The barracks were built in 1746 in response to the Jacobite uprisings, and to overawe the Robertson clan, though, by a strange quirk of fate, they would later become the residence of the chief. Following the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden (1746), Butcher Cumberland ordered his troops to show no quarter to any remaining Jacobite rebels. The Hanoverian Army (known as Redcoats) then embarked upon the so-called pacification of Jacobite areas of the Highlands. Numerous barracks were constructed throughout the Highlands to house the Government troops, including one at the head of Loch Rannoch at Braes of Rannoch (now called Bridge of Gaur). It is likely that it was a thatched-roof construction, more quarters than castle.