battle, early modern

Battle of Maol Ruadh

Name: Battle of Maol Ruadh
Location: Spean Bridge, United Kingdom

Battle of Maol Ruadh was a battle fought in August 1688 at Spean Bridge, in what is now United Kingdom. The recorded result: Rebel victory.

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Cairn An inscription on a plaque on the cairn reads "The Battle of Mulroy 4th August 1688. On the hill opposite the MacDonells of Keppoch defeated the Mackintoshs in the last inter-clan battle fought . Steven Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

FoughtAugust 1688

WhereSpean Bridge, United Kingdom56.903N, 4.839W

OutcomeRebel victory

BelligerentsRebels: Clan MacDonald of Keppoch; Clan CameronagainstClan Mackintosh; Government Independent Highland Company

Battlefield todayBattle of Mulroy battlefieldHistoric Environment Scotland entry BTL26, 467 ha

Record

Date	August 1688 (month precision)
Place	Spean Bridge, United Kingdom 56.903N, 4.839W
Kind	Battle, early modern
Strength	According to Alexander Mackenzie: half the number that Mackintosh had.; According to Mackintosh-Shaw: more than the number that Mackintosh had.	According to Alexander Mackenzie: 1,000 men.; According to Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw: 1,000 men.
Casualties and losses	Unknown	Many of Mackintosh's followers were slain, including Mackenzie of Suddie. Great numbers were also taken prisoner.
Commanders	Coll Macdonald, 16th of Keppoch	Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. The dashed outline is the registered battlefield area (Historic Environment Scotland). Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Highbridge Skirmish 1745, 7.2 km W
Stand-off at the Fords of Arkaig 1665, 11 km NW
Battle of the Shirts 1544, 14 km N
Battle of Lochaber 1429, 15 km NW
Battle of Inverlochy 1645, 17 km SW

Elsewhere in 1688

Historic Environment Scotland registers this as the Battle of Mulroy battlefield (entry BTL26), 467 hectares, under the Open Government Licence.

Battle of Maol Ruadh is one of 1,470 engagements of the 17th century in the atlas and one of 695 in present-day United Kingdom.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q4871668, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Mulroy, revision 1370450784, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Battlefield boundary and area from Historic Environment Scotland (Open Government Licence). Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.