Battle of Glen Shiel

From Freepedia

The Battle of Glen Shiel occurred near the western coast of Scotland on June 10, 1719 between the British and an alliance of Jacobite Highlanders and Spaniards, resulting in a victory for the British forces. It was the last close engagement of British troops and foreign ones in Britain itself.

The preparation

After the treaty of Utrecht, Philip V was accepted as king of Spain in exchange of several concessions. Great Britain had received control over Menorca and Gibraltar and had the biggest navy in the world. If Philip were to restore the Spanish power, he was to clash with Britain.

Philip and his italian counselor Cardinal Giulio Alberoni caried a campaign in the West Mediterranean. In 1717, 8500 infantry men and 500 cavalry men sailed from Barcelona and occupied Sardinia without troubles. Next year, 38000 troops did the same with Sicily. The British answer happened in the 11 August: The fleet of José Antonio de Gaztañeta moving about cape Passaro, near Siracusa was surprised and destroyed by the British navy, claiming a violation of Utrecht. Spain declared war. Alberoni decided to take the initiative and carry war to Britain before an attack on the Iberian Peninsula.

The Alberoni plan

Alberoni decided to meddle in the throne disputes, supporting the Jacobite claims and its Highland allies.

The original plan had two phases:

1. George Keith, tenth Earl Marischal would infiltrate Scotland with 300 Spanish marines to raise the Western clans and take some positions. It was a distraction manoeuvre to take defences from South Britain.
2. The main fleet, with 27 ships and 7000 men under James Buttler, 2nd duke of Ormonde (the former Captain General of the British army, exiled in Spain), would disembark in Southwest England or Wales, where Jacobites were abounding. The resulting alliance would march east to siege London, depose George I of England and enthrone James, the Old Pretender.

The plot thickens

Three weeks after leaving Cadiz, Ormonde's fleet was surprised by a storm near Finisterre (29 March). Most of the ships were dispersed and damaged. The mission was aborted and the ships taken to several Spanish havens. (Compare with the fate of the Spanish Armada of 1588) By then, Keith had already left the Spanish port of Pasajes and occupied the Isle of Lewis, including Stornoway where he set camp. On 13 April 1719, they disembarked on the Highlands near Lochalsh. The Highlanders however did not join the "Little Rising" in the expected number (the Spaniards carried 2000 guns to distribute), mistrusting the enterprise and waiting for news from the South. Keith could not proceed to Inverness and established his headquarter in the castle of Eilean Donan. The two Spanish frigates returned to Spain. The Spaniards were accompanied by William Mackenzie, Fifth Earl of Seaforth, who was chief of the Clan Mackenzie; the Earl Marischal; and the Marquis of Tullibardine; and some Irish officers. They were joined by a few hundred Highlanders including members of the Clan MacRae, Robert Roy MacGregor, and a party of MacGregors. Some days later, the main of the troop went south to stir again the Highlanders, leaving a small garrison (40-50 men) at the castle. The Jacobite forces were to be led by the Earl of Seaforth and also by John Cameron of Lochiel, 18th Captain and Chief of Clan Cameron; along with Lord George Murray. Their plan of action was to advance upon and capture Inverness.

The capture and destruction Eilean Donan castle

At the beginning of May the Royal Navy sent five ships to the area for reconnaissance: two patrolling off Skye and three around Lochalsh, adjacent to Loch Duich. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May these latter three, HMS Worcester, HMS Flamborough, and HMS Enterprise, anchored off Eilean Donan, where the Spanish forces had established a base.

Their first move was to send a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate, but when the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat it was recalled and all three ships opened fire on the castle for an hour or more. They then shifted anchorage and waited, the wind blowing a fresh gale.

The next morning acting on intelligence from a Spanish deserter, the commanding officer, Captain Boyle of HMS Worcester, sent HMS Enterprise up the river to capture a house being used to store gunpowder but, according to the naval logs, the rebels on the shore set fire to the house as the ship approached. Meanwhile the other two ships continued to bombard the castle at intervals while they prepared a landing party.

In the evening, under the cover of an intense cannonade, the ships' boats went ashore and captured the castle against little resistance. According to HMS Worcester's log, in the castle they found "an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a serjeant, one Scotch rebel and 39 Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot". Having captured the castle the British then "burnt several barns etc where they had a quantity of corn for the use of their camp".

The Naval force spent the next two days demolishing the castle (it took 27 barrels of gunpowder). The Spanish prisoners were put on board HMS Flamborough and taken away to Edinburgh.

Glen Shiel

After moving around for one month, the Spaniards learnt by the beginning of June that Ormonde would never come. In spite of this, they gathered clansmen for a last action summing 1000 troops.

On 5 June, government forces under General Joseph Wightman came from Inverness to block their march. They consisted of 850 infants, 120 dragoons and 4 mortar batteries. They confronted the Jacobites at Glen Shiel, just a few miles from Loch Duich, on June 10, near the Five Sisters hills. The Spanish took their advantage to occupy the top and the front of one of the hills while the Scots mounted barricades on the sides.

The first clash was adverse for Wightman, but he constated that the Scots were the weak point of the enemy, due to their poor organisation. He concentrated his troops on the flanks while the mortars battered the whole and kept the Spaniards in their positions. Rob Roy became severely wounded and his clan McGregor left the battle to save him. Other clans followed and left their allies retreating uphill. At 9 o'clock in the evening, they surrendered, three hours after the start of the combat, while the remaining Scots fled into the fog, to escape an execution as traitors. The total losses are unknown. British historians calculate no more than 100 deaths between both sides.

The Jacobites were poorly provisioned and armed, and when expected Jacobite support from the Lowlanders was minimal, spirits fell completely. The Rising was abandoned and the Highlanders dispersed to their homes.

The 274 Spanish prisoners were reunited with their comrades in Edinburgh. In October, negotiations allowed their return to Spain. George Keith escaped the gallows fleeing with the Scots, ande exiled to Prussia, where his brother Francis wrote a narration of the battle. In spite of a later pardon, Keith never returned to England and was the Prussian ambassador to France and later Spain. John Cameron of Lochiel, after hiding for a time in the Highlands, made his way back to exile in France. Bruce Lenman refers that to this day a corridor in Glen Shiel is called Bealach-na-Spainnteach ("Pass of the Spaniards").

References

• Misión en Escocia (pp. 68-74), Muy Interesante 288, May 2005, Abraham Alonso.
• A History of Scotland, J. D. Mackie, p. 273, ISBN 0140136495
• The Jacobite Attempt of 1719, William K. Dickson (1895)
• Excerpts from the official logs of HMS Worcester and HMS Flamborogh, available at The Clan Macrae website, retrieved Sept 05