Following the Jacobite capture of Edinburgh in autumn 1745, Lord Lewis Gordon had been designated as the Jacobite Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and was given responsibility for raising men in the north-east. With a mix of volunteers and men 'pressed' into service, he mustered a relatively large regiment including three battalions: the 'Aberdeen' battalion, mainly volunteers from Aberdeen itself led by James Moir of Stonywood; the 'Strathbogie' battalion, unwilling feudal levies under John Gordon of Avochie; and the 'Mar' battalion, mostly Highlanders raised by Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie in Braemar and upper Deeside. Gordon also set up a parallel civil administration, levying the cess in an effort to gain the Jacobites additional funds. In December the government commander-in-chief in the north, John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, sent Norman MacLeod of MacLeod from Inverness with 500 men of the Independent Highland Companies to confront Gordon. MacLeod was to pick up reinforcement en route from George Munro, 1st of Culcairn with 200 men and the Laird of Grant with a further 500. Gordon ordered his men to fall back to Aberdeen, where he was reinforced by part of Lord Ogilvy's Regiment from Forfarshire and Kincardineshire. He was also joined by a small detachment of Franco-Irish and Scottish regulars sent by Lord John Drummond, having landed at Montrose a few weeks previously.
The battle
Grant decided to return home, while Culcairn initially held post at Oldmeldrum. MacLeod however continued and occupied the town of Inverurie, 16 miles north-west of Aberdeen. On hearing of MacLeod's advance, Gordon determined to make a pre-emptive attack. Gordon eventually left Aberdeen on 23 December with 1,100 men and 5 pieces of cannon which had been taken off a ship in the harbour. He nominally led one column of Jacobite troops and Avochie another, though in reality it appears that active command was delegated to Major Lancelot Cuthbert, brother of the laird of Castlehill and a regular in the French Royal-Ecossais, who "did all the business". The Jacobites crossed the Bridge of Don and took the route by Fintray up the left bank of the river, while Gordon sent a detachment of 300 men, including the French regulars, by the Tyrebagger road - the main road to Inverurie - so as to deceive MacLeod as to his real intentions. 20th century historian Ruairidh MacLeod gave an account of the Battle of Inverurie in volume LIII of the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, quoting from contemporary documents. At about four o'clock in the afternoon the Irish picquets, who had marched by the right bank of the River Don, waded across the river at the ford south of Inverurie and attacked MacLeod's troops on the south-west side of the town. About 60 of MacLeod's men engaged them at the ford and it was here that the rebels lost most of their casualties, including eleven dead among the French regulars. Gordon then crossed the River Ury and attacked the town in the area of the church, taking the defenders by surprise, although they were able to fire several volleys as the main body of rebels crossed the river. The MacLeods then retreated down the main street of Inverurie, firing a few additional volleys before retiring northwards. Unable to hold their positions, they were pushed back to Elgin during the course of the evening. According to Ruaridh MacLeod the Government troops lost seven dead, with five killed in battle; fifteen wounded with the enemy; seven wounded brought back to Elgin and fifty-nine taken prisoner. Other sources claim a larger number of Government casualties. A Jacobite present at the battle admitted fourteen dead, while a Government officer estimated that the rebels had lost between 30 - 40 dead. An account of MacLeod's actions are given in the contemporary ''Culloden Papers':
McKlaudes Resolute Behavior in running to the Enemy with so few of his men about him and the stand they made with not one half of their little army against 900 till they were overpowered by numbers is much to his honour.
Aftermath
About fifty of MacLeod's men were taken prisoner, several of whom were officers including the younger son of Gordon of Ardoch and Forbes of Echt. Also taken prisoner was John Chalmers, formerly Principal and Professor of King's College, Aberdeen, and Donald Ban MacCrimmon, a member of the distinguished family of pipers. The remainder including MacLeod himself retreated to their own country.
