Scottish Blog

The Battle of Falkirk is one of the last instances of the second Jacobite Uprising which the Jacobites could have claimed as a success.

The 17th of January, 1746, saw the Battle of Falkirk take place in Falkirk, Scotland. The two forces facing were the English, led by Henry Hawley, and the Jacobites, led by the Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart) and Lord George Murray. The English had approximately seven thousand men at their disposal, compared the Scottish five thousand.

According to all records, the Battle of Falkirk was wrought with mistakes in judgment, which were not at all assisted by the torrential rain and heavy winds during the battle itself. On the 17th of January, the Jacobite army approached the English forces at Falkirik. Although the English were warned by a messenger and lookout that the Jacobites were approaching, Henry Hawley chose not to believe the message and gave no order to prepare. By the time the second messenger came, with news that the Jacobites were about to attack, it was too late to set the artillery to fire, as it had been bogged down in the rain conditions.

The Battle of Falkirk continued in disarray, as orders were given to retaliate against the Jacobites, orders to fire were not given until the forces were ten paces apart. Although the first volley saw almost eighty Jacobites fall, it still led to the retreat of the three dragoon regiments which had fired the shots. The retreat in turn saw a number of formations being disrupted. The fighting escalated, while the storm grew in intensity.
Eventually, the Battle of Falkirk was in such confusion that neither commander was sure of the outcome at the end of the fighting. Although, historic records now show that it was the Jacobites who came out as the winners, losing only fifty men with eighty being injured, while the English suffered a total of three hundred deaths and three hundred captured men.