"Best resources for Jacobite '45 Rebellion?" Topic

Looking for the best resources to organize regiments and the little armies, paint the miniatures, game the campaign. I have the old Osprey book on the Jacobite Rebellions, nothing else so far.

Happy to get suggestions on websites, books, downloads, YouTube, anything.

Went to the Culloden battlefield a couple of years ago – Highly Recommend it to anyone!

thanks!

There is a very comprehensive 2 volume supplement for Volley and Bayonet on the Jacobite Wars.
It was published by Old Glory, and features their figures prominently.
Even if you do not use V&B, it is a good resource.
The chronology is there, organization, scenarios, etc.
By wargamers, for wargamers.

I don't know where you live, but if you live in the US and are close to South Bend, Indiana the weekend of April 4th and 5th, then stop in at the Seven Years War Assn. Convention at the Magnussen Hotel in downtown South Bend and meet Christopher Duffy, one of the foremost researchers and authors on the SYW and the Jacobite Rebellion of the '45.

The classic BBC film from 1964 is on Youtube

YouTube link for part 1 of 7

Cheers

Christopher Duffy's book on the '45 is well reccommended, and Stuart Reid has many excellent books on various aspects of the last rebellion, especially "Like Hungry Wolves"

@ DaF
Nope, can't get there, but if Duffy's flying in to New York, Newark or Philadelphia, maybe he can swing by my place on his way to the 'con?

I didn't know he did books on the '45, I have his Army of Frederick the Great book. Anything in particular of his you recommend? Or anyone else?
Thanks!

@JtOFM

thanks, I'll look into it. Actually, some of the gamers I know might have it already. V&B is Sam Mustafa? Can't remember offhand…

I didn't know that Duffy wrote on the '45. I thought I had a complete collection of his published writing…do you know the title of this one?

Volley and Bayonet was published, I think back in the '90s, by GDW. Long OOP but there's a core of gamers who still play it.

link

Here is a review:

THE '45 is getting some extremely good reviews: 'Stripping away time-honoured misconceptions of the popular imagination and replacing them with hard factand original research, he presents a brilliant new perspective on the last attempt to seize the crowns of England and Scotland.' Tom Kyle, DAILY MAIL (11/4/03) '[Christopher Duffy] is a comfortingly traditional historian in that he sets out to use the best available information, including topography and meteorology, to explain something better than it has been explained before. He succeeds.' Robbie Hudson, SUNDAY TIMES (27/4/03) 'The '45 is the equivalent of Homer's Iliad or the tales of King Arthur. The narrative contains all the archetypes of great myth, but it actually happened… One of the great merits of Christopher Duffy's book is that he is alive to the mythical dimension. While subjecting the '45 to the disciplined scrutiny of a military historian, he is aware that the last Jacobite rising is not just another campaign… Christopher Duffy is the acclaimed and highly regarded doyen of eighteenth-century military history but he has excelled himself with this outstanding history.' Frank McLynn, THE HERALD – lead book review (12/4/03) 'Christopher Duffy's superb book provides the reality behind the romance. The detail in Duffy's bok is extraordinary. Equipped with his enthralling account and the many excellent maps that accompany it, the reader can reconstruct the Bonnie Prince's journey exactly. THE '45 emerges from the mists of the legends that have surrounded it and into the clear light of history. The Prince is seen not just as the doomed hero of romance but as a skilled and daring commander. Duffy's bookis military history at its very best and most enlightening.' LIVING HISTORY,May 2003 'Christopher Duffy's fresh account of The '45 is revolutionary in itself. Adopting an even-handed approach, he debunks a number of long-held myths. He has discovered that British support for the Jacobites was wider than previously supposed and has unearthed evidence of conspiracies within the British Army. In this important work the author, who formerly taught at Sandhurstand the Army Staff College, also assesses the campaign from a military pointof view.' SOLDIER, May 2003 'Christopher Duffy is the master of eighteenth-century European warfare, and in this well-written study he directs his gaze at the '45… A first-rate work, handsomely produced (including photographs) and attractively priced.' RUSI Jounal, August 2003 A two-part extract of THE '45 ran in THE SCOTSMAN on 29th and 31st March 03. So far there has been really good feed back from the other Scottish press and Christopher Duffy has beenpromoting in Scotland. THE '45 was Waterstone's Scottish Book of the Month for April and the launch event for THE '45 was held on Wednesday 9th April at Waterstones in Inverness. Christopher Duffy also did an event at Ottakars, Edinburgh, on Thursday 10th April, 6.30pm. Christopher Duffy has been interviewed for the EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS and will be attending the Edinburgh Festival in August. Review coverage is also expected in the following publications:THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPHHISTORY TODAYSCOTLAND ON SUNDAYEVENING TIMES (GLASGOW)THE DUNDEE COURIER & ADVERTISERTHE SUNDAY POST (DUNDEE)THE SCOTS MAGAZINESCOTTISH FIELDBORDER LIFE Radio coverage includes:BBC RADIO SCOTLAND interview onthe Gary Robertson ProgrammeRADIO BORDERS have run a competition for the book and given it a plugInterview with RADIO CLYDE --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Actually, the 2nd edition of V&B (renamed Volley, Bayonet and Glory) is still in print and available from Test of Battle Games. Frank Chadwick and Greg Novak are the designers.

link

Note that you'd probably have to get the Jacobite supplements (2 books) from someone like OldGlory 25's (RUL-56 and RUL-57 at this link --> link )

Coolio. Now I know some stuff I didn't before.

"Chasing the Deer" is a UK feature film about the '45 that was released a few years ago when "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy" briefly made kilt-operas popular. Fiction, but inspiring. Brian Blessed chews up the scenery.

Definitely get the Volley & Bayonet campaign books on the 45. All of the work has been done for you.

Ah, that's it! I knew it was a game designer I knew.

Well, if it's Frank Chad can't be bad, I say. I have his Command Decision "Benghazi Handicap" and it's a very useful volume whether or not you play Command Decision.

The books of John Prebble (Culloden one of them) are also a fascinating read. See link Definitely also read Glencoe.

Many years ago I was on holidays in Scotland (Inverness). I met a kilted Scotsman there who complained about the English government taking all heavy industry away (meaning jobs lost). He spoke about Charles Stuart as if he had left about a week ago. Not sure whether Scotland carries the same feelings still but clearly even after centuries Scotland and England remain different countries…

I recommend Stuart Reid's works for solid research and a lack of sentimentality. He is very good at exploding myths, not for the sake of being a revisionist but because of the evidence .

@Porthos, kilts these days are for sporting events and weddings, the few Scots who wear them outwith are, and I'm being kind, would be regarded as eccentric at best! The vast majority of "lowland" Scots at the time of the '45 would have regarded highlanders with a mixture of curiosity and disdain and the two would have little in common, not even speaking the same language. Stuart Reid in his books, sweeps away many of the myths surrounding the rebellion and his works, especially on the "English" army are especially good.

John Prebble for Anecdotes; "Like Hungry Wolves' for OOB's and Descriptions. The Osprey Elite title Jacobite Army of the '45 is also very useful.

Stuart Reid has punctured some superhuman hairy highlander myths but his lack of understanding of Gaelic makes him a very poor scholar of Highland culture. His continual insistence on mistranslating the Gaelic word for sword ( claidheamh) as dirk (biodag or dirk)in his 17thC works to make the Highlands look more poor or backward in some way, is laughable.
His personal love affair with the British army of the 18thC makes him a poor judge of a force in rebellion against it. Mind you I do have all his books!! :-)

Dualer as you may know from Murray Pittock's work, contrary to popular myth the majority of the Jacobite army in 1715 and 1745 was also Lowland and not "Gaelic" in nature, the majority of regiments coming from strong Episcopalian areas such the North East, Dundee, Perthshire and Angus as well as Edinburgh and Lothians. It was a Jacobite plan to make the army appear more Highland and presumably seem more exotic and dangerous than it actually was.

Duffy's 45 is the ultimate campaign history. Tony Pollard's book on Culloden is also excellent with a collection of chapters on every part of the battle. Including a very good one by Stuart Reid.

Ditto the V&B books!

Duffy's '45 is the definitive work to date, indeed I doubt we will see better.

Don't like anything by Duffy!!!

Some bitter old Scottish guy, who's life has passed him by, he'd be a good resource to start with.

Go into any pub in Glasgow or Edinburgh and you'll find several…I think their median ages are 19 years old.

Culloden: The History and Archaeology of the Last Clan Battle by Tony Pollard. Published this year.

Dr. Pollard is well known in the UK as a battlefield archaeologist.

Like anything by Pollard!

Reid's Like Hungry Wolves is a must for a proper military history of the rising.

Duffy's The '45 is an excellent campaign resource, and follows along with Reid's agenda.

No Quarter Given is the most recent muster roll of the Jacobite army during the '45, and if you're interested in forming units for wargaming, it's a must.

Maggie Craig's latest, Bare-Arsed Banditti, is a fun and accessible character study of Jacobite men during the '45.

And for a shameless plug, check out my doctoral project-in-progress: jdb1745.net

This is all just the tip of the iceberg, of course.