Duke of Saxe-Weimar, whose army consisted of French, Scots, Swedes, and
Germans, in the pay of France; and during the year 1637 it was engaged
in several skirmishes with the Imperialists, but no considerable action
was performed by either side.
This year Colonel James Hepburn was killed, and he was succeeded in the
command of the regiment by Lord James Douglas, second son of William,
first Marquis of Douglas. From this period the regiment was known in
France by the title of _Le Régiment de Douglas_.[38]
While the regiment was in Alsace, Picardy was invaded by the Spaniards,
and in 1637 this corps of hardy Scots appears to have been withdrawn
from the army commanded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and stationed near
the frontiers of Picardy.
[Sidenote: 1638]
In the spring of 1638 it was placed under the command of the Marshal
de Chastillon, for the purpose of penetrating into the Earldom of
Artois, which at this period formed part of the Spanish Netherlands.
The army having been assembled near Amiens, passed the Somme on the
18th of May, 1638; DOUGLAS' REGIMENT, forming part of the division
under Lieutenant-General Hallier, passed the river at Abbeville,
marched from thence to Doullens, and, after taking part in the capture
of several small forts, was engaged in the siege of _St. Omer_, a place
of great strength, and provided with a good garrison. The trenches were
opened on the night between the 29th and 30th of June. On the 12th of
July three hundred of the garrison issued out of the town to attack
the men in the trenches, and encountering a party of DOUGLAS' SCOTS,
a fierce combat ensued, and the Spaniards were driven back with the
loss of many men killed and taken prisoners; the enemy also lost a
strong post which they had held until that time.[39] A Spanish force,
however, advanced to the relief of the garrison, and having succeeded
in throwing succours into the town, the siege was raised by the French.
After quitting the vicinity of St. Omer, the regiment was engaged in
the siege of _Renty_, a small town on the river Aa. The army appeared
before this place on the 1st of August, and on the 9th the garrison
surrendered.
The next service in which the troops were employed was the siege of
_Catelet_, a town of Picardy, which the Spaniards had captured in 1636;
and this place was taken by storm on the 14th of September.
[Sidenote: 1639]
Having passed the winter in quarters in Picardy, DOUGLAS' REGIMENT
marched in the early part of May, 1639, to the rendezvous of the army
at Doullens, and served this year against the Spaniards, forming part
of the army commanded by General Meilleraie. The French commander
marched first towards Aire, but after reconnoitering the defences of
this place, he proceeded to _Hesdin_,--a town situated amongst marshes
on the little river Canche, where he arrived on the 19th of May,
and commenced the siege of the place with great vigour. Louis XIII.
visited the camp, that his presence might animate the soldiers in their
attacks; and, the garrison having surrendered on the 29th of June, the
King was so well pleased with the manner in which this siege had been
conducted, that he presented General Meilleraie with the baton of a
Marshal of France; the ceremony was performed in the breach he had made
in the fortress, and the King commanded _Te Deum_ to be sung in the
principal church of the town.[40]
After repairing the works, the army advanced against the Spanish
forces under the Marquis de Fuentes; and DOUGLAS' REGIMENT took part in
a sharp skirmish near the village of _St. Nicholas_, on which occasion
four pieces of cannon were captured from the Spaniards.
[Sidenote: 1640]
[Sidenote: 1641]
[Sidenote: 1642]
The regiment continued to take part in the military operations against
the Spaniards. Meanwhile Scotland was violently agitated by an attempt
made by King Charles I. to introduce the English Liturgy. This was
followed by an unfortunate misunderstanding between the King and his
Parliament in England, which produced a civil war; but, in the scenes
of slaughter and devastation which followed, this regiment did not
take part. It was in the service of Louis XIII. of France, who was
engaged in a war with Austria and Spain; and the French King had urgent
occasion for the presence of the three Scots regiments[41] with his
armies.
[Sidenote: 1643]
While the civil war was raging in England, Louis XIII. died (14th May,
1643), and was succeeded by his son Louis XIV., who was afterwards
designated _Louis le Grand_; at the time of his accession he was in
his minority. Notwithstanding this event the war was prosecuted with
vigour, and the court of France procured, in 1643, an additional
regiment of foot from Scotland, commanded by Colonel Andrew
Rutherford,[42] afterwards Earl of Teviot. This regiment was designated
in France _Le Régiment des Gardes Escossois_, or the REGIMENT OF SCOTS
GUARDS: but the title was only honorary, as it was never employed near
the royal person. The date of its formation has not been ascertained;
but, as it was afterwards incorporated into DOUGLAS' REGIMENT, now the
FIRST ROYALS, this corps is its representative, and its services have a
place in this Memoir.
Immediately after the regiment of Scots Guards arrived in France,
it was ordered to advance to the relief of _Roucroy_, a town of the
Ardennes, which was besieged by the Spaniards. The troops employed
in this service were commanded by Louis de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien,
who was afterwards celebrated for military achievements under the
title of _Prince of Condé_, or the Great Condé. The Spaniards had a
superiority of numbers: the two armies engaged near _Roucroy_, on the
19th of May, when the French gained a decisive victory, and captured
the cannon, baggage, and many of the standards and colours belonging
to the Spaniards. Rutherford's Scots' Regiment had the honor of taking
part in this battle. It was soon afterwards employed in the siege of
_Thionville_, a town situated on the river Moselle; and had one captain
and four men killed, and one major and several private men wounded
in the attack of the counterscarp. This siege being prosecuted with
vigour, the town surrendered on the 10th of August, and the regiment
appears to have marched immediately afterwards for Italy.
Meanwhile DOUGLAS' REGIMENT had been removed from the Netherlands
and placed under the orders of Prince Francis-Thomas of Savoy, who
commanded the French army in Italy; and, having been engaged in several
operations, it was employed in the autumn in the siege of the city of
_Turin_, in Piedmont, which place was invested on the 14th of August.
The Scots Regiment of Guards also arrived in Piedmont in time to take
part in the siege, which was terminated on the 27th of September
by the surrender of the city, when DOUGLAS' REGIMENT was placed in
garrison.[43]
[Sidenote: 1644]
Before the following campaign the regiment was, however, removed from
Piedmont to Picardy; and passing from thence to the Netherlands, it
served, in 1644, under the Duke of Orleans, who held, during the
minority of Louis XIV., the title of Lieutenant-General to the King.
The army in the Netherlands was this year of considerable magnitude,
and DOUGLAS' REGIMENT formed part of the division commanded by Marshal
Meilleraie,[44] and was engaged in the siege of _Gravelines_, a town
situated on the river Aa, nine miles from Dunkirk. The communication
of Gravelines with the sea rendered it a place of great importance
to the Spaniards, who made strenuous exertions for its preservation.
Two sorties were made by the garrison in the early part of July, when
DOUGLAS' REGIMENT was sharply engaged, and the enemy was repulsed.
Every attempt made by the Spaniards to relieve the place was defeated,
and the town surrendered on the 28th of July, 1644. This success
was followed by the capture of several forts, and places of minor
importance, near the sea.
[Sidenote: 1645]
[Sidenote: 1646]
While the Scots regiments in the service of France were gaining laurels
in Italy and Flanders, England continued the theatre of civil war,
and many desperate engagements were fought with varied success. At
length the King's army, after suffering a series of reverses, was
found unable to withstand the forces of the Parliament; and a number
of officers and soldiers, who had fought in the royal cause, fled to
France, and were taken into the service of Louis XIV. Five English
battalions were formed, and added to the French army in Flanders;
and, during the campaign of 1646, the British troops were employed in
the siege and capture of _Courtray_, a considerable town on the river
Lys; and they afterwards took a distinguished part in the siege of the
city of _Dunkirk_, which surrendered to the French army on the 10th of
October, 1646.
[Sidenote: 1647]
The British troops continued to take part in the war in Flanders: and
in 1648 a troop of Scots cuirassiers, and the regiment of Scots Guards,
had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves at the battle of
_Lens_,[45] in Artois, under that distinguished commander the Prince of
Condé. This battle was fought on the 10th of August, 1648. The Spanish
army, commanded by Archduke Leopold, suffered a complete overthrow,
and lost thirty-eight pieces of cannon, and upwards of one hundred
standards and colours.
Soon after this victory an insurrection broke out in Paris; the court
removed to Rouel, and afterwards to St. Germain, and part of the army
was recalled from Flanders to besiege the capital, and to reduce the
Parliament of Paris to obedience.
[Sidenote: 1648]
[Sidenote: 1649]
In this year (1648) a treaty was concluded at _Munster_, which restored
peace to a great part of Europe, but the war was continued between
France and Spain, and the British troops were continued in the service
of France. Meanwhile King Charles I. of England, having fallen into
the power of Cromwell, was beheaded at Whitehall Palace on the 30th of
January, 1649.
While these events were taking place in other parts of Europe, Paris
was besieged by the French army, of which DOUGLAS' REGIMENT continued
to form a part; but an amicable arrangement between the Court and
Parliament took place in the spring of 1649. This was, however,
followed by insurrections in several of the provinces, and the Spanish
commanders, availing themselves of the distracted state of France,
recaptured several places in the Netherlands.
While France was disturbed with internal commotions, three hundred
veteran Scots, who had been left in garrison at _Ypres_ in West
Flanders, were engaged in the defence of that place against the
Spaniards, and, after a gallant resistance, were eventually forced to
surrender: but obtained honourable conditions, and marched out on the
6th of May, 1649, with drums beating and colours flying.
[Sidenote: 1650]
The commotions in France occasioned a decrease in the revenues of Louis
XIV., and DOUGLAS' veterans, with the other Scots regiments in the
French service, could not procure their pay. Meanwhile, King Charles
II., who had been an exile on the continent for some time, was entering
into a treaty, called the COVENANT, with the Scots, through whose means
his Majesty expected to recover the sovereignty of Great Britain; at
the same time, application was made to the French court for permission
for DOUGLAS' and the other regiments to return to Scotland with the
King; but these gallant veterans were so beloved and esteemed in France
for their good conduct on all occasions, that Louis XIV. declined
to accede to this request, and promised to give them their pay with
greater regularity in future.
[Sidenote: 1651]
Had these distinguished regiments accompanied their sovereign to
Scotland, great advantage would, doubtless, have accrued to the royal
cause. But, instead of accompanying their King, they were employed in
the defence of several strong towns on the frontiers of Picardy and
Flanders. The internal disorders in France continued, a want of money
prevailed in the army, and many of the French soldiers deserted. At the
same time the Spaniards, being in communication with the disaffected in
France, recovered several more of the towns which had been wrested from
them in the preceding campaigns, and besieged Dunkirk.
While these events were occurring on the continent, Charles II. was
crowned King in Scotland; but his affairs not prospering in the north,
he penetrated into England, and the Scots troops sustained a decisive
overthrow at _Worcester_ on the 3rd of September, 1651. The King fled
from the field, and, after remaining in concealment with several loyal
families for a short time, he escaped in disguise to France.
Meanwhile, the troubles in France were increasing. The Duke of Orleans
and the Prince of Condé were opposed to the court; the latter was at
the head of an army; and DOUGLAS' REGIMENT was employed in operations
against the insurgents.
[Sidenote: 1652]
After several marches and manœuvres, the opposing armies came in
contact in the summer of 1652, in the vicinity of _Paris_; the royal
army was commanded by Marshal Turenne; and the rebel army by the Prince
of Condé, who erected barricades in the Fauxbourg of St. Antoine, where
he was attacked on the 2nd of July, 1652.[46] The fighting had been
continued for some time with great resolution on both sides, when
DOUGLAS' and three other regiments attacked a barricade across one of
the streets near the river, which they carried sword in hand, and,
having dislodged the enemy from the houses, established themselves on
this spot. Immediately afterwards a troop of royal horse, attempting to
pass the barricade, was repulsed by the insurgent horsemen, who were
driven back in their turn by the fire of DOUGLAS' and another regiment
from the houses. Scarcely had the horse quitted the street, when two
bodies of insurgent foot came rushing forward with great fury to retake
the barricade, but DOUGLAS' and another regiment opened so destructive
a fire from the houses, and the regiments which guarded the barricade
made so resolute a defence, that the rebels were repulsed with great
loss. A general attack was afterwards made on the other posts occupied
by the rebels in the suburbs of Paris, and the rebellion would probably
have been crushed at once, but the Parisians opened their gates and
admitted the insurgents into the city, and thus protected them from
the fury of the royal army. The city of Paris having thus manifested
a determination to take part with the insurgents, DOUGLAS' Regiment,
with the remainder of the royal army, retreated on the same day to St.
Denis, where his Majesty and the court had retired.
While the Prince of Condé held possession of Paris, and the royal army
lay at St. Denis, a large Spanish army prepared to penetrate from the
Netherlands into France, to act in concert with the French insurgents;
when the court of Louis XIV. removed to Pontoise, and the army
marched to Compeigne, and encamped under the walls of the town. The
Spanish army entered France, but after a short stay it retired to the
Netherlands, when the army of Louis XIV. advanced towards Paris, and
encamped near Gonesse. This movement was followed by the return of the
Spanish forces under the Duke of Lorraine, when the army under Marshal
Turenne attempted to intercept the enemy, and a sharp skirmish occurred
at _Villeneuve St. Georges_, nine miles from Paris, and the designs of
the Duke of Lorraine were frustrated. But the Prince of Condé marched
out of Paris, and succeeded in forming a junction with the Spaniards
at Ablon; and the united armies were double the number of the forces
under Marshal Turenne, who constructed two temporary bridges over the
Seine, threw up entrenchments, and maintained his post for several
weeks. While the two armies confronted each other, frequent skirmishes
occurred in the fields and vineyards, in which DOUGLAS' Scots took a
conspicuous part. On one of these occasions a captain of the regiment
was taken prisoner, who escaped from the enemy a few days afterwards,
and brought information that the Prince of Condé had left the Spanish
army in consequence of indisposition. The enemy not being so watchful
as before, and the King's army being in want of provisions, it retired
with great secrecy during the night of the 4th of October, and
continued its march to Courteuil, when the enemy quitted the vicinity
of Paris, and marched into winter quarters in Champagne and other parts
of France.
When the absence of the united rebel and Spanish army from Paris
was ascertained, the royal family of France proceeded with a strong
guard to the capital, and obtained possession of the city; and
DOUGLAS' Regiment, with the remainder of the King's army, marched for
Champagne, to attack the enemy in his quarters.
During the winter DOUGLAS' Regiment was engaged in the siege of _Bar
le Duc_; the lower town was taken by storm, and, about the middle of
December, when two practicable breaches were made, the upper town and
castle surrendered; when an Irish regiment in the Spanish service was
made prisoners. The Irish finding that the Duke of York was with the
French army, in command of the Scots gendarmes and a regiment of foot
called the Regiment of York, they obtained permission to enter the
French service, and were incorporated into the Duke's regiment.
From Bar le Duc, DOUGLAS' Regiment marched a distance of nine miles,
to _Ligny_, a town situate on the river Ornain, and was engaged in
the siege of the castle. A mine being ready, on the 21st of December,
"Marshal Turenne commanded the regiments of York and DOUGLAS to
prepare for the attack at the springing of the mine, and ordered his
own regiment to be in readiness to second them. All things being
prepared in this manner, fire was given to the mine, and in the midst
of the smoke, before it could be discerned what effect the mine had
produced, the Count d'Estrées, who commanded the attack, ordered it
to be instantly made. Accordingly, they fell on, passing over the
ditch, which was very broad, upon the ice. But when they came to the
ditch, they perceived that the mine had failed their expectation, and
there was no possibility of mounting the breach. Upon this there was a
necessity of making a retreat; the ice broke under the men, and most
of them fell into the ditch, which gave leisure to the enemy to do
execution on them. Thus, for want of a little patience to see what
effect the mine had wrought; the regiment of York lost four captains,
some lieutenants and ensigns, and about a hundred men, slain outright,
and the regiment of DOUGLAS two captains and near fifty private
soldiers; besides many officers and soldiers hurt."[47] Immediately
after this failure another mine was commenced, and the garrison
surrendered on the 22nd of December.
[Sidenote: 1653]
A garrison having been placed in Ligny, the army proceeded to _Château
Portien_, a small town of the Ardennes, situate on the right bank of
the river Aisne; and while on this march the weather was so severe,
that several of the soldiers were frozen to death on the road. The
siege of this place was commenced in the beginning of January, 1653,
and the town was delivered up in less than ten days.
Having completed this conquest, the troops proceeded through a
difficult tract of country, and besieged _Vervins_. The weather
continued inclement, the men were suffering from the want of food, and
great difficulties had to be overcome; yet the attacks were made with
such spirit and determination, that possession was gained of this town
on the 28th of January.
The troops were now exhausted, and DOUGLAS' Regiment was sent into
quarters of refreshment. It again took the field in June following; but
the enemy had so great a superiority of numbers, that the greater part
of the year was passed in defensive operations.
[Sidenote: 1654]
[Sidenote: 1655]
The regiment appears to have passed the year 1654 in garrison. In 1655
it was employed in the Netherlands; its Colonel, Lieutenant-General
Lord James Douglas, commanded a flying camp between Douay and Arras;
several skirmishes occurred, and on one occasion LORD JAMES DOUGLAS was
killed; he was succeeded in the Colonelcy by his brother, LORD GEORGE
DOUGLAS, afterwards EARL OF DUMBARTON. This change in its Colonel did
not alter the title of the corps, as it continued to be distinguished
by the title of DOUGLAS' REGIMENT.
This year (1655) the King of France concluded a treaty with Cromwell,
who was at the head of the British nation with the title of Lord
Protector; and it was stipulated that a body of Cromwell's forces
should proceed to Flanders to co-operate with the French against the
Spaniards.
[Sidenote: 1656]
[Sidenote: 1657]
[Sidenote: 1658]
This treaty occasioned King Charles II. to unite his interests with
those of Spain; the Duke of York quitted France, and obtained a command
in the Spanish army; and a great part of the Royal British troops,
which had escaped from England and entered the French army, transferred
their services from the crown of France to that of Spain. The cavalier
gentlemen, who thus transferred their services to the crown of Spain,
were formed into a troop of Horse Guards, of which Charles Berkeley
(afterwards Earl of Falmouth) was appointed Captain and Colonel; and
the remainder were formed into six regiments of foot--one English, one
Scots, and four Irish.[48] The determination thus manifested, by the
British troops in the service of France to preserve their loyalty to
King Charles II., appears to have occasioned measures to be adopted
by the French commanders to prevent DOUGLAS', and the other old Scots
regiments, from following this example; and these corps appear to have
been placed in remote garrisons, as they are not mentioned in the
histories of the military transactions in the Netherlands in 1657 and
1658, in which years the French army and Cromwell's forces captured
St. Venant and Mardyk, defeated the Spanish army, and afterwards took
Dunkirk, Ypres, Bruges, Dixmude, Furnes, Gravelines, Oudenarde, and
Menin; and Dunkirk was occupied by the English.
[Sidenote: 1659]
In September, 1658, Cromwell died; and in 1659 the Prince of Condé
disbanded his forces, and having tendered his submission to the crown
of France, he was received into the favour of Louis XIV. At the same
time a treaty of peace, called the Peace of the Pyrenees, was concluded
between France and Spain, and Dunkirk was ceded to England.
[Sidenote: 1660]
After this treaty was concluded the strength of the French army was
decreased, and DOUGLAS' Regiment was reduced to eight companies. These
events were followed by the restoration of King Charles II. to the
throne of Great Britain; when the British troops which had been in the
service of Spain were placed in garrison at Dunkirk; and DOUGLAS'
Regiment, in the French service, was in garrison at Avennes.
[Sidenote: 1661]
Soon after the restoration, King Charles II. disbanded the army of the
Commonwealth, which he found in England at his return. It was, however,
deemed necessary to have a regular force established, for in January,
1661, a number of religious fanatics, called millenarians, or fifth
monarchy-men, took arms against the government, and, although this
insurrection was suppressed in a few days, yet it was deemed necessary
to send for the Duke of York's troop of Guards from Dunkirk, and
afterwards for DOUGLAS' veteran Scots regiment from Flanders.
The regiment having arrived in England in the spring of 1661, it
obtained rank in the British army from that date. It appears, however,
to have had rank in the Swedish army from about the year 1625, and in
the French army from 1633. No instance has been met with of its having
been distinguished by any other title than the name of its Colonel,
except during part of the time it was in the Swedish service, when it
was designated, together with three other Scots regiments of which it
is now the representative, the GREEN BRIGADE.