Siege of Fort Augustus (December 1745)

Siege of Fort Augustus (1745)
Part of the Jacobite Rising of 1745
View over Fort Augustus
Date December 1745 Location Fort Augustus, Scottish Highlands Result Victory for British Highland Independent Companies
Belligerents
British-Hanoverians Independent Highland Companies, drawn from: Clan Sutherland Clan Grant Clan Munro Clan Mackay[1]	Jacobites: Clan Fraser of Lovat[1]
Commanders and leaders
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun[1]	Unknown
Strength
600 men[1]

The first siege of Fort Augustus took place in December 1745 and was part of the Jacobite Rising of 1745. A force of 600 men from the recently formed Independent Highland Companies, formed to support the British-Hanoverian Government liberated the fort from the Clan Fraser after a small skirmish.^[1]

Aftermath

The Clan Fraser had originally supported the British Government during the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 - 1716. However during the rebellion of 1745 - 1746 a large number of them supported the Jacobite cause. Shortly after the siege of Fort Augustus, Lord Loudoun with 600 men of the Independent Companies of Sutherland, Mackay, Grant and Munro went in search of Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat who was the chief of Clan Fraser.^[1] Lord Lovat had allowed his son to go off with a band of Frasers to join the Jacobite leader Prince Charles. The idea was that Lord Lovat would be 'made a hostage for the peaceable behavior of his clan'.^[1] However Lord Lovat who had originally agreed to this move escaped from his home at Castle Downie, evading capture.^[1] This move was to stop any more of the Clan Fraser joining his son (the master of Lovat) and the 300 Frasers who had already defected to the Jacobites. Lord Lovat made the excuse that 'he could not govern his son and some of the young men of his name'.^[1]

References

1. Simpson, Peter. "The Highland Independent Companies, 1603 - 1760". Page 132 - 133. ISBN 0-85976-432-X.