforce the 300 Mackenzies in Inverness. In response Lovat ordered his troops to break camp and head south of Inverness threatening to lay waste to Mackintosh country. The Mackintoshes backed down and swore that they only moved to defend their lands against MacDonald of Keppoch and that they did not want to take part in the rebellion.
Lovat held a council amongst his men with the Whig lairds preferring a siege to starve out the Jacobites, but he resolved to attack the town instead. However, before he could make a move Aurthur Rose, younger son of Rose of Kilravock, along with his brother Robert and a handful of men had drifted towards Inverness in a boat. Rose of Kilravock and Forbes of Culloden had already blockaded the town from the south east. Sir John Mackenzie, on learning of the imminent attack took up position in the Tolbooth, which was a strong building in the centre of the town, and served as the guard house. Arthur Rose had taken a sentry guard by surprise with his pistol in the dark and used him to get the door of the guard house open. Rose tried to storm in but the guard raised the alarm that he was an enemy and Rose ended up being crushed in the door and was shot dead in that position by the Mackenzies. His body was crushed and was riddled with bullets. He was the only fatality of the siege.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Inverness (1715) lies on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.
- Clans loyal to British Government: Clan Fraser of Lovat; Clan Rose; Clan Forbes; Clan Munro; Clan Grant: 1 killed
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- Siege of Inverness · Wikidata
- Siege of Inverness (1715) · Wikipedia