James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

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James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (* 1612 (presumably) in Montrose ; † May 21, 1650 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish nobleman who fought for the royal side and was executed in Scotland in the English Civil War from 1644 to 1650 .

Origin and early years

Graham's parents both came from old Scottish noble families. His father John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose , who had been Chancellor of the Kingdom of Scotland, died in 1626. After his death, Graham carried the title of Earl of Montrose and was the head of the Graham clan . At the age of 17 he married Magdalene Carnegie, the daughter of David Carnegie, Lord Carnegie , who was later promoted to Earl of Southesk .

After attending school in Glasgow , attending St Andrews University and then traveling on the continent, where he studied tactics in particular, he returned to Great Britain to offer his services to Charles I of England . However, he was rudely rejected by the Duke of Hamilton, Charles' advisor on Scottish affairs. Returned to Scotland, he joined the nascent party of the Covenanters as a staunch Presbyterian and served as a general in the First Episcopal War .

When the Scottish movement came under the influence of Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl of Argyll , who wanted to expand his personal position of power, Montrose came into opposition and was arrested. He was released after six months through the intervention of the king.

General of the King

In the following years, Montrose approached the king. He initially withdrew from public life for some time.

When the Scots took sides against the king in the English Civil War and invaded England in 1643, he saw the possibility of taking the fight to Scotland. Graham was promoted to Marquess of Montrose and appointed General of the Royal Armed Forces in Scotland. Left to his own devices, he made his way to Scotland through the army of the Covenanters. An expeditionary army from Ireland had landed there under Alasdair MacColla (Alexander MacDonald), which consisted mainly of Irish Catholics and MacDonalds who had emigrated to Ireland . Montrose sat at their head and gathered more followers around him. In August 1644 he hoisted the royal standard at Blair Atholl .

The following year he defeated the Covenanters at Tippermuir, near Perth , Aberdeen , Inverlochy ( Fort William ), Auldearn , Alford and Kilsyth (north of Glasgow). His sphere of influence thus included almost all of Scotland. However, Montrose did not succeed in securing its conquests. Although the leading Covenanters fled to England and Ireland after the Battle of Kilsyth , few of their supporters joined him. In addition, his army melted away. The Highlanders went home to bring their booty to safety and to bring in the crops, Alasdair MacColla considered the fight against the Campbells a priority and moved to Argyll, and the Gordons , the backbone of his cavalry, were headed by their chief, the Marquess of Huntly , called home for personal reasons.

With a remnant army, with the battle-hardened Irish Brigade under Manus O'Cahan as its core, Montrose moved to the English border to increase the pressure on the Scottish troops in England and to recruit recruits from the Borders . On September 13, 1645 he was defeated by an army of the Covenant under David Leslie at Philiphaugh (near Selkirk). Montrose tried to continue the campaign, but had to lay down his arms by order of the king and left Scotland on September 3, 1646.

exile

To serve the cause of Charles I, he toured royal courts all over Europe. Emperor Ferdinand III. appointed him Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire and granted permission to recruit troops.

After the execution of Charles I, he offered his services to Charles II and landed with a small group in the Orkney Islands in the spring of 1650 , from where he translated to Caithness . However, since Charles II had begun negotiations with the Covenanters, few were willing to join such a risky venture. His small army, which consisted mainly of German and Danish mercenaries and a few hundred unserved orcadians, was surprised and wiped out by Strachan near Carbisdale on April 27th . Montrose managed to escape.

After wandering the highlands in disguise for a few days, Neill MacLeod of Assynt arrested him in Ardvreck Castle and handed him over to the government troops. A death sentence had long been passed; this was carried out on May 21, 1650 in Edinburgh. Montrose was hanged , its head and limbs severed, and displayed in the five most important cities in the country. After the restoration of Charles II, he was given a state funeral as his most loyal supporter.

In addition to his military merits, which earned him the nicknames "the Great Montrose" and "the Great Marquess", James Graham was a well-known poet. His most famous line, “He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, that puts it not unto the touch, To win or lose it all” was quoted by Field Marshal Montgomery on the eve of D-Day .

literature

Web links

Commons : James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Graham, Marquis of Montrose (1612-1650) . ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Education Scotland; Retrieved August 3, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.educationscotland.gov.uk
  2. ↑ James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose (1612-50) . Famous Scots; Retrieved August 3, 2016
predecessor Office successor
New title created Marquess of Montrose
1644-1650 		James Graham
John Graham Earl of Montrose
1626-1650 		James Graham
personal data
SURNAME Graham, James, 1st Marquess of Montrose
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Montrose, James Graham, 4th Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman, 1st Marquess of Montrose
DATE OF BIRTH 1612
PLACE OF BIRTH Montrose
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1650
Place of death Edinburgh