page_title: Duncan Forbes of Culloden (judge, born 1685)
section_title: Role during the 1745 Rebellion
hierarchical_section_title: Duncan Forbes of Culloden (judge, born 1685) / Role during the 1745 Rebellion
caption_attribution_description: English: After Culloden- Rebel Hunting, an oil panting by John Seymour Lucas. The painting depicts the rigorous search conducted by Government troops for Jacobite supporters in the days that followed the Battle of Culloden.
context_page_description: Duncan Forbes of Culloden was a Scottish lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1737. As Lord President and senior Scottish legal officer, he played a major role in helping the government suppress the 1745 Jacobite Rising.
context_section_description: The failure of the 1719 Rising meant many Jacobites viewed the Stuart cause as hopeless and sought to return home. Pardoning them worked for the government, since it was clear the Highlands could not be governed without the co-operation of the clan chiefs.  In addition, sales of confiscated property were either delayed by legal arguments or reduced by fictitious debts, with former rebels often aided in this process by their loyalist friends and neighbours. This built links of obligation and friendship between the two sides and explains the bitterness displayed after 1745 towards those like Lord George Murray, pardoned for their roles in 1715 and 1719.
  Although many Scots remained opposed to the 1707 Union and the malt tax and Porteous riots showed a lack of sensitivity by the London government, these were minor issues; Glasgow, centre of the 1725 protests, remained resolutely anti-Jacobite in 1745. In March 1743, the Highland-recruited 42nd Regiment or Black Watch was posted to Flanders to fight in the War of the Austrian Succession, despite Forbes warning this was contrary to an understanding their service was restricted to Scotland. A short-lived mutiny was suppressed and the regiment gained an impressive fighting record during the next few years.
  By 1737, the exiled Stuart claimant James Francis Edward was reportedly 'living quietly in Rome, having abandoned all hope of a restoration.' This changed in 1740 after the war placed Britain and France on opposing sides;  Louis XV proposed a landing in England in early 1744 to restore the Stuarts, primarily to divert British resources from Flanders. As demonstrated in 1708 and 1719, threatening an invasion was far more cost effective than an actual one and the plan was abandoned after the French fleet was severely damaged by winter storms in March. 
  In August 1744, Prince Charles met Jacobite agent Murray of Broughton in Paris, telling him he was "determined to come to Scotland ...though with a single footman". His arrival on Eriskay on 23 July took both sides by surprise; even then, "the cold reality [is] that he was unwanted and unwelcomed".  Despite being urged to return to France immediately, enough Scots were eventually persuaded and the 1745 Rising launched on 19 August.
  Forbes received confirmation of the landing on 9 August, which he forwarded to London. The military commander in Scotland Sir John Cope had only 3,000 soldiers available, many untrained recruits and initially could do little to suppress the rebellion. Forbes instead used personal relationships to keep people loyal and though unsuccessful with some, many others stayed on the sidelines as a result. His efforts were recognised by both sides; a Jacobite commentator later wrote that 'had the Lord President been as firm a friend of the Stuarts as he was an opponent,...we should have seen an army of 18,000, not 5,000 invade England.'
  After the Jacobite entry into Edinburgh and their victory at Prestonpans in September, Forbes and John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun based themselves in Inverness with around 2,000 recruits, senting regular updates to General George Wade in Newcastle. Acting on instructions from Lovat, the Frasers attempted to kidnap Forbes in October, then attacked Fort Augustus in December; Lovat was arrested but escaped without difficulty in early January.  Forbes and Loudon relocated to the Isle of Skye in early February after the Jacobites abandoned the siege of Stirling Castle and retreated to Inverness. 
  After the Battle of Culloden in April ended the Rising, Forbes supported severe penalties for the leaders, especially repeat offenders like Murray and Lovat but counselled 'Unnecessary Severitys create Pity.' He opposed the 1746 Dress Act banning Highland attire, arguing enforcement of the 1716 Disarming Act was more important. This advice was largely ignored by Cumberland, who wrote ...he is Highland mad...and believes once dispersed, the rebels are no more consequence than a London mob. When Flora MacDonald was arrested and sent to London for helping Charles escape, Forbes arranged for her t
caption: After Culloden: Rebel Hunting by John Seymour Lucas; Forbes counselled against 'Unnecessary Severitys.'
exif: {}