page_title: Siege of Fort William
section_title: The siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Fort William / The siege
caption_attribution_description: English: A Coehorn mortar at Fort King George, Darien, Georgia, US
context_page_description: The Siege of Fort William took place in the Scottish Highlands during the 1745 Jacobite Rising, from 20 March to 3 April 1746.
  On 1 February 1746, the Jacobites abandoned the siege of Stirling Castle and withdrew to Inverness to wait for spring. This period was used to reduce government strongpoints in the Highlands, including Blair Castle and Fort Augustus; after its surrender on 1 March, they moved onto Fort William.
  Advance elements of the Jacobite force arrived outside the fort on 8 March; operations began on 20 March but made little progress. When the Duke of Cumberland and his army left Aberdeen in early April, the besiegers were recalled to Inverness and the siege abandoned.
context_section_description: The Jacobites blockaded Loch Linnhe at the Corran Narrows, capturing one of Baltimore's boats and threatening to cut connection between the garrison and the outside world. Alexander Campbell quickly responded and early on 4 March, sent three boats with 71 men to the Narrows from Fort William. They surprised the Jacobite sentries, reportedly killing two men and wounding many others, burning houses and boats. 
  Campbell militia under Argyll destroyed property and livestock in the surrounding area, denying supplies to the Jacobites but also putting pressure on Cameron and MacDonald clansmen to defend their lands. Lochiel and Keppoch wrote to Prince Charles, asking him to sanction reprisals against Clan Campbell and promising to hang one Campbell for every house destroyed. 
  Unlike Fort Augustus, Fort William was a well-designed, modern position; control of the sea meant it could easily be reinforced, while Serpent and Baltimore gave the garrison more firepower than the besiegers. Stapleton considered it too strong for the Jacobites to take and Cumberland apparently considered it a way of diverting Jacobite resources. Charles and his senior Scots commander Lord George Murray agreed with Stapleton but Lochiel and Keppoch insisted, due to the damage caused to their lands by the garrison.
   
  Stapleton arrived outside the fort on 8 March with the French regulars, followed by Scott on 15th aboard Serpent. The garrison began firing on the Jacobites as they constructed gun positions and one shot injured Grant, the engineer in charge at Fort Augustus. He was replaced by Mirabel de Gordon, whose performance at Stirling was regarded as so incompetent, some suspected he had been bribed. The besiegers opened fire on 20 March but poor roads and lack of horses to pull them meant the heavy guns remained at Inverness; the light guns and mortars available made minimal impression on the walls. 
  In accordance with then prevailing rules of war, the garrison was summoned to surrender on 22 March; unsurprisingly, Scott refused, telling them he would defend the place to 'the last extremity'. It was now clear the Jacobite gun positions on Sugar Loaf Hill and Cow Hill were poorly sited and a new position had to be built higher up Cow Hill. Although the 6-inch guns apparently caused some concern, Scott's counter-battery fire proved effective; clear, moonlit nights prevented the Jacobites getting close without being seen and the only opportunity for combat was when water parties left the fort.
  As at Stirling and Carlisle, the Highlanders were not suited to lengthy siege operations, while Baltimore continued to land raiding parties up and down the loch. Frustration at being unable to protect their lands led to disputes between the Camerons and MacDonalds, and also with the French troops who did most of the construction work. On 27 March, a new battery of four 6-pounder guns above the Governor's garden opened fire but the strength of the exterior walls meant the focus shifted to making the interior untenable. On 28th, artillery on the eastern side opened up using heated shot, together with grapeshot, old nails and red-hot lengths of notched iron intended to lodge in the timbers.
  While this caused substantial damage to the roof and upper works, the fort was otherwise untouched. On the night of 31 March, Scott sent out 150 men to destroy the Jacobite battery; timed to occur when the guard was being relieved, it was left unprotected at the crucial moment. The attackers captured or spiked four 6-inch mortars along with three 4-pounder and one 6-pounder cannon. They then attacked the battery above the Governor's garden but lacking the element of surprise were repulsed. Reinforced by Scott, the assault party returned safely to the fort; casualties were estimated as eleven or twelve on each side.
  After two weeks, the siege had made little progress and with Cumberland preparing to leave Aberdeen, Prince Charles needed all available men. The Jacobites were ordered back to Inverness, taking only what they could easily carry; on 3 April, the garrison discovered they 
caption: Replica of Coehorn mortar; designed for use against infantry, these made little impact on Fort William
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