During the Jacobite rising of 1745, the clan chief, Alexander Macdonald, 17th of Keppoch, was among the men who attacked British Government soldiers who were preparing a surprise assault on the Glenfinnan gathering at what is now known as the Highbridge Skirmish. This was the first strike on the government during the 1745 rising. The MacDonalds of Keppoch were also involved in the siege of Fort William in March 1746. Alexander, 17th Chief of Keppoch, later died at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.