More than 100 musket balls and cannon shots found in archaeological excavations at Scotland’s Culloden Battlefield are casting new light on one of the final and most desperate moments of the 1746 battle, the last fought on British soil. The discoveries, made earlier this month by a joint team from the University of Glasgow and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), may also mark the location where a small group of Irish troops made a courageous stand that allowed thousands of retreating Jacobite soldiers to escape.
The lead projectiles, which were discovered in an area north of the battlefield’s memorial cairn, were recovered from ground that was previously disturbed by commercial forestry in the mid-20th century and had long been thought to have little archaeological promise. However, metal detector surveys, trial trenching, and test pits all revealed an unexpected concentration of shots, including musket balls, pistol rounds, and even a three-pound cannonball, possibly fired by Jacobite artillery.
Preliminary analysis suggests the finds are related to a fierce skirmish that occurred during the final minutes of the battle on April 16, 1746. The engagement took place between the retreating Jacobite lines and the advancing government cavalry under the Duke of Cumberland. According to the researchers, about 150 Irish soldiers in French service, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stapleton, positioned themselves between the Jacobite army and hundreds of charging horsemen from Cobham’s Dragoons and Kingston’s Horse.
These Irish troops—known as the Irish Picquets—reportedly fired volleys into the approaching cavalry before taking shelter behind the walls of Culloden Park. Their determined resistance bought crucial time for many of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s remaining men to flee the field. Though ultimately overrun and suffering heavy losses, their stand has long been overshadowed in historical accounts. Surviving Irish soldiers were captured but, as regular troops in French service, were treated as prisoners of war rather than rebels. They were held on a prison ship in the Thames until being repatriated to France in early 1747.
The Battle of Culloden marked the brutal end of the Jacobite rising led by Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, who sought to reclaim the British throne for his exiled father, James Edward Stuart. Outnumbered and exhausted, the Jacobites faced off against the government army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. The battle lasted less than an hour but left approximately 1,600 men dead, most of whom were Jacobites. The defeat crushed the Stuart cause and transformed Highland society in its aftermath.
These discoveries confirm, for the archaeological team, that important evidence of the battle has indeed survived in terrain that had never been investigated before, and they shed new light on a little-known episode of bravery amidst chaos. Derek Alexander, NTS Head of Archaeology, said the results were beyond their expectations because this investigated area had seemed unlikely to yield finds. The work, supported by volunteers, has helped further refine understanding of how the battle unfolded across the landscape.
The National Trust for Scotland will use this new data to enhance the public interpretation of Culloden Battlefield and improve its preservation. The project leaders plan to conduct further analysis of the artifacts and their spatial distribution to confirm their exact relationship to the last stand of the Irish troops.
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