Culloden 1746

Battlefield Guide Third Edition

by

Stuart Reid

 Bonnie Prince Charlie, or 'The Young Pretender' if you like, and the last battle in Scotland to try and put the Stuarts back on the throne. Charlie's legend is based solely on roughly one year of his life. The culmination of which would be the Battle of Culloden, and his flight to the Isle of Skye. These are the end of the last time the Highlands, or at least some of them, rose for the Stuarts. It is also the last battle to take place in Great Britain

 Culloden cannot be looked at and dissected without the history of the year of 1745. One can make the argument that once the bulk of the Duke of Cumberland troops (and his bulk) had landed in Great Britain the gig was up for Charlie and his shoestring revolt. Therefore, Culloden was somewhat of a foregone conclusion. However, the attempt of Charlie to retake the throne for his father has passed down into myth. 

 This book is short at only 150 or so pages. However, it is one of the if not the best one on the battle itself. The book is filled with pictures. These are of the area as it is today along with many illustrations from the time. It is also full of maps. If there is one thing I want to change about military history books is the absolute need for maps, and plenty of them. With this book my personal crusade for maps is unnecessary. 

 The author spends the first twenty-six pages on the campaign leading up to the battle. After that the book takes on every aspect of the battle, and does it extremely well. The author walks a tightrope between all of the myths that have been built up on both sides of the battle. Charlie's almost successful campaign is the stuff of legends. However, his bad decisions , especially in appointments, has also to be looked at. The book does a great job of showing the reader the real history. It goes into the fact that the MacDonald's did charge, unlike some earlier books that follow the earlier accounts. As a bonus it is also a battlefield guide for those lucky enough to be able to travel to the area.

 My suggestion is buy this book, and put on the song 'The Isle of Skye' and have a great time reading a great book (that also has a lot of maps). I have read and reviewed a few of the authors other books. Do yourself a favor and take a look. 

Robert

Book: Culloden 1746 Battlefield Guide Third Edition
Author: Stuart Reid
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Distributor: Casemate Publishers

The Battle of Minden 1759

The Impossible Victory of the Seven Years War

By 

Stuart Reid

 For most people the Seven Years War brings forth an image of old 'Fritz' on a horse with Prussian grenadiers standing behind him. The fact is, the Seven Years War could be the first 'World War'. Being fought on five of the seven continents, the war has a lot more history than just what happened in Bohemia and Silesia. This book tells the story of the French attempt to crush a much smaller army of British and allied German states. The allied army was tasked to defend Hanover and keep the French from attacking Frederick the Great from the west. The British involvement came about when George, the elector of Hanover, was made the British king in 1714. George the 1st of England and his son, George the 2nd, took their birth rite as electors of Hanover as seriously as they took being kings of England.

 The Seven Years War started in 1754, with Frederick the Great's invasion of Saxony. The previous few years had seen a complete shift in European politics. France and their arch enemy Austria had made peace and actually became allies (in the War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748 France was actually allied with Frederick). George the 2nd had originally made his favorite son the Duke of Cumberland (butcher) his general-in-chief in Hanover. The portly Duke was trundled off the continent after the battle of Hastenbeck and signing the disastrous 'Convention of Klosterzeven', ceding half of Hanover to the French and leaving Frederick in the lurch. George the 2nd found a new favorite son and quickly repudiated the convention. The Duke of Brunswick, Ferdinand, was put in charge of a newly raised polyglot army. He had been successful in the last two years in blunting the French army's methodical forward movements. The campaign season of 1759 however, did not bode well, and it looked like his army was about to be engulfed by the French tide.

Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick

 This book is about the battle of Minden, 'The Impossible victory' of Ferdinand, but also about a good deal more. The author goes into the Seven Years War from the beginning in northwest Germany. You are shown the monetary and political constraints that Ferdinand had to deal with. The allied army had a large English contingent, and some of the more famous parts of the campaign and battle are gone into deeply from the English point of view. The French Marshal Contades advanced from a good defensive position to offer battle to the small allied army. In a confusion of orders, six English and two Hanoverian infantry regiments attacked three lines of French cavalry. The 'square' having not yet been developed, most of the onlookers assumed the worst. The eight regiments kept cohesion and with marvelous fire control forced the French cavalry from the field. The rest of the allied army then went forward and somewhat completed the victory. I say somewhat because for various reasons Lord George Sackville, commander of the English contingent, did not charge the retreating French with his cavalry. Some even thought it was through cowardice. This was not really accurate at all, and after the battle Sackville requested a court martial. The book details Ferdinand's actual orders and the confusion and physical constraints that Sackville actually had to contend with. Sackville was given his court martial, which found him guilty of disobeying orders, but in reality all of the testimony really acquitted him in the public eye. He shows up in American history under another title: Lord George Germain, one of the men responsible for the loss of the 'colonies'.

Lord Sackville

 The first part of the book is 115 pages long, but it is followed by no less that eight appendixes that are another 80 pages. The following list of the appendixes will show the depths that the author has gone to.

 I - Orders of Battle 1 August 1759
 II - British Casualties at Minden
 III - Lord George Sackville's account of Minden
 IV - Contemporary accounts of the Battle of Minden
 V - Testimony of Royal Artillery officers at the Sackville Court Martial
 VI - The British Army in the Seven Years War
 VII - His Britannic Majesty's Army in Germany
 VIII - The French Army in the Seven Years War

 There are also eight pages of black and white illustrations, along with copious references and notes.

 Minden was one of the British victories in the 'Annus Mirabilis (year of victories) of 1759. Thanks to the author and publisher for bringing to light a non-Frederickian history of the Seven years War.


 Robert


 Author: Stuart Reid
 Publisher: Frontline Books
 Distributor: Casemate Publishers