Forensics Team work on Battle of Culloden

[longshadows]

(Ran across this interesting article and thought y'all might enjoy it. mp)

Forensics team closes in on Culloden graves
(Scotsman.com)

THE BATTLE of Culloden – described in countless of books – still has an unfinished chapter in its 260-year-old story.
A lone sign is the only indication that British forces were laid to rest at Culloden.


A lone sign is the only indication that British forces were laid to rest at Culloden.

The battlefield south-east of Inverness is now dotted with a number of stone memorials to the dead. The monuments pay tribute to the thousand or two clan members who died in battle. The Well of the Dead, to name one memorial, honours Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass, whose Clan Chattan forces breached the first line of the British government defences before he was killed.

What is still missing after all these years, however, is a suitable acknowledgement of the government forces who died and a precise account of where they are buried. While the Jacobite army consisted mainly of Scots Highlanders, the government side was comprised of English as well as Scottish troops. In fact, three of the 15 government infantry regiments fighting that day under the Duke of Cumberland were Scottish.

However you look at the battle - whether you are English or Scottish, Irish or Welsh - there are justifiable reasons to honour all men who sacrificed their lives. Culloden was not only a battlefield, it was a burial ground to many on both sides of that moorland.
More reading

* Culloden: bloody scene of the defeat of the Jacobites

It is of particular interest to both the National Trust for Scotland, managers of the historic site, and to specialists in the area of battlefield archaeology such as Tony Pollard, who want to offer a more balanced representation of the event in 1746. And whilst Scottish clans made efforts to remember the fallen, it so far cannot be said of those lost among Cumberland's men.

"I think there is greater need to be doing some form of investigative work on British [government] army graves," says Pollard, project manager for Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division and lead research-investigator of the Culloden battlefield. "At the moment we have several facets of the evidence which suggests where the graves are within the Field of the English - between 40 and 50 men."

There is only one stone memorial to the government - "Field of the English: they were buried here", it reads starkly - but no exact location of graves or trenches has ever been registered. Government casualty figures – those who were killed in action or injured – total around 360 but there is less certainty on the number who died.

"It's not unusual for a victorious side to play down its losses and play up those of the enemy," says Pollard. "So there might actually had been less Jacobites killed in the battle and more British soldiers killed. So one of the interesting things to do is to determine how many men are buried."
A composite image of both sides of the silver Thaler found on the battlefield site, circa 1752.<br/>Picture: Courtesy Tony Pollard


A composite image of both sides of the silver Thaler found on the battlefield site, circa 1752.

Pollard and his team of forensic archaeologists have uncovered new evidence that might point to the location of a larger gravesite. He recounts a recent discovery and what the finding may mean:

"We actually found this silver coin, a German Thaler. It doesn’t relate to the battle as such; it's dated 1752. I have little doubt that it was dropped by a British soldier who'd seen service on the Continent … and had come back to visit the graves of his fallen comrades, probably while they were still marked with low mounds before they got ploughed out," Pollard says.

"I think, literally, that is an 'X' that marks the spot. I think there's a good chance we have actually tied down the position of those graves. It's not unusual to leave some form of offering for whatever personal reasons. And I think we can safely say that that German silver coin was left deliberately rather than dropped."

Literally hundreds of pieces of evidence have been unearthed from the top layers of the battlefield since Pollard's team began their investigation six years ago. He is closer than ever to finding the government graves – presumably a mass grave – and you can hear the excitement in his voice as he describes the slow unravelling of the mystery.

"One of our tasks throughout has been to locate this unmarked grave," Pollard says. "We did geophysics as part of our survey and came up with a number of anomalies – one of which looks quite regular, quite square and could be a grave."
With a colourful friend in the background, the team of researchers work to pinpoint the government graves at Culloden.<br/>Picture: Courtesy Tony Pollard

With a colourful friend in the background, the team of researchers work to pinpoint the government graves at Culloden.


As a national historic site with government protections, Pollard understands the importance of working carefully and with a high level of decency as to not upset the graves once found.

"I respect the fact that those graves are a place of pilgrimage. The graves are a scheduled monument and they are protected by law," he says. "But that doesn't mean to say that I think we shouldn’t be digging graves. There are places there that I think we should be investigating."

Pollard says that, with further work conducted by his team, there is a need to offer an accurate account of the event and aftermath.

"It would allow us to pinpoint that site and mark it accordingly and give it the same degree of reverence and memorialisation as has been the case of the Jacobites. The British soldiers have served their time and they deserve it."

[Southern Breeze]

That's an interesting article. It's good to know that history is not being forgotten.

[pdcorlis]

Very cool story - thank you for the thread!

[Kilted KT]

Thanks for posting that. Good to see how there is still interest in learning exactly how the battle went, from the perspective of physical evidence.

[An t-Ileach]

The Battle of Culloden was a terrible tragedy, possibly the greatest to have occured on British soil in historic time. Obviously all the fallen should be remembered and commemorated, and that includes Government soldiers.

But not all of those fighting for Prince Charles Edward that day were actually Jacobites - many were there out of clan loyalty and some strange concept of obligation to the Stuart kings who had rarely returned it.

The tragedy of the battle was partly the stupidity of the Prince (and his not listening to Murray) that led to the defeat, but overwhelmingly the vindictive destruction of the Highlands - its language, culture, economy, and social structure - with the Great Exile that followed by the Union government egged on by the Lowlanders.

In this even loyalist clansmen suffered, and ironically few of the Lowland and English Jacobites paid a penalty similar to what was exacted from the Gaels. It is the injustice and genocide that makes the tragedy rankle among the Scots to this day.

It is sad that neither the Westminster government nor the Scottish Parliament saw fit to commemorate the 260th Anniversary in any formal way.

Well, Clan Donald was there, anyway.

[macwilkin]

The Battle of Culloden was a terrible tragedy, possibly the greatest to have occured on British soil in historic time. Obviously all the fallen should be remembered and commemorated, and that includes Government soldiers.

But not all of those fighting for Prince Charles Edward that day were actually Jacobites - many were there out of clan loyalty and some strange concept of obligation to the Stuart kings who had rarely returned it.

The tragedy of the battle was partly the stupidity of the Prince (and his not listening to Murray) that led to the defeat, but overwhelmingly the vindictive destruction of the Highlands - its language, culture, economy, and social structure - with the Great Exile that followed by the Union government egged on by the Lowlanders.

In this even loyalist clansmen suffered, and ironically few of the Lowland and English Jacobites paid a penalty similar to what was exacted from the Gaels. It is the injustice and genocide that makes the tragedy rankle among the Scots to this day.

It is sad that neither the Westminster government nor the Scottish Parliament saw fit to commemorate the 260th Anniversary in any formal way.

Well, Clan Donald was there, anyway.

This is one of the best posts ever written on Xmarks, INMHO.

I would just add a mention of one of the unsung heroes of the '45, besides Lord George Murray -- Lord Duncan Forbes of Culloden -- Forbes, although a Government man, showed nothing but the best of Highland hospitality to the Bonnie Prince when he stayed at Culloden House, and then unsuccessfully argued against the actions of the Butcher against the rebels after the rebellion was over. Like many Scots, Forbes was simply caught in the middle.

Lest we forget.

Todd

[bubba]

The aftermath of Culloden was entirely for the purpose of destroying the highland Clan system which had given the English a very bad time previously. It did succeed in destroying the power of the Clan system for all time and getting rid of those seen as troublemakers and rebels securing absolute control of the highlands for the Loyalists.

[macwilkin]

The aftermath of Culloden was entirely for the purpose of destroying the highland Clan system which had given the English a very bad time previously. It did succeed in destroying the power of the Clan system for all time and getting rid of those seen as troublemakers and rebels securing absolute control of the highlands for the Loyalists.

Bubba,

The use of the term "Loyalists" is not really correct in this instance. See David's post and my reference to Lord Duncan Forbes -- many Highlanders who were loyal to the Hanoverians received just as much abuse from Cumberland as did Jacobite Highlanders.

Regards,

Todd

[Colin]

This is one of the best posts ever written on Xmarks, INMHO.

I would just add a mention of one of the unsung heroes of the '45, besides Lord George Murray -- Lord Duncan Forbes of Culloden -- Forbes, although a Government man, showed nothing but the best of Highland hospitality to the Bonnie Prince when he stayed at Culloden House, and then unsuccessfully argued against the actions of the Butcher against the rebels after the rebellion was over. Like many Scots, Forbes was simply caught in the middle.

Lest we forget.

Todd

Good ponit Todd, but let's also not forget James Wolfe, who though he did fight for the English side, showed true honour. He later was chosen to lead the British assault on Quebec and the Plains of Abraham, and fought beside many of the disposed Highlanders he had fought at Culloden. Wolfe played a big role in the shape of my country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolfe

[Pleater]

Oh I am come to the low country
Ochone Ochone Ochree
Without a penny in my purse
to buy a meal for me

It was not so in the Highland hills
Ochone Ochone Ocree
No woman in the country wide
So happy was as me
...........................................

That woeful day what need I tell
Ochone Ochone Ochree
My Donald and his country fell
Upon Culloden field

Ochone Oh my Donald oh
Ochone Ochone Ochree
No woman in the whole world wide
So wretched now as me

First two and last two verses of a song I sing. I have a book in which I wrote down all my songs, and this is number 10, so I have sung it for 35 years.