The Highbridge Skirmish, 1745

On August 16th, 1745, history was made as the Jacobite Rising of 1745 officially began with the Highbridge Skirmish. This engagement between government troops and Jacobites loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart took place at Highbridge, Lochaber, on the River Spean, and marked the start of hostilities between the two sides.

The background of the skirmish starts with Prince Charles, who had just landed in Scotland, meeting with supporters such as Donald Cameron of Lochiel and the Chief of the Clan MacDonald of Clanranald. As the Jacobites were gathering their forces, the Hanoverian governor of Fort Augustus dispatched two companies of the Second Battalion of the Royal Scots regiment under the command of a Captain (later General) Scott. These troops were sent to reinforce the government garrison at Fort William.

As the government troops, numbering around 85 men, marched along the road that linked the two forts, they encountered no resistance until they reached High Bridge over the River Spean. The bridge, which had been completed by General Wade less than ten years previously, was part of a network of military roads designed to facilitate troop movements across the Highlands.

As the government troops approached the bridge, they were met by Major Donald MacDonald of Tir nan dris and his band of 11 men and 1 piper, all of the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch. These Jacobites, armed with swords and muskets, were ready to meet the approaching enemy. It is said that by using the now-demolished High Bridge Inn as cover, the Jacobites deceived Captain Scott into thinking they were of a larger number. Captain Scott halted his men and sent forward a sergeant and servant to negotiate but both were taken prisoner. Scott then ordered his men to retreat and they began marching back the way they came. As they did so, they were fired on from both sides of the road. Captain Scott’s men returned fire but he and his men were forced to change direction and move off the road.

The Jacobites continued to pursue Captain Scott and his men, and they eventually found themselves completely surrounded on all sides by the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch and the Clan MacDonnell of Glengarry. MacDonald of Keppoch advanced alone to Scott’s party, required them to surrender, and offered them quarters. However, he also made it clear that if they resisted, they would be cut to pieces. Fatigued with a long march, and surrounded on all sides by increasing bodies of Jacobites, Captain Scott, who had been wounded, and with two of his men killed, accepted the terms offered, and surrendered. Soon after Donald Cameron of Lochiel arrived and took charge of the prisoners, whom he carried to his own house at Achnacarry.

This incident marked the commencement of the 1745 Jacobite uprising against the Hanoverian crown. The High Bridge itself was later superseded by a new bridge in 1819, and collapsed in 1913. The Highbridge Skirmish may have been small in scale, but it was significant in that it marked the start of a rebellion that would have a lasting impact on Scottish and British history.