This pass would be relatively obscure were it not for General Wade's military road built over it in 1731, between Fort Augustus in the Great Glen to the north and Melgarve in Strath Spey in the south. This path almost became the site of a major battle in the Jacobite rising of 1745, when Prince Charles Edward Stuart encamped at the height of the pass, and the Government commander approached from the south to quell the rebellion. The Government forces retreated due to the strongly entrenched position of the Jacobite Forces.