Killing Fields of Scotland

by R J M Pugh

  Meanwhile, the Covenanter party in Scotland did not rate Montrose as a military commander likely to succeed. In Montrose the Covenanter leaders saw a man capable of fighting a purely defensive campaign until he was defeated; they predicted that his barbaric Irish allies would desert him after a few victories, content to return to Ireland with the booty they won from their brigandage in north-east Scotland. Perhaps that was the reason why the Covenanter leaders and the Presbyterian clergy sent raw recruits against Montrose, forces led by successive incompetent generals. After all, the important campaign against Charles I was fought across the Border in battles won with the help of Alexander Leslie, Lord Leven and his nephew David Leslie who helped Cromwell to achieve his spectacular victory at Marston Moor on 2 July 1644. However, the news of the Royalist defeat at Marston Moor only spurred Montrose on to greater efforts in Scotland. Montrose’s King might have suffered a reverse in England but his commander in Scotland made it his mission to redress the balance in the north.

  Tippermuir

  In late summer 1644, Montrose opened his campaign, his main purpose being the capture of Perth. Montrose joined with MacColla and his Irish regiments and on 1 September, they advanced on Perth, only to be confronted by Lord Elcho’s Covenanter army. Facing Montrose’s 2,000 foot and 150 cavalry were Elcho’s 7,000 infantry and between 700 and 800 cavalry. Although seriously outnumbered, the morale in Montrose’s force was high and many of his soldiers were experienced veterans. Montrose occupied Methven Hill at Tippermuir, about three miles from Perth. The right wing of the Covenanter army was commanded by Lord Elcho, the centre by James Murray of Gask and the left wing by Sir James Scott of Rossie, the sole veteran commander in the Parliamentary army. That day, Montrose placed Lord Kilpoint on his left wing, with 400 archers and the men of Lochaber, with their famous axes, ideally suited for unhorsing cavalry. MacColla’s three Irish regiments held the centre and Montrose commanded the right wing against the experienced Rossie. Montrose drew up his men in a three-line-deep formation which meant that his front line was longer than that of Elcho. It is obvious that Montrose wished to convince Elcho that the Royalist force was larger than it was.

  At the outset of the battle the Covenanters shouted their battle cry of ‘Jesus and no quarter’. Montrose addressed his men, his speech omitting any reference to religion; instead he spoke about the way his troops should conduct themselves that day. Reputedly, he exhorted those of his Highlanders who lacked weapons to fight the enemy with stones of which he said there was an abundance on Methven Hill; once despatched by a well aimed missile, the men were urged to avail themselves of their fallen opponents’ swords!

  Battle commenced on the morning of Sunday, 1 September. An early assault by Elcho’s cavalry was driven off, then Montrose’s Highlanders attacked Elcho’s musketeers from the rear while MacColla’s Irishmen assaulted the Parliamentary centre, exposing themselves to musketfire. The battle quickly developed into a rout; while the experienced Rossie tried to hold the left wing intact, Montrose led his Athollmen in a wild charge which slammed into Rossie’s men, driving them back into the main body of Covenanters. The field became a bloodbath, Elcho suffering 2,000 casualties, with 1,000 taken prisoner; Montrose’s losses were light. Many of the townspeople of Perth who had ventured out to watch the battle were slain in the general retreat during which most of Elcho’s dead met their end fleeing along the roads and paths to Perth, pursued by the Irish and the clansmen. Tippermuir made a legend of Montrose, proving his genius as a military strategist and tactician; the battle was the first blow in Scotland in the war of the three kingdoms fought in Charles I’s name.

  After Tippermuir, most of Montrose’s Highlanders went home with the booty they had plundered in Perth, leaving the Royalist army with only a few of MacColla’s Irish levies. However, less than two weeks after Tippermuir, Montrose learnt that the Marquis of Argyll was advancing from Stirling with a large army. Montrose evacuated Perth on 4 September and marched up the north-east coast; on the way he attempted to take Dundee but the burgh was well defended and refused to surrender. However, Montrose’s diminished force was increased by the arrival of MacColla’s three Irish regiments totalling 1,500; in addition, Montrose had managed to recruit 100 MacDonalds and two invaluable troops of horse, the latter numbering forty-four in all (a horse troop usually consisted of sixty men). Arriving at Aberdeen on 13 September, Montrose demanded the town’s surrender; the local burghers refused, so a Covenanter force led by Lord Balfour of Burleigh sallied out to confront Montrose. Montrose’s army was deployed on a flat-topped ridge overlooking the How Burn valley, about half a mile south of Aberdeen. Burleigh’s force numbered about 2,500 consisting of two regular regiments – his own and that of Lord Forbes – along with the Aberdeen militia and some local levies; Burleigh also commanded 500 cavalry, which contained three troops of regulars.

  Aberdeen II

  Montrose drew up his force on one side of the valley, the How Burn or stream separating the two armies. Montrose and MacColla held the centre of the Royalist line with MacColla’s Irish regiments and about two dozen horse supported by musketeers. Sir William Rollo who had been present on the field of Tippermuir commanded the right flank, Colonel Hay the left. The battle began with Hay driving off a detachment of Covenanter musketeers from the protection of a few farm buildings at the west end of the valley. A counter-attack by Captain Keith’s Covenanter horse was repulsed, although a force of Burleigh’s musketeers advanced to recover the farm buildings Keith had lost. Then Sir William Forbes of Craigievar advanced with fifty horse to attack one of the Irish regiments positioned to the left of Montrose’s centre. The Irish musketeers coolly opened their ranks to allow Forbes’s men to pass through them, then they closed ranks and fired a volley into the cavalrymen’s backs. Nathaniel Gordon’s Royalist horse charged the routed and confused Covenanters, capturing Forbes and his second in command in the melee. Then Lords Crichton and Fraser mounted several cavalry attacks against Sir Thomas Ogilvy’s few Royalist horse; Crichton and Fraser made little progress against Ogilvy but they managed to pin down two of the three Irish regiments to prevent them reinforcing Montrose in the centre. However, Montrose and MacColla led the third Irish regiment to confront Burleigh’s main position; after a brief firefight, the Irishmen threw away their muskets and charged the Covenanter centre with swords and dirks, scattering Burleigh’s men like sheep. The Aberdeen militiamen collapsed in the face of this wild, frontal assault; Burleigh’s entire force fled in panic to Aberdeen, where they were pursued and slaughtered in the town’s streets by the wild Irishmen. Montrose’s losses were light, Burleigh’s numbered 160.

  Aberdeen then suffered three days of rape, pillage and plunder which to his discredit Montrose made no attempt to stop; the atrocities committed in his name did great damage to his cause and reputation.2 On learning of the approach of Archibald, 1st Marquis of Argyll’s army of 4,000 foot and 900 horse, Montrose could not and did not expect support from his Royalist rival, the Marquis of Huntly who stood aloof, pursuing his usual game of courting both Royalist and Covenanter parties whenever one or the other could serve his interests.3 At Aberdeen’s market cross, Montrose read out the King’s proclamation rejecting the Covenant, then he withdrew into the mountain fastness of Aberdeenshire, where his force was reduced by the departure of MacColla with 500 Irishmen, intent on recruiting more men in the west Highlands. Montrose attempted to raise men from the local clans, chiefly the Clan Gordon at Strathbogie (modern Huntly); he managed to recruit a few hundred clansmen but was unable to secure Gordon support due to the absence of their chief, the Marquis of Huntly, who distrusted and was jealous of Montrose; besides, Huntly’s heir Lord Gordon had joined the Covenanters.

  Fyvie

  On 27 October Montrose was camped in the forests at Fyvie; he sent some of his now reduced force to capture the castles of Fyvie and Tollie Barclay with a view to seizing the provisions held there. The following day Argyll caught up with Montrose’s weakened force which had
taken up position on a rocky slope to the rear of Fyvie Castle. Argyll’s first charge drove Montrose’s men farther up the hill, where the Royalist commander rallied his men with a speech reminding them of the glory they had already won in the service of their King. Then he ordered a young Irish officer, Colonel O’Kean, to drive Argyll’s men out of the ditches they occupied at the foot of the hill; O’Kean did so, despite being heavily outnumbered. Argyll then made a half-hearted attempt to retaliate with five troops of his cavalry (about 300 men) led by the Earl of Lothian; Lothian’s cavalry were confronted by Montrose’s fifty horse, his entire cavalry force, but they were supported by musketeers whose withering fire drove off Lothian’s troopers. The day ended in Montrose’s favour. Argyll allowed Montrose to slip away to Blair Atholl where many of his supporters deserted him. Believing that the Royalist cause would wither on the bough in the coming winter, Argyll was content to retire to winter quarters in Edinburgh. Montrose, weak though he undoubtedly was, still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

  In late November MacColla rejoined Montrose at Blair Atholl, having recruited 1,000 men from Clans MacDonald, Maclean and Cameron. MacColla, a MacDonald, was eager to strike at his traditional enemy, the Campbells, but Montrose was reluctant to involve himself in internecine clan warfare. However, MacColla was able to persuade him to make a daring raid on Inverary, the stronghold of the Campbell Marquis of Argyll. The weather was unusually mild for the time of year and Montrose and MacColla plundered the area of Argyleshire for several weeks between December 1644 and January 1645.4 Although unable to take its castle, the town of Inverary fell and any Campbells found there were slaughtered without quarter.

  Inverlochy II

  By the end of January 1645 Montrose had marched north to Kilcumin (modern Fort Augustus) in Inverness-shire, where he learnt that the Covenanter leader Lord Seaforth blocked his way further north with a force of 5,000; to the south, the Marquis of Argyll with his Campbells and reinforcements from Lord Leven’s army in England were advancing towards him with a force of 3,000. A lesser spirit than Montrose might have thrown in the towel at this point but he was a man of an entirely different stamp. Montrose, ever the genius of strategy, boldly decided to double back and attack Argyll; with MacColla, he marched his army of 1,500 in a flanking movement in the mountains. The Irishmen and the Highlanders completed a thirty-mile march through difficult terrain in less than two days. Montrose and MacColla descended on Argyll and his Campbells at the foot of Ben Nevis during the early hours of 2 February, Candlemas Day.

  Montrose deployed his Highlanders in the centre of his line with the Irish on his flanks; Sir Thomas Ogilvy’s troop of horse formed the reserve to the rear. Argyll, disabled by a dislocated shoulder, sought shelter in his galley moored in Loch Linnhe and left Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck in command. Auchinbreck deployed his men to the front of Inverlochy Castle near Fort William; his centre was composed of 1,000 Campbells and 500 men of Argyll’s own regiment. Regulars from the Covenanter army were posted on the wings and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Roughe from the Earl of Tullibardine’s Regiment and Lieutenant Colonel Cockburn leading the Earl of Moray’s Regiment.

  Montrose attacked at dawn to deny Auchinbreck the benefit of broad daylight which would have given him the opportunity to gauge the Royalist strength.5 Despite a withering fire from the Covenanter musketeers on the flanks, the Irish advanced, holding their fire until within musket range – about fifty yards was the extent of the accuracy of a musket – when they fired a single volley into Auchinbreck’s men, then they threw away their muskets and charged the Covenanters with sword and dirk as they had done at Aberdeen, scattering them. Then the Royalist clansmen, many of whom were traditional foes of the Campbells, charged Auchinbreck’s centre, slaughtering hundreds, including Auchinbreck himself, whom MacColla personally beheaded with his sword. At Inverlochy, the power of the over-mighty Campbells was broken for many a long year; witnessing the destruction from the safety of his galley, Argyll sailed to Edinburgh. Montrose’s casualties at Inverlochy were 250; Argyll lost 1,500.

  In some ways, Inverlochy was the highwater mark of Montrose’s campaign insofar as recruits flocked to the royal standard, including George, Lord Gordon, who defected from the Covenanters with his regiment of horse. Gordon’s Horse, together with Ogilvy’s troop, gave Montrose an effective cavalry force for the first time. The Marquis of Huntly, already alienated from Montrose, grew ever more jealous of his rival, especially after the defection of his son George and because Montrose, one of the first signatories of the National Covenant, had supported the Covenanters during the so-called Bishops’ Wars.

  Montrose went from strength to strength; by the end of March, his army numbered 3,000 and 250 cavalry; he was not only joined by Highlanders but also Lowlanders recruited from the Marquis of Huntly’s lands in Aberdeenshire. Now the Irish regiments led by Alasdair MacColla comprised only a third of Montrose’s strength whereas, before, they had formed the nucleus of his forces. With his now greatly increased and well equipped army, Montrose attacked Dundee on 4 April 1645, gaining access to the town through a breach in its crumbling town wall, routing the town militia and plundering the burgh. Alerted about the approach of a Covenanter army despatched from England by Lord Leven and under the command of Lieutenant General Baillie, Montrose beat a hasty retreat by way of Dundee’s east port as Baillie was entering by its west port.

  Baillie, with his 3,600 foot and 300 cavalry, was anxious to protect the routes to the south of Scotland and prevent Montrose from attacking Edinburgh; such was the sheer power and magnetism of Montrose’s reputation. Baillie sent his second in command, Major General Hurry to the north-east with two regiments of foot and a detachment of horse on a campaign to neutralize the Royalist Gordon Clan. Montrose countered this move by marching north in support of the Gordons; Hurry then withdrew into Inverness-shire, gaining reinforcements as well as luring Montrose into hostile territory. For his part, Baillie marched the bulk of his army up the east coast, harrying Royalist territory as he went; his plan was to snare Montrose between himself and Hurry.

  Auldearn

  On 8 May 1645 Montrose had made his camp at the village of Auldearn, near Nairn. Auldearn itself was occupied by MacColla’s Irishmen and William Gordon of Moneymore’s newly raised regiment. The bulk of Montrose’s force was scattered over a wide area to the east of Auldearn, seeking shelter from the driving rain of a typical Scottish spring day. Having been alerted to Montrose’s whereabouts, Major General Hurry undertook a night march, hoping to catch Montrose in a surprise dawn attack on 9 May. By now Hurry had received further reinforcements from the Earl of Findlater, Campbell of Lawers and the Laird of Buchanan. Hurry’s force of 3,000 infantry and 300 horse now equalled Montrose’s army in strength. Arriving near Auldearn, Hurry’s own musketeers ruined his opportunity for a surprise attack by firing off the damp powder in their muskets to clear them, thus alerting MacColla’s sentries posted around Auldearn. MacColla mustered every soldier he could find and marched to the nearby Garlic Hill, about a mile south-west of Auldearn. From this vantage point he watched Hurry’s men deploying; although heavily outnumbered, MacColla prepared to hold off Hurry while Montrose gathered the rest of his army.

  In the opening stage of the battle on 9 May an intense firefight between Sir Mungo Campbell of Lawers’s veteran regiment took its toll of MacColla’s men, forcing them off Garlic Hill and back into Auldearn Village, where they took up positions in the buildings, cottages and gardens. Lawers pressed home his attack until his force encountered boggy ground at the foot of the sloping approach to the village. During this phase, Moneymore’s regiment occupied Castle Hill at the north end of Auldearn and began to pour an enfilading fire into the advancing Covenanter left flank. As this flank began to flounder in confusion, MacColla led a charge from the village, forcing Lawers to retire to Garlic Hill, where he regrouped and drove MacColla back into Auldearn for the second time. A fierce hand-to-hand fight ensued as MacColla struggled to main
tain his position. By now his situation was desperate; MacColla anxiously scanned the surrounding landscape for signs of Montrose.

  Montrose had in fact arrived with the bulk of the Royalist army and was positioned behind Auldearn from where he directed his counter-attack on Hurry, preoccupied with his fight with MacColla. Montrose divided his cavalry, sending in half under Lord Aboyne to the south of the village and Lord Gordon’s to the north and Castle Hill. Aboyne led the first charge against the right flank of Hurry’s force; he surprised a troop of Covenanters sent to guard the right flank. In the confusion the troop leader, Major Drummond ordered his men to wheel their horses in the wrong direction and they collided with their own infantry. As Aboyne’s men slammed into Lawers’s regiment, Lawers retreated to Garlic Hill; as he did so, Gordon’s horse appeared in the north from behind Castle Hill and charged Lawers’s left flank, completing the rout of Lawers’s brigade of two regiments. The battle continued on Garlic Hill; the Royalist infantry surged forward, overwhelming the remnants of Lawers’ brigade and charging up the hill. The battle became a rout; Hurry and the remains of his army fled across the river Nairn to the safety of Inverness. There are no details of Montrose’s casualties but these were probably light; Hurry and Burleigh suffered the loss of 1,500 men, mostly infantry.

  Having defeated one Covenanter force at Auldearn, Montrose turned to meet Baillie whom he knew he would have to defeat in order to break out of the Highlands and menace central Scotland. For the next few weeks Montrose and Baillie manoeuvered across Morayshire and Aberdeenshire, each seeking an advantageous spot to attack each other. During this lull MacColla again returned to the west Highlands on a recruitment drive.