The Battle of Culloden was one of the last great turning points in the history of Scottish Jacobitism. In 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart had come close to regaining control of Scotland for the Stuarts. However, a failed attempt to reach London gave the Hanoverian King, George II, enough time to raise a professional army under the command of his brother, the Duke of Cumberland. The Duke pursued the Jacobite army into Scotland, where a brave defence near Culloden House could not stave off their defeat.  Afterwards, he hunted down to fleeing Jacobites with such brutality that his enemies named him ‘Butcher Cumberland’.

Sullivan's print shows the battle at its height, with the orderly lines of the British ‘redcoats’ closing on the Highland army. The print found a ready market among supporters of the Hanoverian regime, and a coloured version is shown in the Culloden Quodlibet hanging on the adjacent wall.