The Soldier's Leap

Location type


Name and dates

The Soldier^s Leap

Opened on the Tourist - Attractions.

Description

The Battle of Killiecrankie, 1689, took place north of the former station and on the north/east side of the line. A Jacobite army under John Graham, Viscount Dundee, defeated General Hugh Mackay's army, fighting for William of Orange. Graham died in the battle and the Jacobite army was itself later defeated itself at Dunkeld.

The National Trust for Scotland has a visitors' centre.

NTS - Killiecrankie

Nearby is the 'Soldier's Leap' which Historic Environment - Battle of Killiecrankie describes thus:

There was a brief attempt by Mackay's cavalry to come around the Government troops and flank the Jacobites, but this quickly fell apart as some of the cavalry quickly fled the battlefield, and others became bogged down in the fighting on the Jacobite right flank. Before long, the cavalry had left the field, leaving the infantry to their own devices. MacBane, who was one of the Government soldiers in the battle, made his escape initially on horseback, having taken a horse from the baggage train, but he then had to take off on foot and thereafter claims to have made the now famous 'Soldier's Leap' (an improbable jump of around 5 m across the rapids of the River Garry).

Tags

Tourist attraction River Garry 11/03/2020