The outbreak of the Highland War on 22 March 1689 came with the eruption of fighting on the streets of the Scottish capital. 6,000 volunteers, mostly composed of Presbyterians from the western shires, began to encircle the formidable Edinburgh Castle, and the resulting siege, which lasted until June, saw the first shots fired in a new Scottish civil war. Although the first Jacobite rising has been previously portrayed as an insular Scottish affair, the first part of this series demonstrated that the catalyst for these events lay far beyond the country’s border. The sudden nature of civil conflicts often leaves one or both sides unprepared, and the Highland War would prove no different. Both sides had a small corps of forces at their disposal at the outset of the conflict, but the bulk of both the Scottish Williamite and Jacobite armies would take time to build as both sides sought to recruit from the areas they controlled. Territorial control would consequently prove a critical aspect of the initial stages of the Highland War, and it is with this which the second part of this series is concerned. This essay will show how these early stages of the war saw Scotland turn into a geo-strategic chess board, wherein the Williamites sought to consolidate control of the Lowland areas of Scotland, from Glasgow to Aberdeen, and the Jacobites sought to break out of the highlands decisively, in the hope of garnering further support for King James. Months of tense manoeuvre and counter-manoeuvre would come to an end when the field armies of both sides clashed at the infamous battle of Killiecrankie on 27 July 1689, which we shall examine in part three.
The siege of Edinburgh castle
After disembarking at Leith, the regiments of the Scots-Dutch Brigade found themselves immediately embroiled in the siege of Edinburgh Castle, which would last from 17 March to 13 June 1689. The siege would not only be the first action of the Highland War, but the first operation undertaken by the Scots Brigade in Scotland. The new Scottish Williamite government found itself without an army and the convention of estates – soonto-be parliament – began issuing warrants to recruit new regiments for its war against the Jacobites. In
