This map shows the positions of the Jacobite and Government forces before and during the skirmish at Clifton in December 1745 from the memoirs of the Chevalier de Johnstone. Note that the map is oriented so that north is to the bottom rather than the top.
After victory at Prestonpans, the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie swelled to nearly 6,000 men as new recruits poured in. On 1 November the army, under the command of George, Lord Murray and with the Prince at its head, marched out of Edinburgh to invade England.
The invasion began promisingly, a well timed diversionary raid kept General Wade and the English border army in Newcastle while the Jacobite army swooped on Carlisle. The city and castle fell quickly, delivering more supplies and weapons to the Scots. The clan chiefs wanted to fall back into Scotland, luring the English army into hostile territory where they could be starved of supplies, weakened by ambushes and finally crushed in battle. Charles, elated by the victory at Prestonpans and eager to regain his father’s throne, refused and ordered the march south to continue.
On 27 November the Scots crossed the Ribble at Preston, then swiftly outmanoeuvred the Duke of Cumberland and his army of English militia to march unopposed into Derby. In Derby on 5 December, Murray and the chiefs confronted Charles.
Charles had promised his followers that the English Jacobites would flock to join their army, but they had not. He had promised them that the news of Prestonpans would prompt the French to land an army in England, but it had not. Even worse, the mounted scouts sent out had reported that Cumberland had a larger army than the Scots themselves. The scouts had also heard that Wade had left Newcastle and was coming south in pursuit and that a third English army was mustering at London.
The Jacobites were far from home, had no support and were in danger of being surrounded by larger enemy armies. Murray and the chiefs demanded that Charles agree to march back to Scotland where the Duke of Perth had been mustering more support. The combined Jacobite forces, they argued, could face Cumberland and the English in Scotland. Charles was furious, for he saw the crown of England slipping away from him. He refused either to give the orders to retreat or to stop Murray from doing so. Next day Murray gave the orders, the march north began.
For two weeks the Jacobite army marched homewards without incident, other than struggling with snowdrifts in Cumbria. They knew, however, that Cumberland with a strong force of dragoons and cavalry was shadowing them and that a larger English army was following them a day or two days march behind.
At about 1 p.m. on 18 November a party of English dragoons attempted a half-hearted charge on the Jacobite rearguard of MacDonald clansmen near the village of Snap. Lord Murray decided it was time to give Cumberland reason to back off. The main army had just passed through the village of Clifton, and this was where Murray decided to take a stand. The village was spread along the main road where it climbed up to a ridge on top of which was an old fortified Peel Tower. To the west was the River Lowther, which secured the right flank. To the left of the Peel Tower, the ridge ran towards the little hamlet of Clifton Dykes which Murray made his left flank. The top of the ridge was covered by small fields lined by hedges and cut by two sunken lanes, but the slope leading up to it was fairly open. He put his men among the hedgerows and settled down to wait for Cumberland.
The Opposing Armies
Only parts of the two armies were engaged at Clifton. Murray had with him a squad of infantry from Edinburgh together with Clan Donald, the Appin Stewarts and the MacPhersons, probably no more than 800 men. He put the MacDonalds on the right between the village and the river, and took command of them himself. The Edinburgh men and the Stewarts were put in the village and around the Peel Tower while the MacPhersons, under their charismatic chief Cluny, were strung out along the ridge to the left. Murray was not proposing to deliver the type of traditional Highland charge which had proved so effective at Prestonpans, but to conduct a purely defensive fight.
Cumberland had with him about 1,500 men, over half of them dragoons. It was dusk by the time he and his main body caught up with the advanced troops who had halted at the foot of the slope. In the gathering gloom, Cumberland was uncertain how many Scots were on the ridge or how they were drawn up. He decided to use his dragoons in their traditional role. They would ride up to the enemy, then dismount and fight as infantry. They would form a line three men deep and deliver crashing volleys of musketry. If they found themselves in trouble, the dragoons could mount up and gallop to safety.
Cumberland’s cavalry were heavy troops, trained to charge home in dense formations. He would not want to risk them among the hedgerows, where their charges would be ineffective.
The Battle
The fighting began in the dusk about 4 p.m. when a force of Bland’s Dragoons used the sunken lane to approach the MacPhersons on the Scottish left. They got to within 100 yards of the Scots before emerging into an open field and advancing. The MacPhersons fired off a volley, which was answered by the dragoons. After a few exchanges, Cluny MacPherson leapt from cover and led his men in a charge. There was a brief fight, then the dragoons rode off the way they had come.
By this time it was dark. Clouds scudded across the sky so that the battlefield was alternately bathed in the pale glow of moonlight then plunged into darkness. On his left wing, Cumberland sent forward Cobham’s Dragoons to try to work along the river and turn the Scottish flank. The MacDonalds waited until the English were just ten yards away then let fly a volley of musketry which sent the dragoons fleeing. More parties of dragoons came forward in the darkness, but each was driven back in turn.
Around 10 p.m. the English attacks ceased. At midnight, Murray gave orders for his men to continue their march north. The Edinburgh men left first, then the clansmen with the MacDonalds the last to slip away. Murray stood alone for a while in the moonlight beside the Peel Tower looking down the road towards the English positions. He could see no signs of movement, so he set off down the hill towards Penrith.
Aftermath
The confused moonlit fight at Clifton saw relatively few casualties. The Jacobites had lost no more than a dozen men. The English had suffered worse, losing about thirty-five dead and as many again wounded – most of them lost to the single volley of the MacDonalds. However, the determination with which the Scots had held the ridge and the unexpected nature of the defence had a profound effect on Cumberland. It had been his first brush with the Jacobites and he had been impressed.
Cumberland ordered that his men were not to risk battle or even offer to take part in a skirmish. Cumberland kept his army together and simply followed the Jacobites to see what they would do. Murray had achieved his main objective of driving the English army off, allowing the Scots to march unmolested.
Bonnie Prince Charlie left a garrison in Carlisle Castle, then pushed on towards Glasgow. Cumberland followed steadily. He paused at Carlisle until his heavy artillery came up and, on 30 December, captured the castle. Now that no Scots were left in England, Cumberland had completed the task set him. He halted to await fresh orders.
