Battle of Falkirk Muir 1746
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1746 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 18th century | derived |
| Period | Jacobite & later | derived |
| Country | Scotland | derived |
| War / conflict | Jacobite risings | Wikidata |
| Participants | Jacobitism, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata |
| Local authority | Falkirk | HES |
| Registered area | 378.0 ha | HES |
| HES inventory reference | BTL9 | HES |
| Designated | 2011-03-21 | HES |
| Last amended | 2012-12-14 | HES |
About the battle
The Battle of Falkirk Muir, or Battle of Falkirk, took place near Falkirk, Scotland, on 17 January 1746 during the Jacobite rising of 1745. A narrow Jacobite victory, it had little impact on the campaign.
After their withdrawal from England in December 1745, the Jacobite army besieged Stirling Castle in early January. Lacking siege equipment, they made little progress and government forces under Henry Hawley advanced north from Edinburgh to relieve it. He reached Falkirk on 15 January but was taken by surprise when the Jacobites attacked late in the afternoon of 17 January.
Fought in failing light and heavy snow, Hawley's left wing was routed but his right held firm, and both sides believed themselves to have been defeated. As a result, the Jacobites failed to follow up their victory, allowing the government troops to regroup in Edinburgh. Hawley was replaced by Duke of Cumberland, who resumed the advance on 30 January, forcing the Jacobite army to withdraw to Inverness. The rebellion later ended at the Battle of Culloden in April.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Local authority: Falkirk
- Approximate centre of registered area: 55.9880, -3.8119
- Registered area: 378.0 hectares
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Falkirk Muir (revision 1376070524), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Contains Historic Environment Scotland and OS data © Historic Environment Scotland and Crown Copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Falkirk 1298 · 3 km
- Battle of Linlithgow Bridge 1526 · 11 km
- Battle of Sauchieburn 1488 · 11 km
- Battle of Kilsyth 1645 · 13 km
- Battle of Bannockburn 1314 · 15 km
- Battle of Stirling 1648 · 17 km
Other battles of the Jacobite risings
- Battle of Dunkeld 1689
- Battle of Killiecrankie 1689
- Battle of Cromdale 1690
- Battle of Prestonpans 1745
- Battle of Culloden 1746
All battles of the Jacobite risings →
Browse more: battles in Scotland · Jacobite & later · 18th century battles