Spring/Summer 2019
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The Gunn Salute Good News About a Great Family Volume 8, Issue 2/3 Spring/Summer 2019 Inside this issue: AGM 2019 Cover 2020 New Elected Positions President’s Letter 2 The AGM concluded...pictures to come and also will be put on the website. A good time was had by all!!!! 2018 AGM 3 We thank the Chief, Iain Gunn of Gunn, his beautiful wife Buntie, their son-John, Kerr County 4 and John's wife-Sarah, for attending and for all they contributed. It was greatly ap- preciated and we were honored to have them. International 5 Gathering Council Member 5 Election The meeting was wonderful and offered fantastic fellowship, fun and was im- mensely productive. Chuck Jamison, Rich and Linda Gunn's hard work was well Int’l Gathering 6-8 worth it! Itinerary Int’l Gathering 9-11 Booking Forms The n Branch 12 ewly elected officers are as follows: Commissioners Officers of the 13 CGSNA Effective January 1, 2020: Storekeeper 14 We’re On Facebook! 15 Society President: Chuck Franz CGSNA Editor 15 Current and re-elected First Vice President: Charlie Kehm Second Vice President: Cason Slaughter Recording Secretary: Heather Smith Current and re-elected Treasurer: Jerred Gunn Effective Immediately: New Membership Secretary: Victoria Tillotson. Page 2 The Gunn Salute Letter from the President Winter 2018 Dave Ziemer Greetings fellow Gunns, It has been an eventful year! We saw our 50th anniversary A.G.M. in Pleasanton California come to fruition in a spectacular way! Our Chieftain, Iain Gunn of Gunn, his wife Bunty, son John & his wife Sarah were there plus a host of Clan Gunn members from all over the U.S. made our anniversary a very special one. Our Chieftain presented a commemorative medal to CGSNA for the occasion of our 50th. It was a great honor that I was the recipient of the medal, and I will gladly pass it on to the new President elect Chuck Franz! There was a lot accomplished at this A.G.M., because we had a quorum attending the event. It made me realize a fact that has been plaguing our society for years. The governing group in our society has one job, to govern. Even before I was elected President of our society, I was attending A.G. M’. s. We have not had a quorum the entire time I was present. If you want to run for office in CGSNA, you must attend the A.G. M. There are officers who have only attended the A.G.M. in their area. This is not acceptable if you want to be part of a leadership group that controls a society as great as the Clan Gunn Society of North America! Your participation is the bedrock of our organization, ―mailing it in‖ is not an option! Thanks to Chuck & Jan, Victoria, Alise, Jerred, Rich, Heather, Mike and Charlie (by phone) for being at the first real leadership meeting that I have ever attended! It has been a pleasure being your President! Dave Page 3 The Gunn Salute Part II The Battle of Culloden by Lin Robinson British fortunes changed dramatically on November 17, 1745 when William Augustus, Duke of Cumber- land, returned from Flanders where he had a splendid record in command. He brought with him to Scot- land, ten regiments of seasoned troops. The British forces, when combined, now consisted of 16,000 troops, with the estimate of Jacobite fighters still with Charlie at 5,000. Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on January 30, and immediately went about reorganizing the King’s ar- my. Hawley stepped down and Cumberland assumed overall command. He immediately ordered the army to move on Stirling to relieve the castle and then take Edinburgh. The Jacobites immediately learned of the move and abandoned both cities, splitting their forces and heading north. Cumberland pursued them for as far as was prudent, taking the cities of Aberdeen and Perth. From there he sent forces into Jacobite territo- ry to harass them. As Cumberland moved north, the Royal Navy followed, attempting, with limited success, to blockade the ports through which the Jacobites expected to receive supplies. However, men and materiel continued to come into the country although at a slower pace and the Jacobite commissary and money began to dwindle. By early April the Jacobites had moved close to Inverness. Cumberland had followed them all the way and sent dispatches to London stating that the rebellion would soon be over. He then moved toward Inverness. On April 14-15 the two forces concentrated near Drumossie Moor, six miles east of Inverness. Charlie had chosen this arena for battle, in spite of Lord George Murray’s protest. It was flat, meaning the Jacobites could not charge the enemy downhill and somewhat boggy as well. But Murray was overruled and the die was cast. The weather grew worse the night of the 15th-16th with rain and bitter cold. The Jacobites had scouted Cumberland’s encampment and knew that he was celebrating his 25th birthday with the troops, giving them cheese and alcohol. Thinking this would incapacitate some if not most of Cumberland’s men that night, a plan was decided on. They would make a flanking movement, similar to the one used at Prestonpans, and strike the British camp at 2AM. The officers found as many troops as they could and set off to maneuver around the enemy. Unfortunately their guide was clueless and marching in the dark, in bad weather, is al- ways difficult. A detachment from the Duke of Perth’s regiment did get to within hearing distance of the British camp, but their numbers were too small to attack and they had no real plan of action. Reluctantly, Murray ordered the 1200 man column to return to Culloden. They arrived at daybreak. The flanking at- tempt exhausted most of the men who participated and many of them found spots around the area in which to rest and went sound asleep, depriving the army of badly needed manpower. There was also very little food to be distributed. Page 4 The Gunn Salute By noon on the 16th, both armies had moved onto the field at Drumossie Moor. On the government side were fifteen regiments, arrayed in three ranks, facing west, astride the road to Nairn. The last rank was guarded on either flank by cavalry. On the left flank were the cavalry of Kerr and Cobham along with the Campbell militia, led by Lt. Col. John Campbell of Mamore. These troops would move into the Culwhiniac Enclosure, a walled in area to contain livestock, when the fighting started. Field artillery was positioned in the front rank, between regimental formations. To the rear were coehorn mortars. A few of Cobham’s dra- goons were posted on the far right flank as well. Records indicate total troop strength of 8,350. The Jacobites formed up in cold rain and sleet in their faces, several hundred yards away from the govern- ment lines, facing east. Here the alignment is less certain, but the consensus is the front rank was mostly Highlanders. Locheil’s Camerons and the Atholl Regiment were on the far right flank. The MacDonalds of Glengarry, Clanranald and Keppoch were on the left, rather than their traditional placement on the right, which created some resentment. Smaller regiments, such as the Chisholms, Macleans and Macintoshes, along with Frasers and Stewarts were placed in the middle. There were 11 or 12 light artillery pieces spaced out in the first line. The second line consisted of the Lowland formations of Perth, Glenbucket, Kilmarnock, John Roy Stuart, Ogilvy and the Royal Ècossais – Scots in French service and probably the most skilled and drilled formation in the army. Lord Lewis Gordon’s Lowlanders anchored the right flank. Five small formations of cavalry, rounded out the army of 5300 men. It is believed that many of the men who had been on the abor- tive night march to Nairn, slept through the battle and were later killed or captured after army was defeat- ed. The ―Front Rank‖ Highlanders, those who were armed with swords, dirks, pistols, muskets and targes were not, contrary to common belief, most of the Highland fighting force. By 1745, due in large measure to the poor economic conditions of the Highlands, only the wealthiest could afford these items. It is estimated that only 20% of the Highlanders at Culloden were actually fully armed. Contemporary reports say that the first rounds of artillery were fired by the Jacobites. They had mostly 3 pound light artillery and the gunners were not experts by any measure. However, they did some damage. In the end the Jacobite ―barrage‖ simply provoked a response from the British, which quickly silenced the Jaco- bite guns. The British guns fired for about 15 minutes, which is a long time to those being fired upon. At ap- proximately one o’clock, the clan regiments began their Highland Charge. The armies’ lines were not exactly parallel to each other. On the Jacobite right the lines were 500 yards apart and on the left 700 yards. As the Highlanders ran toward the enemy, they continued to receive artil- lery fire. As they grew closer to the British, the artillery switched to canister and grape shot, turning their pieces into giant shotguns, making large holes in the lines of attackers. As the clans reached musket shot range, the custom had been to fire, then drop, their long guns. For some reason it appears that they did not do this at Culloden, simply tossing their muskets away and closing with sword and dirk.