Cold Open

It’s the afternoon of July 23rd, 1745, near Eriskay, an island off the west coast of Scotland.

Huddled on a pitching rowboat, 24-year-old Charles Edward Stuart feels his stomach churn and rain lash his face as he stares through the gloom toward the gray strip of land ahead.

Charles is risking everything for this moment. Almost six decades ago, his grandfather, King James, was overthrown as ruler of England and Scotland. Since then, the Stuart family has lived in exile. Now, though, after a perilous voyage spent evading British warships, Charles has returned to reclaim his family’s lost throne.

The keel grinds against the sand. Charles is the first one over the side of the boat.

He drops into the knee-deep water and wades toward the beach. Lowering his head against the gale, his cloak whipping behind him, he takes his first steps on Scottish soil.

One by one, his companions follow him ashore. The wind tears at their clothes as they climb the beach toward the faint glow of a shepherd’s hut in the distance. The building is small, lonely, and battered by the weather. But after weeks at sea, it might as well be a palace.

If Charles Edward Stuart is to take back the throne for his family, he will have to adapt quickly. He will need to reach the mainland, raise an army, and then march on London—none of them easy tasks after he came ashore on Eriskay with just a handful of supporters at his side on July 23rd, 1745.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is July 23rd, 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Invasion.

Act One: The March of the Jacobites

It’s the afternoon of September 21st, 1745, at Prestonpans, a small town near Edinburgh, two months after Charles Edward Stuart landed in Scotland.

Accompanied by his personal bodyguard, Charles inspects the scene of a bloody battle. The field is littered with broken and discarded weapons. Only a few hours ago, this marshy stretch of ground around him was filled with men fighting for their lives. Now only the dead and dying remain, surrounded by shattered swords and discarded muskets.

The Battle of Prestonpans is only the latest chapter in a struggle that stretches back decades. Since the overthrow of Charles’ grandfather in 1688, supporters of the exiled Stuart dynasty have become known as “Jacobites”, and they have launched repeated attempts to reclaim the throne.

All of those have failed. But Charles hopes his campaign will be different. He’s fighting on behalf of his father, who calls himself James III, the rightful king of England. But his father is already in his late fifties. If Charles succeeds in his campaign, he may not have to wait too long to be king himself.

This is the first time a Stuart prince is leading the uprising in person, and already, several thousand Scottish Highlanders have gathered under the banner of the man they call “Bonnie Prince Charlie.” And today, this new army has won a stunning victory. Over 2,000 British soldiers were sent north to crush the latest Jacobite uprising. But it’s been the Stuart army that's triumphed.

As Charles surveys the battlefield, he watches a group of Highlanders weaving among the fallen, using their great claymore swords to finish off wounded enemies left behind in the rout.

Charles recoils at the sight and orders an immediate halt to the slaughter. Then, he sends his surgeons onto the battlefield to treat friend and foe alike. Although many of the wounded fought against him today, Charles considers them his father’s future subjects. And if the Stuarts are to inspire the loyalty of the British people, word of their mercy must spread far and wide.

This victory at Prestonpans leaves central Scotland largely under Jacobite control. Charles wants to launch an immediate invasion of England, but his Scottish allies are more cautious. They argue that the Jacobites should consolidate their position in Scotland before taking any such risk. And for weeks, they debate the next move. Charles insists that English supporters will join him and that French help is on its way. Eventually, Charles wins the argument, and it's agreed that the army will march south.

Crossing the border in November 1745, the Jacobites lay siege to the English city of Carlisle. It surrenders within six days, allowing Charles to ride triumphantly through the city gates, while his cheering supporters fill the streets.

Boosted by this success, Charles decides to press further into England. Despite the onset of winter, the Jacobites push south, eventually reaching the town of Derby, barely 120 miles from London. There, Charles takes up residence at Exeter House, a mansion owned by a wealthy widow.

Charles' rebellion seems to be gaining momentum. But underneath the surface, the campaign is in trouble. While Charles enjoys the comforts of Exeter House, his soldiers struggle to find adequate lodgings. The sudden arrival of 2,000 troops in Derby strains local food supplies. And since many roads are impassable due to bad weather, it’s not easy to bring in additional provisions.

But even more concerning is the lack of support for the Jacobite cause. Before launching his uprising, Charles had confidently predicted that the English would flock to his banner as he marched south. In reality, only a few hundred recruits have joined him since crossing the border. Charles also hoped that his family’s allies in France would come to his aid. But there is little chance for a French army crossing the Channel in midwinter.

Then, worse news follows. There are reports that King George II, the man that the Stuarts dismiss as an imposter, has raised several armies. 9,000 men now stand between Charles and London, and other forces are converging on the Jacobite position in Derby.

There is no way Charles can defeat a force of that size, and with his men going hungry and no hope of reinforcements, Charles’ advisers tell him they must retreat. Reluctantly, he abandons his dream of marching into London at the head of a popular uprising and instead sets off north back toward Scotland.

Charles hopes this withdrawal is only temporary—that the Jacobites can regroup and resume their campaign another day. But instead, they will march toward a new battlefield and one of the bloodiest days in Scottish history.

Act Two: Remember Culloden

It’s midday on April 16th, 1746, on Culloden Moor, in the Scottish Highlands, four months after the Jacobite retreat from Derby.

Mounted on a gray horse, Charles Edward Stuart brandishes a pair of ornate silver pistols. Raising them high above his head, he lets out a shout, and thousands of tartan-clad warriors answer with a thunderous cry. Battle is almost upon them.

Since he fled England, Charles’ fortunes have steadily declined. Although his army has swelled with fresh recruits and he was able to defeat an enemy army at Falkirk, he was unable to exploit that victory. He laid siege to Stirling Castle, but the formidable garrison there held out for weeks—and while Charles’ men remained in place, a powerful British army under the command of the Duke of Cumberland was advancing north toward the Jacobite position. Unwilling to face the Duke in battle, Charles lifted the siege and retreated to Inverness, a city in the far north of Scotland. But Cumberland followed relentlessly.

Last night, realizing he was outnumbered and outgunned, Charles approved a desperate gamble—a surprise attack on Cumberland’s camp under the cover of darkness. This plan quickly unraveled. The Jacobites moved slowly across the boggy ground between the two army camps. And by the time dawn broke, most of them still hadn’t reached their positions. Recognizing that the element of surprise was lost, Jacobite commanders were forced to call off the attack. The soldiers retreated, but they were now followed across the misty, rain-swept moor by the red-coated British. Forcing Charles to rouse his exhausted men for a battle he had hoped to avoid.

But Charles believes that victory is still possible. He won the Battle of Prestonpans with a maneuver known as the Highland Charge—a ferocious frontal assault designed to smash the enemy’s center with a single knockout blow. Hoping to defeat Cumberland before the Duke knows what has hit him, Charles orders his soldiers to charge again.

But after several minutes, the Jacobites have not moved. Charles sends messengers down the line to demand an explanation. And the men return with troubling news. Many soldiers who took part in the aborted night attack are in no state to launch a charge now. Others have yet to return and are presumed to have deserted. Meanwhile, the left flank is bogged down in marshland, and in places soldiers sink to their knees in the soggy ground. A charge is simply impossible.

Having lost the initiative, Charles can only watch as Cumberland positions his artillery. Soon, shells scream across the moor and rain down on the Jacobite ranks. One lands directly behind Charles, killing a manservant instantly and sending Charles’ horse stumbling to the ground.

But Charles quickly mounts a replacement horse and retreats out of range. But Cumberland's guns continue to thin the ranks of his army, and Charles soon faces a stark choice. He can retreat yet again, or he can fight. But here, in the far north of Scotland, there are few places left for his army to go. So, he chooses to attack. Even though the odds are stacked against his men, Charles orders another charge.

This time, the Jacobite army does surge forward. But the Highland Charge never develops its usual, deadly momentum. The left flank struggles across the boggy ground, presenting an easy target for Cumberland's cannons. And when the right flank reaches Cumberland's front line, it doesn’t have the numbers to overwhelm the enemy. Instead, the soldiers crash headlong into a wall of bayonets. And the few Jacobites who manage to break through this first line are quickly cut down by the second.

It soon becomes clear that the Jacobite army is doomed. Charles tries to rally the survivors, but his plea for one last, heroic charge falls flat. Then, he suffers a final indignity as a gust of wind blows his wig and hat off his head.

Bare-headed and humiliated, there is nothing Charles can do but flee. He knows that he can’t afford to be captured. If he becomes a hostage, King George II could use him to pressure Charles’ father into abandoning his family's claim to the throne. So, Charles instead abandons his army, and as isolated pockets of Jacobites make their last stand behind him, he gallops away.

After years of planning and months of marching back and forth across the country, the Jacobite uprising has collapsed in a single afternoon. Charles becomes the most wanted man in Britain. But for weeks, he will evade his pursuers—eventually fleeing all the way to the remote islands of the Outer Hebrides, where he first set foot on Scottish soil. There, he’ll take to the sea once again. But this time, he won’t be invading—he’ll be escaping.

Act Three: Over the Sea to Skye

It’s the early hours of June 29th, 1746, off Benbecula, an island in the Outer Hebrides, two months after the Battle of Culloden.

Charles Edward Stuart hunches over in a rowboat, pulling at the rough, quilted underskirt he's been forced to wear as part of his disguise. On the benches opposite him, four boatmen pull at the oars, rowing him and a small party of companions across the churning sea.

For months, Charles has lived on the run, surviving only on the generosity of Highland clans still sympathetic to his cause. He’s slept in crude huts, damp caves, and even on open moors. King George II has put up a reward of £30,000 for his capture, an immense fortune at a time when laborers are paid around £15 a year. It's enough to tempt anyone to betray him—so Charles is making this part of his journey dressed as a poor maidservant to avoid being spotted.

Needing a rest, the oarsmen pull into an opening in a cliff face. There, they eat a simple breakfast of bread and butter in silence, before pushing off, back into the waves. But as the rowboat emerges from the rocky inlet, Charles spots movement above them. Two soldiers are on the cliffs—and they’ve spotted Charles’ boat.

The soldiers point toward a beach, signaling that the boat should come ashore. Charles understands the danger immediately—from a distance, he might look like a woman, but up close, anyone will soon see through his disguise. Without hesitation, he orders the oarsmen to pull hard and head farther out to sea. The soldiers raise their guns and fire, but the bullets splash harmlessly into the water around the boat.

Hours later, the boat finally comes ashore on the Isle of Skye. There, Charles goes into hiding again while British soldiers comb the area. He evades capture and even makes it back to the mainland. But the rebellion is long finished. With no possibility of another Jacobite uprising, Charles eventually slips onto a ship bound for France, where he's safe. But his followers are not. More than a hundred are executed for their part in the rebellion. Another thousand are transported to an uncertain future in England’s colonies abroad.

Over the next few years, the British government will clamp down on the Scottish Highlanders who formed the backbone of Charles’ support. Traditional clans will be disarmed, the power of their chiefs will be reduced, and many of their estates will be confiscated.

Charles himself will never return to Britain to lead another uprising. Instead, he will drift back into exile, where he will die more than 40 years later, still claiming the throne on behalf of his family—a cause he refused to give up on, despite the failure of the invasion that began on July 23rd, 1745.

Outro

Next on History Daily. July 24th, 1983. A wave of violence against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka sparks a civil war.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Angus Gavan McHarg.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.