Jacobite Artillery

Prince Charles brought a small number of swivel guns with him from France, however, all but one of these were tossed into a bog during the march from Glenfinnan to Edinburgh. Some useful pieces of ordnance were captured from Cope's army after the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans. Records indicate that the Jacobite artillery at Culloden consisted of six Swedish guns ranging in size from 2 to 4 pounders; six l-1/2 -pounders taken at Prestonpans; and one iron swivel gun mounted on a horse cart.

The Swedish guns arrived at Montrose and Stonehaven in October 1745 aboard French supply ships and were accompanied by 12 French gunners and Lieut.-Colonel James Grant, whom Prince Charles appointed commander of the Jacobite artillery. During the retreat from Derby to Scotland, the decision was made to abandon all but three of the Swedish guns at Carlisle.

Lord John Drummond's arrival from France in December 1745 was accompanied by the afore-mentioned Irish Picquets, Royal Ecossais and a heavy artillery train composed of two 16-pounders and two 8pounders. These latter items were destined for the Jacobite seige of Stirling Castle and they were moved with great difficulty from Perth to Stirling. None of the Jacobite artillery came into action during the subsequent battle of Falkirk, due to the weather conditions and the poor state of the roads. Most of the heavy artillery was abandoned at Perth in February 1746 when the Jacobites retreated to Inverness.

At Culloden, the remaining light guns were divided into three batteries of four guns and were placed in the center and on each flank of the army. The battery on the left was served by men from the ranks, who promptly ran away from the English counter-battery fire. The center battery's aim was bad and it was thought to have killed no more than five or six redcoats all day. The right-hand battery was under the personal direction of Lord George Murray and was slightly more effective. In general though, the Jacobite artillery was far inferior to its Royal Artillery counterpart, which raked the Jacobite lines to good effect with 3-pounders. The Jacobite crews, by contrast, were poorly trained and the odd assortment of gun calibers made supply more difficult.

Jacobite Cavalry

The Jacobite cavalry was probably the Prince's weakest combat arm. Horses were hard to come by and were expensive to maintain. Initially, there were five troops of Jacobite cavalry, drawn largely from the ranks of Lowland gentlemen from Perth, Banff, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. These units were: Lord Elcho's Life Guards, Lord Balmerino's Horse, Lord Strathallan's Perthshire Horse, Lord Pitsligo's Horse and Baggot's Hussars. These units averaged 100 troopers at full strength, but at Culloden their numbers had thinned down to 30 to 50 men per troop. Most of the Jacobite cavalry served dismounted at Culloden, save for 30 of Lord Elcho's men who formed a bodyguard for the Prince. The rest were required to give their mounts to the one squadron of Fitz James Horse that had recently arrived from France. These latter troops wore red coats with royal blue facings. Elcho's men wore a royal blue coat with red cuffs and waistcoat.

The other Jacobite cavalry units probably wore civilian clothing, including tartan jackets and breeches. A white cockade in their bonnet would be the only badge of identification as Jacobites. Baggot's Hussars wore a distinctive brown fur busby with a red busby bag that was similar to the hussar caps worn by the French hussars of the Marlburian era. They wore tan breeches and a predoniinantly yellow and black pattern tartan jacket.

More Jacobite Army At Culloden

Introduction
The Clan System and Other Units
Jacobite Artillery and Cavalry
Weapons and Highland Battle Tactics
Jacobite Order of Battle
Jumbo Map of Battle of Culloden (very slow: 247K)