Battle of Inverlochy

On this day, 2 February 1645, more than 1,500 Covenanters were killed at the Battle of Inverlochy, fought near Fort William.

In the months leading up to the battle, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose—who had originally signed the National Covenant before changing sides—had been tearing through the Highlands for the Royalist cause, attacking the Covenanter Campbell clan and plundering Inveraray before heading further north. Opposing him was Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, commanding a Covenanter force of around 3,000 men, who had also went north and established their camp around Inverlochy Castle at the foot of Ben Nevis.

In a bold attempt to outmanoeuvre them, Montrose led his army—around 1500 men made up of Highlanders and Irish troops—on a punishing winter march through the snow-covered mountains of Lochaber. The manoeuvre brought his forces unexpectedly into Argyll’s rear.

At first light, Montrose’s army descended suddenly from the hills, completely taking the Covenanters by surprise. Despite this, they stood their ground. Argyll himself, suffering from a dislocated shoulder and unable to fight, watched the battle unfold from a galley on Loch Linnhe as Montrose’s troops emerged at dawn. The Royalist attack drove the Covenanters back towards the loch behind them killing many.

The defeat was catastrophic. Around 1,500 Covenanter soldiers—many of them Campbells—were killed, while Montrose lost only a few dozen men. It was a severe blow to the Covenanter cause. However, later that year they would defeat Montrose at Philiphaugh. Montrose was eventually captured and executed in Edinburgh.