Battle of Bonar Bridge

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Bonar Bridge


caption=
partof=Jacobite Rising
date=1746
place=Bonar Bridge, Scotland
result=Victory for Scottish forces loyal to the British government
combatant1=flagicon|UK|1606 Scottish Hanoverians from Clan Sutherland
combatant2= Scottish Jacobites from Clan MacKenzie
commander1=flagicon|UK|1606 Earl of Sutherland
commander2=Earl of Cromartie
strength1=
strength2=500
casualties1=
casualties2=precise unknown but high|

The Battle of Bonar Bridge was a battle said to have taken place in 1746 as part of the Jacobite rising. Scottish forces loyal to the British government defeated a Scottish Jacobite force. [http://www.clansutherland.org/ Clan Sutherland History] ]

Background

William Sutherland, the 17th Earl of Sutherland (who had changed his surname from Gordon to Sutherland) was loyal to the Hanoverian government, but he had not raised and armed his clan quickly enough to take action against Bonnie Prince Charlie. This led to a suspicion in London that Sutherland might be disloyal. However, the Jacobites also questioned Sutherland's loyalty, and the Jacobite Earl of Cromartie was sent with 500 men against the Earl of Sutherland. Cromartie's force stormed Dunrobin Castle; the Earl of Sutherland narrowly escaped them through a back door of the castle.

The Battle

Believing that all of Sutherland's followers had dispersed, the Jacobite officers had allowed their men to march ahead of them, confident that they, the officers on horseback, could quickly catch up with the marching men. However, there were still some Sutherland men in the hills above Dunrobin. Led by a resourceful man from Golspie, the Sutherland men came down from the hills near Bonar Bridge, attacking into the gap between the rebel officers and their soldiers. Most of the Jacobite officers were captured; many of the men were killed, and the rest were driven onto the shore, where several were drowned trying to swim the Bonar Firth.

Aftermath

Not long afterwards, the Earl of Cromartie was captured at Dunrobin Castle by men of the Clan Mackay who supported the British government. After detaining him, they put him on a vessel that carried him to London. Cromartie, along with the Earl of Kilmarnock, Lord Lovat, and Lord Balmerino were all impeached of high treason, tried, and condemned. Cromartie was later pardoned, but the others were executed. [The House and Clan of the Name MacKay. By Robert MacKay. P. 533 - 534.]

Despite this victory, some in the government in London were still inclined to associate the Sutherlands with the Cromartie rebels that they had defeated. The Earl of Sutherland spent several years before his death in 1750 attempting to obtain compensation from the government for the damage done to his estates by the rebels.

References