Thuringia, and was afterwards destined to take part in the reduction
of the Circle of Franconia. From Erfurt the brigade advanced, with
other troops, through the forest of Thuringia,--proceeded a distance
of one hundred and eleven miles along difficult roads, and took by
capitulation six large towns, in the short period of eight days.
Having arrived at _Wurtzburg_, the town soon surrendered; but a strong
castle, called _Marienberg_, standing on an eminence on the other side
of the river Maine, being garrisoned by a thousand men, well provided
with every means of defence, held out against the Swedish arms, and
the Scots were selected to commence operations against this place.
The approach was hazardous beyond description; one arch of the bridge
was blown up, and the batteries raked the bridge from one end to the
other. A few daring Scots musketeers, however, passed the river in
small boats on the 5th of October, and, leaping on shore in the face of
a sharp fire, were soon warmly engaged. A plank had, in the meantime,
been laid across the broken arch of the bridge, and a number of veteran
Scots running across one after another, joined their companions in the
fight, and a lodgment was effected beyond the river, and some advantage
gained. The castle was afterwards taken by storm; and this having been
deemed an impregnable fortress, it was found well stored with corn,
wine, ammunition, and treasure; and small arms were found for seven
thousand men.
While the brigade lay at Wurtzburg, the King sent out so many
detachments that he had only about ten thousand men at head-quarters,
and an army of fifty thousand men, commanded by the Duke of Lorraine,
advanced against him. His Majesty having received information that
the enemy designed to pass the Maine at _Oxenford_ and attack him,
the King proceeded, on the same evening, after dark, to the quarters
of HEPBURNS'S SCOTS BRIGADE, and commanded the men to assemble under
arms immediately. Having selected eight hundred musketeers, his
Majesty commanded them to follow him, while the pikemen and colours
remained behind. The musketeers, being led by Brigadier-General
Hepburn, and accompanied by eighty Swedish horsemen, continued their
march throughout the night, and at two o'clock on the following morning
arrived at _Oxenford_, and formed up in the market-place, while fifty
of the horsemen advanced to observe the motions of the enemy. Soon
afterwards the report of pistols was heard, when his Majesty sent out a
lieutenant and fifty musketeers to skirmish and to cover the retreat of
the horse, which service was gallantly performed. The enemy, however,
proved too numerous, and the fifty musketeers were forced to retire,
when the King sent a hundred musketeers, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Monro, to restore the fight, and they drove back a superior body of
the Imperialists, for which they were applauded by the King. These few
Scots having thus frustrated the designs of the enemy, his Majesty
returned to Wurtzburg, leaving Hepburn, with his musketeers, to
defend the place; and this excellent officer made such a formidable
disposition of his men, and kept so good a countenance, that, although
the enemy advanced with his army up to the town with drums beating
and colours flying, as though he was about to storm the place, yet he
afterwards retired. The musketeers, having thus boldly confronted a
large army and maintained their post, were afterwards ordered to return
to Wurtzburg.
On the 7th of November HEPBURN'S SCOTS BRIGADE, or the GREEN BRIGADE,
advanced with the army towards _Frankfort on the Maine_, a place
celebrated throughout Europe for its annual fairs; and while traversing
the rich plains and beautiful scenery of one of the most fruitful parts
of Germany, several strong towns surrendered to the army. The brigade
crossed the Maine at Aschaffenberg, on the 14th of November, and
arrived at Frankfort on the 16th, when the city surrendered.
In the early part of December HEPBURN'S or the GREEN, and the Blue
brigades, were employed in the siege of a strong fort near _Oppenheim_,
and while performing this service, these hardy veterans were encamped
in the midst of a deep snow. The enemy made a sally in the night, but
were repulsed by the Scots pikemen, and on the following morning the
fort surrendered. The two brigades afterwards attacked a fort, and
also the castle belonging to the town. A party of gallant Scots having
stormed the wall between the outward fort and castle, they found the
drawbridge down, and, forcing an entrance into the castle, they put the
Spanish garrison to the sword; at the same time another party stormed
the fort with such fury that nine companies of Italians were soon
overpowered and forced to surrender. These Italians afterwards engaged
in the Swedish service, and were attached to the GREEN BRIGADE; but
they all deserted during the following summer. The King having passed
the Rhine with part of his army to attack the town on the other side,
the place surrendered.
Notwithstanding the severity of the season, the King resolved to
continue operations, and one Sunday afternoon, in the early part
of December, in tempestuous weather, with frost and snow, the army
appeared before _Mentz_. HEPBURN'S SCOTS,[28] or the GREEN BRIGADE,
took its post before the town; and the men having prepared the
batteries during the night, the fire of the cannon commenced at
day-break with such fury that the besieged were dismayed, and they
surrendered in the middle of December. The brigade was afterwards
placed in garrison in the town, where it continued during the remainder
of the winter.
[Sidenote: 1632]
During the preceding campaign, several additional regiments arrived
in Germany from Scotland, namely, Sir James Lumsdell's, the Master
of Forbes', Sir Frederick Hamilton's, and Colonel Monro's; also
Colonel Austin's English regiment; recruits also arrived for the old
regiments; and in the beginning of 1632 there appear to have been
thirteen Scots regiments and five English regiments in the service
of the King of Sweden. There were also two Scots generals, three
major-generals, three brigadier-generals, twenty-seven colonels,
fifty-one lieutenant-colonels, and fourteen Scots majors,[29] in the
Swedish army: and the FIRST, or ROYAL, REGIMENT OF FOOT, in the British
line, being the only one of these eighteen British regiments which has
continued to exist to the present time, it is the representative of the
whole of this gallant force.
HEPBURN'S veterans remained in garrison at Mentz, recruiting in
vigour and in numbers, until the beginning of March, 1632, when they
proceeded to Frankfort on the Maine, and, advancing from thence to
Aschaffenberg, were reviewed in the fields before the town on the
6th of March, by the King of Sweden. From Aschaffenberg the brigade
continued its march to Weinsheim, where it was reviewed by the Elector
Palatine, who complimented this distinguished body of Scots on the high
character it had acquired for deeds of valour.
After this review the brigade advanced with the army to invade Bavaria,
and on the 26th of March it appeared before _Donawerth_ on the Danube,
when the King posted part of the troops on the heights above the town.
On the following day, a battery having been constructed to command
the bridge, the enemy made a furious sally, and, having driven back
some Swedish troops, captured the guns; but a number of HEPBURN'S
veterans rushing forward sword in hand, the Bavarians were repulsed and
driven back into the town. During the night, Sir John Hepburn marched
his brigade with great silence five miles up the Wernitz, and having
crossed the river, returned by the opposite bank to an angle which
commanded the bridge over the Danube, where he posted his musketeers
behind garden-walls and hedges, and formed the pikemen into three
bodies under the cover of the enclosures. At day-break the enemy's
garrison attempted to force its way through the besieging army; eight
hundred musketeers rushed suddenly out of the town towards the bridge
where HEPBURN'S men were posted, when the Scots musketeers opened a
destructive fire, and before the smoke had cleared away, the pikemen
came cheering forward to the charge, while the musketeers drew their
swords and joined in the attack, and the enemy's column was broken
and cut to pieces. Many of the Bavarians fled towards the town;
HEPBURN'S veterans, following in full career, entered the town with the
fugitives, and made great slaughter in the streets. Meanwhile, the
enemy's troops, which sallied on the other side of the town, were also
nearly all destroyed. The governor escaped, but he saved only a small
portion of his garrison. Thus Donawerth was captured in forty-eight
hours after the army appeared before the town; and in this exploit the
gallant veterans under Sir John Hepburn acquired new laurels.[30]
This success enabled the King to penetrate into Bavaria; and in the
early part of April HEPBURN'S BRIGADE took part in the brilliant
enterprise of forcing the passage of the river _Lech_ in the face of
a superior army, and the success which attended this daring exploit
alarmed one half of Europe, and astonished the other.
The brigade was afterwards engaged in the siege of _Augsburg_, which
place capitulated on the 10th of April. From Augsburg the brigade
proceeded with the army to _Ingoldstadt_, and, being engaged in the
siege of this town, it had one very trying night's service: the King,
expecting a sally from the garrison, ordered Hepburn's veterans to
stand all night under arms on some high ground near the town; the enemy
kept up a constant fire against the brigade with dreadful execution,
and the men had to stand like targets to be shot at, without the power
of making resistance. "To my mind," observes the brave Colonel Monro,
"it was the longest night in the year, though in April, for at one shot
I lost twelve men of my own company." The first attack not succeeding,
the King raised the siege and retired.
After quitting the precincts of Ingoldstadt, the brigade was detached
against _Landshut_, a pretty little town with a castle, in Bavaria,
which place surrendered on the 29th of April.
Having completed this conquest, the brigade proceeded to Freysingen,
where it rejoined the main army, and advanced from thence to _Munich_.
This celebrated city surrendered immediately, and the King being
desirous of preserving it from plunder, he made a present of about five
shillings English to every soldier in the army, and posted HEPBURN'S
SCOTS BRIGADE at the bridge to prevent the ingress of stragglers.
The army was afterwards encamped without the town, excepting the old
Scots brigade, which entered the city with the King, and HEPBURN'S own
regiment furnished the guard at the market-place, while the remainder
of the brigade furnished the King's guard at the castle. As no other
brigade was admitted into Munich, this circumstance proves the high
estimation in which this old Scots corps was held. Its commander,
Brigadier-General Hepburn, was appointed governor of Munich.
Leaving this city on the 1st of June, the brigade again directed its
march towards Donawerth, where it arrived on the 4th. It subsequently
marched to the relief of _Weissemberg_, which was besieged by the
enemy; but the garrison surrendered before the troops marching for its
relief arrived. The brigade then continued its march to Furt, where an
encampment was formed. It was afterwards employed in several operations
of a defensive character. The King having to defend _Nurenberg_, and to
confront an army of 60,000 men with only 20,000, his Majesty formed an
entrenched camp round the city, where the brigade was stationed some
time.
The enemy's army, commanded by the Duke of Bavaria and Count Walstein,
appeared before Nurenberg, and by means of their immense superiority
of numbers endeavoured to cut off the supplies of provision from
the Swedish army, but were unable to accomplish their object. The
opposing armies lay watching each other's movements until the 21st
of August, when, reinforcements having arrived for the Swedes, the
King attacked the enemy's fortified camp; the old Scots Brigade was
sharply engaged in the attack of the heights of Altenberg, and in the
attempt on Altenberg Castle, in which service it lost many officers
and men; but the attack failed at every point. The King afterwards
formed a fortified camp within cannon shot of the enemy, and the two
armies confronted each other until the 8th of September, when his
Majesty retired, and five hundred musketeers of the old Scots Brigade,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sinclair, covered the retreat to
Neustadt. A few days afterwards, the Marquis of Hamilton being about
to return to England, Brigadier-General Hepburn obtained permission
to accompany him, and the regiment was left under the command of the
Lieutenant-Colonel. When the gallant Hepburn and several other officers
took leave of their companions in arms, Monro informs us that "the
separation was like the separation which death makes betwixt friends
and the soul of man, being sorry that those who had lived so long
together in amity and friendship, also in mutual dangers, in weal and
in woe, the splendour of our former mirth was overshadowed with a cloud
of grief and sorrows, which dissolved in mutual tears."
The brigade was now commanded by Colonel Monro, and towards the end of
September it marched to the relief of _Rayn_, which was besieged by the
enemy; but this garrison also surrendered before the troops marching
to its relief arrived. The King, however, resolved to retake the town,
and having arrived before the walls on the 3rd of October, he took
advantage of a thick fog, and brought his cannon to bear upon the works
unperceived, when the garrison immediately surrendered.
The brigade being much exhausted and decreased in numbers from its
recent hard services, it was placed in quarters of refreshment in
Bavaria, while the King marched with part of the army into Saxony.
Before his departure, his Majesty expressed his approbation of the
conduct of these veteran Scots on all occasions, and exhorted the
commanding officers to use every possible expedition in replacing the
casualties in the ranks of their respective regiments; but this proved
the final separation between the great Gustavus Adolphus and these
distinguished regiments; his Majesty marched to Saxony, and was killed
at the battle of Lützen,[31] which was fought on the 6th of November,
1632.
After the death of the King of Sweden[32] the old Scots Brigade
served for a short time under the Elector Palatine, and was employed
in the siege and capture of _Landsberg_, a town of Upper Bavaria on
the Lech; and while before this place a dispute about precedence arose
between this and another (Ruthven's) brigade: "But," observes Colonel
Monro, "those of Ruthven's Brigade were forced, notwithstanding their
diligence, to yield the precedence unto us, being older blades than
themselves, for in effect we were their schoolmasters in discipline, as
they could not but acknowledge."
When the capture of Landsberg was effected, the old Scots Brigade
marched to the relief of _Rayn_, which was closely beset by the
Bavarians, who raised the siege on the approach of the Scots, and
retired into Saxony.
From Rayn the brigade marched to the vicinity of the ancient city of
Augsburg, where the men lay two months of extreme cold weather in the
open fields; the loss of the great Gustavus Adolphus was now seriously
experienced, the generals were indecisive, and operations were
suspended.
[Sidenote: 1633]
But in February, 1633, the brigade was again called into action. It
proceeded, in the first instance, to Ulm, a considerable town on the
banks of the Danube, and from thence towards _Memmingen_, to attack
a division of the enemy stationed in the town; but, having halted at
some hamlets within three miles of the place, the houses took fire in
the night, and the brigade lost much baggage, and saved its cannon and
ammunition with difficulty. This misfortune did not, however, prevent
the troops from marching against their adversaries, who after some
sharp skirmishing, retired.
Soon afterwards the brigade proceeded to _Kaufbeuren_, a small town on
the Wertach, and having invested the place, the garrison held out two
days, and then surrendered. Having refreshed the men with three days'
rest at Kaufbeuren, the brigade marched with part of the army towards
the Iller, and, having passed the river by a temporary bridge, besieged
_Kempten_ (the ancient _Campodunum_). But while the brigade lay before
the town, it was suddenly ordered to proceed by forced marches to the
Duchy of Wirtemberg.
Having been recalled from Wirtemberg, the brigade proceeded to
Donawerth on the Danube, where it was stationed during a great part of
the summer; while a convention of the Protestant princes of Germany was
held at Heilbronn. The pay of the troops being a long time in arrear,
they resolved not to engage in any further operations until their
arrears were paid. Thus disorder and confusion found its way into the
Swedish army, and the Scots regiments were no longer recruited with the
same facility as formerly.
[Sidenote: 1634]
The old Scots Brigade, however, continued at its post of duty, and it
formed part of the army, commanded by Marshal Horn and the Duke of
Saxe-Weimar, which advanced to the relief of _Nordlingen_; and this
movement brought on a general engagement, which was fought in the
vicinity of the town on the 26th of August, 1634, when the confederates
were defeated, and the Scots Brigade suffered so severely, that one
of the regiments (Monro's) was reduced a few days afterwards to one
company.[33] After the battle, the wreck of this distinguished brigade
retreated to Worms, a town situate on the left bank of the Rhine; and,
Marshal Horn having been taken prisoner, the veteran Scots were under
the orders of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar.
The loss of the battle of _Nordlingen_ almost ruined the protestant
interest in Germany, but soon afterwards the court of France agreed to
support this depressed and declining cause. The prospect of immediate
succours from France allayed the consternation which prevailed amongst
the confederate princes. A French army approached the Rhine, and
several towns in Alsace admitted French garrisons.
In the French army which thus approached the Rhine, the celebrated SIR
JOHN HEPBURN appeared at the head of a Scots regiment in the French
service. When this officer quitted Germany in 1632 (as before stated),
he was not satisfied with the manner in which the Swedish affairs were
conducted: on his arrival in England he was knighted; in the following
year he tendered his services to Louis XIII.; and a regiment having
been constituted of the old Scots companies and some newly-raised men,
he was appointed its Colonel, by commission dated the 26th of January,
1633. He served in 1634 with the French army,[34] commanded by Marshal
de la Force. During the summer he was engaged in the siege of _La
Motte_ (or La Mothe), which place surrendered on the 26th of July; and
HEPBURN'S REGIMENT lost one captain and several men in this service.
On the 19th of December, Sir John Hepburn passed the Rhine with his
own and six other regiments of infantry, seven cornets (or troops)
of cavalry, and a train of artillery, and took post at Manheim, from
whence he sent forward parties to reconnoitre the enemy. The remainder
of the French army afterwards passed the Rhine, and Sir John Hepburn
marched to the relief of _Heidelberg_, an ancient city situate on the
river Neckar, at the foot of the mountain called the Giesberg. This
city was besieged by the Imperialists, and defended by the Swedes.
After some sharp fighting, in which Sir John Hepburn distinguished
himself, the besieging army retreated, and the city was delivered to
the French on the 23rd of December.
[Sidenote: 1635]
After this success, part of the French army marched to Landau,
and formed a junction with the Swedish forces under the Duke of
Saxe-Weimar, which had escaped after the defeat at Nordlingen. Thus
the remaining few veterans of HEPBURN'S SCOTS REGIMENT in the _Swedish
service_, and HEPBURN'S SCOTS REGIMENT in the _French service_, were
brought into contact to fight together in the same cause, and the two
regiments appear to have been incorporated into one. This union would,
doubtless, prove agreeable to both corps; the veterans in the Swedish
service had long been without pay, and the strongest attachment existed
between them and their former leader, Sir John Hepburn, who had been
their companion in toil, in danger, and in victory; and this union of
the two corps placed them again under their favourite commander: at the
same time, Hepburn's regiment in the French service was already much
decreased in numbers from a long campaign, and the addition of these
renowned veterans would prove a valuable acquisition. Thus Hepburn's
Regiments, or _Le Régiment d'Hebron_ in the SWEDISH SERVICE, and _Le
Régiment d'Hebron_ in the FRENCH SERVICE (for the French historians use
the same title for both regiments), appear to have become one corps in
1635; and there is reason to believe that the remains of several other
Scots corps in the Swedish service were added to HEPBURN'S REGIMENT,
as its establishment, two years afterwards, is stated to have amounted
to the extraordinary number of 8316 officers and soldiers.[35] There
appear also to have been two other Scots regiments in the French
service in 1635, namely, Colonel Lesley's and Colonel Ramsay's, besides
the Scots _Gardes du Corps_ and _Gendarmes_ spoken of at the beginning
of this Memoir.
HEPBURN'S REGIMENT served during the campaign of 1635 with the French
array in Germany, commanded by the Cardinal de la Valette; and the
remains of the Swedish army, which had escaped after the defeat at
Nordlingen in 1634, continued to co-operate with the French, and were
commanded, under the Cardinal, by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Little
advantage, however, accrued from placing an ecclesiastical dignitary at
the head of the army. The supplies of provision were intercepted by the
Germans, the French troops were reduced to the necessity of subsisting
on roots gathered about the villages, and the horses were fed on the
leaves of trees. At length the army, after burying its cannon and
destroying its baggage, retreated through mountainous parts of the
country; the Germans followed and attacked the rear; HEPBURN'S REGIMENT
was sharply engaged amongst the mountains; and the Imperialists were
severely punished for their temerity in a sharp action in September,
near _Metz_.[36]
[Sidenote: 1636]
During the summer of 1636 HEPBURN'S REGIMENT served with the army
commanded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and in the month of May it
appeared before _Saverne_, a town of Alsace, situated on the banks of
the river Sarre, which was defended by an Imperial garrison commanded
by Colonel Mulhein. The siege of this place was immediately commenced,
and the garrison made a desperate resistance. A breach having been
effected, three assaults were made on the 20th of June, and were
repulsed with great loss. On the following day the batteries against
the town opened their fire with greater fury than before, and during
the progress of the siege the gallant Sir John Hepburn[37] was shot in
the neck, and died, regretted, not only by his old companions in arms,
but also by the court of France, where his valour and abilities were
well known and appreciated. After holding out a few days longer the
garrison surrendered; and Louis XIII. conferred the vacant Colonelcy of
the regiment on Lieutenant-Colonel James Hepburn, whose name appears
amongst the Scots lieutenant-colonels in the service of the King of
Sweden in 1632.
[Sidenote: 1637]