Battle of Preston (1715)

At the Battle of Preston, an Anglo-Scottish Jacobite army was engaged by Government forces. Fought within the confines of the town itself, the Jacobites mounted a spirited defence successfully repelling the first assaults on their lines. However, as more Government troops arrived they had little choice but to surrender.

Map of the Battle of Preston, 1715
Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2017

Surrender of the Rebel Stuart Forces at Preston in 1715, by J. R. Brown
© Blackpool Town Hall

The South Prospect of Preston, in the County Palatine of Lancaster (c.1728) by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck (1696-1779) © Government Art Collection

Timeline

Tuesday, November 8
Jacobites march towards Preston. Major General Wills, formerly in garrison at Chester, arrives at Manchester, aiming to prevent a rising there and intending to stop the rebels from heading further south.

Wednesday, November 9
Rebel foot soldiers stay in Garstang. Horse troops arrive in Preston in the evening.

Thursday, November 10
Jacobite foot soldiers arrive in Preston. James III is proclaimed king in the Market Square. Officers socialise with locals. Barricades erected at far end of Church Street; in Church Street near the parish church; Friargate near the windmill; and Fishergate.

Friday, November 11
Major-General Wills, the Government Army commander, leaves Manchester for Wigan.

Friday, November 11, 7pm.
Earl of Derwentwater is told that Major General Wills is to march from Wigan to Preston with 7 regiments. He does not defend the Ribble bridge, at Walton-le-Dale, relying on the barricades for defence.

Saturday, November 12
Major-General Wills and his troops leave Wigan early in the morning and advance to Preston. His soldiers are the infantry regiments of Brigadier Preston, and the dragoon regiments of Major-General Wynn, and of Brigadiers Honywood, Munden and Dormer, and of Colonel Stanhope, and the cavalry regiment of Colonel Pitt.

11am
Major-General Wills arrives at Walton-le-Dale. Derwentwater orders 300 horsemen to Ribble bridge, Walton-le-Dale, but, an hour later, he orders them to retreat into Preston. Wills is ‘amazed’ to find the bridge undefended and he crosses the riverunopposed. He advances up the hill to Preston by 1pm.

2pm
A detachment of 200 Government troops drives rebels from the lower barricade in Church Street. However, raking fire from rebels in Church Street forces troops to retreat. About 120 Government soldiers killed in about 10 minutes.

3pm
Another detachment of Wills’s troops arrive near the Friargate barricade.

4pm
300 Government troop detachments advance up narrow weinds behind houses. They capture two large houses: Sir Henry Hoghton’s [Patten House] and Mr Ayres’s. Highlanders kill a captain and about 140 soldiers. Government soldiers begin to set fire to houses.

Attack on Friargate windmill barricade begins. Houses set on fire after Highlanders repel Government troops.

Dusk and night
Hostilities cease except for a few shots. Candles lit in windows to show houses taken but Jacobites also light candles in windows. Both sides amused by confusion. Fishergate barricade is not blocked by General Wills. Many of Derwentwater’s men escape by Fishergate.

Sunday, November 13 10am
Lieutenant-General Carpenter arrives from Clitheroe with 2,500 men to join Wills. Carpenter has three regiments of dragoons: those of Lord Cobbam, of Churchill and of Molesworth, accompanied by the Earl of Carlisle and Lord Lumley. Fishergate escape route blocked. Jacobites in Preston town centre surrounded by Government troops.

1pm or 2pm
Forster and English Jacobite colleagues, without consulting Scots, send Captain Dalziel, as an envoy, to Wills to seek terms for surrender. An armistice is arranged until the following morning. Earl of Derwentwater and Colonel McIntosh handed over as hostages for the ceasefire.

In Scotland, at Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, an indecisive battle is fought between Jacobites led by the Earl of Mar and the King’s troops led by the Duke of Argyll.

Monday, November 14 ‘soon after 7am’.
A messenger is sent from rebels to Wills to confirm that his terms were accepted and that the rebels would surrender unconditionally.

The general body of rebels assemble in the market place and lay down their arms. Highlanders and privates are marched to the parish church and imprisoned in cold, uncomfortable conditions. Scottish officers and gentlemen sent to the Mitre, White Bull and Windmill inns. Lancashire and Northumberland gentlemen placed in Mr. Wingleby’s house.