The Battle of Prestonpans 1745 [Paperback]

 

 

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This is a modern account of the famous battle which took place in September 1745 just a few miles east of Edinburgh, resulting in a convincing victory for Charles Stuart and his Highland followers. Martin Margulies has tackled a subject which has previously had very little attention paid to it in terms of detailed writing and understanding, especially in explaining the conduct of the much maligned General Cope, who is given a much fairer assessment.

The author gives a solid explanation of the background to the situation which the contending armies found themselves in and a reasonably detailed description of the British army and their (mainly) Highland opponents. Margulies emphasises the sharply contrasting characteristics of the armies and how each would best capitalise on their assets to gain an advantage over the opponent. Margulies argues that the 'fear factor' and 'ethnic biases of Englishmen and Lowlanders against the dreaded Highland Other' played a massive part in the Jacobite victory but points out that veteran troops present in Cumberland's army at Culloden could handle such a situation infinitely better. What he fails to explain is why these regular troops were defeated at Falkirk and Clifton Moor.

Much of the text concentrates on General John Cope and Margulies goes a long way to expelling the absurd myths of cowardice and incompetence which history has saddled the unfortunate general with. The author looks at the various options which were open to Cope before the battle- staying South of the Forth in an 'Argyll-like' poise during the '15, staying put at Dalwhinnie to deny the Jacobites access to the Lowlands, choosing a different battle-ground -and carefully examines what was a plausible course of action to take. Each he discounts with clever analysis and points out the fact that Cope was under positive orders which somewhat limited his options further.

The author clearly conveys the idea that Cope's preparation for the battle in the choice of ground and posting of his troops was done with extreme care and professionalism, using Jacobite correspondences to strengthen this point. The battle itself is unsurprisingly a short but concise decription- there is afterall only so much that can be written about a battle which lasted less than ten minutes!

Margulies draws on modern works from creditable authorities such as Duffy and McLynn to draw his own conclusions of events and the book has an impressive bibliography. The major weaknesses in this book for me were the detached style of writing the author uses, some of the oversimplified opinions he uses (one of which i previously mentioned) and the fact that he seems to attach credibility to the writings of Stuart Reid whose works I would tell anybody to avoid at all costs.

Most of the sources used however, stengthen this piece and there is a good balance of quotation from both armies and eye-witness accounts from the private soldiers right up to the overall commanders. The author is clearly hostile to Charles Stuart and expresses his opinion of the Prince in no uncertain terms whilst Lord George Murray's weaknesses are pointed out. There is a slight hint of a hostile attitude towards the Jacobites in general but not sufficient whereby it would ruin the enjoyment of an otherwise good book. Definitely worth purchasing.

This book covers the early stages of the '45, up to the battle of Prestonpans, surveying the armies, generals and weaponry. It particularly seeks to review the conduct of Sir John Cope, whose army was defeated at Prestonpans in so short a space of time. On the whole it achieves this aim, and in a fairly impartial manner.

However, there are a few flaws. The author seems to think that history has done a great disservice to Cope, and quotes Tommasson and Buist (Battles of the '45) and Evelyn Lord's awful book on the English Jacobites. However, the former book is actually sympathetic to Cope, and more recent military accounts are too, so his ground breaking approach is not so new, after all.

The author doesn't seek to explore popular depictions of the battle in film (Chasing the deer, Bonnie Prince Charlie) or in fiction (Waverley), which is a shame, and nor is Alan Breck Stuart mentioned. The author thinks the '15 in England began in Lancashire - it was Northumberland.

There is a lack of manuscript sources used here - eg State Papers for Scotland, but some of these letters appear in the Court Proceedings, so maybe this isn't a major loss. Nor does the author take on board the criticisms of Cope made in contemporary correspondence as published in Mounsey, Carlisle and the '45, or those made by Andrew Henderson in The History of the Rebellion (1748).

On the whole, a good book, but marred by a few flaws.

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