Who do you think is Scotland's greatest military leader? Robert the Bruce, William Wallace,
Good Sir James Douglas? I think they may all have been eclipsed by today's intrepid hero.
To start this story, I've brought you to a place that some of you'll recognise as the courtroom
and the dock in which Claire Randall and Gellis Duncan were tried
in Outlander, in fact it's a church connected with a man who would meet his own day of reckoning. The
question I'm here asking today is, was he the greatest Scottish military leader ever?
Here in this churchyard, on the 1st of September, 1644, the man who held the King's Warrant as
Lieutenant Governor of Scotland, stopped to ask for a drink of water. The minister,
the Reverend Balnevis, naturally obliged. An act for which he was later censured by Perth Presbytery.
Now the duly refreshed gentleman set off to battle on the other side of this churchyard,
which would see the first ever use in mainland Scotland of the highland charge.
If you're interested in the people, places and events in Scottish history,
then click the subscribe button at the bottom right, in the meantime let me tell you a story.
The War of the Three Kingdoms, you might call it the English Civil War if you're a foreigner, a Daily
Mail reader, or simply poorly informed. Now, I know the last two mean exactly the same thing, but
a list of threes, just sounds better. It's rhetorical rather than factually accurate,
just like the Daily Mail. Look a series of civil wars across the British Isles in the
17th Century were started by Protestant covenanting Scots who said that Charles the First could
never be above the Scottish Church. This video explains it better. There'll be a link at the end.
The whole thing was really messy. Today's hero started on the side of the Protestant
Covenanters, but he was also a royalist, so part way through he switched to the Royalist side.
To be fair, the Covenanters also switched to the Royalist side, just not at the same time as him.
So in this church yard, on the 1st of September, 1644, he was on the side of the
Stuart Monarch, but the Covenanters weren't ... yet. I hope that makes sense. So today's hero was a
Scotsman, newly arrived from England, following the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Marsden Moor.
His job, was to tie up Covenanter forces here in Scotland, hopefully even draw some of the
Scottish Covenanting army in England back north, thus relieving Charles the First's position
in Englandshire. The fact that he arrived with two mates and was holding out in the Methven woods
over there to the north, tells you how strongly the King's Writ ran in this part of the world,
at least for that month, but hopes lay in troops coming from Ireland.
10,000 Irish troops had been promised, but when they landed the Ardnamurchan, there were only two
and a half thousand. Never mind. The plan was for them to join up with troops of the Marquis of
Huntly in Aberdeenshire. He'd raised 250 horse, stolen some cash and ammunition from
the army in Aberdeen and then galloped about a bit, and then fled to Sutherland.
Alright? Two and a half thousand Irish foot soldiers it is then.
Then they discover that the Marquis of Argyll was on his way with a proper Covenanter army, oh no!
So our Irish foot soldiers hightailed across country to Blair Athol. Now the Clan Robertson
were none too happy with the arrival of two and a half thousand Irish troops, and they drew up
ready for battle. Just in time our hero arrives, and pulls out his King's Warrant,
only just preventing a battle between the Irish and the Highlanders, who eventually
shook hands, and joined together into a small, indisciplined, poorly provisioned, ragtag army.
They came down through the Sma' Glen to find there was a force waiting to defend its southern end.
Now in a stroke of luck, the defending troops were led by our hero's cousin,
fancy meeting you here, do you want to change sides? Och alright. They camped just west of here overnight,
but they were the Royalist meat in a covenanting sandwich. The Marquis of Argyll was to the west,
in Stirling, and Lord Elcho, was in Perth. You're lacking ammunition and supplies, what do you do?
This was the first test of our hero's general ship. A matter of days ago it was just him and two mates
hiding out in the woods over there. Their only hope is to raid the supplies in Perth, but to do that,
they're going to have to defeat the larger, better provisioned army led by Lord Elcho. On the way, James
Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, stopped at this church to ask the minister for a drink of water.
So what happened when Montrose left the minister to head for Perth?
First of all, a huge thanks to my friends Paul Philippou and Rob Hands for the detail of the battle.
As well as writing the book 'Battleground Perthshire', with a description of this Battle
of Tippermuir, their little independent publishing business supports new authors, and so I'd ask
you to support them. You'll get a full list of the titles from Tippermuir Books, through the link
in the description below. Now, with the professional soldiers of the Scottish Covenanting army away in
the south fighting against Charles the First, the Covenanting troops at the Battle of Tippermuir, were
inexperienced, but well-equipped foot soldiers and cavalry, who were largely driven by religious zeal,
Jesus, and no quarter. The Irish and Highlanders, and Montrose forces, were battle-hardened from their
exertions in this War of the Three Kingdoms in Ireland, if they lost today, they had nowhere to go.
Many had been ill treated, and thrown off their lands by the Campbell, whose army lurked at their
backs in Stirling. For them, this was personal. Montrose and his men advanced from the east, along the
Old Gallows Road towards Perth. The Covenanting force left Perth by the same road, and the two forces met
on the ground in between. Covenanting forces lined up with their foot soldiers in the middle behind nine
cannon, flanked by cavalry on either side. Lord Elcho's on the right, and Scott of Rossie's on the left.
Montrose had no cavalry, so instead of lining up his men six deep, as was customary at the time,
they were stretched out three deep, to try to cover the width of the opposing forces, without
being outflanked. Knowing that the Royalists lacked ammunition, as well as cavalry, a group of
Covenanters were sent forward in a fainting movement, in the hope of disrupting Royalist lines and drawing
fire to waste the Royalist's meagre resources. This forlorn force didn't fall back to their lines,
so much as run into the middle of their own forces. Montrose realised, these fannies don't know what
they're up to, and immediately he sent the Royalist forces forward. Now remember, they didn't have the
ammunition to get involved in any continued shooting. The Highland charge, deployed for the
first time by Montrose here in Scotland, involved advancing within range, firing one volley then
charging towards the enemy, some with sword, but some simply turning their muskets round, butt first
to use as bludgeons. As they ran like berserkers out of the smoke of the musket volley, the Covenanting
levies turned and ran. On the covenanting left, Scott of Rossie led his cavalry towards a Royalist
right. Montrose led his men from that position on high ground, and as the horse approached, Montrose's
Highlanders charged down the hill, throwing stones at them, and the cavalry force crumbled.
All the Covenanting forces were now in flight, back towards the perceived safety of Perth, but in the
route, it's estimated that of the 3,000 Covenanter infantry, a thousand lay dead along the Old
Gallows Road to Perth, killed by a poorly equipped, but experienced, and well-led smaller force.
In the year which followed the Battle of Tippermuir here on the 1st of September, 1644, Montrose won
victories at Aberdeen on the 13th of September, before heading west to victory at Inverlochy on the
2nd of February, east again to win at Auldearn, on the 9th of May and then Alford on the 2nd of July, south
to Kilsyth on the 15th of August before, finally, facing a defeat to overwhelming
numbers at Philliphaugh in the Borders on the 13th of September. Normally he faced larger, better-equipped
forces arrayed against him, but repeatedly won the day in what became known as 'The Year of Miracles'.
Now, be under no illusions, Montrose's forces committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than
Cromwell's forces, who followed on the other side. To suggest that war involves good guys on one side,
and bad guys on the other, seems wilfully naïve to me. This video wasn't meant to address rights or
wrongs, but to ask the question, was this possibly, the greatest military General Scotland has known?
There'll be more videos on Montrose to follow. If you want to hear about another incredible,
mercurial, military leader, this time at sea, then watch my video about Sir Thomas
Cochrane, Scotland's greatest sea Captain. Tha mi an dochas gum bith lath math leibh. Tiorridh an drasda.