Reply To: Bendooragh near Coleraine – first ‘Highland Charge’?

[onlyonepinman 18072xp 0]

The battle of Culloden was fought because it had to be fought.  If it hadn’t been fought the only other option would have been to disperse the army and for Charles to return to France.  He may never have gotten another chance and so he really had nothing to lose.

Prior to the battle, they stood an almost even chance (on paper at least) of defeating the government forces.  The aborted night attack the evening prior could be seen as a mistake but there were key moments in the battle where it turned and were it not for those moments the battle could have gone very differently.  For example the Highland Charge that successfully made contact and initiated hand to hand combat, which the Highlanders would have been supremely confident of winning, was defeated by the British Grenadiers, some of the army’s best soldiers in a regiment, who had been given new bayonet drills designed to specifically counter the broadsword and targe of the highlanders.  This may well have been the final example of a Highland charge (by native Highlanders at least, I don’t know if anyone else was emulating that tactic).