Fort George and Culloden: Day 22 – Scotland 2017
27 April 2017
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Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and for once, we were really thankful they didn’t. In between Fort George and Culloden, we were supposed to see Cawdor Castle. The castle ended up being closed while we were there, and honestly, I’m so glad we got the extra time from skipping it so we didn’t feel rushed. We had eaten at Cawdor Tavern the night before and mentioned the castle to our waiter. He gave us the heads up on the closure, which we were very thankful for. We headed to Fort George early, knowing we’d be able to take our time.
Fort George
Fort George is a military base dating from the 1800s. It is known as the mightiest military installation in Britain, and truly, it is an impressive place. Heavy guns cover every corner of the base, especially the landward side of the promontory. It was originally built as a stronghold against the Jacobites, but Fort George turned into a training camp and recruitment base after their threat was over. The Seaforth Highlanders occupied Fort George from 1881 to 1964. Now, the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland call Fort George home. It is the same Black Watch battalion that The Black Watch Museum details and that we visited earlier in our trip. Fort George is still an active military base, so keep that in mind when you visit. It is also part of Historic Scotland, so if you’re a member of Historic Scotland, you’ll get in for free!
Walking The Base
It was a cold, grey morning on the day of our visit. We walked the entire perimeter before going into any of the buildings. It was neat to stand in the lookout stations along the wall and look out to sea or land like many did in decades past. There are huge footprints where some of the heavy guns used to be, but there are plenty more still in place to look at. Amazingly, the fort as it stands today has never been attacked.
There is far more to see at Fort George than just the rampart walls. Inside the many buildings of the fort, there is a Highlanders Museum, the grand magazine (where gunpowder was stored), barracks with displays, the garrison chapel, a dog cemetery (one of two in all of Scotland), and if you’re lucky, you might see dolphins playing out in the water. Two of our favorite things at Fort George are on the smaller side and might take a keen eye to find. The first is graffiti on one of the barrack walls. It is the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders badge, and no one knows exactly when it was stenciled onto the wall. Historians think a battalion of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders painted it while stationed there, perhaps during the first or second world war.
The second is located in the garrison chapel. If you look closely at the stained glass windows, you’ll find an angel playing the bagpipes. Only in Scotland!
After visiting all of the buildings we could go into, we had lunch in the little cafe. It was a delicious lunch and a great place to stop into to get warm. Then, with full bellies, we made our way back to the car park and headed to the next destination.
Culloden
We were excited to see the Culloden battlefield but were aware that it would be a somber visit. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobites prepared for battle. We would soon be walking the field where roughly 1,300 men lost their lives, about 1,250 of which were Jacobites. The battle was the last one the Jacobites would fight in their goal of putting James VIII back on the throne, and it would be the last pitched battle ever to be fought on British soil.
The battle was an all-around tragedy of one wrong move after another for the Jacobites. After a failed surprise night attack, the men were exhausted from marching through the night. They didn’t have enough food. Morale was at an all-time low. There were fierce arguments to retreat to Inverness to regroup, but Prince Charles stubbornly held fast in his desire to fight the battle then and there, on Drummossie Moor near Culloden. With that decision, he sealed the fates of his men.
At 1 PM on 16 April 1746, the Jabobites rang out the first cannon shot, and the battle began. Within an hour, the field was strewn with the bodies of the dead. To add insult to injury, the government army refused to let the local people bury their dead after the battle, so the bodies of their kin lay on the desolate moor for days. When the government finally allowed people onto the battlefield, they buried the men in mass graves.
Visiting Culloden In The Present
The battlefield of today is quite different from the battlefield of 1746. There is a visitors center and a parking lot to go with it. Tall flagpoles bearing red or blue flags line the battlefield and mark where the front lines of the troops stood as the battle began. Pathways lead you through the field, and there are information boards throughout. There is no longer a road running through the battlefield.
There is heavy evidence that the road was there during the battle. It actually ran right through the mass burial grounds because the men were buried on either side of the road. The road was moved 200 meters to the north in the early 1980s, as many people thought it had been carelessly plotted through the war gravesite. However, from archaeological excavations in the early 2000s, we now know that the road had been present during the battle and was not added later.
Things That Remain
While many things have changed, a few things remain the same to this day. Old Leanach Cottage still stands. The cottage survived the battle, but the two outbuildings it was recorded to have had are no longer there. The area was once populated with quite a few other cottages, but Leanach Cottage is the only one that remains. Part of the cottage was demolished in the 1800s, but most of the building is still going strong. Culloden House wouldn’t be recognizable to those who lived in 1746, but if you strip away the newer additions added in later years, parts of the original house would be the structure they knew. The current house was built up around the first house, so technically, that building remains, if not cloaked in newer construction in the years after the battle.
Acknowledgements Over 100 Years Later
In 1881, Duncan Forbes of Culloden House built a monument to the memories of those lost at the Battle of Culloden. He erected a massive cairn and put up stone markers near the mass burial sites. This was 135 years after the battle, and the exact location of the graves was, at best, an educated guess. Many of the stones have a clan name inscribed on them, but there is no way of knowing who exactly is buried underneath. This small fact doesn’t hold much weight, though, because simply having a place to honor fallen ancestors is what is needed. The entire battlefield serves as a memorial site, but having a designated spot to honor those that fell is all the more special.
27 April 2017 – 271 Years Later
We arrived at Culloden on a partly cloudy afternoon. We quietly approached the visitors center, bought tickets, and then perused the exhibits inside. The visitors center is set up superbly with loads of information and artifacts to take in. We took our time walking through and read every sign and display available. They also have a phenomenal 360-degree animated battle recreation that gives you a birds-eye view of how the battle played out. After we spent a good hour reading and learning about the battle, we made our way out to the battlefield.
Drummossie Moor is a haunting place. Even now, over four years later, I still can’t find the words to express the feeling that walking the battlefield gave us. My journal entry from that day says it best.
I can’t quite find the words to describe the emotion that is felt there. So many lives lost in brutal, brutal ways, and in less than an hour. It was sobering and so very sad. We stayed for roughly four hours, but I could have spent days there, reflecting on it all. Beautiful sadness.
The feeling of loss and desperation lingers over the grounds as if it continually seeps from the soil in a never-ending wave. The entire place is somber and holds a reverence for those lost so many years ago. We walked through the mass graves at the end of our visit. Days later, my aunt commented on my picture of the Clan Fraser stone, telling me that we are descended from Clan Fraser. I hope that someday we get to go back so I can properly pay my respects.
Wrapping Up
After spending hours on the battlefield, we walked back through the visitors center. Their gift shop has so many great things to offer. I added two more books to my growing book bag and also bought an Outlander scarf. I debated on buying the scarf because it somehow felt disrespectful, but I ultimately decided that I’d rather give my money to that location than any other. They are doing a wonderful job honoring the memory of the fallen, and I hope they continue for many more years.
We spent the rest of the evening discussing the battle and the many what-ifs and outcomes that could have happened. By the time we got back to our caravan, we were emotionally exhausted. We had dinner, relaxed for a few hours, and then headed to bed early. In all, we had an incredible day. If you have to opportunity to go to Culloden, do it. You won’t regret it.
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy
