History of the Stewarts | Castles and Buildings
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Derby
Derbyshire, central England
The Jacobite army turned back here
By the time the Jacobite army reached Derby in early. It had become clear that the supposed English support was not going to materialise. Lord George Murray and the other Jacobite advisers saw that their ranks were dwindling due to desertion and believed that three different Government armies were on their way to intercept their further progress. They persuaded a reluctant Prince Charles that the only sensible course was to turn back. Accordingly, on the morning of 6 December, the first "Black Friday", when little more than a hundred miles from London, the Jacobite army turned wearily and retreated into Scotland, to be annihilated four months later at Culloden.
Had they continued south, who knows ... ? It is a favourite pastime to second-guess history and wonder what might have happened if they had pushed on south instead. Would they have captured London, where the court already had its bags packed?