The siege of Inverness (also known as the siege of Fort George) took place in February 1746 and was part of the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

Background

By early February 1746

John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (5 May 1705 – 27 April 1782) was a Scottish nobleman and British army officer. Early career Born in Scotland two years before the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain, in which his father Hug ...

, supporter of the British government had nearly 2000 men under his command, mostly from the Independent Highland Companies. He waited at Inverness for the Jacobites under Prince Charles Edward Stuart, however he was ordered by

Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden Duncan Forbes of Culloden (10 November 1685 – 10 December 1747) was a Scottish lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1737. As Lord President and senior Scottish legal officer, he played a major role in helpin ...

to quit Inverness in view of the superior size of the Jacobite force. The Independent Companies were then transported over the

Cromarty Firth The Cromarty Firth (; gd, Caolas Chrombaidh ; literally "kyles /nowiki>straits.html"_;"title="strait.html"_;"title="/nowiki>strait">/nowiki>straits">strait.html"_;"title="/nowiki>strait">/nowiki>straitsof_Cromarty.html" ;"title="strait">/no ...

, then over the

Dornoch Firth The Dornoch Firth ( gd, Caolas Dhòrnaich, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a nat ...

and into Sutherland without loss. Loudon's retreat had left him and his force 28 miles away from the Old Fort George in Inverness, which was now stranded beyond any possible hope of relief in the midst of the Jacobite force of 3,000 men.

Siege

The ''Old'' Fort George had somewhat cramped lines of defence, with the tower of the original tower house still standing inside the newer bastioned rampart. The governor of the fort, Major George Grant, had at his disposal two Independent Highland Companies, those of the Laird of Grant and the Master of Ross, as well as eighty or so regular troops of Guise's 6th Regiment who were reckoned "some of Loudon's best men". James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth assumed overall command on the Jacobite side, to the annoyance of

Sir John O'Sullivan Sir John William O'Sullivan (c. 1700 - c. 1760) was an Irish professional soldier, who spent most of his career in the service of France, but is best known for his involvement in the Jacobite rising of 1745, an attempt to regain the British th ...

who believed that he and the Marquis d'Eguilles were managing perfectly on their own. O'Sullivan carried out his reconnaissance on the morning of 19 February and saw that the fort's double layered defenses were too formidable for the Jacobites to escalade and also proof against the single cannon that was available to them. However, O'Sullivan noticed that the foundations were unstable and made the bastion facing the bridge vulnerable to mining. That evening O'Sullivan and Colonel James Grant set their men to work in opening the mine. They built an emplacement on the Bara Hill overnight, and on the morning of 20 February they opened fire with their cannon. The defenders of the fort were powerless to stop the progress of the mining; their hand grenades had little effect and they could not depress the barrels of their cannon sufficiently to bring them to bear on their enemies. Major George Grant, with good reason, feared that the rampart would be blown up beneath him, and therefore surrendered the fort on 21 February 1746.

Aftermath

When news of the surrender reached the

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

in Edinburgh, he complained that Grant could have held the Jacobites at bay for a few more days, and the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

exclaimed that he was "no way able to explain how, or by what it is so, but a silly affair it is". The Jacobites plundered the ample provisions from inside the fort and Prince Charles Edward Stuart ordered the curtain walls to be razed and the bastions blown up, in order for the fort to be of no use if it fell back into the hands of the government. This did however cost the life of one of his French sergeants who was inspecting a demolition charge that had hung fire. The two Government Independent Highland Companies that had been captured were later reformed after the Battle of Culloden and carried out useful service for the government.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inverness Conflicts in 1746 1746 in Scotland 18th-century sieges Sieges involving Great Britain Battles of the Jacobite rising of 1745 Siege, 1746 Looting in Europe