Skirmish of Loch Ailort | |||||||
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Part of the Jacobite rising of 1745 | |||||||
Loch Ailort | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
British-Hanoverians |
Jacobites Clan Macdonald of Clanranald | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ranald MacDonald [1] | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
500 men [2] |
The Skirmish of Loch Ailort was a conflict that took place on 9 May 1746 at Loch Ailort, in the district of Moidart, Scottish Highlands and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
On 9 May 1746, almost a month after the Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden, a skirmish took place at Loch Ailort, Moidart between a group of Jacobites from the Clan Macdonald of Clanranald who were led by their chief, the Young Ranald MacDonald, against a British-Hanoverian Government force. [1] It was one of the last armed conflicts of the Jacobite rising. [1]
The Young Ranald MacDonald is supposed to have gone to France shortly after the Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. [3] However, it is clear that he secretly lingered in his own country for at least eighteen months after, mainly in the wilds of Moidart, which were apparently fraught with the greatest peril. [3]
At this time the Western Highlands of Scotland were coming under the attention of the Royal Navy and also the Campbell of Argyll Militia who supported the Government. [2] This attention was started by Captain John Fergusssone and the shore parties of his bomb vessel HMS Furnace. [2] Furgussone first cruised the Sea of the Hebrides and The Minch and then worked his way north, taking prisoners at the Isle of Canna and the Isle of Barra. [2] He then proceeded east and burnt everything of value on the Isle of Raasay. [2]
On May 9, Fergussone sailed up the mainland Loch Nevis and burnt the new house of MacDonald of Barisdale. [2] On the same day when Fergussone searched the caves of Loch Ailort, he came under fire from 500 men who were under the command of Young Clanranald. [2] The Young Clanranald was almost the last armed representative of the Jacobite cause, and had also been one of the first. [2]
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Quoting: Clanranald Charter Chest