ENGLAND/SCOTLAND. Carlisle Recaptured, Jacobite Rebels Retreat to Scotland. 1745. AR medal. 15.39 gm. 35 mm. By A. Kirk/J. Kirk. The Duke of Cumberland on horseback left, sword raised, city (Carlisle) behind; GUL AUG DUX CUMBERLANDIÆ around; NAT 15 APR 1721 in exergue; A KIRK F in small letters below / The Duke standing right, handing an olive leaf to Anglia seated left; below, a prostrate rebel with a papal shield; SPEM REDUCIS MENTIBUS ANXIIS around; MDCCXLV in exergue; I KIRK F in small letters below. Eimer 598. Woolf (Jacobite) 58.1. Near Extremely Fine; attractive old toning with iridescence over fresh glossy surfaces.

The siege and capture of Carlisle was an important event of the 1745-1746 Jacobite uprising. Forces loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") captured the city of Carlisle and Carlisle Castle on 14-15 November 1745. But Charles was not strong enough to hold it, and the Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, besieged and took back Carlisle in December. The prisoners, the so-called Manchester Regiment, were held in a dungeon in terrible conditions until they were brought out for execution. (Cf. lots 179-182.)

History of the Jacobite Rebellion: The last Stuart monarch had been dead for three decades and the Hanoverians were on the British throne. James ("The Old Pretender"), son of James VII and Mary of Modena had been unsuccessful in an attempt to gain the throne in 1715 and install himself as James III. His son Charles ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") launched yet another effort to establish a Stuart ruler, landing on an island in the Hebrides in July 1745. He built an army of highlanders that was successful in taking over Edinburgh by September. But the English throne was the goal, and after some initial invasion successes the English responded by bringing the commander of the English army in Flanders back to England. The Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, led a dominant force north, taking back Carlisle on his way.The Jacobite Rebellion is marked by a a long series of finely produced medals by the English marking the events (Cf. lots 179-182)