The Capture of Eilean Donan Castle was an land-based naval engagement that took place in 1719 during the British Jacobite rising of that year, and the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy (geographical region), Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North Amer ...

. A British naval

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

force of three ships attacked the castle of

Eilean Donan Eilean Donan ( gd, Eilean Donnain) is a small tidal island situated at the confluence of three sea lochs (Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh) in the western Highlands of Scotland, about from the village of Dornie. It is connected to the mainl ...

on the west coast of Scotland, which was held by Spanish troops. After a naval bombardment, the British government forces stormed the castle, and the defenders surrendered. The castle was subsequently destroyed with gunpowder.

Background

The capture of

was a military action of the 1719 Jacobite Rising, a Spanish-backed attempt to restore James Stuart to the throne of Great Britain.Battle of Glenshiel@ads.ahds.ac.uk
by A. H. Miller. FSA Scot. It was led by British Jacobite exiles George Keith, 10th

Earl Marischal The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland. History The office of Marischal of Scotland (or ''Marascallus Scotie'' or ''Marscallus Scotiae'') had been hereditary, held by ...

, the

Marquess of Tullibardine Duke of Atholl, named for Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of h ...

and the

Earl of Seaforth Earl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781. History The Mackenzies trace their descent to Colin of Kintail (died 1278) ...

, chief of

Clan Mackenzie Clan Mackenzie ( gd, Clann Choinnich ) is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However ...

. On 11 April 1719, the British Jacobites landed near

Loch Alsh Loch Alsh (from the Scottish Gaelic ''Loch Aillse'', "foaming lake") is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to describe the surrounding country and the feuda ...

with 300

Spanish marines The Spanish Naval Infantry ( es, Infantería de Marina) is the naval infantry unit of the Spanish Navy () responsible for conducting amphibious warfare by utilizing naval platforms and resources. The Marine Corps is fully integrated into the A ...

and set up base in Eilean Donan; this was Mackenzie territory and selected to maximise potential recruits. Although 500 Mackenzies joined Seaforth, the British Jacobites had more arms and ammunition than they could use, they therefore stored the surplus in Eilean Donan with a garrison of 40-50 Spanish marines while the main force of about 1,000 marched on

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. At the beginning of May, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

sent five ships to the area for reconnaissance: two patrolling off

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

and three around Loch Alsh, adjacent to

Loch Duich Loch Duich (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Dubhthaich") is a sea loch situated on the western coast of Scotland, in the Highlands. History In 1719, British forces burned many homesteads along the loch's shores in the month preceding the Battle of Glen S ...

. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May, these latter three, the fifty-gun , the forty-four-gun HMS ''Enterprise'', the twenty-gun , anchored off Eilean Donan on the north side of Loch Duich.Lang & Shields p. 362

Assault

Their first move was to send a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate, but when the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat, it was recalled and all three ships opened fire on the castle for an hour or more. They then shifted anchorage and waited, the wind blowing a fresh gale. The next morning (11 May), acting on intelligence from a Spanish deserter, the commanding officer, Captain Chester Boyle of the ''Worcester'', sent the ''Enterprise'' up the loch to capture a house being used to store

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

but, according to the naval logs, the rebels on the shore set fire to the house as the ship approached. Meanwhile, the other two ships continued to bombard the castle at intervals while they prepared a landing party.Battle of Glenshiel
at Clan Cameron.org In the evening, under the cover of an intense cannonade, the ships' boats went ashore surrounding the castle on all sides and after scaling the walls captured the place against little resistance. The government forces had captured "an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a sergeant, one Scots rebel and thirty-nine Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot".

Aftermath

The Government troops then "burnt several barns etc where they had a quantity of corn for the use of their camp". The naval force spent the next two days demolishing the castle (it took twenty-seven barrels of gunpowder). The Spanish prisoners were put on board ''Flamborough'' and taken away to

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

and then

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The rising ended with the defeat of the Jacobites with the remaining Spanish troops on 10 June at the

Battle of Glen Shiel The Battle of Glen Shiel ( gd, Blàr Ghleann Seile) took place on 10 June 1719 in the West Scottish Highlands, during the 1719 Jacobite Rising. A Jacobite army composed of Highland levies and Spanish marines, was defeated by British troops, rei ...

. Eilean Donan would stand in ruins for over 200 years until 1919 when it was rebuilt, restored and finished in 1932 by

John MacRae-Gilstrap Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap (31 December 1861 – January 1937) was a British army officer and a senior figure of the Clan Macrae. He contested a rival claim to the chiefship of the clan, and in 1912 he purchased and subsequently resto ...

. File:Eilean Donan Castle, pre 1911.jpg, The ruins of the castle in the 19th century File:Eilean Donan plan 3.png, Plan of the castle at the time of the capture

References

Bibliography

* ''Misión en Escocia'' (pp. 68–74), ''

Muy Interesante ''Muy Interesante'' (meaning ''Very Interesting'' in English) is a monthly popular science magazine which deals with fun facts and current events, such as the development of nanotechnology, physics, biology, astronomy, genetics, neurosciences, ...

'' 288, May 2005, Abraham Alonso. * ''A History of Scotland'',

J. D. Mackie John Duncan Mackie CBE MC (1887–1978) was a distinguished Scottish historian who wrote a one-volume history of Scotland and several works on early modern Scotland. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Mackie was educated at Middlesbrough High S ...

, p. 273,
''The Jacobite Attempt of 1719''
William K. Dickson (1895) * *

External links

Battle of Glen Shiel@Historynet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Eilean Donan 1719 in Great Britain 1719 in Scotland Jacobite rising of 1719

Eilean Donan Castle Eilean Donan ( gd, Eilean Donnain) is a small tidal island situated at the confluence of three sea lochs (Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh) in the western Highlands of Scotland, about from the village of Dornie. It is connected to the mainl ...