On a battlefield where 15,000 men met in pitched battle, there were many individual stories on the day, and in the weeks and months afterwards.
Francis Ligonier - the French-born officer who led the Hanoverian Dragoons during the battle. He was highly regarded by George II, and had fought courageously in a distinguished military career. Though previously confined to bed with a chest infection prior to the battle, Ligonier still took over command of the dragoons on that fateful day. He survived the battle and escaped, but the brutal wintry weather made his poor health worse, and he died a little over a week later. Such was the esteem he was held in that he received a monument in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey.
Sir Robert Munro of Foulis, 6th Baronet - a soldier and politician from the Ross & Cromarty area of the Highlands, and head of Clan Munro. An influential figure in the machinations of local highland politics and an MP, he was 60 at the time of the battle. During the Hanoverian flight from the battlefield he was separated from his troops and surrounded by 6 of the Highland Cameron clan. An eyewitness account describes his last moments:
'"Lord Munro, being deserted, was attacked by six of Locheal's regulars (Cameron Clan) & for some time defended himself...Two of the six, I am informed, he kill'd... a seventh fired a Pistol into him; upon falling, the Highlander with his sword gave him two strokes in the face, one over the Eyes & another on the mouth, which instantly ended a brave man"
Lord John Drummond - The 'late' Jacobite 4th Duke of Perth, who's family had been exiled after the 1715 rebellion. He had served in the military on the continent and was one of the 'exiles' who were the closest military advisors to Bonnie Prince Charlie, and also served as a cavalry commander. As well at Falkirk Muir, he also fought at Culloden. Like many of the exiles he fled Scotland in the weeks after Culloden, resuming his military career, He died of disease while serving in the French Army at a seige in the Netherlands, as part of the Austrian War of Succession.
Lord George Murray - Commander of the Jacobite forces at Falkirk Muir and son of the Duke of Atholl. The veteran Jacobite remained distrusted by many of his Jacobean peers, even after the victory. His headstrong leadership continued at Culloden where his decision on a night march to gain surprise on the Hanoverians probably caused the Jacobite defeat. Two years after Culloden he met with Bonnie Prince Charlie's father - 'The Old Pretender' - James Edward Stuart - in Rome, and as was traditional for one who had given loyal service, The Old Pretender gave him a pension to help him see out his remaining years. Bonnie Prince Charlie was less impressed by Murray's loyalty and had suggested that instead he be thrown in prison. Murray soon after settled in the Netherlands, where he lived in exile until he died in 1760.
