(Queen’s Own Highlanders Collection)
Alex Bowers explores The Highlanders’ Museum of Fort George, near Inverness, charting the evolution of Scotland’s premier fighting forces from the Jacobite Rebellion to the 21st century
After the decisive British victory at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746, the Crown determined that such an uprising in Scotland could never happen again. As a direct response, an almost impenetrable fortress was built a short distance away from the site where the Jacobite Rebellion had come to its bloody and climactic conclusion.
The structure, designed by Lieutenant-General William Skinner and constructed by a renowned Scottish architect from the Adam family, took more than two decades to complete. Even today, standing on a strategic promontory jutting out into the Moray Firth, Fort George proudly looms over the Scottish landscape – its low-lying features making it immediately apparent that any historic assault or artillery barrages from prospective attackers would have been difficult.
In reality, not a single one of its 80 cannon along the boundary walls would ever fire a shot in anger. But the 18th-century structure would nevertheless be of outstanding service to the Britis…
