Skirmish of Dunfermline
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| Skirmish of Dunfermline | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Jacobite rising of 1715 | |||||||
 Ruins at Dunfermline Abbey where the Jacobite Highlanders were encamped | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Scottish Hanoverian supporters | Jacobite clans | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll[1] Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Cathcart[2] |
James Malcolm of Grange[2] John Gordon of Glenbucket[2] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
120 Dragoons[2] 30 dismounted troops[2] |
80 horse[2] 300 Highlanders[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 man wounded and 1 horse wounded.[2] |
4 killed and 2 mortally wounded[2] 17 men taken prisoner[2] | ||||||
The Skirmish of Dunfermline was a conflict that took place on 24 October 1715 in Dunfermline, Scotland and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1715. It was fought between the forces of John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll who supported the British-Hanoverian Government against a Jacobite force.
On 23 October 1715 during the Jacobite rising of 1715, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, learned that a party of rebel Jacobites were passing by Castle Campbell.[1] The Jacobite force consisted of approximately 80 horse and 300 Highlanders and Argyll had heard from one of his outposts that they were heading for Fife, where they were going to levy supplies to support the main Jacobite army at Perth.[2] Argyll dispatched a squadron of dragoons under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Cathcart to intercept them.[2] On 24 October Cathcart had caught up with the Jacobites at Dunfermline.[2]
The Jacobites' security was poor:[2] Their commander, James Malcolm of Grange, was confident that he knew the area and its approaches well and so he only posted one sentry at the bridge into the Stirling end of the town.[2] He also allowed his forces to be divided up when they took quarters.[2] The Highlanders were under John Gordon of Glenbucket and they camped in a ruined abbey on the edge of the town.[2] The Jacobite horse took up residence without any order in the taverns and private houses throughout the town.[2] The Jacobites did not fix any rendezvous point where they were to meet in any alarm post and the officers settled down for a bottle of wine.[3]