Battle of Loup Hill

Battle of Loup Hill
Part of the Jacobite rising of 1689
Date16th May 1689
LocationLoup Hill, Kintyre
55°45′54″N 5°32′16″W / 55.765020°N 5.537886°W / 55.765020; -5.537886
Result Government strategic victory
Belligerents
Scottish Jacobite forces Scottish Government forces
Commanders and leaders
MacAlister of Loup MacAlister of Tarbert MacNeill of Gallachoille MacDonald of Largie Captain William Young
Strength
200 (estimated) 500 (estimated)
Casualties and losses
Minimal None
Loup Hill
Location within Scotland

The Battle of Loup Hill was a minor skirmish fought on the slopes of Loup Hill (Scottish Gaelic: Cruach na Luib) in Kintyre on 16th May 1689 between Scottish Jacobite and government troops.

While the battle itself was insignificant, the loss of Kintyre was a serious strategic setback for the Jacobites since it prevented the Scots being easily re-supplied by their Irish and French allies in Ulster.

Historical settings

Background

When James VII and II became King of Scotland and England in February 1685, he had widespread support in Scotland and England despite his personal Catholicism.[1] The 1681 Succession Act confirmed the rights of the natural heir 'regardless of religion,' the duty of all to swear allegiance to that king and the independence of the Scottish Crown.[2] The Scottish Test Act passed at the same time required all public officials and MPs to swear unconditional loyalty to the King but with the crucial qualifier that they 'promise to uphold the true Protestant religion.'[3] The linking of these two meant Parliament would support James but in return he would not alter the religious settlement.

James was closely involved in passing the Acts as Lord High Commissioner, as well as swearing to this in his Coronation Oath. Many regarded his policy of 'tolerance' for Catholicism as contrary both to that Oath and the agreement of 1681; since less than 2% of Scots were Catholic, there was little support for this. James was an autocrat who believed in the Divine Right of Kings; when Parliament refused to approve his measures, he dissolved it and resorted to arbitrary rule. It was this response that ultimately led to his fall.[4]

In June 1688, the birth of a son James III created the prospect of a Catholic successor rather than James' Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William.[5] Seven English politicians representing a wide range of interest groups now invited William and Mary to assume the English throne (not the Scottish).[6] William landed in Torbay in November 1688 and advanced slowly towards London; as he did so, James' army deserted and he fled to France on 23rd December. In February 1689, the English Parliament declared James had abdicated and formally offered the English throne to William and Mary. However, the issue of the Scottish throne remained unresolved.

Birth of Scottish Jacobitism

Supporters of the exiled Stuart kings were known as 'Jacobites' (from Jacobus, the Latin for James) and the associated political movement as Jacobitism. By 1689, few Scots actively supported James apart from a handful of Catholics like the Duke of Gordon or those with personal ties of loyalty like his former military commander in Scotland John Graham, Viscount Dundee. Elections held in early March 1689 for a Scottish Convention to decide whether to follow the English example resulted in a large pro-Williamite majority.

On 12th March 1689, James landed in Ireland to attempt the reconquest of his kingdoms, a conflict known as the Williamite War in Ireland. His Letter to the Convention was read out on 16th March 1689, demanding obedience and punishment for those who did not comply; the uncompromising tone alienated many of the undecided.[7] Dundee left Edinburgh; on 20th March the Convention declared him a rebel and a fugitive and on 11th April offered the Scottish throne to William and Mary. Two days later Dundee raised the Royal Standard on Dundee Law and then headed north with a small body of men.

Initial military actions

Links between different branches of the MacDonald clan and Scottish and Ulster Presbyterians meant conflicts in one country often spilt into the other. The Scottish rising was designed to complement and support the war in Ireland. By April 1689, James' Deputy Governor of Ireland, the Earl of Tyrconnell held most of Ireland including large parts of Ulster, with only the besieged city of Derry still held by a Protestant garrison. Kintyre was strategically important since it allowed the Scottish Jacobites to connect with and receive support from their allies in Ireland. The distance was short enough to allow regular communication and supplies by small boats.[lower-alpha 1] [8]

Clan rivalries, particularly opposition to the Campbell Argylls were as important as allegiance to the Stuarts in determining sides and many used it as an opportunity for private gain.[9] The Argylls acquired Kintyre and Mull in relatively recent times; the failure of the 1685 Rising and the execution of the Earl of Argyll led to the loss of his estates. Many who supported James in 1689 were those like Donald MacNeill of Gallchoille and Alexander MacLean who had benefitted.

Loup Hill

The dangers of allowing the Jacobites to control Kintyre were obvious to the government in Edinburgh but they were short of troops; commissions for raising new regiments loyal to the new government were only issued in April and many were still forming. An ad hoc force of approximately 500 men was put together from those available and transferred in small boats to Tarbert where they landed on 15th May.[10]

The force was commanded by a certain Captain William Young, who avoided the Jacobite-held castle Skipness and advanced across the peninsula where they met a Jacobite force at Loup Hill. Numbers on both sides are vague as are the details of the skirmish but little fighting took place and it seems the Jacobites had perhaps 200 men.[11] Young reported they fired at each other and then the Jacobites fled; he himself suffered no casualties and they found only two enemy dead.[12]

This brought Kintyre under government control and shortly afterwards the Irish Jacobites were forced to retreat in Ulster. A minor skirmish effectively sealed the fate of the Scottish rising - they could not expect external support.

Notes

  1. ↑ There have been a series of proposals for bridging the 12 mile/20 km gap, the latest in January 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Revolution; the Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685-1720 Tim Harris 2005 P39-65
  2. ↑ Restoration Scotland, 1660-1690: Royalist Politics, Religion and Ideas; Clare Jackson 2003 P38-54
  3. ↑ Harris, Tim; Taylor, Stephen, eds. (2015). The Final Crisis of the Stuart Monarchy. Boydell & Brewer. p. 122. ISBN 1783270446.
  4. ↑ Revolution; the Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685-1720, Tim Harris 2005 P153-178
  5. ↑ Revolution; the Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685-1720; Tim Harris 2006
  6. ↑ Revolution; the Great Crisis of the British Monarchy 1685-1720; Tim Harris P239-272
  7. ↑ "Letter of King James VII to the Scottish Convention, March 1, 1689". The Jacobite Heritage.
  8. ↑ Robertson, Barry (2014). Royalists at War in Scotland and Ireland, 1638–1650. Routledge. pp. 2-22 passim. ISBN 1409457478.
  9. ↑ Fritze Ronald, Robison William (1996). Historical Dictionary of Stuart England, 1603-1689. Greenwood. pp. 68–70. ISBN 0313283915.
  10. ↑ Hopkins, Paul. "Loup Hill 16th May 1689". Kintyremag.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. ↑ Macpherson, James (1775). Original Papers: Containing the Secret History of Great Britain (2017 ed.). Hansebooks. pp. 358–359. ISBN 3743435721.
  12. ↑ Hopkins, Paul. "Loup Hill 16th May 1689". Kintyremag.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
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