Scotland and the Thirty Years' War

Scottish soldiers in the service of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.[1]

Scotland and the Thirty Years' War deals with the complicated involvement of the kingdom of Scotland in the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. Scotland and Scots were heavily entangled in both the diplomatic and military events centred on the Holy Roman Empire (roughly equating to modern Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic). There were a number of reasons for this participation.

Among these, the fate of the Scottish princess Elizabeth of Bohemia (daughter of King James VI & I) proved to be a key concern. Up to 50,000 Scottish troops[2] arrived on the continent having been levied on warrants issued by the Privy Council and countersigned by their king, usually at periods corresponding to the participation of a particular ally in a campaign against the Habsburgs. They mostly served initially in established Scottish brigades in the Dutch Republic and Sweden which had existed before 1618. Later, specially commissioned army groups were also created in Denmark-Norway and France in order to facilitate further Scottish participation. Some fought for better prospects, some for kin loyalty, not a few for dynastic and confessional considerations. A few, the minority, were plain mercenaries. Although Scots participated from the start of the war until the end, formal participation by the nation was limited. Scotland formally declared war on Spain (1625-1630) and France (1627-1629), but for the most part, Scots engaged in foreign service with consent from their monarch and under warrants issued by the Privy Council but in armies commanded by their European allies.

Through such service a number of ambitious individual Scots in different European courts had a profound influence on the course of the war both conducting diplomacy and commanding entire army groups in the campaign.[3] These included General Sir James Spens of Wormiston, Lieutenant General Patrick Ruthven, Lieutenant General James King and Field Marshal Alexander Leslie who all served in Sweden. These men were joined in Germany by an auxiliary British army under notional Swedish command and led by James, 3rd Marquis Hamilton (1631-1632).

In France the main officers were Marechal de France John Hepburn (1634-1636), a former colonel in Swedish service, and Sir Robert Moray (1640s). In Denmark Robert Maxwell Earl of Nithsdale led a contingent including Donald Mackay Lord Reay and Colonel Robert Monro and Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Spynie among others (1627-1629).

It is important to remember that not all Scots fought for or believed in the cause of either Elizabeth of Bohemia or the Protestant northern alliances. A number fought for the Habsburgs (Austrian and Spanish) for the same complex reasons as their countrymen; there were some committed to the counter-reformation, some compelled by circumstance and some opportunists such as Albrecht von Wallenstein's assassin, Count Walter Leslie.[4]

Scottish people of the Thirty Years' War

The assassination of Albrecht von Wallenstein by the Scottish and Irish officers led by Colonel Walter Leslie
General Leslie

Many noted Scots participated in the Thirty Years' War or had strong interests in it, including:

Scottish Monarchs and Royalty

Field Marshals and Generals

Some of the more notable Colonels

Important Scottish diplomats

Basis for the Covenanter armies

Thousands of Scots returned home from foreign service to join the Covenanters, including experienced leaders like Alexander Leslie and General of Artillery Alexander Hamilton. These veterans played an important role in training the Covenanter recruits. However, more senior officers including Lieutenant General Patrick Ruthven, Lieutenant General James King, Major General John Ruthven also returned to confront their former comrades. Both Covenanters and Royalists returned with cohorts of officers, and both introduced the 'Swedish Discipline' into their respective armies. When the wars spread to England, a situation arose in 1644 where the senior commander of the parliamentary allied army was Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven while his opposition was led by Patrick Ruthven, now Earl of Forth and Lord General of the Royalist forces in England.[5] Both men survived the war and died peacefully in their beds.

Sources and Fiction

Some notable Scottish contemporary published sources

Contemporary Poetry and Fiction

Modern Fiction

References

  1. ↑ While the artist's inscription addresses the soldiers as Irish, and the 1631 (?) print had been catalogued by the British Museum under the header "Irish soldiers," cf. Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum, division I, vol. I, Chiswick Press 1870, p. 78 (No. 124), Ian Grimble identified the depicted soldiers as Scottish Highlanders of the Mackay regiment, cf. Ian Grimble: The royal payment of Mackay’s regiment, in Scottish Gaelic Studies, vol. 9.1 (1961), pp. 23–38, esp. p. 32.
  2. ↑ Murdoch, Steve (2001). Scotland and the Thirty Years' War: 1618-1648. Brill. ISBN 9789004120860.
  3. ↑ Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Geneals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (Pickering & Chatto, London, 2014).
  4. ↑ David Worthington, Scots in Habsburg Service, 1618-1648 (Leiden, 2003)
  5. ↑ Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals, chapters 5 and 6.

Further reading