Highlanders & Hanoverians

Highlanders & Hanoverians
http://www.1745rising.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl General >> History, Real & Imagined >> Drummers in the '45 Jacobite army http://www.1745rising.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1203121832 Message started by Thomas_Grooms on 02/15/08 at 19:30:32

Title: Drummers in the '45 Jacobite army
Post by Thomas_Grooms on 02/15/08 at 19:30:32

I have a young man who would like to be a drummer for our unit, the Duke of Perth's Regiment; however, I am not certain if the Jacobites used drummers. Does anyone have information regarding drummers and their use in the field with regards to the Jacobite army?

Title: Re: Drummers in the '45 Jacobite army
Post by Henrik_B._Boegh on 02/16/08 at 04:53:17

There is a saying that Manchester was captured by a sergeant, his girlfriend and a drummerboy... This is actually quite near the truth. Sergeant Dickson stole James Johnstone's blunderbuss and had his drummer join him and entered Manchester. There he ordered his drummer to beat the drums so that the sergeant could enlist men for the Prince's army. This is recorded by Chevalier DeJohnstone himself in his Memoirs of the '45.
So, yes, they did use drummers.

Cheers,
Henrik

Title: Re: Drummers in the '45 Jacobite army
Post by Thomas_Grooms on 02/16/08 at 08:44:09

Thanks Henrik for reminding me of that incident.

Title: Re: Drummers in the '45 Jacobite army
Post by Henrik_B._Boegh on 02/23/08 at 13:10:08

Hi Thomas,

I read a bit about the Ogilvie's regiment in No Quarter Given last night and saw that the regiment had only tow pipers (probably one in each battalion) and (if I conunted right) eight drummers(!). I'll take a look tonight to see if all infantry regiments in the Jacobite army had drummers as well.
Not all men serving in the ranks of the Prince's army are recorded, but No Quarter Given is a very good source, as it also gives you an idea of the fates of many of the men after the rising.

Cheers,
Henrik