General Wade's Bridge - Aberfeldy
In July 1724, George I sent General Wade to Scotland. In the uncertainty following the 1689, 1715 and 1719 Jacobite uprisings, he was asked to "inspect the present situation of the Highlanders" and to "make strict inquiry into the last law for disarming the Highlanders". He reported that most Highlanders able to bear arms were ready to do so against the Crown. He recommended the construction of barracks, bridges and roads to help control the Highlands. George I immediately appointed Wade Chief of His Majesty's forces, castles, forts and barracks in North Britain, with the remit to put his own recommendations into practice.
Between 1725 and 1737 Wade oversaw the construction of some 250 miles of road, plus 40 bridges, including his most striking legacy, the Tay Bridge at Aberfeldy, built at a cost of over £4000. General Wades bridge was constructed in 1733 to the design of architect William Adam, father of the more famous Robert Adam. Wade considered his bridge at Aberfeldy to be his greatest accomplishment. Roads linking Perth, Inverness, Stirling, Fort William and Fort Augustus rapidly appeared where previously there had only been tracks suitable for single file passage of men or horses. A key focal point for Wade's network was Ruthven Barracks, which had been completed near Kingussie in 1721. Wade was also responsible for raising a militia called the Highland Watches. The first six companies were formed in 1725, with another four in 1739. These became the Black Watch Regiment and marked the start of the widespread use of Highland troops in the British Army that persists right up to today. Meanwhile Wade conducted a largely successful campaign of diplomacy, that often entailed personally visiting Clan Chiefs whose loyalty to the King was suspect, and helping drink them out of claret.
In 1740 Wade left the Highlands, leaving Major William Caulfield to continue building military roads. Wade was made a Privy Councillor in 1742, and in 1743 was promoted to Field Marshal, taking joint command of the Anglo-Austrian force in Flanders against the French. In 1744 he returned to England to become Army Commander-in-Chief.
When Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobites marched south into England in 1745, Wade misjudged their intentions, allowing his forces to be bypassed and leaving London almost undefended. By now aged 72, he stood aside to let Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, take command of the army that pursued the Jacobites to their eventual demise at the Battle of Culloden.
Wade died in 1748, aged 75. In his will he left the huge sum of £100,000 from his many investments, including part ownership of the lead mines at Strontian. £500 of this was set aside for the erection of a monument to his own memory in Westminster Abbey, where he was buried.
In and Around Aberfeldy
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