James Johnstone, the Chevalier de Johnstone, joined the Jacobite Army in Perth shortly after the raising of the standard at Glenfinnan in 1745. He was twenty-six years old and, in the words of John Prebble, "he was as proud of his kinship with Scots nobility as any Highlander." He served as aide-de-camp both to Lord George Murray and to Prince Charles Edward, and fought with the Jacobites through the remainder of the campaign.
Prior to joining the Jacobite rebellion, Johnstone had travelled to Russia to visit two of his uncles. He wanted to join the Russian service, but his father objected. His Jacobite father also objected to his joining Prince Charles Edward's army, but the young man did so despite his father's wishes.
At the Battle of Culloden Johnstone fought with the Macdonalds on the left wing, wearing a tartan sash, and charging with his broadsword and a highland targe. In his recollections of the event years later, he wrote that if the right had been able to hold its position for three minutes longer, and if the center had been properly supported, "it is highly probable that the English would have been soon put to flight."
After Culloden, Johnstone had a number of narrow escapes, hid in Edinburgh and London, and finally made his way to Holland. Late in 1746 he joined Prince Charles Edward in Paris, expecting to participate in a second expedition. The French court awarded him 2,2000 livres out of the 40,000 livres to compensate Jacobite refugees.
Later, he joined the French marines, was shipwrecked, served in Cape Breton Island, and was aide-de-camp to General Montcalm at Quebec. When the English captured Quebec, General Murray generously ignored Johnstone's real nationality and allowed him to return to France.
Johnstone wrote a memoir in French of his adventures in the 'Forty Five and in Canada.
