Jacobite Rebellions

1689 to 1745

Royalists — versus — Jacobians

Introduction : 

"Gentlemen", he cried, drawing his sword, "I have thrown away the scabbard."

When James II, ascended to the English throne in 1685 he was the first Catholic monarch in nearly 130 years. For once, the Anglicans and Puritans of England, ever at each others throat, were united in opposition but since James had only two daughters by his first wife, and they had been raised as Protestants, no effort was yet made to depose him. In 1688 however, a son was born and with the prospect of a Catholic succession, there arose almost immediately, a widespread movement to depose James II and raise one of his protestant daughters to the throne. Within a year William III and Mary were crowned King and Queen of England, and James II was sent into exile. Catholic Ireland however, immediately declared for James II, but after several years, this rebellion was put down by Williamite Royalists. A smaller scale rebellion in Scotland was also put down at this time and for thirty years there was no further significant resistance. France and other Catholic countries however, still recognized James II and his descendants as the legitimate heirs to the English throne, and his cause was also popular in Ireland and Scotland. Loyalists to James II and his line were called Jacobites because Jacobus is the Latin form of James.

Further resistance by the Jacobite factions did not occur until both Mary and Anne Stuart died without issue, and the English crown was passed from the Stuarts to the German Hanoverians. This caused a great resurgence of sympathy of the Jacobite cause especially in Scotland, where the Stuarts had held sway for over 300 years. The two most famous Jacobite risings, in 1715 and 1745 occurred during the reign of the Hanovers, and were both centered in Scotland. Ireland, as always, was sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, but penal laws and other oppressive measures inflicted on the Irish following the Williamite War in Ireland, made it difficult for the Irish to lend much martial support to the cause.

Williamite War in Ireland : 1689-1690

The Phoenix breaking the boom at the siege of Londonderry

Catholic Ireland was a bastion of support for James II. As soon as he had come to the throne he had made reforms in Ireland favorable to the Catholics who had lost almost all of their rights and properties after the Cromwell's conquests of 1650. He had appointed Catholic deputies and as soon as he was deposed in England, Ireland declared support for him. The only Protestant garrison in Ireland at the time was in Londonderry, and the Irish army immediately besieged the city. The siege was lifted after three months by heroic naval action, and the Jacobites were eventually driven out of Ulster. Unfortunately for Ireland, its native army was enthusiastic, but largely untrained, undisciplined and unarmed, and simply could not stand against the far more seasoned and disciplined English troops. After being forced to raise the siege of Londonderry, it was routed at the battle of Newtown Butler.

The Jacobite cause in Ireland was finally lost however, at the Battle of the Boyne, the first battle fought after William III landed on the island in 1690. The day was won by the English, but the Jacobites did not lose heart until James II, shortly after the battle, retired from Ireland and sailed back to France. This thoroughly demoralized the Jacobite troops that had pinned every hope on him, and desertions were rampant. Conversely, the Ulstermen who fought for William III did so with near fanatical zeal because they feared that a Catholic Ireland would lead to their utter ruin.

Jacobite Rising in Scotland : 1689

The Deliverer had come.

The Jacobite Rising in Scotland was primarily the work of Viscount Dundee, who was able to raise an army of highlanders in support of the cause of James II. The famous battle of Killiecrankie ended up as a route, with the Jacobite highlanders prevailing soundly over the covenanter lowlanders, but Dundee, their fearless leader, was killed in action. Undaunted, the highlanders continued to hold their own against the Scottish royalists, but when news of the defeat of James II at the Battle of Boyne arrived, it was determined that the cause was lost and resistance in Scotland ceased.

Rebellion of Fifteen : 1715

The exiled Stuarts

There were no further major Jacobite rebellions during the reigns of William III and Mary, and Anne Stuart. When it became clear that neither Anne nor Mary would produce an heir, and the throne must pass from the Stuart line to the Hanoverians of Germany, there was predictable dissention in the realm. By this time James Stuart, the son of James II was a grown man, and had he been willing to renounce his Catholicism, he would likely have been accepted as king, but this he would not do. The Jacobite cause, was as always, popular in Scotland, as well as among some English Tories who opposed the Hanoverian succession, and George I himself (who did not even speak English) was popular only with a small cadre of Whigs in parliament. In 1714 therefore, soon after George I was crowned the king of England, a conspiracy was hatched to bring back James Stuart a.k.a the "Old Pretender", and restore the Stuart line.

The plot spear-headed by the Earl of Mar in Scotland, succeeded in raising at least 8,000 highlanders, and took Perth. They were, however, generally unsuccessful against the government forces and the rebellion did not spread to the lowlands, as hoped. James Stuart himself eventually landed in Scotland, but did little to motivate or lead the troops. Just as his father had surrendered and returned to France after the loss at Boyne, the "Old Pretender" quickly realized the effort was futile and boarded the next available ship, leaving his supporters to fend for themselves.

Four years later, yet another Jacobite plot was hatched involving Spain and Spanish naval support, but it too came to naught.

Rebellion of Forty-five : 1745-1746

They took a sad farewell of each other.

The most romantic and best known of the Jacobite rebellions occurred the following generation, nearly thirty years after the abortive attempt of James Stuart to regain the throne in 1715. The rebellion of 1745 involved his son Charles Stuart, and occurred during the War of the Austrian succession, when Britain and France were openly at war. This rebellion differed somewhat from the others in that Charles Stuart himself was an enthusiastic advocate of the rebellion and personally led his troops in battle, even to the point of over-ruling the advice of some of his generals. He remained undaunted in spite of several setbacks, and the failure of promised support from France to materialize, and he assured his troops that he, unlike both his father and grandfather, would not retreat to France in case of difficulties.

Charles did succeed in raising an army in Scotland, won several important battles against the British, and claimed the Scottish cities of Perth and Edinburgh. He was aided in his early efforts by the fact that many of Britain's most experienced troops were deployed to Europe. Eventually however, the brother of George II, known as the Duke of Cumberland, led an army against him, and at the Battle of Culloden the Jacobites were defeated with great loss. Charles briefly continued his fight, but after massive desertions realized his cause was lost and that he would have to flee the country. By this time, there was a great reward for his capture and all of Scotland was being ransacked by British soldiers in search of him. He made good his escape by dressing as a maid-servant with the help of the famous Flora MacDonald and many other faithful Scottish loyalists.

The Jacobite cause suffered seriously from the failed invasion of 1745 and at the close of the War of the Austrian succession in 1748 Britain insisted as part of the peace, that France stop supporting the Jacobite cause and expel the Stuarts from their dominions. Britain also took active measures to destroy the clan system in Scotland that had lent support to continual rebellions against the British government, by disarming the clans, reducing the power of the local chieftains, and prohibiting native highland dress. With these measures, and the lack of active support for the Stuart cause by any major European power, the Jacobite cause was irrecoverably lost.

	Image Links
The Entry of Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, into Edinburgh  in Hanoverians	Colloden Moor after the Battle, 1746  in Hanoverians	The First meeting of Flora Macdonald and Prince Charles Edward  in Hanoverians
William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, Third son of George II.  in Hanoverians	James II. landing at Kinsale  in Ireland: Peeps at History	The Phoenix breaking the boom at the siege of Londonderry  in Ireland: Peeps at History
The Siege of Londonderry  in Ireland: Peeps at History	The flight of James II.: After the Battle of Boyne  in Ireland: Peeps at History	They took a sad farewell of each other.  in Our Island Story
Gentlemen', he cried, drawing his sword, 'I have thrown away the scabbard.'  in Scotland's Story	King William III. at the Battle of the Boyne  in Tudors and Stuarts