Bill Inglis's account of the battle draws on twelve eye witness accounts. Two were written on the evening of the battle: in the case of the Earl of Haddington before he had taken his boots off. The despatches of the two commanders, the Earl of Mar and the Duke of Argyle, were written within 48 hours of the last shot being fired.
This range has really caught my imagination. Hopton V Waller I think.
Just ordered a biography of this man from the Library. Lived an interesting life, Wiki
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| By Brian Robert Marshall |
From a wargames point of view it would have been great to have Charles XII land in Scotland.
From the wiki
Ormonde added another element, based on his involvement in peace talks between Sweden and Russia.[5] Charles XII of Sweden was then in dispute with Hanover over territories in Germany, an example of the problems caused by George I's being ruler of both Hanover and Britain.[6] A small Scottish force would secure Inverness, allowing a Swedish expeditionary force to disembark; Charles' death in November 1718 ended Swedish participation, and the entire purpose of the Scottish rising.[7]
Alastair Grant Mohr
There was going to be a Fontenoy reenactment this year but it got cancelled which is a shame. But we can still commemorate it.
See here for the history of the regiment.
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| Highland soldiers on the march 1743 |
The 43td.
40 years since I joined the ECWS this year. I am 4th from the left. Devereux's. Pic is by Richard Ellis.
I remember being impressed with this movie when it came out. Trailer
Silent film about Rob Roy
This ambitiously-staged biopic of Highland rogue and rebel Robert MacGregor benefits from extensive location shooting in the Trossachs as well as at nearby Stirling Castle. Nationalist sentiments are played down in this telling of the tale, with the conflict more personalised as Rob and the Duke of Montrose become rivals in love. It's a pity we couldn't have had more of Sandy the Biter, though.
Although Sir Walter Scott's 1817 novel 'Rob Roy' was instrumental in establishing the real-life Robert MacGregor as a popular figure in Scottish folklore, the film's opening title card: "To Scotland, not to Scott, did we go for the facts…", affirms that the film is not based on that famous book - nor the facts either, come to that.
Read about the Jacobites at Sheriffmuir here
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| By John Wootton |
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| details here Crucible of the Jacobite '15 | Century of the Soldier 1618-1721 | Helion & Company |
Here for Alex's blog. Alex is the author of the below book this is to introduce his work.
From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 series now available!
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Infantry in Battle rewrites the story of combat in the eighteenth century by placing enlisted infantrymen and their experiences at centre stage. While popular memory and film portray these men as robotic automata they fought in flexible and adaptable ways, and they left their mark on eighteenth-century warfare.
In Infantry in Battle, Dr Alexander S. Burns provides a new understanding of combat during the mid-eighteenth century: the pivotal period between 1733 and 1783. Professor Burns arguesthat eighteenth-century soldiers informally negotiated authority with their officers on the battlefield by firing without orders, firing at longer ranges than their officers preferred, and by taking cover on the battlefield. In this process, these enlisted men played an important role by asserting tactical reforms from below.
Infantry in Battle is grounded in archival research on the American, British, and Prussian armies. However, it also covers the armies of military Europe more broadly, and includes writings from Austrian, French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish soldiers. It is also the first English-language book to utilize archival material on battles from the War of Polish Succession in Northern Italy.
Infantry in Battle is a scholarly monograph, but one written with a popular audience in mind. Like his mentor, the late Christopher Duffy, Professor Burns has longstanding connections to professional military education as well as wargamers and reenactors. Cutting through myth, we see motivated enlisted men who were capable of adapting their tactics to the needs of the battlefield, rather than terrorized automata firmly controlled by their officers.
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