Murray, Lord George

▪ Scottish general

born October 4, 1694, Huntingtower, Perth [now in Perth and Kinross], Scotland

died October 11, 1760, Medemblik, Netherlands

      Scottish Jacobite, one of the ablest of the generals who fought for Charles Edward (Charles Edward, the Young Pretender), the Young Pretender, the Stuart claimant to the English throne, in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745–46.

      Murray joined the English army in 1711 but aided the Jacobites in their unsuccessful rebellion of 1715. When Charles Edward invaded Scotland in 1745, Murray became a lieutenant general in the Jacobite army. He was largely responsible for the overwhelming Jacobite victory at Prestonpans, East Lothian, on September 21, and he skillfully directed the Jacobite retreat from Derby, Derbyshire (now in Derby City council area), into Scotland in December. On January 17, 1746, Murray defeated an English army at Falkirk, Stirling (now in Falkirk council area). He opposed Charles Edward's decision to make a stand at Culloden, complaining of the physical terrain; after the Jacobite forces were defeated there on April 16, Murray withdrew to Ruthven. The Pretender then abandoned the enterprise and dismissed him. Murray escaped to the European continent, where he died.

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