and now hangs in the
National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle.
The Jacobite soldiers and broadsword that date from the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, National Museum of Scotland The eight Jacobite soldiers wear 20 different
tartans between them. This served as a reflection of the diverse amounts of
Scottish clans which contributed troops, many of whom were
conscripted, towards the Jacobite cause. The wearing of tartans would go on to be proscribed in the
Dress Act 1746, though this was poorly enforced. They also wear white
cockades in their bonnets, which show their allegiance to the Stuart cause. The Jacobite troops depicted are armed with outdated weaponry – none carry firearms, instead being armed with
broadswords,
dirks, and
targes (shields). Some are carrying
Lochaber axes, an obsolete type of Scottish
poleaxe. The Jacobites had been poorly armed at the start of the rising, due to the
Disarming Act 1715. But by the time of Culloden, France and Spain had supplied them with around 5,000 modern muskets and
bayonets. Some Jacobite troops carried captured
Brown Bess muskets or Scottish-made pistols. It is known that all Jacobite Army soldiers were eventually armed with muskets, This tactic was known as the
Highland charge;
James Ray, who was present during the battle on the government side, wrote in his later book that this happened in the fighting the painting depicts.
The government soldiers The government troops depicted are
grenadiers of
William Barrell's Regiment of Foot. The regiment had fought the Jacobites three months earlier at the
Battle of Falkirk Muir. At Culloden, it fought on the left flank of the government army, at the southern end of the battlefield, and took the brunt of the Jacobite chargeit suffered the heaviest casualties on the government side, with 18 killed and 108 wounded out of 373 total casualties suffered by government forces. Regimental commander
Robert Rich was among the wounded, losing his left hand. The soldiers can be identified as grenadiers by the
mitre caps they wear, and would be the regiment's tallest, strongest and most experienced men. The most prominent soldier, nearest the viewer, wears a red sash that indicates he is an officer. This was usual for grenadier officers; other officers carried a short pike or
spontoon.
Lord Robert Kerr was captain of the regiment's grenadier company and was killed during the battle. A small part of a stone structure may be seen in the left of the painting, which may be part of one of the enclosures. ==Location==