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Battle of Colloden
“The moor is silent now, where once the clans stood.”
This tartan was designed for the 280th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden, 16th April 1746.
Today, if you visit Culloden Moor, originally known as Drumossie Moor, you’ll see memorial stones marking where various Jacobite clan regiments stood. The existing stones include:
Cameron
Fraser
MacDonald
Stewart of Appin
Chattan
MacLean
Keppoch (MacDonald of Keppoch)
Atholl Brigade
Irish Picquets
Note that these markers reflect positions on the battlefield, not the many clans and regiments that participated. The Jacobite army was a mix of Highland clans, Lowland regiments, and even some Irish and French units.
This commemorative tartan's colours are intended to represent different aspects of the battlefield, events from the battle, and to convey the atmosphere many visitors feel when they visit:
Dark grey is for the darkness of the events of the battle and the sombre atmosphere of the battlefield; Light grey for the skies and the weaponry used during the battle; Green, brown and yellow/green are for the natural landscape, home to a rich variety of wildlife, and the stones marking the graves of those who lost their lives during the battle; Blue and white are for the blue bonnets worn by the Jacobites which had white cockades affixed to them.
There are 16 blue threads and 4 white to symbolise the date of the battle, the 16th of April. And the tartan repeat has 280 ends to mark the 280 years in remembrance. 💚 🖤 💙 🤍 🖤 💚 🏴 🪦 🎗️
From a military historian’s perspective, the Battle of Culloden is often examined as a clash not only of armies, but of fundamentally different systems of warfare. Historians such as Christopher Duffy and Jeremy Black emphasize that the Jacobite army, though capable and at times highly effective, was structured around traditional Highland fighting methods—most notably the shock of the Highland charge—rather than the coordinated, disciplined linear tactics that had come to dominate 18th-century European battlefields.
By April 1746, the Jacobite forces under Charles Edward Stuart were in a weakened state. Contemporary accounts and later analysis (including those cited by Duffy) note that many of the Highland troops had been without adequate food or rest, particularly following the failed night march intended to surprise the Duke of Cumberland’s army. This exhaustion played a decisive role. When battle was joined, the government forces—well supplied and carefully deployed—held firm behind a line of infantry supported by artillery. Cumberland’s army used controlled volleys and grapeshot to disrupt the advancing clans before they could fully close.
Historians point out that the terrain of Culloden Moor itself was a critical factor. Rather than favoring the swift, uneven advance that Highland tactics relied upon, the open, marshy ground hindered movement and broke up the cohesion of the charge. As Jeremy Black observes in his studies of 18th-century warfare, this battlefield effectively neutralized the Jacobites’ greatest strength. Some regiments, particularly on the Jacobite right, did manage to reach the government lines and engage in close combat, but without coordinated support across the line, these localized successes could not be sustained.
The aftermath of the battle is also central to historical analysis. While the defeat itself was decisive, scholars distinguish between the battle and the subsequent pacification of the Highlands. Military historians note that the actions carried out under the command of Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland went beyond conventional battlefield conduct, contributing to his enduring epithet, “the Butcher.” Primary sources—letters, reports, and eyewitness testimonies—describe systematic efforts to dismantle the military and social structures that had supported the Jacobite cause.
In modern historiography, Culloden is thus understood not simply as the last pitched battle on British soil, but as a turning point in the integration—and suppression—of Highland Scotland within the British state.
For more on this battle, click the marker stones.