Ruthven Barracks Ruthven Barracks ( ) , near Ruthven in Badenoch , Scotland are the smallest but best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobite rising , set on an old castle mound . It comprises two large three - storey blocks occupying two sides of the enclosure each with two rooms per floor . The barracks and enclosing walls were loopholed for musket firing , and bastion towers were built at opposite corners . The Barracks are maintained as an Ancient Monument by Historic Scotland and are accessible at all times without entrance charge . History . The first castle . The first castle recorded to have been built on this site appeared in 1229 . By 1379 it formed the centre of activity of Alexander Stewart , 1st Earl of Buchan and younger son of King Robert II of Scotland . Alexander is better remembered as the " Wolf of Badenoch " . He is notoriously remembered for falling out with the bishop of Moray and in retaliation destroying Elgin Cathedral and much of Elgin in 1390 . The first castle at Ruthven was destroyed in 1451 , but a second castle was re - built in its place in 1459 as a much grander fortification . The Civil War . The second castle built at Ruthven was fought over during the Civil Wars of the 17th century and was badly damaged by John Graham , 1st Viscount of Dundee and the Jacobites in the rising of 1689 . Jacobite uprisings . During the 18th century after the 1715 Jacobite Uprisings the British Government decided to tighten its grip on the Scottish Highlands by building four fortified barracks in strategic locations . Ruthven Barracks was one of them . All of the remains of the earlier castles ( except probably the well ) were removed to make way for the structure seen today . The barracks were completed in 1721 . The barracks was designed to house 120 troops , split between two barrack blocks . The officers lived separately to the troops . The stables which stood slightly to the west of the barracks were built in 1734 to house 28 horses for dragoons . By this time the strategic importance had been enhanced by the building of military roads from Perth , Fort Augustus and Inverness that came together at Fort Ruthven . In August 1745 some 200 Jacobites tried to capture Ruthven Barracks . A force of just 12 British redcoats , commanded by a Sergeant Terrence ( sometimes noted as Terrance / Terence ) Molloy ( Guise ' s 6th Regiment of Foot ) , fought them off with the loss of just one man ( " who had raised his head above parapet , contrary to orders " ) . By February 1746 Sergeant Molloy had been promoted to Lieutenant . He was still in charge when a larger force of Jacobites , commanded by Gordon of Glenbucket arrived , this time equipped with artillery . As a result the government garrison surrendered and was given safe passage to Perth . On the day after the Battle of Culloden as many as 3 , 000 Jacobites assembled at Fort Ruthven with the intention of fighting on . However awaiting them was a message from their leader Prince Charles Edward Stuart saying that each man should save himself as best he could . Destruction . The Jacobites set fire to the barracks and dispersed to try to evade the government forces who were now set on suppressing the Jacobites once and for all . The remains of the barracks today are pretty much how it was left by the departing Jacobites on 17 April 1746 . Most of the exterior walls remain but little of the interior structure , flooring or roofing survives .