Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Numbers at Presonpans - The Anglo-Hanoverians

One project I have in mind for my year without lead is to put together a little Jacobite collection from the lovely 28mm RSM95 figures available from DPC, based on Prestonpans.

This would benefit my “British” collection insofar as it would prompt me to add some more troops to it, especially come cavalry and let me get some Jacobites started. I’m even thinking of doing some of the Black Watch who might do double-duty as Jacobites. This will feed into two of my longer-term goals of “doing” the failed British assaults on Fort Carillion in 1758 and one day to play out the campaign against Quebec in 1759.


So then, Prestonpans. About 2300 Government troops faced about 2500 Jacobites. It’s not clear how the Anglo-Hanoverian Army breaks down numerically, but so far as I can tell, the foot were broken up into four units – three infantry battalions from the left and at the extreme right a fourth unit of foot composed of piquets from each of the foot regiments. I have no idea as to what their composition was, but I’ll call them Grenadiers. At the left and right extremities of the line were one each of two regiments of dragoons. Each of these was of three squadrons.

In the aftermath of the battle it transpired the Jacobites had taken 1400 of the Anglo-Hanoverians prisoner. 300 more were killed and another 170 escaped the fight. I would suggest that as they dragoons fled at the start of the fight that most of these would have been infantry, giving us a total of about 1900 and 400 dragoons.

It seems that of the Jacobite army, no more than about 1000 of them actually came into action.

Any questions or comments are most welcome. More on the Jacobites later.

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