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Messages - moragus

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Scotland / Re: Major James Edward Brand 1702 - 1746
« on: Thursday 28 January 16 17:42 GMT (UK)  »
James Brand the younger (I have seen his name spelt Band, Bawnd and Baird in various accounts of the rebellion) was captured near Ecclesfechan on 9.11.1745 with Thomas Randall while trying to arrange billets for the baggage column of Bonnie Prince Charlie, which was bogged down in a blizzard. If you do some searching on google books, you will come across several accounts of him, all quite consistent. Young Brand was gloriously described as being dressed in a Highland Plaid and bonnet, carrying two pistols and a sword, and wearing a chainmail aventail. The aventail was attached to the base of his bonnet with a chain, covered his neck and shoulders, and 'gave fence against any sword'. A party of Carlisle militia captured him and took him firstly to that city. Both prisoners were taken on to Newcastle for questioning. As far as I know,they were the very first of the Jacobites to be taken prisoner and therefore of some interest. Randall accompanied General Handasyde and returned to Edinburgh with the redcoats as an informer. Brand was defiant and said he cared not if he was hanged. He was imprisoned in London for a year and then transported to Maryland on board the notorious transport ship 'the Gildart' sailing from Liverpool. He was bought as an indentured servant by Dr. Samuel Hunter. In 1753 young Brand was pardoned (the initial life sentence of the transported Jacobites was later reduced to seven years) and returned to study medicine at Edinburgh University. Three years later, he returned to Maryland, married Dr Hunter's daughter: Mary Ann, settled in Augusta, and had eleven children. - a fine story indeed!
       I know far less about James Brand Snr. - absolutely nothing about his earlier military career. But in general, all the Jacobites captured at Culloden were shipped down to Tilbury Fort and imprisoned there, or kept offshore in Thames prison hulks. Several hundred more Jacobites were captured in the weeks that followed and filled the Scottish Gaols. Approximately five hundred were then sent on to Carlisle for trial in September 1746 including Major Brand. The common men drew lots with one in twenty being put on trial, the rest being transported or conscripted. About a hundred of the prisoners including Major Brand were deemed officers and put on trial for their lives without lotting. Once again I recommend the book 'The Fate of the Jacobite Grenadiers' which gives an authentic, although fictionalized, account of the trial.
    Many years ago I corresponded with one of Brand the younger's descendants in America. I might still be able to get a contact for you.
   I hope this is of interest. Kind regards
   

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Scotland / Re: Major James Edward Brand 1702 - 1746
« on: Tuesday 26 January 16 09:52 GMT (UK)  »
Most interesting post about Major James Brand Snr and his military background in India. Unfortunately, the reputation and performance of his regiment of Hussars in Bonnie Prince Charlie's army can be considered at best, inept, and at worst, criminal. The Hussars gained themselves a bad reputation and their officers had to be replaced by French ones before the Battle of Culloden - where they played no meaningful part. At the Carlisle treason trials Major Brand broke down upon receiving his sentence, and was admonished across the courtroom by Bishop Cappock, a fellow prisoner for his tearful outburst.

James Brand jnr was a quartermaster in the Jacobite army; interestingly, he served not in the regiment of Hussars with his father but in Lord Kilmarnock's regiment of Horse Grenadiers. It was  Brand the younger that was captured with Thomas Randal, a quartermaster for the general staff, at Echlesfechan, at the onset of the Derby campaign by Carlisle militiamen. He was taken to Newcastle for interrogation and behaved bravely. The story of how he was transported to America as an indentured servant (slave), was purchased for tobacco by a Dr Hunter, married the doctor's daughter, later received a pardon, returned to Edinburgh for training, and became a doctor himself, is a romantic one.

I recommend the books 'The Jacobite Grenadier, Tales of the Jacobite Grenadiers and The Fate of the Jacobite Grenadiers, which will give you a fictionalized insight into what the two James Brands and their regiments were up to during the rebellion. 

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