The Rout of Moy

The written history of conflicts often focuses on the men involved, however, one of the greatest characters from the 1745 Jacobite rising isn’t a broadsword-swinging warrior, but Lady Anne Mackintosh. She was the daughter of the Chief of Clan Farquharson, married to the Chief of Clan Mackintosh and well respected amongst both clans.

While Anne may have been a staunch Jacobite like her father, when the rising started, her husband was already part of the government army. Regardless of her marital loyalties, this lady was in no doubt about which side she supported. At the age of 22, she rode around her lands and rallied hundreds of clansmen to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles gave her the nickname La Belle Rebelle, but most knew her better as Colonel Anne Mackintosh.

Colonel Anne’s most famous story took place during a visit from the Prince to her home in Moy Hall. Government forces soon learned that Charles was away from his main army, with only a handful of guards and they saw their chance to strike. Around 1500 soldiers marched from Inverness to capture the Jacobite leader, but the surprise was thwarted after somebody overheard the planned operation.

They ran as fast as they could to Moy Hall, arriving just in time to warn of the impending attack. Charles and his guards fled into the dark countryside, while Anne prepared her defences. She only had a handful of servants to defeat an army, so the Colonel would need to rely on cunning instead.

Her staff were ordered to hide down by the roadside amongst the peat stacks, with all the weapons that they could carry. Just as the government troops approached in the darkness, the hidden defenders began to fire every pistol and musket, then bang old swords against pans. They darted amongst the piles of peat and screamed out different clan battle cries at the top of their lungs to sow confusion.

The shocked government soldiers hadn’t expected to meet any resistance and now it seemed as if they had run into the main Jacobite army. Only one man was killed, the piper Donald MacCrimmon, but the rest quickly retreated along the road back to Inverness. Colonel Anne and her handful of servants had won a famous victory at The Rout of Moy.

Around a month later, her husband was captured by the Jacobites and placed into Anne’s custody. She greeted him, "your servant, Captain" and he replied "your servant, Colonel" acknowledging with full respect that his wife outranked him.