Culloden Page #3

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Fifth son of the clan chief,

he stands before his men

in the Prince's army.

The Chisholm 500 yards away

is this man's brother.

Charles Edward Stuart's war

is a civil war.

They've started.

The rebel cannon have opened fire.

The cannon have opened

from the rebels' centre

and they're over-elevated.

Fire!

Batteries...

from open sights...

at will... fire!

Pull!

Fire!

Fire!

That's the Duke of Cumberland's

cannons.

Cannonades all around me!

I'm going to have to shout

to make myself heard!

The smoke

is beginning to thicken.

It's going to be very difficult

to see what effect our cannon

is having on the rebel lines.

A cast-iron ball of three pounds'

weight, fired from open sights.

This is roundshot.

This is what it does.

Pull!

Alistair McInnes, age 20.

Right leg severed below knee joint.

Malcolm Angus Chisholm, age 24.

Disembowelled.

Ian MacDonald, age 13. Shot.

1:
12.

Dazed, indecisive, Charles

has moved to behind

the right ank of the Jacobite lines

and is now unable to see

what is happening to his army.

Ordered by O'Sullivan

to stand in the ranks six-deep,

the men on the Highland right

make a clear and tight-packed target

for the English gunners.

Pull!

The rebels' artillery

have stopped firing altogether

and, before they did, we counted...

How many?

We counted 15 to 20 shots

fired by our artillery

for every one fired by the rebels.

1:
17.

The second result of

O'Sullivan's administration.

The Prince's artillery, iii-fed

by a sporadic ammunition supply,

ill-served by untrained amateurs,

ceases fire.

Pull!

Have you had orders to attack, sir?

- No, I've had none!

- Well, why not?

The Prince hasn't given any!

If he doesn't give them soon,

he'll lose the entire army!

We're being shelled to pieces!

Pull!

Reload!

Pull!

Reload!

- What's the Prince doing?

- I don't know!

Nobody knows what he's doing!

1:
22. Prince Charles Stuart,

paralyzed with indecision,

still has given no order,

either to advance or to retreat.

1:
22. Clan Cameron,

200 men, shot to pieces.

Clan Stewart,

180 men, shot to pieces.

This is fantastic!

If this keeps up much longer,

our gunners will have

finished the whole affair.

The cannonade... The cannonade

has given our men infinite spirits.

Clan Chisholm casualties,

47 killed or maimed.

This is incredible! Those men have

been standing there for 22 minutes!

They're just lining the ranks!

The rebels are being

literally blown apart!

Why are they standing there?

Why in God's name don't they run?

1:
30. Still no order to advance.

Clan army casualties,

700 dead or maimed.

Charles Stuart hopes

that by not advancing

he will tempt the Government army

out of its battle lines to attack him.

1:
32 pm. Cumberland orders a move

but not the one

his cousin is expecting.

I want Wolfe's battalion

to advance inside on the left!

Your Highness!

At 1:
32, Cumberland places a battalion

behind one of the walls

O'Sullivan has refused to pull down,

to fire into the side

of the clan army

when it charges

the Government front.

This is the crossfire

O'Sullivan said would never happen.

Oh, yes, yes... Units of the Argyll...

the Campbell-Argyll militia, yes?

And there are squadrons

of dragoons with them.

Yes, it's obvious that

His Royal Highness has decided

to have units of the Campbell-Argyll

militia and some squadrons of dragoons

to go down behind

the south side of this wall,

out of sight of the enemy,

to take them in the rear

and outflank the rebels.

Thus, also at 1:
32 pm,

begins the outanking movement

that O'Sullivan

said would never happen.

29 minutes too late,

Charles Stuart orders an advance

along the entire from

of the Jacobite army.

And you make the right side advance!

Bu! The message

fails to reach the right wing.

Casualties, 850.

Have you still had

no orders to attack?

No! I've had no orders!

I had a message from Mr O'Sullivan,

which, as ever,

I failed to comprehend!

- The line's broken up!

- What?

They're charging,

they're coming straight at us!

Sir, the right has broken forward!

The walls will hold them.

- They're going straight!

- Get down behing the wall there!

After 28 minutes of cannonfire!

What sort of men are these?

- Right! Change from ball to grape.

- Change from ball to grape!

A cylindrical canvas bag

eight inches in length,

packed with musketballs

and pieces of jagged iron.

This is grapeshot.

This is what it does.

Pull!

Pull!

It must be the grape! The centre

has collided with the right.

There's great confusion,

bodies flying!

They must be going to receive fire

from our centre battalions!

Charge! Charge!

Fire!

Bastards!

God, they're almost upon us!

They're firing from this side

and from this side.

They're been cut to pieces!

It must be chaos behind those walls!

Chaos!

Barrell's!

Towards this one regiment,

Barrell's Fourth of Foot,

heads the entire right

of the clan army,

800 men in a solid clump,

running with a collision speed

of over 12 miles an hour.

Alternate... firing!

Battalion, take care.

Fall in by rank. Take aim!

Rear rank, present!

Rear rank, fire!

Fire!

Front rank, take aim!

Front rank, fire!

Rear rank, present.

Fire!

Centre rank, present.

Front rank, present.

Remember, Barrell's,

off to the right!

They've broken through Barrell's!

General Huske, advance Bligh's

and Semphill's, support on the left.

Your Highness.

1:
57 and the Duke of Cumberland

sees the men of his second line,

placed there for just such an

emergency, fire with crippling effect

into the Highlanders

who broke through the from line.

1:
57. Charles Stuart,

who has made no battle plan at all,

sees, on the right wing, his men run

from this concentrated musketfire

and sees, on his left wing,

the MacDonalds, tired, hungry,

rebellious at not being given their

rightful battle position by O'Sullivan,

hold back from charging

the royal army right.

Instead, they stand and taunt,

trying to tempt the royal army lines

forward in disorder.

Battalion Pulteney's, make ready!

They're stopping to pick up stones!

Shoot!

1:
58. The MacDonalds, dismayed at

the sight of the advancing cavalry,

themselves draw back.

Keppoch, one of their leaders,

runs forward with other clan officers

to encourage them

and is shot through twice

by musketball.

About him, his men tum and run.

Time 1:
59 pm.

The rout of the Highland army begins.

Christ, they're running.

They're leaving the field

except for two small units,

the French and the Irish.

Let them through. Stand your ground.

Guard, forward!

Oh, Jesus!

Front rank, present. Fire!

Re-form! Re-form!

Stand and aim! Fire!

Walter Stapleton,

commander, Irish pickets,

cut down with 100 of his men

as the Scots about them run.

Where are you going, you?

Charles Stuart

tries to rally his men.

"Pray stand with me, your Prince,"

he cries.

"Pray stand with me but a moment,

otherwise you ruin me,

"your country and yourselves

and God forgive you.".

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