A Highland charge was a traditional Scottish battle tactic involving wedge-shaped formations of Scots running toward enemy positions. Upon reaching effective musket range, they would fire a single volley, drop their muskets, and then run at the enemy with broadswords.
The last such charge was conducted two hundred years ago today in North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. The Journal of the American Revolution describes the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge.
General Cornwallis organized 1,600 Gaelic-speaking Scottish Loyalists in North Carolina under Brigadier General Donald MacDonald in the state. The Scots marched inland through the swamps near Wilmington, not aware that their location was well-known and that Patriot militia were assembling into two bodies to trap them.
About half of the Scots deserted as MacDonald proceeded toward a crossing of the Black River, where they encountered a thousand Patriot militiamen under Brigadier General James Moore. MacDonald ordered his drummers and pipers to play "King George and Broadswords" and charge across the damaged bridge.
Effective Patriot musketry shattered the Scots, who fell back in confusion toward the coast. MacDonald himself and many of his troops were captured, as were their valuable supplies. The area remained firmly in Patriot hands for the next four years.
The Scots never tried a traditional Highland charge again.
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