Talk:Battle of Tullich

Date of the battle

This "battle" doesn't seem to be mentioned even to a small degree in the histories of Glencairn's Uprising. It must have been a small skirmish. There is substantial disagreement regarding when the battle occurred. See below:

• On the Clan Cameron Association website dated 15 July 2007 ( http://www.clan-cameron.org/battles/1652.html ) they seem to indicate that the battle occurred in the spring of 1652.

• In Chambers's Journal, Volume 11 (1843) digitized at ( https://books.google.com/books?id=Wo0x3bd1FAUC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=Battle+of+Tullich+1652&source=bl&ots=3-GOBbhdMg&sig=ACfU3U3nQpeFXt1GGCuBEdpXflCvyDsegA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_4uOV78PrAhUBWs0KHdg1DF04FBDoATACegQIAxAB#v=onepage&q=Tullich&f=false ) they seem to indicate on page 373 that the battle occurred "towards the end of 1652,..."

• On the Clan Cameron Archive website ( http://www.lochiel.net/archives/arch058.html ) they present the words of a letter that was reportedly sent by Charles II on 3 November 1653 to Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel complimenting him for his courage in battle. It doesn't say which battle, however.

• On the CANMORE National Record of the Historic Environment website ( https://canmore.org.uk/site/32461/battle-of-tullich ) they say the battle occurred on 10 February 1654, citing J.F. Wyness' 1968 book Royal Valley; the story of the Aberdeenshire Dee.

• In Ian Mitchell's On the Trail of Queen Victoria in the Highlands ( https://books.google.com/books?id=CIT_FNnvwbYC&pg=PR5#v=onepage&q=Dedication&f=false ), the author dedicates the book "to the Unknown Soldiers of Cromwell's Republic who fell in the Battle of Tullich near Ballater in 1654,.."

• On the Aberdeenshire Council website ( https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?Authority=ASH&refno=NO39NE0021 ) they say the battle occurred in 1654.

With such uncertainty, I am going to use the most precise date offered (10 February 1654) which is seemingly endorsed by the Historic Environment Scotland website. Part of my justification is also the fact that the Glencairn Rising said to have occurred during 1653-1654. That being said, I am still troubled as the date of the King's letter is pretty compelling. In addition, I ask myself, wouldn't the English army be in winter quarters during February? I expected that it's pretty cold and snowy in the Highlands during February.

Comments? Thanks, VFF0347 (talk) 23:26, 30 August 2020 (UTC)