The British Army at Culloden comprised fifteen battalions of regular foot or infantry, a battalion of highland militia [stiffened by a single company of Loudon's 64th Highlanders], three regiments of cavalry, and a company of the Royal Artillery.

Two contemporary sets of figures are available purporting to ennumerate the number of men in each regiment, but neither is complete and both are in fact in some measure contradictory of each other.

The first is A return of the officers and men in each battalion the day of the battle of Culloden [Table 1] which was published in both the 'Scots Magazine' and the 'Gentleman's Magazine' in May 1746, and which appears to be an abstract of Cumberland's 'Morning State' for the 16th April.

The second is the so-called 'Guildhall List' [Table 2] setting out the numbers of NCOs, drummers and soldiers "on the spot", and the gratuities paid to each regiment out of the Guildhall Relief Fund. Neither set of figures mentions the three cavalry regiments and only the Guildhall List includes the Argyleshire Militia and the Royal Artillery, while numbers of officers present are given only in the 'Return.'

TABLE 1:

A return of the officers and men in each battalion the day of the battle of Culloden

Regiments	Fd Off.	Capts	Subs	Serjs	Drums	Rank & File
Royal Scots	2	5	19	29	25	401
Howard	2	4	10	21	14	413
Barrel	2	5	13	18	10	325
Wolfe	1	7	14	17	11	324
Pulteney	2	6	14	23	19	410
Price	2	7	14	21	11	304
Thigh	2	5	13	22	13	412
Campbell	1	5	13	21	14	358
Sempill	3	5	15	20	14	420
Blakeney	2	4	14	24	12	300
Cholmondley	2	7	15	21	15	399
Fleming	2	6	18	25	14	350
Dejean [Monro]	2	6	15	23	19	426
Conway	3	5	16	21	16	325
Battereau	1	7	19	24	18	354
Total	29	84	222	330	225	5521

Unfortunately in putting the two sets of figures together it at once becomes apparent that they do not agree, and with one exception; Campbell's 21st [Scots Fusiliers], the Guildhall figures are markedy higher than those quoted in the Return. Taking Barrel's Regiment as an example, the Return evidences 18 sergeants against 20 in the Guildhall list, both agree on 20 drummers, but the Return evidences only 325 rank and file against the Guildhall's 365; a difference of 42. Moreover the latter also adds 23 corporals, which might increase the discrepancy to 65.

It is more than likely the case, however, that the corporals have been added in error since they were invariably included with the rank and file in the Army's own returns of all kinds. It may be no co-incidence that the difference of 22 men between the 358 rank and file of the Scots Fusiliers in the Return and the Guildhall's 336, equates to the number of corporals quoted for that battalion. It would seem reasonable therefore to omit the corporals from any comparison between the two sets of figures [except in the case of the Scots Fusiliers].

Nevertheless we are still left with discrepancies ranging from 17 to 80 men - an average of 44 per battalion. [If 25 corporals per battalion are added the average rises to 69] At first sight it may appear therefore that one of the sets of figures must be entirely wrong, perhaps even ficticious, but in fact the discrepancy is easily explained.

The far more detailed retums for the fifteen battalions still serving in Scotland in September and October 1746, show that each unit had an average of 47 men sick, but still present, besides those left behind in hospitals. [1]

It may therefore be concluded that the Guildhall List does indeed record the number of men 'on the spot', whether or not they were fit for duty that day, whilst the Return only records the number of soldiers actually standing in the firing line.

As for the highlanders, none are included in the Return, but the Guildhall List gives 430 'Argyleshire men' besides NCOs, which if the same allowance is made for sick or other non- effectives, leaves 390 fit for duty, though the single company of Loudon's regulars may add another 30 or so.

No figures at all are available for the cavalry, though Cumberland refers in his dispatch to 200 men in Kingston's, and the returns for 1st September and 1st October cite 301 and 328 troopers for Cobham's and Ker's Dragoons respectively. There is little evidence from the retums of any significant turnover in the period since the battle and while not entirely satisfactory these figures are probably about right.

In total therefore, Cumberland would appear to have fielded 6494 officers and men in 15 regular infantry regiments, besides some 450 highlanders and about 850 cavalry. With the artillery added the total can have been no more than 8,000 men all told besides sick and noneffectives.

Table 2: The Guildhall List

Regt	Serjts	Corps	Drums	Privates
Royals	30	37	26	420
Howard	24	23	16	493
Barrell	20	23	10	365
Wolfe	19	22	18	387
Pulteney	23	26	18	479
Price	22	22	12	339
Sackville	23	25	14	464
Campbell	22	22	12	336
Sempill	20	25	19	487
Blakeney	25	22	12	336
Cholmondeley	22	24	15	433
Fleming	26	22	14	376
Dejean	23	24	19	474
Conway	21	22	16	342
Battereau	24	33	18	384
Argyleshire Men	32	30	9	430
Total	376	402	252	6602

Unit	Serjt	Bombr	Gunnr	Matross	Drum
Train	1	9	15	67	3

Footnote

[1] The battalions were all much stronger than in April, but a higher proportion of sick might be expected at the end of the winter than at the end of summer.

(Part II will comprise Cumberland's account of the battle. See next C18th MN&Q)