1745

Rosters for

Jacobite Rebellion for

Sharp Practice
by David Hunter

These few pages provide roster sheets and unit characteristics for the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and some
brief outlines on force composition. It starts with a look at some specifc characteristics of the period.

Jacobite Force Specific Characteristics Notes on the Jacobite Characteristics

Breastplates - Cavalry equipped with Breast-
plates may ignore one kill result in any round of
Fisticuffs. However, a roll of 6 that is ignored still
inflicts a point of shock.
Broadswords - When a Formation (not a single
Group) with this rule charges an enemy unit, roll
1D6 for every man who is eligible to fight. For each
roll of 5 or 6, one point of shock is caused on the
enemy before Fisticuffs takes place. Groups with
the Broadswords characteristic discard their mus-
kets when they first charge and so may not shoot
for the rest of the game.
Claymore! - A unit with the Claymore! characteris-
tic that is charging for the first time in a game will
fight as Clan in the first round of Fisticuffs. Subse-
quent combats gain no benefits from this rule and
it is never used when defending.
Highland Charge - When two Command Cards are
used with a Leader’s activation, a Formation (not
a single Group) that includes groups with this rule
may fire (if loaded) and then immediately charge
the same target with three dice of movement.
Mixed Weapons - Half this unit are armed with
muskets, the other half with melee weapons only.
Hence only half of eligible models may shoot.
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The broadsword was the close combat weapon of
choice for the highland gentry and wealthier tacks-
men. Being charged by swordsmen was a novel and
unsettling experience for the government troops
and the wounds inflicted, though not often fatal,
usually were enough to put a man out of the fight.
The Claymore! characteristic is named for the
highland warcry. The rule combines the moral
impact of the clansmen’s willingness to close upon
the government troops and the ferocity of the first
charge.
The clans charged in wedges or columns, gener-
ally impromptu ‘formations’ created by the bet-
ter-equipped and more motivated men forming the
front lines and, in the tradition of less-disciplined
warriors, leading the rush towards the enemy. The
Highland Charge characteristic attempts to model
this by encouraging closed columns. The clansmen
would fire a volley before charging.
The early Jacobite highlanders lacked many mus-
kets, only the wealthier gentry and tacksmen hav-
ing them. The rest carried a variety of polearms.
After Prestonpans the supply of muskets became
plentiful.
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Highland Infantry
That the highlanders are rated as Tribes will possi-
bly be seen as a bit contentious. There are several
cogent reasons for not giving the highlanders Clan
rating in the game. By the middle of the eight-
eenth century, clan strife had become somewhat
ritualised and highland society was not really a
‘culture of perpetual warfare’. Only about a fifth
of the highlanders were equipped in the generally
imagined manner, with musket, pistols, broad-
sword, dirk and targe (and the targe seems to have
fallen rapidly out of use during the rebellion). The
rest carried musket and bayonets once they had
become available, before that whatever polearms
they could muster. The initial impact of the charge
was largely due to the better-equipped men who
formed the front rank, and they of course took the
heaviest casualties and tired quickest.
While highland morale was not especially brittle, it
was no better than that of steady regulars and they
were more than usually affected by the death or
wounding of an officer or chief.
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Rating as Tribe rather than Clan allows, via the
Broadswords, Claymore! and Highland Charge
characteristics, the initial charge to be especially
savage, but subsequent fighting to be at a marked-
ly lower pitch. I have rated all the men of the first
division (or Highland Division as it was also called)
as Wild Highlanders - they get all the characteris-
tics and are those typically thought of when one
imagines a Jacobite highlander. At Prestonpans and
before, they would rate as Early Highlanders.
The highlanders of the second division (or
Lowland Division) were not of the same quality
as their western brethren (with the notable
exception of the MacGregors in Perth’s Brigade
who should certainly use the Wild Highland-
er entry). Their unit entry as Highland Levies
reflects their more subdued and regularised
nature - they were not clan regiments but
composite units raised without heed to clan
affiliation. The Irish Picquets were drawn from
several regiments in French service and had
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“Highlanders form the front ... the rest being Lowlanders and arrant scum”.
General Hawley

Irish Picquets Lowland Regiments

The Irish Picquets were drawn from several
regiments in French service and had a very
healthy proportion of officers to men. Their
service was exemplary, their only failing being
‘not so clever in marching’ at night over rough
and unfamiliar ground.
Royal Ecossais
The Royal Ecossais were also a regular regi-
ment in the French service and, as would be
expected, performed very well. Their ranks
were filled by local volunteers and government
deserters, and so they were not quite up to
the pitch of the Irish Picquets.
The bulk of the lowland Jacobites made up
most of the brigade of the Duke of Perth and
of Stuart’s, and later Townley’s regiments. Like
the Athollmen, many of these men had been
pressed under the threat of their roofs being
burnt over their heads or otherwise coerced
and, while they performed adequately at
times, they were not good quality troops.
Ogilvy’s Regiment was the best of the lowland
regiments raised in Scotland and the men were
well drilled and able to hold their own with
the regulars.

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Cavalry
The Jacobite cavalry suffered from a want of
horses and Pitsligo’s, Kilmarnock’s and Elcho’s
found themselves as Foot Guards by 1746.
FitzJames’ Horse (Irish in the French service)
were a very good unit, although arriving late
in the campaign, and the Scotch Hussars lived
up to the dashing and rather wild reputation
that hussars were meant to possess. FitzJames’
Horse were equipped with iron breastplates.
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Artillery
Jacobite artillery was poorly served, often
lacking trained crews. Outside of sieges, it was
deployed only at Culloden. It is included for
‘what-if’ scenarios and out of a sense of com-
pleteness.
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Jacobite Regiments

Wild Highlanders
Units with approximate strengths

Camerons of Lochiel (400-900) from October ‘45

Chisholms of Strathglass (80) from February ‘46
Earl of Cromartie’s (200)
Frasers of Lovat (400-500) from October ‘45
MacDonells of Barrisdale (450) from January ‘46
MacDonells of Glengarry (400-450) from October
‘45
MacDonells of Keppoch (200-400) from October ‘45
MacDonalds of Clanranald (200-350) from October
At Clifton Moor
‘45
MacGregors (hundreds of em) from October ‘45
Clan Chattan (300-350) from November ‘45 Stuarts of Appin (Wild Highlanders)
MacLachlans (100) from October ‘45 MacDonells of Glengarry (Wild Highlanders)
MacPhersons (400) MacPhersons (Wild Highlanders)
Stewarts of Appin (250-300)from October ‘45 Roy Stuart’s Edinburgh Regiment (Lowland Regt)

Highland Levies At Inverurie

Gordon of Glenbucket’s (??) from October ‘45 Strathbogie Battalion of Gordon’s (300) Lowland
Atholl Brigade (250-900) from October ‘45 Regiment
Highland Regiment (150-250) Kinloch Battalion of Ogilvy’s (200) Lowland Regi-
ment
Monaltrie’s Battalion of Gordon’s (200) Lowland
Lowland Regiments Regiment
Bannerman of Elsick’s from December ‘45 Stoneywood’s Battalion of Gordon’s (200) Lowland
Regiment of Lord Lewis Gordon (800 ) Regiment
Aberdeen Regiment Volunteers (200) Lowland Regiment
Duke of Perth’s Royal Ecossais (100) Royal Ecossais
Lord Ogilvy’s
Edinburgh Regiment 64th (300) Highland Regulars
Manchester Regiment MacLeods (200) Highland Militia
Munros (100) Highland
Inverness (100) Loyalist Volunteers
At Highbridge
At Falkirk
MacDonells of Keppoch (Highlanders, Early Rising)
MacDonells of Glengarry (Highlanders, Early Rising)
MacDonells of Keppoch (Wild Highlanders)
MacDonalds of Clanranald (Wild Highlanders)
At Prestonpans MacDonells of Glengarry (Wild Highlanders)
Camerons of Lochiel (Highlanders, Early Rising) Stewarts of Appin (Wild Highlanders)
Stewarts of Appin (Highlanders, Early Rising) Camerons of Lochiel (Wild Highlanders)
MacGregors (Highanders, Early Rising) Monaltrie’s Battalion of Farquharson’s
MacLachlans (Highlanders, Early Rising) Earl of Cromartie’s
MacDonalds of Clanranald (Highlanders, Early Ris- Atholl Brigade (Lowland Regiment)
ing) Ogilvy’s Regiment (Lowland Regiment)
MacDonalds of Glencoe (Highlanders, Early Rising) Lord Lewis Gordon’s Regiment (Lowland Regiment)
MacDonells of Glengarry (Highlanders, Early Rising) Irish Brigade (Irish Picquets)
MacDonells of Keppoch (Highlanders, Early Rising) Royal Ecossais (Royal Ecossais)
Atholl Brigade (Highland Levies) Lifeguard’s
Kilmarnock’s
Scotch Hussars
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Government Forces
Men in a short time after they are enlisted into the army, erect their bodies, change
their clownish gait, and become smart fellows.
Edmund Burt.
The regular regiments in Scotland in 1745
under General Cope were full of recruits and
did not perform well. This is reflected in the
characteristics of the Raw Regulars, which can
also be used for the freshly raised regiments in
England.
The experienced regiments in England, and
those which fought under Hawley at Falkirk,
were steady troops. However they were un-
used to the bayonet, battles of the time usual-
ly being decided by the crisp volleys at which
these men were adept. Their morale was very
suspect when facing the highland charge.
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Cumberland’s much-touted specialised bayonet
training made not one whit of difference to
the actual physical ability of his men to stand
up to the highlanders - the regiments who
were contacted at Culloden were mauled. The
difference it made was entirely moral - the
men stood their ground and held on in the face
of their ferocious foes. The men Cumberland
commanded in Scotland in 1746 are the best of
the government infantry.
Hessians, Swiss and Dutch were shipped to
Britain in the panic following the invasion of
1745. The Swiss and Dutch saw no action, and
the Hessians little, but they’re included for
completeness and ‘what ifs’.
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Scots Levies
The two highland regiments, Crawford’s (later the
Black Watch) and Loudoun’s performed adequately
enough, and it was alleged Loudoun’s might have
done better had they been equipped with broad-
swords instead of bayonets. There was some disaf-
fection in the ranks but most of those of Jacobite
sympathies deserted early, often in a body under
officers and defecting to the enemy, so the remain-
der were loyal enough.The highland militias ap-
pear to have been regulated enough to make Tribe
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status inappropriate; in any event they relied more
on their muskets than on wild charging. The Argyll
men had little sympathy for the Pretender’s cause
but some others, especially MacLeod’s, turned out
believing they were going to wear the white cock-
cade of the Jacobites and were obviously disgrun-
tled when that proved not the case. Glasgow,
Paisley, Edinburgh and Stirling raised regiments
of volunteers for King George. They saw action at
Falkirk.
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Government Cavalry Government Artillery

The newly recruited Dragoons performed dreadful-
ly in the Prestonpans campaign and its aftermath.
The more experienced and better trained units
encountered after Derby did good service when de-
cently led, though some squadrons were still poor.
The guns used were usually 3-pounders although
some lighter pieces featured at Prestonpans (how-
ever circumstances there mean scenario-specific
rules would be best to govern their use as their
crews fled before the battle began, leaving only
two officers to fire the pieces). Light Coehorn mor-
tars also featured in the field. Prestonpans apart,
the artillery performed well.

Note: Coehorn mortars must always used controlled fire

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