James Edward Stuart, the
only son of James
II and his wife,
Mary of Modena, was born at St. James's Palace, London,
in 1688. He was brought up in St. Germain in France and when his father
died in 1701 he was proclaimed as James III.
In 1708 James Stuart failed
in his attempt to land his army in Scotland. He returned to France
and served with its army in the Low Countries and fought at Malplaquet
in 1709.
James Stuart made another
attempt to take the throne from George
I in 1715. He
landed at Peterhead but was forced to leave six weeks later.
In 1743 war broke out between
England and France. As France was a Catholic
nation, it had always supported the Stuarts' claim to the English
throne. King Louis XV realised that it would be in his interests if
the Stuarts made another attempt to regain the throne.
Louis XV informed James
Stuart in 1745 that if he invaded England he would supply him with
arms and ammunition. James was now fifty-seven years old and was not
keen on becoming involved in another military campaign. However, his
son Charles Stuart was more enthusiastic,
and on 5 July he left France with 700 men.
Once in Scotland, Charles
Stuart, who had been nicknamed Bonnie Prince Charlie, began building
up his army. He was especially successful at persuading Catholics
living in the Scottish Highlands to join him. In September, Charles
was ready to take action. His first move was to capture Holyrood,
the ancient palace of Scottish kings. The English army arrived soon
afterwards but Charles' army had an easy victory at the battle of
Prestonpans. Charles' 5,000 man army now marched into England and
by December he reached Derby.
Charles had hoped that
English Catholics would join his army. This did not happen. In fact,
in many of the towns that he marched through, the crowds showed great
hostility to Charles' army. Louis XV had promised Charles that 12,000
French soldiers would invade England in the autumn of 1745. However,
Louis XV did not keep his promise. Although Charles still wanted to
march on London, his military advisers
argued that without the support of the French they were certain
to be beaten. Reluctantly, Charles agreed to return to Scotland.
Another English army, this
time led by the Duke of Cumberland,
followed Charles back into Scotland. Completely outnumbered, Charles's
army were chased into the Scottish Highlands.
In April 1746, Charles
Stuart decided to turn and fight the English army. The two forces
met at Culloden Moor on 16 April. Cumberland's
army devastated the Jacobites and Charles
was forced to flee from the battlefield. A reward of £30,000
was offered for his capture, but Charles still had many loyal supporters
who were willing to hide him.
George
II gave the
Duke of Cumberland instructions that
the Scots had to be punished for supporting Charles. Many of those
who had joined Charles' army were executed and their land was given
to those who had remained loyal to George II. Scotsmen were also banned
from wearing kilts and playing bagpipes.
James Edward Stuart, now
known as the Old Pretender, died in Rome in 1766.
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