Qualla: Siege of Carlisle (November 1745)

Siege of Carlisle (November 1745): Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0. The defenders on Carlisle's walls fired their muskets all morning into the swirling smoke. The Jacobite besiegers, instead of shooting back, lifted their bonnets onto the ends of their spades and waved them above the trench lines in mockery. It was 14 November 1745, the second day of the first siege of Carlisle, and the absurd theater of it captured the whole campaign in a single image: Bonnie Prince Charlie's invasion of England would be won and lost less by gunpowder than by nerve, opinion, and the deep, demoralizing question of whether anyone was actually going to fight for the Hanoverian crown.

Image: The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia. | CC BY-SA 3.0

Siege of Carlisle (November 1745): Was Wade Really Coming?

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Francis Grose, Public domain. Charles Edward Stuart had crossed into England on 8 November with around 5,000 men, mostly Highlanders, and reached Carlisle two days later. The city's defenses had been neglected since the 1707 Act of Union, but they still looked formidable to a Jacobite army with no proper sieg...

Image: Francis Grose | Public domain

Siege of Carlisle (November 1745): The Council at Brampton

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0. Charles reached Brampton on the 11th and waited. A scouting party returned with confusing news: the report of Wade's march was false. He waited two more days. Nothing. A council of war was convened, and the Jacobite high command split. Some argued for marching on to attack Wade a...

Image: The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia. | CC BY-SA 3.0

Siege of Carlisle (November 1745): Bonnets on Spades

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0. On 13 November the Jacobites moved into position around Carlisle. Lord George Murray quartered at Harbery and posted men in the surrounding villages to cut off the town. The besieging party broke ground after dark, within musket range of the walls, and the garrison fired blindly ...

Image: The original uploader was Soloist at English Wikipedia. | CC BY-SA 3.0

Siege of Carlisle (November 1745): The Keys at Brampton

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Neil Boothman from Carlisle, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0. Charles refused any terms until the castle, separately commanded by Colonel Durand, also surrendered. Durand agreed. The terms were generous: townspeople's rights and property would be respected, the garrisons would take an oath not to serve against the House of Stuart for a year...

Image: Neil Boothman from Carlisle, United Kingdom | CC BY 2.0