Price's 14th Regiment of Foot

Hello everyone. Today I'm continuing my Road to Culloden project with another unit complete the 14th Regiment of Foot, also known as Price's Regiment. Aswell as a certain Bonnie Prince!

So first lets look at the 14th foot. These guys are again 3d printed resin miniatures by battlecat miniatures. Ive printed them myself and i think theyve turned out rather nice! 

Ive also recived some flags from flags of war so they are on also. Now onto a quick history of the regiment at the battle...

At the Battle of Culloden , the 14th regiment formed part of the Government army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. They were positioned in the first line of infantry, alongside regiments such as the 1st Regiment of Foot and Cholmondeley's 34th Regiment.

The 14th was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Grey, with a recorded strength of around 304 rank-and-file soldiers. These were professional soldiers fighting as part of a disciplined army, equipped and trained to fight in close-order formations with muskets and bayonets.

Their position in the front line meant they were part of the force that faced the Jacobite advance across Culloden Moor. The Government army had a significant advantage in artillery, and the firepower of its infantry regiments such as the 14th played a major part in the outcome of the battle.

The 14th Regiment's recorded casualties at Culloden were relatively low compared with some of the other regiments present, with one man killed, (most likely a Captain serving on the staff who was killed by a prisoner) and nine wounded. Although the regiment may not be as well known today as some of the units involved in the battle, it was one of the many regular infantry regiments that helped secure the Government victory that day.

It's great to be adding another Government unit to the collection, and seeing the army take shape one regiment at a time.

 I've also completed another important addition to the project this month: none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie himself! This is my first character model for the Culloden project, and it was particularly special to paint as it was given to me as a present by my wife. It's been a nice change of pace from painting entire units of infantry, and I'm really pleased to finally have the man himself ready to join the collection!

Thanks for reading this instalment of The Road to Culloden. I'll be back with more units from both armies as the project continues.

Anyway thats all for now thanks for watching! 

The Royal Ecossais March Forth

 

These Flags of War figures are excellent sculpts, and even before starting this project, I was looking forward to painting them. The figures themselves are depicted wearing blue bonnets and short coats. There has been some debate over how the Royal Écossais were equipped in 1745. While accounts exist of officers wearing bonnets, it remains unclear whether this was a unit-wide deviation from standard French uniform policy. Others argue they were equipped like typical French infantry, complete with long-tailed coats and tricornes.

That said, I’ve based much of my painting so far on the work of Stuart Reid and the colour plates in the Osprey titles Cumberland’s Culloden Army 1745–46 and The Scottish Jacobite Army 1745–46 (pictured below), and these miniatures match those illustrations well. Regardless of historical debate, they were great fun to paint and have a striking, unique look that stands out from the rest of the regiments in this project.

The Royal Écossais in the '45

The Royal Écossais were raised in 1744 by Lord John Drummond, with the officer corps composed largely of exiled Jacobites.

Despite the Royal Navy blockade, the regiment was one of the few French units to cross the Channel to support the '45 Rising. They landed at the port of Montrose on 26 November 1745 and went on to fight at the Battle of Falkirk Muir, where they—alongside the Irish Piquets, who were also in French service—helped secure a Jacobite victory.

At Culloden, the regiment was held in reserve to guard against Government dragoons outflanking the Jacobite position. As a result, they—along with the Irish Piquets and several Lowland units—were unable to move forward in time to reinforce the front line. Following the collapse of the main line, the Royal Écossais mounted a courageous rear-guard action, allowing far more Jacobite soldiers and civilians to escape the field than would otherwise have been possible. Roughly half the battalion, along with their commanding officer, Lt-Col. Lewis Drummond, surrendered on the field. The remaining elements, led by Maj. Matthew Hale, withdrew with the regimental colours and surrendered two days later.

Following the battle, the British government was initially undecided on whether to treat the captured men as rebels or prisoners of war. However, after pressure from France, the fact that many of the men were former British subjects was overlooked, and most were eventually released. The exception was a group of British Army deserters discovered within the ranks, who were court-martialed and executed.

The regiment remained in French service and later fought in the Seven Years' War under the command of its new colonel, Lord Elcho, himself a veteran of the '45. The Royal Écossais were eventually disbanded in 1762.

Basing my Figures 

I thought I'd briefly cover how I base my miniatures. The technique is a simple one but I think it can look effective on the tabletop.

 

Firstly I arrange the figures on my bases super gluing them down. (I always paint them before by blu-tacking them to bottle corks to act as paint handles)

The next stage ss the texturing I prefer using texture paints for this stage as its abit if a time saver compared to texturing and then painting separately. I then leave them over night to dry.

After this stage you can add a fine dry brush to pick out the raised edges. Its not necessary though as the bases will be covered in grass in the next step.😊

Finally its on to the grass. I use a 50/50 mix of Javis Autumn and Summer static grass as I think this strikes a good balance between brown and green and looks good on the tabletop. I give the base a fair coating of pva and spinkle the mix on.

I then add a selection of flower tufts roughly between 1-3 to a base, gluing them down with a spot of pva. You can get these from various sources but the white flowers seen here are from ebay and the heather from a company called Warpainter. Although these tufts are quite old and I believe their current version differs slightly in appearance. 

Thats all for now. 😊

Jacobite Cannon and reinforcements arrived!

Ive recently  completed the first of the Jacobite guns for my project. This model is from Flags of War and was a pleasure to paint and allowed a break from all the tartan and redcoats! 

Its fair to say the Jacobite artillery at Culloden performed less than optimal. Suffering from a lack of ammunition supply and poorly trained crews. They were overwhelmed by their counterparts in the government line. And despite opening the battle (getting the first shots in!) and being numerically superior (12 guns to the government 10) they were soon silenced very early on in the battle leading to a government bombardment of the Jacobite position. This forced Charles Edward to commit the highland charge sooner than he would have liked as Jacobite troops were still arriving onto the field to join their units after a short night spent scattered about the country in search of shelter and food.

This week I also received a shippment from Flags of War. The Royal Ecossais. One of the few units in french service sent to help the Prince's campaign. These look like great figures and I look forward to painting them up 😁

I have also received another batch of flags! This will allow me to finish off another government regiment ive been working on which will hopefully be in my next update. 

Remember to keep your powder dry and your kilts high! Bye for now😃

Clan MacDonald of Clanranald

I've completed the second Jacobite unit of the project, the men of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald. This is one of the smaller regiments that took part in the battle and, as such, is represented by just three bases in my collection.

The figures are from Flags of War, and I must say how impressed I am with them. The sculpts are full of character and were a pleasure to paint. I've enjoyed them so much that I've already ordered another batch to represent one of the other smaller clan regiments present at Culloden, Clan Maclean.

Clan Macdonald of Clanranald at Culloden

Young Ranald Clanranald was among the first to pledge his support to the jacobite cause after Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) landed in the Hebrides in July 1745. However in their initial meeting with the prince young Clanranald and Kinlochmoidart initially refused to join Prince Charles, warning that rising without preparation or wider support would lead to disaster. During the discussion, a younger brother of Kinlochmoidart—who had been listening nearby—became increasingly agitated as he realised who the Prince was and heard the hesitation of the clan leaders.

When Charles turned to him and asked directly whether he would assist, he immediately replied, “I will! Though no other man in the Highlands should draw a sword, I am ready to die for you!” Struck by his response, and moved by the young man’s conviction, both Clanranald and Kinlochmoidart then changed their stance, pledging their support for the Stuart cause and working to rally their countrymen to arms.

Young Ranald Clanranald later went on to lead his clan at the Battle of Culloden. During the battle, his men were positioned on the extreme left of the Jacobite line alongside the other Macdonald regiments. Because of the angle of the Jacobite line, they had the longest stretch of open moorland to cross, and not a single Macdonald man succeeded in reaching the government lines.

Following the defeat at Culloden, Young Ranald Clanranald fled into exile in France, where he remained until 1754.

Gathering the Clans: Part 3 - The government forces muster

My first Government unit is now fully painted up, pending some flags I’ve ordered from Flags of War. The redcoats make a great contrast to the clansmen and feel very different to paint.

For these figures I used my usual method of a black undercoat followed by a light white drybrush over the whole model. I find this helps combat the main downside of a black undercoat, which for me is that it can sometimes obscure details and make it difficult to clearly distinguish different parts of the miniature. The white drybrush catches the raised edges nicely, making the details easier to spot while also providing a subtle highlight beneath the layers painted afterwards.

This is actually the only British regiment in the project with green facings, with most of the others using buff or blue. The regiment I chose to paint first was the 36th Regiment, Fleming’s Regiment. Commanded by Colonel James Fleming, a veteran of the Battle of Blenheim, the regiment notably fought at both the Battle of Falkirk Muir and the Battle of Culloden. Following the victory at Culloden, the regiment was stationed near Fort Augustus to assist in suppressing the Highlands.

This week I’ve also painted my first vignette for the project: “Hey MacLeod, Get Off My Ewe!” from Warlord Games. It’s a really characterful little addition to the battlefield, and I’m quite pleased with how the tartan turned out on this particular old Highlander guarding his sheep.

Gathering the Clans: Part 2 - The Stewarts of Appin

 

The Stewarts of Appin fought throughout the ’45 campaign. The clan were closely linked to the Stewart monarchy due to being the West Highland branch of Clan Stewart, and were long-standing supporters of the Stuart cause following the deposition of King James in 1688.

At Culloden, the clan was commanded by Charles Stewart of Ardsheal. It suffered heavy casualties, with 92 killed and 65 wounded from a starting strength of around 300 men. The exact number present on the field that day is difficult to pinpoint, as is the case with much of the Jacobite army, due to the lack of surviving records and the fact that many men were still returning from overnight bivouacs or foraging when the battle began.

Ardsheal himself survived the battle and later hiding in a cave now known as Ardsheal’s Cave, situated near Loch Linnhe. He eventually escaped to mainland Europe, where he lived out the rest of his life, dying in France in 1757.

These figures are from Warlord Games. They are typically used for the English Civil War, however I am happy to use them for this project. They are very characterful miniatures, and I’m willing to overlook some of the more outdated weapons such as the Lochaber axe and bow. While these weapons certainly appeared during the early stages of the campaign, by Culloden most men would likely have been equipped with muskets.

I intend to use a range of manufacturers across both armies to give the forces a mixture of poses and styles. I really enjoyed painting this unit, particularly as it was my first proper attempt at tartan in many years. At this scale, I think it’s more important to create an overall impression of the pattern rather than trying to paint every line perfectly. If anyone is interested, I’d be happy to share my approach to painting tartan in a future post.

Apologies for the standard Saltire being used as the unit’s flag — this is only a temporary stand-in for the photographs and will eventually be replaced with the proper Appin banner once I place another order with Flags of War. I had originally ordered flags for a different clan regiment, but after deciding on a rough scale for my units I realised the Warlord box would work better representing a larger Appin unit instead.

Talking of scale, I’ve created a spreadsheet to help work out the rough size of each unit relative to its historical strength at the battle. I haven’t yet decided on a specific ruleset for the period, as I will likely tailor a set around the collection rather than build the collection around a ruleset.

For the project, I’ve opted for a very rough 1:16 scale — in other words, each figure will represent approximately sixteen men.

As I am multibasing the units at around four figures per base, I needed some sort of spreadsheet to calculate how many bases would be required for each regiment. The sheet below will probably need a few tweaks over time, and I’ll likely adjust some unit sizes before fully committing them to paint.

I also intend to use the spreadsheet as a sort of checklist to track my progress towards completion of the project — if such a thing truly exists in wargaming!

Anyway, that’s all for now. Next time I’ll show off a Government unit ready to take on these rebels…

Gathering the Clans: Part 1 – Why Culloden?

Why Culloden?

It was the last pitched battle on British soil — the final throw of the dice in a failing campaign, and what can no doubt be seen as the battle that most shaped the Scotland we know today. Culloden lives on in popular culture and remains as divisive now as it was nearly 280 years ago.

So what first sparked my interest in the battle?

It started on my eighth birthday. My mum, seeing my growing interest in military history and my ever-expanding collection of toy knights and soldiers, bought me the Battlefield Britain dvd box set by Dan and Peter Snow for the BBC.

Over the next few years I must have rewatched it countless times, but the penultimate episode — The Battle of Culloden — was always my favourite. Whether it was Dan Snow wading across the moor describing the desperate final charge of the clans, or the doomed cause of Prince Charlie and the Stuarts, something about it stayed with me. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what it was — but it left a lasting impression.

Fast forward to my time in college, where I chose to complete something called an Extended Project Qualification. The brief was simple: pick any subject, research it, write an essay, and present it to a group. Unsurprisingly, I chose Culloden. Around this time, the TV series Outlander had also just aired its first season, which reignited my interest in the ’45.

Since completing that project, I’ve had a real fascination with the period and always wanted to visit the battlefield and the Scottish Highlands, but  from Nottinghamshire its quite a drive! However when it came to choosing our honeymoon destination, my wife said she wanted somewhere in the UK, and Scotland came up in conversation. Before long, we had booked seven nights in Inverness.

My chance had finally come!😁

On the way up to the highlands, we realised we were going to be driving past Prestonpans — an earlier battle from the campaign — and decided to stop off to have a look and take a break. It was only then I realised we were visiting on the anniversary of the battle! Not only that, but they were holding their reenactment event, which only takes place every three years. I assure you this was not planned out by me at all and I couldn’t believe my luck!

We spent a day touring the Culloden battlefield and its fantastic visitor centre. My wife is not a big fan of military history, but even she had a great time mostly thanks to the excellent staff in the centre. I’ve visited several battlefields across the UK, but Culloden truly felt different — quieter, heavier, almost as if you could still sense the weight of what happened there.

After returning home, I decided on my next major wargaming project:

Culloden.

And so it begins..

I plan to keep this blog updated frequently. In Part 2 of Gathering the Clans, I’ll be showing my first painted unit and talking a little about their history. I might even share a slightly over-enthusiastic spreadsheet I’ve been working on as well…

Stay tuned!

Dan (Sherwood Painting Studio)