Sir,—In his excellent essay, ‘A Tale of Two Generals’, Jim Smyth states(p.36), ‘captured French soldiers were treated as bona fide prisonersof war, and returned fairly promptly to France’ after the battle ofCulloden in April 1746. It is sadly not the case that all the ‘French’prisoners taken were accorded prisoner-of-war status and returned toFrance. The following records can be quoted:
Royal Scots (French army)
Capt. Sir John
Arbuthnot transported
Lt. Duncan Colquhoun hanged, 28 April 1746
Sgt. Robert Gravenour transported
Cpl. Peter McLean transported
Cpl. John Morgan transported
Pte. Richard Cook hanged
Pte. Hugh Fraser transported
Pte. James Hewatt transported
Pte. John Martin transported
Pte. Gilbert Purdon transported
Pte. Jeremy Sullivan transported
Pte. Edward Valiva
(born France) transported
Pte. Edward Walsh transported
Irish Piquets (French army)
Capt. Robert Crosbie
(Lally’s Regiment) hanged,
17 Sept. 1746
Capt. The Hon. Charles
Ratcliffe (Dillon’s Regt.) hanged, 8 Dec. 1746
Surgeon John Crosbie transported
Physician Robert Young transported
Pte. John Chalmers
(Dillon’s Regt) transported
Pte. John Goff
(Dillon’s Regt.) transported
Pte. Michael Lyons
(Rooth’s Regt) transported
John McDonald
(officer’s servant
aged 14) transported
Pte. Edward Morris transported
Pte. John Smith transported
Pte. John Thomas transported
FitzJames Horse (French army)
Tpr. James Louden transported
Reference may be made to the Scottish History Society’s Prisoners ofthe ‘45 (Edinburgh 1928). All of the above who were either hanged ortransported (as opposed to discharged or banished) were members ofregiments of the French army.—Yours etc.,
JAMES SHORTT
Borrmount Manor
Enniscorthy
County Wexford