Glen Shiel

The Battle of Glen Shiel

The Battle of Glen Shiel took place on 10 June 1719, in a spot midway up the glen. It was a battle between British government forces and an alliance of Jacobites and Spaniards, with the former emerging victorious. It was the last close engagement of British and foreign troops on mainland British soil. The battle is sometimes considered an extension of the 1715 rising, but is more correctly a separate rebellion.

Glen Shiel is "Scotland's only battle site with contemporary remains still visible – including the stone dyke enclosure where the Jacobite munitions were stored".

The Jacobites were positioned on easily defendable crags in the glen, giving them a naturally strong position, which had been further increased by hasty fortifications. A barricade had been constructed across the road, and entrenchments had been thrown up along the face of the hill on the north side.

Glen Shiel was the only battle of the 1688 to 1746 Jacobite Risings where the Jacobites remained on the defensive, rather than employing the Highland Charge. The government force arrived about 4:00 pm on 10 June and began the attack an hour later by firing their mortars at the Jacobite flanking positions. This caused few casualties but the Scots had not encountered mortars before, allowing four platoons to advance up the hill to their lines, then use grenades to bomb them out of their positions.

The battle lasted until 9:00 pm; several accounts claim the heather caught fire and smoke combined with failing light enabled the bulk of the Scots to disappear into the night. The Spanish surrendered next morning, and as regular troops were later shipped home, whilst the Jacobite leaders were wounded but managed to escape.