Highbridge Skirmish

Highbridge Skirmish
Part of the Jacobite Rising of 1745
The ruinous remains of the bridge itself at High Bridge
Date 16 August 1745 Location Highbridge, Scotland Result Jacobite victory
Belligerents
Government Forces Royal Scots	Jacobites Clan MacDonald of Keppoch Clan MacDonnell of Glengarry
Commanders and leaders
Captain Scott	Major Donald MacDonald of Tir nan dris
Strength
2 Companies of infantry (approx. 85 in total).	initially 13, increasing in number throughout the engagement
Casualties and losses
2 killed, several more wounded.	0

The Highbridge Skirmish was the first engagement of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 between British Government troops and Jacobites loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart. It took place at Highbridge, Lochaber, on the River Spean on 16 August 1745, and marked the commencement of hostilities between the two sides.

Shortly after Prince Charles had landed he met up firstly with the Chief of Clan Cameron of Lochiel and the Chief of the Clan MacDonald of Clan Ranald. As the Jacobites were amassing their forces the Hanoverian governor of Fort Augustus despatched two companies of the Second Battalion of the Royal Scots regiment under the command of a Captain (later General) Scott of the Clan Scott. They were to reinforce the government garrison at Fort William. The government troops, some 85 men strong, marched along the road which had been built by the government to link the two forts directly. They met no resistance until they reached High Bridge over the River Spean. The bridge itself had been completed by General Wade less than ten years previously, as part of a network of military roads designed to facilitate troop movements across the Highlands.

On the Bridge, Major Donald MacDonald of Tir nan dris with a mere 11 men and 1 piper, all of the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, stood armed with swords and muskets, ready to meet the approaching enemy. It is said that by using the now demolished High Bridge Inn as cover, leaping and skipping about, moving from place to place, and extending their plaids between one another to give themselves a formidable appearance, the Jacobites deceived Captain Scott into thinking they were of a larger number. Captain Scott halted his men and sent forward a sergeant and servant to negotiate but both were taken prisoner. Scott then ordered his men to retreat and they began marching back the way they came. As they did so, they were fired on from both sides of the road. Captain Scott's men returned fire but he and his men were forced to change direction and move off the road.

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