The Battle of Prestonpans Viewpoint

The Battle of Prestonpans

Sir John Cope was the government commander in Scotland at the time, and was a competent soldier with between 3,000 and 4,000 troops available.

However, many of them were inexperienced recruits, plus he was hampered by poor intelligence and advice. By the time he learnt of the Jacobites intentions to use the military road network to advance on Edinburgh and set out to deter them, it was too late; Charles had already entered the capital.

The Jacobite army was made up of over 2000 men, and although they were strong and hardy, they were notoriously badly armed and undisciplined, and Cope felt confident he could defeat them and was determined to engage in battle.

Cope used his local knowledge to select his position, with marshy ground protecting the centre of his flanks designed to slow the Jacobite forces. To prevent a surprise attack, he kept fires burning throughout the night in front of his position and posted guards all around.

The Highlanders deduced that an attack against the open left flank of Cope's army was to be their best attack, and at 4am the Jacobites began moving three abreast along the Riggonhead defile, east of Cope's position.

Although Cope had enough warning of their approach to wheel his army round to face east towards them, it wasn’t enough, and as the Highlanders began their charge his artillerymen fled, leaving the guns to be fired by their officers.

The two dragoon regiments on the flanks panicked and rode off, exposing the infantry in the centre. Attacked on three sides, they were overrun in less than 15 minutes, with their retreat blocked by the park walls to their rear; some escaped when the Highlanders stopped to loot the baggage train.

Government losses were from 300 to 500 killed or wounded and 500 to 600 taken prisoner, whilst the Jacobites estimated their own casualties as 35 to 40 dead and 70 to 80 wounded.

The deployment of the Highland charge at Prestonpans reinforced the lesson learned at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, that even experienced troops struggled to withstand its ferocity.

The weakness of the technique was that if the initial charge failed, the Highlanders were not equipped to hold their ground; but this was not discovered by the government troops until the time of the Battle of Culloden in April.

Speaking after the Battle, Cope is recorded as saying “the manner in which the enemy came on was quicker than can be described...and the cause of our men taking on a destructive panic”, probably in an attempt to absolve himself of the blame for his defeat.

In 1953, a memorial to the dead of both sides was erected near the battle site, with a coal bing providing a vantage point for visitors. In 2006, the Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust was established locally to provide information on the battle, while the battlefield site is included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland.