← Charles Edward Stuart, raises his standard at Glenfinnan, at the start of the 45 uprising.- January 1, 1
Each Jacobite Rising formed part of a series of military campaigns by Jacobites attempting to restore the Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland (and after 1707, Great Britain) after James VII of Scotland and II of England was deposed in 1688 and the thrones usurped by his daughter Mary II jointly with her husband William of Orange.
The major Jacobite Risings were called the Jacobite Rebellions by the new governments. The First Jacobite Rebellion was the Fifteen, and the Second Jacobite Rebellion was the Forty-Five.
Charles continued to believe that he could reclaim the kingdom and recalled that early in 1744 a small number of Scottish Highland clan chieftains had sent a message that they would rise if he arrived with as few as 3,000 French troops. Living at French expense, he continued to badger ministers for commitment to another invasion, to their increasing irritation. In secrecy he also developed a plan with a consortium of Nantes privateers, funded by exiled Scots bankers and pawning of his mothers jewellery. They fitted out a small frigate le Du Teillay and a ship of the line the Elisabeth and set out from Nantes for Scotland in July 1745 on the pretence that this was a normal privateering cruise, leaving a personal letter from Charles to Louis XV of France announcing the departure and asking for help with the rising. The Elisabeth, carrying weapons, supplies and 700 volunteers from the Irish Brigade, encountered the British Navy ship HMS Lion and with both ships badly damaged in the ensuing battle the Elisabeth was forced back, but the Frigate successfully landed Charles with his seven men of Moidart on the island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides on August 2nd 1745.
The Scottish clans initially showed little enthusiasm about his arrival without troops or munitions, but Charles went on to Moidart and on August 19th 1745 raised the standard at Glenfinnan to lead the Second Jacobite Rising in his fathers name. This attracted about 1,200 men, mostly Clan Cameron. The Jacobite force marched south from Glenfinnan, increasing to almost 3,000 men, though two chieftains insisted on pledges of compensation before joining.