Dornoch, Tongue and Littleferry.
This week I’m getting away from the stress and strains of my day job. My wife and I have escaped for a getaway into the heart of the Sutherland countryside not far from the coastal town of Dornoch. It’s somewhere I have come to love to visit and it has lots of history to feed my thirst for knowledge regarding the 1745 Jacobite uprising. Last time I was in this area I stumbled across details of an engagement that I had never read about before - the Battle of Littleferry. I was aware of a famous Jacobite victory at the Battle of Dornoch. I also knew about the Skirmish at nearby Tounge which proved costly for the Jacobite leadership. But, the engagement at Littleferry, provides an important extra puzzle piece which for me brings the significance of all of these events into a sharper focus.
The Battle of Dornoch
The so called Battle of Dornoch - I say “so called” as no actual fighting seems to have taken place when on the 20th March an overwhelming force of around 1500 men coordinated by James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth landed at Meikle Ferry on the Dornoch Firth.
The first deployment included some 500 men of the Clan Fraser of Lovat and a further 300 of the Clan Gregor who arrived with the aim of marching towards Skibo Castle to attempt the capture of Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, a staunch supporter of the government and Lord President of the Court of Session. This would have been a very symbolic and effective challenge to the government of the day.
The government forces were totally unprepared. John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, who was at Dornoch had wrongly concluded that any Jacobite attack would come from across the River Shin and had left Dornoch earlier that very morning - almost certainly about the time that the first Jacobite forces embarked from Tain across the Dornoch Firth. The result was that a position held by a strong force loyal to the British-Hanoverian Government were forced into a hasty retreat.
It is estimated that 300 or so of Loudoun's regiment were taken prisoner but that as many as 900 escaped to the Isle of Skye. The Jacobites also captured four ships which were berthed at the Meikle Ferry as well as some 700 arms that were intended for Loudoun's Regiment.
The Skirmish at Tongue
Between the 25th and 28th March 1745, in the coastal village of Tongue, a French ship named the “Le Prince Charles”, (formerly “HMS Hazard”), carrying a large sum of gold - c. £13,000 - as well as arms and other supplies destined for Charles Edward Stuart was pursued into the Kyle of Tongue by the British frigate “HMS Sheerness”. Overnight the crew and soldiers aboard “Le Prince Charles”, some 180 in number, disembarked taking the money with them, only for Captain George Mackay, son of the chief of the Clan Mackay, and supporter of the British government to confront them at nearby Drum Nan Coup. Despite being outnumbered by more than two to one it took only a short exchange during which the Jacobite supporters suffered the loss of four or five men and with another six to ten taking injuries for Mackay to take the victory. He took c.156 men captive and secured the money, depriving the Jacobite leadership of much needed campaign funds.
HMS Sheerness c.1740
The Battle of Littleferry
Taking place on the 15th April 1745, the Battle of Littleferry (or the skirmish at Golspie as it is sometimes referred), was a veritable disaster for the Jacobite forces.
William,17th Earl of Sutherland was loyal to the British-Hanoverian Government, but he was seen by the Government in London as having been slow to raise and arm his clansmen to take action against the Jacobites and as such his loyalty was not considered absolute. At the same time the Jacobites had their own questions about William, and as a result the staunchly Jacobite Earl of Cromartie was sent with c.500 men against the Earl of Sutherland, storming Dunrobin castle. The Earl of Sutherland narrowly escaped capture fleeing through a rear exit of the castle.
After the storming of the castle at Dunrobin Cromartie is believed to have received orders to rejoin the prince Charles Edward Stuart at Inverness. Whether it was naivety, arrogance or just poor judgement Cromartie assumed that the Duke of Sutherlands men had fled and dispersed, and so it was that he allowed his men to march ahead, confident that he and his officers on horseback, could quickly catch up with the march. This proved a fateful and costly decision. Far from having been routed there were still some formidable Sutherland men in the hills and countryside around Dunrobin castle. These men returned to the fray under the leadership of a brave Ensign John Mackay he led the men to attack the gap between the Jacobite officers and their soldiers. Almost all of the Jacobite officers were quickly captured and many of the men were killed in that first attack. The rest of the marching men, lacking leadership and direction were driven onto the beach, where some were drowned trying to escape by swimming Loch Fleet.
Cromartie fled back to Dunrobin Castle where it is supposed that he sought to enlist the aid of the Countess of Sutherland who was suspected of being sympathetic with the Jacobite cause. The more romantic tales tales say that John Mackay, pistol in hand, forced his way into Dunrobin Castle, and took the Earl of Cromartie prisoner. Finding him rather unceremoniously hiding under a bed. However it came about he was certainly taken aboard a ship to London where he was impeached for high treason, along with others he was tried and condemned. Unlike many others Cromartie would later be pardoned.
The result was that almost all of Cromartie's men were either killed or taken prisoner, (reports vary but certainly as many as a hundred may have been killed at Littleferry).
What was most significant however was that Charles Edward Stuart, in just a few weeks was hit by the loss of hundreds of men taken prisoner or killed and thousands of pounds in gold, along with other supplies and arms. Reinforcements that he much needed, and which together may have been enough to rally his tiring troops and change the eventual outcome at Culloden.
Rebellion 1745
As I continue to work on Rebellion 1745, my TTRPG of the last Jacobite uprising I am constantly challenging myself as to what events I can realistically include in the campaign that the player characters will find themselves embroiled in. My aim has always been to conclude the campaign with a series of events following directly on from the final defeat at Culloden. Whether that meant seeing the Prince to safety, or ensuring their own survival by avoiding capture and making their way to the continent. But, ultimately I had always envisaged the players having their characters take part in the fateful battle at Culloden.
Digging into other events, such as Dornoch, Tongue and Littleferry has made me question whether I should provide alternative paths. Some which maybe don’t see our heroes on the field of Culloden? it has also made me question how close to the “truth” I should try to stick for what is ultimately a game? Do I facilitate characters in taking part in a wider range of engagements even if it means some historical rearrangement of dates and times? After all, allowing group of characters who are not necessarily from the same regiment, clan or even social class to meet at, or even before, Glenfinnian and for them to take the journey from there to Culloden and all steps between together as a “party” is seemingly already equally unlikely.
Lots still to think about as my writing of the campaign progresses.
