Culloden battle was won by the sword, not the musket, says professor
New research on the Battle of Culloden claims to reveal the truth behind the downfall of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army.
New research on the Battle of Culloden claims to reveal the truth behind the downfall of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army.
Glasgow University professor Murray Pittock has studied written evidence, battlefield archaeology and weapons surrender from battle at Culloden Moor in April 1746 and claims swords, not muskets, handed victory to the government troops.
His research flies in the face of the popular perception that the primitive claymore-wielding Jacobite army was beaten by the musket power and cannon fire of the British government redcoats.
He said: "Arguably no battle out of living memory is remembered so powerfully and so falsely.
"On Culloden Moor what was, in some ways, the last Scottish army sought to restore the Stuarts to a multi-kingdom monarchy more aligned to European politics than colonial struggle. They were in many essentials a regular army.
"Outnumbered but not outgunned, cavalry proved their downfall.
"My own archival research and the battlefield archaeology of the site shows that it was not British ball that brought down kilted swordsmen as much as British dragoon blades that cut down Jacobite musketeers.
"Culloden as it happened is in fact much more interesting than Culloden as it is remembered."
The research is part of his book Culloden published last week.