THE BEST OF ENEMIES: Germans Against Jacobites, 1746

1-201820

A book that pits Hessian mercenaries, the same villains we know from the American Revolution, against the Highland Clansmen that supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. One of the best stories of the Forty Five yet to be told, that of the Hessian soldiers who marched into the Pass of Killiecrankie.

The Hessians have been portrayed as the villains of the Forty Five, brutal mercenaries. Yet they
were very different from the legend. Their leader, Prince Frederick sympathized more with his foes than with his allies. In later years, his crisis of conscience would perplex Germany. The Jacobite clans were on the Great Atholl Raid. Their leader, Lord George Murray, hoped to
outflank the army of the Duke of Cumberland. This may have been a fine chance for Jacobite victory. The result was the siege of Blair Castle. The Hessians defended their base at Dunkeld from Jacobite probes. Then they were ordered to relieve the Castle by marching through the feared Pass of Killiecrankie.

The cast of characters includes many who behaved unexpectedly: the irresponsible defenders of the Castle; the rival Dukes of Atholl; the Campbell whose assassination featured in Stevenson's novel Kidnapped; the inn-servant Molly; the European hussars seeking information by talking in Latin, the irascible Duke of Cumberland; the lovelorn Earl of Craufurd, attached to the Hessian force; and many more.