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Siege of Fort George (1746)
Part of the Jacobite rising of 1745
The Castle of Inverness, J. Clack
Date 21 February 1746 Location Inverness, Scotland, Great Britain57°35′02″N 4°04′04″W / 57.584°N 4.0677°W / 57.584; -4.0677 Result Jacobite/French victory
Belligerents
British Jacobites  France	British Government
Commanders and leaders
James Drummond John O'Sullivan	George Grant
Strength
3,000	266
Casualties and losses
Light	266 killed, wounded and captured
class=notpageimage| Location within Inverness area

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.

Background

By early February 1746, John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, supporter of the British government had nearly 2,000 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 to quit Inverness in view of the superior size of the Jacobite force. The Independent Companies were then transported over the Cromarty Firth, then over the Dornoch Firth 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 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 in Edinburgh, he complained that Grant could have held the Jacobites at bay for a few more days, and the Duke of Cumberland 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 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.

Notes

1. The original Fort George in the Scottish Highlands was built on the site of Inverness Castle after the Jacobite rising of 1715 and is not to be confused with the later Fort George built north-east of Inverness after the Jacobite rising of 1745.

References

1. ^ Simpson, Peter (1996). The Independent Highland Companies, 1603–1760. John Donald Publishers. p. 133. ISBN 0-85976-432-X..
2. ^ Duffy, Christopher (2007). The '45, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Untold Story of the Jacobite Rising. Phoenix Books. p. 447. ISBN 978-0-7538-2262-3.
3. "Inverness Castle Am Balie". ambaile.org.uk. Am Ballie. Retrieved 2 September 2012.

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Scottish clans Clan chief Independent Highland Companies The Highlands Union of the Crowns Wars of the Three Kingdoms Restoration Covenanters The Killing Time James II & VII Glorious Revolution William III & II and Mary II Jacobite succession "James III & VIII", The Old Pretender "Charles III", The Young Pretender Queen Anne Act of Settlement 1701 Sophie, Electress of Hanover George I George II Toryism Neo-Jacobite Revival (Royal Stuart Society) Jacobite consorts
Jacobite risings	First rising (1689) Williamite War in Ireland Nine Years' War King William's War Viscount Dundee Sir Ewen Cameron Patrick Sarsfield General Hugh Mackay Battle of Killiecrankie Battle of Dunkeld Massacre of Glencoe Battle of the Boyne Declaration of Finglas Battle of Aughrim Siege of Limerick Treaty of Limerick The Fifteen (1715) …in Cornwall …in England 1715 general election Earl of Mar Rob Roy Lord Lovat Baronet Munro Battle of Preston Siege of Inverness Battle of Sheriffmuir The Nineteen (1719) War of the Quadruple Alliance Earl Marischal Marquess of Tullibardine General Joseph Wightman Anglo-French Alliance Capture of Eilean Donan Castle Battle of Glen Shiel Battle of Coille Bhan The Forty-Five (1745) War of the Austrian Succession Lord George Murray Lochiel Duke of Cumberland Battle of Prestonpans Siege of Carlisle Battle of Falkirk Muir Siege of Inverness Battle of Culloden Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore Abortive 1708 1744 1759	a Jacobite banner
Consequences and later events	Early Riot Act 1714 Clan Act 1715 Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1715 Disarming Act 1715 and 1725 Indemnity Act 1717 The Forty-Five Jurors Act 1745 Act of Proscription 1746 Dress Act 1746 Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1746 Sheriffs Act 1747 Treason Outlawries Act 1748 Traitors Transported Act 1746 Old military roads of Scotland
Jacobite succession	"James III and VIII" "Charles III" "Henry IX and I" "Charles IV" Victor "Mary II" "Francis I" "Mary III" "Robert I and IV" Albert "Francis II" Max Sophie Joseph

• Conflicts in 1746
• 1746 in Scotland
• 18th-century sieges
• Sieges involving Great Britain
• Battles of the Jacobite rising of 1745
• 18th century in Inverness
• Sieges involving Scotland