'Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years' War' in Serena Jones (ed.) Britain Turned Germany: The Thirty Years’ War And Its Impact On The British Isles 1638-1660, 2020

Abstract

This is a survey of British participation during the Thirty Years' War. As noted in the text ....
" in an unexpected twist, it is now possible to confirm that many soldiers in the later Thirty Years’ War were, in fact, veterans of the English Civil War."

This article gives an overview for the arrival and motivations of soldiers from Great Britain who served in the Thirty Years' War. While highlighting the well understood service of Scots, it especially adds to our understanding of English recruits. It will surprise many that from both kingdoms, the 1640s saw large scale recruitment particularly to the Dutch and French armies.

Full text

15
Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the irty Years’
War
Professor Steve Murdoch
e irty Years’ War is generally taken to refer to the series of European conicts
that took place between 1618 and 1648. In truth, some of these had a much older
pedigree, most importantly the Dutch conict with Spain, later known as the Eighty
Years’ War (1568–1648) of which the last 30 years overlapped with what contemporary
Britons called the ‘German Warres’. Other conicts rumbled on for years after 1648,
most notably the Franco-Spanish War (1634–1659). us, although the terminology
concerning the duration of the war can seem anachronistic, yet it was nevertheless a
contemporary term used in several pamphlets in and after 1648. e conicts engulfed
Europe and at various points engaged almost every European kingdom, duchy and
city-state in some way or another.
e war began in 1618 when the Protestant nobles of Bohemia rejected Ferdinand II
of Austria as their elected monarch and threw his representatives out of the window in
the famous 2nd defenestration of Prague. ose thrown from the window survived, but
there would be severe consequences thereafter. Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor
in 1619, the same year that the Bohemians elected Frederick V of the Palatinate as
their new king. With Frederick as leader of the Protestant Union (a loose coalition that
involved much of reformed Europe), and Ferdinand now at the head of the conglomerate
Holy Roman Empire which nominally had control over some of the Protestant Union,
the scene was set for a clash of dynastic, religious and political ideas that would go on for
the next three decades. ere is no need in this article to go into every aspect of every
theatre of the war. ese have been covered in numerous general histories of the conict.1
1 * e author wishes to express his thanks to Jack Abernethy, Alexia Grosjean, Helmer Helmers and
Simon Marsh for their comments and help with nding the sources used in the preparation of this
chapter. Any errors deriving from them are, of course, my own.

16 Britain Turned Germany
Rather, the focus here will be rmly on the interventions from Great Britain both at
state and private level. Work in the eld is uneven, with Scotland having received the
greatest coverage, concerning both those ghting for and those against the Hapsburg
Empire.2 e only sustained piece of research on English military participation is the
doctoral dissertation of Adam Marks.3 Most other English scholarship tends to focus on
the reception of the conict in England through contemporary English language texts.4
Indeed, discussion of any British participation is usually quite dismissive or wholly fails
to understand the sheer scale of that involvement.
Motivation for participation in either side was informed by a number of relevant
factors including dynastic loyalty, national pride, confessional allegiance, the
expectations of kin groups and coercion among others.5 Some simply fought for
nancial remuneration and a few merely for adventure. Yet for the vast majority of the
120,000 or more British soldiers who joined in the conict on the anti-Habsburg side,
it was an amalgam of these which brought them to the ‘German Wars’, as summed up
neatly by Colonel Robert Monro:
I did come at it [the war]; for many reasons, but especially for the libertie of the daughter
of our dread Soveraigne, the distressed Queen of Bohemia, and her Princlie Issue; next for
the libertie of our distressed brethren in Christ.6
1 Grand overviews tend to miss the important nuances of the participants in the conict. Excellent editions
with vastly dierent emphasis include J.V. Polišenský, e irty Years’ War (London: Batsford, 1971);
Peter Wilson, Europe’s Tragedy: A New History of the irty Years War (London: Penguin edition, 2010).
e literature available in other languages is too extensive to list here.
2 To select only two works looking at the most inuential commanders see David Worthington, Scots in
Habsburg Service, 1618–1648 (Leiden: Brill, 2004); Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, Alexander Leslie
and the Scottish Generals of the irty Years’ War, 1618–1648 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2014).
3 Adam Marks, ‘England, the English and the irty Years’ War, 1618–1648’ (unpublished PhD thesis,
University of St Andrews, 2012). Older works focussing on the earlier part of the Dutch Eighty Years’
War include near hagiographical works like C.R. Markham, “e Fighting Veres”: Lives of Sir Francis Vere,
general of the queen’s forces in the Low Countries, governor of the Brill and of Portsmouth, and of Sir Horace
Vere, general of the English forces in the Low Countries, governor of the Brill, master-general of ordnance,
and Baron Vere of Tilbury (London: Sampson Low et al. Ltd, 1888).
4 For the literary analysis see Barbara Donagan, ‘Halcyon Days and the Literature of War: England’s
Military Education before 1642’, Past & Present, No. 147 (May 1995), pp.65–100; Jayne E.E. Boys, London’s
News Press and the irty Years’ War (Woodbridge: e Boydell Press, 2010), pp.65–91; Kirsty Rolfe,
‘“Now published for the satisfaction of every true English heart”: e war over the Palatinate, Protestant
identity, and subjecthood in British pamphlets, 1620–26’ (unpublished PhD thesis, UCL, 2014).
5 An excellent starting point for confessional motivation for Protestants remains David Trim, ‘Calvinist
Internationalism and the English Ocer Corps, 1562–1642’, History Compass 4/6 (2006), pp.1024–1048;
Donagan, ‘Halcyon Days’, pp.73–74.
6 Robert Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment called Mackeyes (2 Parts, London: William
Iones, 1637), II, pp. 61–62.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 17
When Frederick V became King of Bohemia, his wife – Princess Elizabeth Stuart –
now became the Queen of Bohemia. is iconic Fife-born daughter of King James VI
proved the main totem for attracting Britons into the Continental armies ghting for
the restoration of the Palatinate and Bohemia. Her fortunes and those of her children
were naturally of great concern to the House of Stuart, but also to her German relatives
and her blood uncle, Christian IV of Denmark–Norway. From the outset patriotic
British broadsheets, poets and authors publicised their hopes for Elizabeth whom
they proclaimed to be ‘e Jewell of Europe’.7 e Aberdonian poet Arthur Johnston’s
two poems Saravicto to Biomea and Biomea to Saravicto set up a mythical dialogue
between the characters ‘Austria’ and ‘Bohemia’ to enlighten the British literati of the
root causes of the conict.8 More overtly, he directly challenged them in his poem
Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos to remember the previous glories of that nation, especially
those victories of the earls of Vere, Oxford and Essex – all combatants in the struggle
to recover the Palatinate.9 Yet while directing his title to the ‘Heroes of England’,
Johnson was careful throughout only to talk of Britain and the British, reminding
his audience that even if the places under threat from the ‘Imperial Eagle’ were not
worthy of their involvement, the person of Elizabeth Stuart was. Poet John Taylor was
equally careful to emphasise both the importance of the Palatine house and the British
role in defending it in his poem, e subjects [sic] joy for Parliament.10 After all, as Adam
Marks succinctly put it, ‘to defend Frederick was to defend an Englishman, and to
defend Elizabeth to defend a Scot’, making the Palatinate campaigns a thoroughly
British aair.11 e martial classes, reacting to poetical provocation and polemical
encouragement through broadsheets and corantos, became involved in a far more
belligerent way than often historically understood.
While continuing complex diplomatic negotiations with both Protestant and
Catholic powers, King James facilitated a number of militarily initiatives. Already
owning ve English and Scottish regiments employed in Dutch service he could
swiftly move professional veterans to Bohemia without worrying about the cost
of levying and training them.12 James had done this previously during the War of
7 omas Kellie, Pallas Armata or Militarie Instructions for the Learned (Edinburgh: e aires of Andro
Hart, 1627), p.2a; Monro, His Expedition, I, p.37.
8 e two poems are found (with editorial) in Arthur Johnson, Musa Latina Aberdonensis (3 vols.,
Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1892), I, pp. 53–75.
9 Johnson, Musa Latina Aberdonensis, I, pp.76–85.
10 John Taylor, e subjects joy for Parliament (London: Edward All-de, 1621).
11 Adam Marks, ‘Recognizing Friends from Foes: Stuart Politics, English Military Networks and Alliances
with Denmark and the Palatinate’, in Valentina Caldari and Sara J. Wolfson (eds.), Stuart Marriage
Diplomacy: Dynastic Politics in their European Context, 1604–1630 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2018),
p.180. Frederick and any future children of his were naturalised as English on 16 April 1613.
12 For the Scots (formed 1572) see James Ferguson (ed.), Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade
in the Service of the United Netherlands (3 vols., Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1899–1901), vol.1.
For the origins of the Anglo-Dutch Brigade (formed 1582) see David Trim ‘Fighting “Jacob’s Wars”:

18 Britain Turned Germany
the Jülich Succession (1610) in support of his Protestant allies.13 In so doing James
deployed the rst known British-agged army in history, with Scots and Englishmen
serving together under the command of General Sir Edward Cecil, seconded by
Colonel Sir Robert Henderson. ey were in British ag, pay and under British
military jurisdiction for the duration of the campaign.
In 1610, 1614 and 1620, the British units in Dutch service were available to
James due to the 12-year truce then in place between Spain and the Dutch Republic
(1609–1621). us in 1620 some 1,000 soldiers of the Scots–Dutch brigade under
Colonel John Seton’s command were sent to protect Elizabeth Stuart in Bohemia.14
Subsequently, the Scottish Catholic, Sir Andrew Gray, returned from Prague
to recruit more soldiers for Frederick V.15 His ‘Regiment of Britons’ composed of
1,500 Scots and 1,000 Englishmen set sail for the Continent in May 1620.16 Two
months after Gray departed, Sir Horace Vere’s English regiment also set out for
the Continent, though some 500 deserted after a quarrel with their ocers over
pay and conditions.17 e main armies never arrived in time to participate in the
Battle of White Mountain which had proved disastrous for the Protestant army
under Frederik V, albeit Sir William Waller and Elizabeth’s lifeguard arrived in time
to escort the royals away from Prague.18 Nevertheless, Gray’s forces held onto one
Bohemian town until January 1621, but after three major assaults, departed Bohemia
to join the English forces occupying Heidelberg, Frankenthal and Mannheim.19 e
e Employment of English and Welsh Mercenaries in the European Wars of Religion: France and the
Netherlands, 1562–1610’ (PhD dissertation, King’s College, University of London, 2002).
13 See Resolutiën der Staten-Generaal: Nieuwe Reeks 1610–1670. Deel I, 1610–1612 edited by Arie eodorus
van Deursen (e Hague:Nijho, 1971), pp. 44–45, 60, 99 and 167. Resolutions 246, 249, 331, 534 and
919. Variously dated between 26 February and 3 July 1610. ese are discussed in Steve Murdoch, ‘James
VI and the formation of a Stuart British Military Identity’ in Steve Murdoch and Andrew Mackillop
(eds.), Fighting for Identity: Scottish Military Experience, c.1550–1900 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), pp.12–15.
14 J.V. Polišenský, Tragic Triangle: e Netherlands, Spain and Bohemia 1617–1621 (Prague: Univerzita
Karlova, 1991), p.181; Polišenský, e irty Years’ War, pp.125–126.
15 Gray’s commission from Frederick V is found in S.R. Gardiner (ed.), Letters and other documents illustrating
relations between England and Germany at the commencement of the ir ty Years’ War, 1619–1620 (London:
Camden Society, 1868), p.143. Frederick V to King James, 16/26 January 1620; Calendar of State Papers,
Domestic series [CSPD], of the reign of James I, vol. 10. 1619–1623 edited by Mary Anne Everett Green
(London: Longman, 1858), p.125. 26 February 1620; Swedish Riksarkivet [hereaer SRA], Anglica V, Sir
James Spens to Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, and same to Gustav II Adolf, both dated 20 April 1620.
16 Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. XII, 1619–1622 (Edinburgh: General Register House, 1895),
lxxviii; Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Aairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 16, 1619–1621.
(His Majesty’s Stationery Oce: London, 1910), pp.262–263. Girolamo Lando to Venice, 28 May 1620.
17 John Taylor, Taylor his Trauels: From the Citty of London in England, to the Citty of Prague in Bohemia
(London: Nicholas Okes, 1620) B4; Anon., Certaine Letters declaring in part the passage of aaires in the
palatinate from September to the present moneth of April (Amsterdam: I.B., April 1621), A4, B2-B3; Steve
Murdoch, Britain, Denmark–Norway and the House of Stuart, 1603–1660 (East Linton: Tuckwell Press,
East Linton, 2003), p.50; Marks, ‘Recognizing Friends from Foes’, pp.181–183.
18 Barbara Donagan, ‘Waller, Sir William’ in ODNB.
19 Anon., Certaine Letters, B3-5; Murdoch, Britain, p.51; Marks, ‘Recognizing Friends from Foes’, pp.181–183.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 19
British troops were thwarted in their hope for relief by the politics of nance then
ongoing in England. e English Parliament scuppered an attempt by King James to
facilitate a massive relief army of 30,000 men by refusing to fund even 50 percent of
the estimated £1,000,000 costs (with 50 percent to be supplied by the King).20 e
English Parliament simply did not see the issues in the same terms as the King and it
was they who opposed his plans.21 Representatives of the English Parliament claimed
they wanted stronger action in support of the Palatinate yet seemed to place obstacles
in the way of the King’s desire to achieve it. Nevertheless, Colonel Seton and his Scots
held out in the Bohemian town of Třeboň until 1622, long after Frederick V and his
family had retired to the Dutch Republic. Soon after, Sir Horace Vere took a relief
force to join Count Mansfeld in the Palatinate, originally destined to amount to 8,000
infantry and 1,600 horse.22 ere were also hopes that Sir Andrew Gray might raise
some 6,000 troops to be sent into Cleves, though events would prevent any such levy
until January 1625, partially due to Dutch resistance.23 Unsupported due to political
machinations, Vere’s Englishmen stubbornly held on in Frankenthal until April 1623.
Under a separate agreement made with the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugina (Governor
of the Netherlands on behalf of Spain), King James ordered the garrison to retire for a
period of 18 months while diplomatic negotiations continued.24 As Adam Marks has
convincingly argued in his detailed discussion of the aair, this was not a surrender,
but a limited sequestration which, the English believed, would eventually result in the
St George’s Cross ying over the city by October 1623 at the latest.25 Once more the
soldiery were let down by the politicians.
For the time being, those who wished to ght the Habsburgs did so through service
in other combatant armies. e siege of Bergen-op-Zoom (July to October 1622) saw
Colonel Robert Henderson’s Scots once more serve alongside his former commander,
General Edward Cecil. e siege proved costly with Henderson being the highest
ranked of the numerous Britons killed defending the city. Indeed, he became
something of a poster-boy to the Dutch who proclaimed his actions in storming the
enemy trenches to be an example to all their ocers.26 omas Gainsford reported
20 e costs and the debates are discussed in detail in Marks, ‘England’, pp.99–101.
21 Michael Roberts, Gustavus Adolphus: A History of Sweden, 1611–1632, 2 vols. (London: Longmans,
1953–1958), I, pp.185–186.
22 Danish Rigsarkivet, TKUA, England AII7. Sir Robert Anstruther to Christian Friis c.1622. ese exact
numbers are also recorded in J.A. Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, Deel I, 1608–1634
(e Hague: Nijho, 1911), p.84. Constantijn Huygens to his parents, 7 March 1622. e information
probably derived from Anstruther’s friend and fellow diplomat James Hay (later Earl of Carlisle).
23 SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E379. James Spens to Axel Oxenstierna, 3 November 1622; Murdoch,
Britain, pp.55–56.
24 Murdoch, Britain, p.57.
25 Marks, ‘Recognizing Friends from Foes’, pp.182–184.
26 Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, p. 60; See also Resolutiën der Staten-General: Nieuw Reeks. Deel 6, 1623–1624
edited by J. Roelevink (e Hague: Nijho, 1989), pp.36, 40 and 55.

20 Britain Turned Germany
some 600 English and Irish also died in addition to Henderson and his men.27
ereafter, the Dutch authorities cynically used Henderson’s widow’s status as an
encouragement to their ocers to die like Henderson rather than in their beds. us,
Anna Kirkpatrick received a generous payout from the States General while many
other women were initially denied their pensions.28 Instead they had to rely on the
honouring of wills and testaments carefully crafted by the soldiers in advance of the
commencement of hostilities.29
In part, due to the sacrice of numerous Britons, Bergen-op-Zoom remained under
the control of the United Provinces. General Edward Cecil and Colonels Horace
Vere, Charles Morgan, Edward Harwood, William Brog and Francis Henderson now
commanded the six British regiments in Dutch service, an additional English one
having been added.30 ey continued to serve the Republic both in garrison and (as
a bonus) in a protective role for the exiled Stuart–Palatinate court ensconced in e
Hague. roughout 1624 and 1625 a further four English regiments were temporarily
brought into Dutch service bringing the British contingent up to 10 full regiments.31
eir levying coincided with plans by King James to facilitate larger armies designed
to move directly into the Holy Roman Empire. Some of these at least would be
deployed outside the Republic in proxy wars.
One major British expedition, set to include some 12,000 men, was levied by Count
Ernst von Mansfeld in 1624, among whom some 4,000 Scots were expected to be
commanded by Sir Andrew Gray.32 So it was that the composition of the regiments
themselves took on a particularly ‘British’ avour, being deliberately formed to include
Englishmen in Scottish regiments and vice versa. For instance, Lieutenant Robert
Douglas took charge of 150 soldiers from Nottinghamshire who were ordered into Sir
Andrew Gray’s own regiment.33 Some 200 more Englishmen were also to be delivered
to either Captain Archibald Douglas or Captain James Beaton, also ocers in Gray’s
27 Boys, London’s News Press, p.128.
28 Steve Murdoch and Zickermann, Kathrin, ‘“Bere of all Human Help?”: Scottish Widows during the
irty Years’ War (1618–1648)’, Northern Studies, 50 (2019), pp.119–120.
29 For Scottish cases of common soldiers making wills, sometimes together with their wives as joint testators,
see Steve Murdoch, ‘e Repatriation of Capital to Scotland: A Case Study of Dutch Testaments and
Miscellaneous Notarial Instruments’ M. Varricchioed.), Back to Caledonia (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2012),
pp.38–57. English cases survive too. In 1620, Salomon Dexter, an English soldier under Colonel John
Ogle, made a reciprocal will with his wife, Jannetje Pieters. See Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Notarissente
Rotterdam (ONA) 18/102. Testament, 30 March 1620.
30 F.J.G. Ten Raa and F. De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger 1568–1795: ondertoezicht van den Chef van den
Generalen Staf, Deel III,1609–1625 (Breda: Nijho, 1915), pp.179–185.
31 ese were the regiments of the earls of Essex, Oxford, Willoughby and Southampton. See Ten Raa and
De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, III, pp.181–182.
32 Elizabeth omson, (ed.), e Chamberlain Letters: A selection of the letters of John Chamberlain
concerning life in England from 1597–1626 (London: John Murray, 1966), pp.333–334, 9 October 1624;
CSPD, vol. 11. 1623–1625, edited by Mary Anne Everett Green (London: Longman, 1859), pp.397–420.
For reporting of the levy in England see Boy’s, London’s News Press, pp.205–206.
33 CSPD, vol. 11. 1623–1625, p.413. Lord Lieutenant to the Council, 19 December 1624.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 21
regiment.34 us, the ‘Scottish’ regiment of Sir Andrew Gray in 1624 contained
Scottish ocers and men, but also several hundred English recruits. is did not
arise out of a shortage of volunteers. One of the four specically English regiments
of Mansfeld’s British army was assigned to Colonel James Hay, Viscount Doncaster,
the son of the Earl of Carlisle.35 ough his colonelcy may have been titular and
bestowed because of his social rank, nevertheless the English Privy Council records
contain warrants for four senior Scottish ocers from Doncaster’s regiment to press
men in England for service in the new British army.36 At least one of the four ‘English’
regiments was therefore recruited in the name of, and commanded by, Scots.37 at
said, not all were recruited willingly. ere were many men who were terried at being
pressed into service. One English report from 1624 concluded:
Our soldiers are marching on all sides to Dover. God send them good shipping and good
success, but such a rabble of raw and poor rascals have not lightly been seen, and go so
unwillingly that they must rather be driven than led. You may guess how base we are
grown when one that was pressed hung himself for fear or cursed heart, another ran into
the ames, and after much debating with the constable and ocers, when he could not
be dismissed, drowned himself. Another cut o all his ngers of one hand, and another put
out his own eyes with salt.38
Echoing the fear of war seen among the English levy, Scots too engaged in self-harm
and suicide. Sir George Hay observed in 1627:
the desperat courses taken this last yeare by manʒe in this land in euerie pairt of the cuntrey
yea in our sight in the counsell chambre (manʒe making themsels away by hanging,
stabbing and vther sortes of death; vthers cutting yair lims yat yej micht be onseruiceable)
and all for feare to be sent to Germanie.39
34 Acts of the Privy Council of England [APC], vol. 39,1623–1625 edited by J.V. Lyle (London: HMSO, 1933),
p.395. By the 24th of the same month it was made clear in a letter from James VI and I that the men given
to Douglas were intended for another company under Captain omas Beaton, also of Gray’s regiment.
See CSPD, 1623–1625, p.418. King James to Sir Andrew Gray, 24 December 1624.
35 Rot E. Schreiber, ‘e First Carlisle Sir James Hay, First Earl of Carlisle as Courtier, Diplomat and
Entrepreneur, 1580–1636’, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 74, No. 7 (1984),
p.135.
36 APC, vol. 39,1623–1625, p.398.
37 A number of other Scottish ocers waited in Scotland and England for positions in the new Mansfeld
army. See CSPD, 1623–1625, pp. 464 and 551. Some of these are named as lieutenants John Haitley,
George Douglas, James Stewart ‘and other ocers’ who ‘having served under Count Mansfeld since the
beginning of the Bohemian wars, they came to Scotland to join the new levy’.
38 omson (ed.), e Chamberlain Letters, pp.337–338. 18 December 1624.
39 National Library of Scotland, Morton Papers, MS 82, no. 32. Sir George Hay (Chancellor of Scotland) to
the Earl of Morton, 30 December 1627. With thanks to Dr Aonghas Maccoinnich for this reference.

22 Britain Turned Germany
e tribulations of the recruiting process are self-evident from these two examples.
However, they were not the only impairment to getting men onto the Continent.
After sailing from Dover on 22 January 1625 the British troops under Mansfeld were
refused permission to land in France as originally planned. e reason for the refusal
was the nervousness of Louis XIII at the projected arrival of so many armed heretics
in his kingdom.40 ere were also problems fullling the main levy and it may be that
Mansfeld’s force totalled only some 10,000 men.41
During the long wait at muster in England and aboard ships, many of the English
troops succumbed to disease and died in their droves.42 Contemporary repor ts certainly
contend that conditions aboard their ships were so bad that many of the soldiers threw
themselves into the sea rather than suer a slow death on board.43 Yet several thousand
of these soldiers eventually landed at Vlissingen in the United Provinces where they
expected to be joined by 2,000 cavalry under the Count of Halberstadt in February
1625.44 Reliable intelligencers noted that Mansfeld’s force was immediately split,
with 4,000 troops being held back in Zeeland upon arrival. Several thousand more of
them moved on to help the Dutch at the siege of Breda, Halberstadt’s cavalry joining
them in March.45 ey operated alongside the existing English regiments which were
already heavily involved on the assault on Terheijden in May as part of the defence
of Breda.46 Originally, King James had forbidden their use as he continued to honour
his agreements with Infanta Isabella. However, when Charles I succeeded his father
in March, it was argued that previous obligations regarding the use of the troops had
died with King James.47 us the Anglo-Dutch regiments were committed to battle
under the command of Generals Vere and Oxford. Among their men, young English
captains such as William Killigrew, Ferdinando Knightley and John Cromwell
40 SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E577. Ludwig Camerarius to Axel Oxenstierna, no place, 28 January
1625.
41 SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E702. Jan Rutgers to Axel Oxenstierna, e Hague, 11 December 1624.
Caution must be exercised. Some scholars cite numbers as high as 15,000 Englishmen arriving in 1625.
See Ronald Asch, ‘Mansfeld, (Peter) Ernst von, count von Mansfeld’ in ODNB.
42 APC, vol. 39, 1623–1625, pp.434–435; CSPD, vol. 11. 1623–1625, p.455; F.C. Montague, e History
of England 1603–1660 (London: Longmans, 1907), p.123; Leo Tandrup(ed.), Svensk agent ved Sundet;
Toldkommissær og agent i Helsingør. Anders Svenssons depecher till Gustav II Adolf og Axel Oxenstierna
1621–1625 (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1971), pp.546–547. Anders Svensson to Axel Oxenstierna/
Gustav II Adolf, 14 March 1625; C. Russell, e Crisis of Parliaments: English History 1509–1660 (Oxford:
OUP, 1971), p.299.
43 SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E702. Jan Rutgers to Axel Oxenstierna, e Hague, 24 February 1625;
Boys, London’s News Press, p.211.
44 Tandrup, Svensk agent ved Sundet, pp.546–547 and pp.550–551. Anders Svensson to Axel Oxenstierna/
Gustav II Adolf, 14 and 31 March 1625; Murdoch, Britain, p.60.
45 SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E702. Jan Rutgers to Axel Oxenstierna, e Hague, 24 February
and 21 March 1625.
46 Marks, ‘England and the English’, pp.73–4. See also A.T.S. Goodrick (ed.), e Relation of Syndam Poyntz,
1624–1636 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1908), p.46.
47 Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, III, pp.136–137.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 23
were cutting their teeth while Sir Jacob Astley (lieutenant-colonel in Southampton’s
regiment) was prominent in the action. In total some 62 Englishmen were killed and
a further 110 wounded.48 Despite their eorts, or those of Mansfeld’s volunteers, this
action failed and soon Breda fell on 5 June 1625 and was reported to the English
Parliament within days.49 is Mansfeld intervention ended with the disbandment of
companies or redistribution of troops among the allies. ose of Viscount Doncaster
and others were to be loaned back to the King of Great Britain for service elsewhere,
while others were allowed to return to garrison in the Dutch Republic with their
wives and families.50 Some used their down time to invent new ways of killing. In
1626 Captain William Douglas oered the Dutch army a sophisticated rearm with a
rate of re equivalent to six musketeers, among other military innovations.51 For many
more, particularly the hundreds of sick and wounded, there was simply a need to rest,
heal and recover.52 e widows, of course, continued to petition the authorities and
their kin for their pensions.
e conclusion of the Jacobean period of the irty Years’ War ended without a
major British eld victory against the Habsburgs. It is doubtless because of this that
there remains a lack of historical interest in the various levies and their engagements.
e various deployments under Gray, Vere, Seton – or Mansfeld, highlight that King
James was quite resolved to ght for the Palatinate either directly or by proxy via his
Dutch allies and extant British regiments stationed in the Republic. Importantly, the
events surrounding the Mansfeld levy led to a shift in policy by the British political
elite. Angered at what was perceived to be the poor provisioning and support for the
expeditionary forces, a group of Scottish nobles petitioned to be allowed to raise and
equip their own army to ght on behalf of Elizabeth of Bohemia. e Scots wished to
maintain 5,000 men for the recovery of the Palatinate, ‘but they will have the paying
and disposing of themselves’.53 However, what had seemed to be a straightforward
48 Details of the manoeuvres of the English troops, and the composition of the companies are found in:
British Library, Egerton Manuscript 2596, .163–165; TNA, SP84/127, .25–26 & 147–151. With thanks
to Simon Marsh for sharing his transcriptions of these sources. For Astley’s (aka Ashley) rank and regiment
see Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, III, p.181. For John Cromwell see also James Weylen, e
House of Cromwell, edited and revised by John Gabriell Cromwell (London: Elliot Stock, 1897), p.15.
49 Boys, London’s News Press, p.212.
50 Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, pp.346–349.
51 Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, pp.358–361. Douglas would go on to oer these weapons to the Swedish army
with even greater claims for their repower. His detailed description of his invention as oered to the
Swedes can be found in SRA, Oxenstiernska samlingen, E588. Two letters of (Major) William Douglas to
Axel Oxenstierna, undated, but the promotion indicates it was aer his Dutch service as captain. In the
second letter Douglas claims the Swedes owed him around 10,000 rixdaler (c. £2,500 sterling).
52 For the available medial provision see Steve Murdoch, ‘“Medic!” An Insight into Scottish Field Surgeons,
Physicians and Medical Provision during the irty Years’ War, 1618–1648’, Northern Studies, vol. 48
(2017), pp.51–65.
53 omson (ed.), e Chamberlain Letters, pp.356–357. 19 January 1626.

24 Britain Turned Germany
policy under James – to side with Protestant allies to recapture the Palatinate for
Elizabeth and Frederik V – descended into utter confusion under Charles I.
Direct war between England and Spain broke out in 1625 and rumbled on until
1630, though it was eectively over after the loss of 50 percent of the 15,000 soldiers
and sailors who participated in the Cadiz expedition.54 Charles also recklessly
engaged in a needless war against his brother-in-law, Louis XIII of France, in 1627
ending with the humiliating Île de Ré campaign. An army of some 6,000 men equally
composed of Scots, English and Irishmen was easily driven away by the French.55 e
French campaign was seen by Continental contemporaries as quite peripheral to the
defence of the Stuart interests in the Palatinate. Christian IV of Denmark–Norway
certainly believed his Stuart nephew had failed to support the Danish war against the
Emperor by engaging in his Spanish and French campaigns.56
Despite frustration expressed by Christian IV, the engagement of British troops to
Denmark represented one of the largest mobilisations of the war. It is well known that
Charles promised some 6,000 Englishmen for Danish service under the command of
the Welshman Sir Charles Morgan in 1627, of which it is generally held that fewer
than 5,000 arrived.57 Moreover, it represented the smaller of the British forces to
come to the assistance of Denmark–Norway in this period. A staggering 13,700 Scots
entered Danish service between 1627 and 1629 alone, albeit this total also contains a
number of Irishmen and Ulster Scots.58 eir most impressive achievement came at
the siege of Stralsund in 1628, which saw three Highland regiments commanded by
James Sinclair Baron Murckle, Alexander Lindsay Lord Spynie and Donald Mackay
Lord Reay.59 Hearing they were in diculty, these troops were relieved by volunteer
regiments of their countrymen drawn out of Swedish service. ese ‘Swedish-Scots’
had been steadily recruited since 1624 in the hope of Sweden entering the war on
the side of the Protestant powers. e Scots from the Swedish and Danish armies
fell under the command of Sir Alexander Leslie, who also became governor of
54 John H. Elliot, ‘Spain and the War’ in Georey Parker (ed.), e irty Years’ War (2nd edition, London:
Routledge, 2007), pp.68–69; Murdoch, Britain, p.66.
55 Murdoch, Britain, p.67; Boys, London’s News Press, pp.151–152, 215–225.
56 Murdoch, Britain, pp.65–72.
57 E.A. Beller, ‘e Military Expedition of Sir Charles Morgan to Germany, 1627–1629’, English Historical
Review, XLIII (1928), p.539; Murdoch, Britain, pp.203–204; Marks, ‘Recognizing Friends from Foes’,
p.178. Marks puts the strength at 4,300 men. Victoria Yee has also done much to illuminate the role of
Welsh soldiers other than Morgan among this contingent. See Victoria Yee ‘An investigation into Welsh
participation on the Protestant side of the irty Years’ War’, consulted online (10 December 2018)
<https://jddavies.com/2016/09/12/an-investigation-into-welsh-involvement-in-the-protestant-side-of-
the-thirty-years-war/>
58 Murdoch, Britain, p.206 and pp.202–225; Steve Murdoch, ‘e Northern Flight: Irish Soldiers in
Scandinavia’ in O’Connor, omas and Lyons, Mary Ann (eds.), e Ulster earls and baroque Europe:
Refashioning Irish identities, 1600–1800 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010), p.95.
59 Murdoch, Britain, pp. 215–217.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 25
Stralsund in July 1628.60 ey inicted the rst serious defeat on the famous Imperial
commander, Albrecht von Wallenstein, employing unconventional tactics, at least by
Continental standards. As Robert Monro recorded in his regimental history, they
marched in single column directly at their enemy. e musketeers expended all their
ammunition and as they retired to the city ‘to make their retreat good, [it] falls upon
Captain Mac-Kenӡee with the old Scottish blades of our Regiment, to suppresse
the enemies fury, they keeping face to their enemies, while their Camerades were
retiring.’61 An old-school Highland melee followed with devastating casualties on
the Imperial side, compelling Wallenstein to lift the siege.62 Over the next year and
a half, Leslie led his troops in combined land and amphibious operations, clearing
remnant Imperial garrisons with near impunity. is allowed for the 1630 landing of
the massive Swedish army under Gustav II Adolf, who had taken on leadership of the
Protestant cause after Christian IV concluded peace with the Emperor the previous
year at the Treaty of Lübeck. e Danish campaign had been costly, however. As
William Lithgow later penned in 1633:
us look to Denmark
where twelve thousand lye
Serving thine Uncle,
sharpest fortunes try63
ese interventions in North Germany were not the only actions of the later 1620s,
and both the Scots and English brigades in the Dutch Army participated at the
siege of Groenlo (Grol, 1627) and ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc,1629).64 An even
larger army, commanded by James Marquess Hamilton, was conceived of in 1629
and landed in Germany in 1631 to support the Swedes. Warrants for 6,000 Scots
and 6,000 English were issued. Among the colonels recruiting in England were Sir
Jacob Astley, Sir James Ramsay ‘the fair’ and Sir James Hamilton, the latter two
being Scots.65 Elsewhere Captains John and Roger Powell recruited in Monmouth,
60 SRA, Germanica. Förhandlingar mellan Sverige och staden Stralsund. Gustav II Adolf ’s letter of
appointment to Alexander Leslie, 21 July 1628.
61 Monro, His Expedition, vol. 1, p. 78.
62 ese events are discussed in fuller detail in Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, pp.47–51.
63 William Lithgow, Scotland’s Welcome to her native sonne, and Sovereign Lord (Edinburgh: J.W., 1633)
64 F.J.G. Ten Raa and F. De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger 1568–1795: ondertoezicht van den Chef van
den Generalen Staf, Deel IV, 1625–1648 (Breda: Nijho, 1918), pp.17–43; e actions of the English
and Scots are recorded in Lincolnshire Archives: 8ANC8/29. Sir Edward Vere to unknown, 29 July /
8 August 1629; Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, pp.310–311. Some soldiers had had enough of such actions.
For example, Englishman George Cox (Joris Cocx) deserted in 1630 or 1631 leading to his name being
nailed to the gallows of Leiden. Amsterdam Stadsarchief, Archief van de Notarissenter Standplaats
Amsterdam. Attestatie, Jan Onderhoudt et al, 5 April 1633.
65 Acts of the Privy Council of England, vol.46, 1630–1631, edited by P.A. Penfold (London: HMSO, 1964),
pp.376–378; Gloucester Borough Records, GBR/H/2/2 Order and letter book, 1631, pp. 167–170. I thank

26 Britain Turned Germany
Glamorgan and Carmarthen, while Sir Frederick Hamilton levied in Ireland.66 Some
8,000 men under Hamilton landed in Germany where they joined some 12,000 Scots
already in Swedish service.67 In eect there were now two British armies operating
alongside the Swedes. Hamilton insisted upon taking the coveted title of ‘General of
British’ from his countryman, Sir James Spens of Wormiston.68 e Swedes reacted
to this by awarding Spens the title of ‘General of Scots’ to command the Scottish
regiments which predated Hamilton’s arrival.69 It was these men who formed the
famous Scots Brigade that fought with distinction at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631
while Hamilton’s ‘British’ were deployed elsewhere. e request for Johan Banér to
withdraw from Magdeburg because of heavy snow was met with a resolute armation
that so long as Hamilton had one soldier standing beside him he would not give up
because of the cold.70 He remained resolutely in place, as did the Scots’ reputation for
being inured to the cold. Although Hamilton participated in some undeniably brave
actions, his forces were riddled with disease, and some six reinforcement regiments,
including Alexander Lord Forbes’ Scots, Sir Frederick Hamilton’s Irishmen and Sir
Arthur Aston’s English regiment, were consequently redirected into the Swedish
army of Åke Tott rather than risk contagion.71 ough Hamilton returned home the
following year, he remained one of some 15 Scots to attain the rank of general within
the Swedish army and he had proved a brave commander despite his largely ineective
army.72 Moreover, many of those from across the British Isles who had enlisted with
Hamilton remained in service.
While the actions of the Scottish commanders in the two British armies in
Germany have been meticulously researched, the English among the cohort have
received less attention from historians. is is surprising given how informed English
readers were of their actions and campaigns through contemporary publications like
e Swedish Intelligencer or e Swedish Discipline.73 Adam Marks has done the most
Simon Marsh for sharing this source which conrms the identity of Astley and Ashley as one in the same.
66 For the Irish and Welsh see variously Murdoch, ‘e Northern Flight’, pp.97–101; Dominic Rooney, e
Life and Times of Sir Frederick Hamilton, 1590–1647 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013), pp.51–76; Yee ‘An
investigation into Welsh participation’.
67 Alexia Grosjean, An Unocial Alliance: Scotland and Sweden, 1569–1654 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp.84–95.
For Hamilton’s 8,000 men Grosjean quotes Anon. [Friedrich Spanheim?], Le Soldat Svedois (Genève:
Pierre Albert, 1633), p.50.
68 Grosjean, An Unocial Alliance, p.89.
69 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.54.
70 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.58.
71 Grosjean, An Unocial Alliance, pp.91–92.
72 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.177.
73 e reception of the various volumes of William Watts, e Swedish Intelligencer (4 vols., London: Nath.
Butter and Nicholas Bourne, 1632–1633) was recorded by the likes of John Rous. See Mary Ann Everett
Green, (ed.), Diary of John Rous, incumbent of Santon Downham, Suolk (London: Camden Society,
1856), p.75. For more on the reception of the Swedish Discipline see Boys, London’s News Press, pp.143–
148, 162–167, pp. 230–232; Anon., e Swedish Discipline (London: Nath. Butter, 1633).

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 27
comprehensive work on the regiment of Colonel George Fleetwood, following it from
the formation of the regiment in Sweden in 1629 until its demise as an English unit in
1639.74 Fleetwood was one of a number of English colonels who found their way into
Swedish service, either through enlistment with Hamilton, or directly entering the
Swedish army proper at an earlier date – men such as Colonels omas Conway and
omas Muschamp, the latter having commanded native Swedish regiments since
1626.75 Colonel Robert Monro in His Expedition records ve English regiments in
Swedish service in 1632: those of Colonels Arthur Aston, John Caswell (aka Cassells),
George Fleetwood, James Ramsay and William Bellenden (the latter two being
Scottish colonels of English regiments). However, he seems to have missed Sir Jacob
Astley.76 ese men were not simply cannon fodder, but like the Scots, could also
gain prestigious commands beyond commanding infantry regiments. For example,
an astonishing number of 44 Scots (at least) were appointed governors of occupied
cities and garrisons of the Holy Roman Empire between 1628 and 1648.77 ere
was no bar to Englishmen being appointed to similar roles, albeit they were fewer
in number. Most notable among the gubernatorial appointments and commandant
positions included Colonel omas Muschamp (Marienwerder 1629), Major omas
Grove (Buxtehude 1631), Colonel Arthur Aston (Osnabruck 1634, Nienburg 1636)
and Colonel George Fleetwood (Griefswald 1638, Colberg 1641).78 While numerous
Englishmen had been governors of Dutch towns in the early phases of the Dutch
Eighty Years’ War, such positions were rarer by the 1640s.79 Sir Charles Morgan’s
governorship of Bergen-op-Zoom in the years up to and including 1643 stands out
(not least as Sir omas Morgan had been governor there in 1588).80 Appointments,
or the service of the English regiments, are often overlooked in favour of the actions
of their commanders (or indeed junior ocers) in the British Civil Wars that followed.
In his ‘Memoir of Sir Arthur Aston’ the antiquarian George Steinman wrote o
74 Marks, ‘England’, pp.142–158.
75 F. Rudelius, Kalmar Regementes Personhistoria 1623–1927 (2 vols., Norrköping: AB Trycksaker, 1952),
vol. 1, p.37.
76 Monro, His Expedition, e List of Ocers in Chiefe, O2. Aston had been in Sweden since 1627 aer
being captured. He transferred his troops in 1629. See Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas Skrier och
Brevvexling, Senare avdelning, Band I, edited by Per Sondén (Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt, 1956), p.531.
77 Alexia Grosjean, ‘A Century of Scottish Governorship in the Swedish Empire, 1574–1700’, in Mackillop,
Andrew and Steve Murdoch (eds.), Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers, c.1600–1800 (Leiden: Brill,
2003), pp.60–70.
78 eir service in the these capacities can be found in Steve Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexia (eds.), Scotland,
Scandinavia and Northern European Biographical Database [SSNE] consulted online at: <www.st-
andrews.ac.uk/history/ssne>.
79 For early English governors see Markham, e Fighting Veres, pp.113, 123–124, 201–202, 211, 272,
348, 380–381. When the Dutch re-entered the war with Spain in 1621, Colonel John Ogle was city
commandant of Utrecht. See Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, III, p.56.
80 Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/1/145. Certicate from Sir Charles Morgan, colonel of a regiment
of foot […] and Governor of Bergen-op-Zoom, 8 March 1643. For Sir omas see Markham, e Fighting
Ver e s , pp.123–124.

28 Britain Turned Germany
Aston’s service in the Swedish army in under a paragraph as simply being ‘an hiatus of
seven years’ in his career.81 Little has changed, as evidenced by Aston’s biography in
the ODNB in which this Swedish service is reduced to three meagre sentences.82 Such
contemptible disregard for the European archives leads to the failure to contextualise
why some irty Years’ War veterans could go on to command so eciently during
the Wars of the ree Kingdoms (1639–1660).
e key example here is surely Alexander Leslie, who became Field Marshal of the
quasi-independent Army of the Weser.83 is Armée Volante was composed largely of
the remnant Scottish regiments still in service by 1635, backed by German recruits
and one regiment of Englishmen (Fleetwood’s). When it looked briey like the
Swedes might come to a treaty with the Emperor, Leslie declared that he would keep
his largely Scottish army in the eld to secure the Palatinate for Elizabeth.84 As it
was the Swedes also remained engaged and what followed at Wittstock (1636) proved
to be one of the most unlikely victories of the irty Years’ War, with Leslie’s army
rescuing the Swedish army from certain defeat through some breathtaking battleeld
deployments leading to a 360 degree encirclement of the enemy. By the end of the
battle, Scottish generals not only commanded the centre battalia (Leslie), but also the
left wing (James King) and the reserve (John Ruthven). Leslie managed to even shore
up the right wing of Banér’s retreating Swedes with ve brigades, a fact attested to in
Banér’s ocial report just days after the battle.85 ree years later, the Swede rewrote
events to claim victory for himself and the Swedes alone.
Wittstock was not the only major action which saw Scottish regiments participate,
or generals command in the eld in 1636. At the battle of Saverne, Marechal John
Hepburn died at the head of a large Scottish force in the French army.86 If the death
of Hepburn proved a serious setback to the French, there were further catastrophes
awaiting the British on the Continent. e Battle of Kallo in June 1638 saw the worst
defeat of the Dutch Army in the Eighty Years’ War.87 Reports variously discussed
2,000–4,000 Dutch soldiers killed and a further 2,000 captured, including some 600
Scots (most notably Colonels Balfour and Sandilands) and numerous English ocers.
81 George Steinman, ‘Memoir of Sir Arthur Aston’, e Gentleman’s Magazine, vol.155 (London: J.B. Nichols
& Sons, 1834), p.145.
82 Basil Morgan, ‘Aston, Sir Arthur’, in ODNB accessed 5 June 2019. Adam Marks does better work. See
Marks ‘England’, pp.36, 137, 141, 177.
83 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, pp.75–85.
84 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.75.
85 Steve Murdoch, Kathrin Zickermann, and Adam Marks, ‘e Battle of Wittstock 1636: Conicting
Reports on a Swedish Victory in Germany’, Northern Studies, 43 (2012), pp.71–109.
86 Gustave Clanché, Sir John Hepburn, Maréchal de France: inhumé à la Cathédrale de Toul en 1636 (Toul:
Imprimerie Moderne, 1918), pp.11, 29, 30. Two dates are given for Hepburn’s death. From the funerary
monument (no longer extant), his death was recorded as 8 July, while later in the text, 21 July is the date given.
87 Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, IV, pp.101–114.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 29
is led to intervention from Charles I to pay the ransom for their release.88 More
tragedy was to follow. William Lord Craven had raised a force of around 4,000 men
to serve Elector Karl Ludwig, the eldest son of Elizabeth of Bohemia.89 Lieutenant-
General James King led 1,000 mostly British volunteers from Swedish service,
including Colonel William Vavasour. Collectively they hoped to lend support to the
small British–Palatine Army of Karl Ludwig, but they failed to prevent their defeat at
Vlotho Bridge near Minden. Prince Rupert had impetuously charged before the army
was properly deployed resulting in his own capture and that of Craven and Vavasour
among others.90 Fortunately Karl Ludwig himself managed to avoid capture. Craven
remained in captivity until 1639 when he ransomed himself for £20,000 sterling and
returned to London.91 is was an interesting time for anyone to return to Britain.
It is sometimes stated that 1639 saw the end of meaningful Scottish participation
in the European conicts due to the outbreak of the Bishops’ Wars (1639–1640).
Surprisingly that proved not to be the case.92 In 1638, Richelieu petitioned for
5,000 Scots to be raised and to join the existing Regiment d’Hepburn and the Irish
regiment of Colonel Tyrell and these were guaranteed by Queen Henrietta Maria
personally.93 Not all of these arrived, but many thousands of Scots had remained on
the Continent having prioritised the original aims of their service over the ongoing
conict at home. Many thousands of irty Years’ War veterans formed the core
of the Army of the Covenant raised to oppose Charles I in Scotland. Organised by
Field Marshal Alexander Leslie, and with support from Sweden and France, a well-
disciplined army humbled Charles I’s forces twice during the Bishops’ Wars.94 Less
well researched are the Scottish Royalist and English veterans who also came home
to ght.95 It is claimed that Sir Arthur Aston returned to England in 1639 with ‘as
many soldiers of note as he could bring’, although how many awaits substantiation.96
88 Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, pp.314, 322, 449–455. e ransom for some of the ocers by Charles I is noted
in J.A.Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, Deel II, 1634–1639 (e Hague: Nijho,
1913), pp.382–383. Constantijn Huygens to Princess Amalia van Oranje, 25 July (regarding intervention
for the English) and 10 August 1638 (for the release of four Scottish ocers including Colonels Balfour
and Sandilands). For the death toll see ibid., xii; G. Dyfnallt Owen (ed.), Report on the Manuscripts of the
Right Honourable Viscount de Lisle. Vol. 6 Sydney Papers, 1626–1698 (London: HMSO, 1966), pp.146–
147. Sir William Balantine to the Earl of Leicester, 2 July 1638.
89 Wilson, Europe’s Tragedy, p.594; Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.90.
90 For Charles I’s nancial support of this army see Nadine Akkerman (ed.), e Correspondence of Elisabeth
Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, vol. II, 1632–1642 (Oxford: OUP, 2011), pp.670–677, 733, 751–4, 756–7.
91 R. Malcom Smuts, ‘Craven, William, earl of Craven’ in ODNB.
92 W.P. Guthrie, e Later irty Years’ War: From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia
(Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003), p. 257; Wilson, Europe’s Tragedy, p. 594.
93 M. Avenel (ed.), Lettres, Instructions Diplomatiques et Papiers d’état du cardinal de Richelieu (8 vols.,
Paris: Impr. impériale, 1853–77), VI, pp.211–13. Cardinal Richelieu to M. de Bellièvre, 6 October and
pp.238–240, Richelieu to M. de Bellìèvre, 13 November 1638.
94 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, pp.93–118.
95 An exception here is Marks, ‘England’, pp.163–188.
96 Steinman, Memoir, p.145.

30 Britain Turned Germany
Constantijn Huygens merely notes that many of the older English ocers were on
their way to England in 1640 in order to serve King Charles, but he does not name
them other than Sir omas Culpeper. Rather, he pointed out that this presented
an opportunity for Lord Craven to get the colonelcy of Culpeper’s regiment.97 More
easily identied are the senior Royalists like Sir Patrick Ruthven who would go on
to command an English garrison while besieged in Edinburgh Castle (1640) and
lead the army in actions such as Edgehill (1642) and Cropredy Bridge (1644) as
Lord General of the Royalist forces in England.98 Contrary to the likes of Ruthven
and Aston, whose return to Britain ended their participation in the irty Years’
War, their Covenanter opponents only viewed their return as a temporary move
until Charles I had re-evaluated his policies concerning Scotland. Indeed, as Alexia
Grosjean has demonstrated, the Covenanters could only take their veterans home
from Swedish service on the promise of reengaging in the European theatre once the
troubles in Britain were resolved.99 is was reinforced when Elector Karl Ludwig
travelled with his uncle, Charles I, and sat beside him in the Scottish Parliament in
1641. So ensconced, the Elector was promised 10,000 men of the Scottish Army of
the Covenant with which to reclaim his ancestral home in the Palatinate.100 Only the
outbreak of the Confederate Rebellion in Ireland prevented this and saw the Army
of the Covenant being hastily redeployed to Ulster, dashing Karl Ludwig’s hopes for
gaining control of that veteran force. However, the intention here to continue in the
war is evident and other Britons did continue in the wider anti-Habsburg campaigns.
It has similarly been suggested that the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642
brought an abrupt end to meaningful English participation on the Continent.101
Nevertheless, many doctrinaire Calvinists preferred Dutch service rather than
participation in the inter-Protestant sectarian wars of Britain. Joining in civil conicts
that pitched contesting groups of Protestants against each other did not hold the same
appeal for some as the defence of Protestantism against the Catholic threat posed
by the Holy Roman Empire. As early as March 1642 some 30 fresh recruits were to
be transported to Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinando Knightley’s company in the Dutch
army at a time when all-out civil war in England was inevitable.102 Indeed all four
English regiments remained in the eld under the command of Colonels William
97 J.A. Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, Deel III, 1640–1644 (e Hague: Nijho,
1914), p.15. Constantijn Huygens to William Lord Craven, 21 March 1640.
98 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, pp.113, 120–122.
99 Grosjean, An Unocial Alliance, pp.169–170.
100 K.M. Brown et al. (eds.) Records of the Parliament of Scotland, Report of the committee to consider the
business regarding the Prince Elector Palatinate approved, 12 November 1641 (<www.rps.ac.uk>); TNA,
SP81/52, f.221. Scottish Parliament (Extract) 12 November 1641.
101 Trim, ‘Calvinist Internationalism’, p.1025.
102 Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/1/118. Dra order for Lieutenant Broomee to transport 30
recruits for Sir Ferdinando Knightley’s Company, 21 March 1642.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 31
Lord Craven, Baron George Goring, Sir Charles Morgan and Sir Henry Herbert.103
e three regiments of the Scots–Dutch Brigade had also been brought back up to full
strength and were now commanded by Colonels Sir Philip Balfour, Sir James Erskine
and Sir John Kirkpatrick. Towards the end of 1642 Goring returned to England with
a few Anglo-Dutch veterans and went on to have a well-documented career during
the English Civil War. is caused the States of Holland to discuss suspending of
payment for absentee English and Scottish ocers and men.104 However, Lieutenant-
Colonel William Killigrew maintained Goring’s regiment, and prepared them for the
next big campaign under Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. at is, those who were
not indulging in petty crime. Two soldiers from Lieutenant-Colonel John Cromwell’s
company achieved a classic ‘dine and dash’, taking a meal in the Rotterdam inn, De
Vergulde Swaen, before leaving for e Hague without paying.105 However, the records
of both the Rotterdam and Amsterdam legal archives suggest such behaviour was
quite rare and discipline was maintained. It needed to be.
Elsewhere other Britons chose to serve in the French army rather than the Dutch.
Some of these were Protestants simply keen to nish the war for the Palatinate in
whichever army would take them. Others were Catholics and Episcopalians seeking
to avoid persecution in Covenanted Scotland or elsewhere in ‘Perdious Albion’.
e numbers of Scots active in French service by 1643 has been roughly estimated
at 3,500 men, dispersed mostly between Lord James Douglas’s Régiment de Douglas
(ex-Hepbu rn’s) and Ja mes Campbell Earl of Ir vine’s new Garde Écossai se. is contingent
was to be built on with another three regiments and a total of 9,600 was expected to be
reached by the end of the year.106 ey found themselves in action rather quickly: the
Garde Écossaise participated in the Battle of Rocroi on 16 May 1643 while the other
Franco-Scottish regiments were deployed elsewhere.107 Sometimes these deployments
were misconceived, with Douglas having to return from the Italian Peninsula as his
103 Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, IV, pp.241–243. Here the authors mistakenly call Sir Charles
Morgan ‘omas’ and believe George Goring to be the later Earl of Norwich (his father), but it is
otherwise an invaluable source. See also Ronald Hutton, ‘Goring, George, Baron Goring’ in ODNB;
Edward M. Furgol, ‘Morgan, Sir Charles’ in ODNB. In Smuts, ‘Craven, William, earl of Craven’ in ODNB,
Smuts omits Craven’s service as a colonel of an English regiment throughout the 1640s, merely placing
him at e Hague with Elizabeth of Bohemia.
104 Register van Holland en Westvriesland van de jaaren 1643–1644 (no place, no publisher, 1768–1772),
p. 5. Resolution, 15 Januar y 1643. Consulted online at: <https://books.google.nl/books?id=BGNJAAAAc
AAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:IHf_BhkH_N8C&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGtvvy09beAh
XBLFAKHS7cAKE4PBDoAQg1MAI#v=onepage&q&f=false>
105 Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Notarissente Rotterdam (ONA) 306/217. Attestatie of verklaring, 18 February
1642.
106 William Bray (ed.), e Diary of John Evelyn, volume IV (London: Bickers and Son, 1882 edition),
p. 382. Sir Richard Browne to Sir Edward Nicholas, 13–23 January 1642–43. G. Fotheringham (ed.), e
Diplomatic Correspondence of Jean de Montereul and the Brothers de Bellievre, French Ambassadors in
England and Scotland, 1645–1648 (2 vols, Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1898–1899), II, p.337n;
Stephane ion, French Armies of the irty Years’ War (Auzielle: L.R.T., 2008), pp.80, 82.
107 ion, French Armies of the irty Years’ War, pp.108, 129.

32 Britain Turned Germany
regiment simply could not function in the hot weather.108 Now operating in Flanders,
the Garde Écossaise was topped up by new recruits. After the renewed civil war in
Scotland in 1644, Royalist prisoners were sent to France where they fought against
the Empire thereafter. e recruiting mechanisms for the English have not previously
been extensively researched. Just before his death in 1643, Sir Charles Morgan had
sent subordinates on a recruiting mission to England to bolster his regiment.109 e
implied success of that and other recruiting drives is implicit in the pay delivered by the
States General to the company commanders for units noted as being at full strength
later that year.110 A perusal of the commissions issued by the Dutch army between
1642 and 1648 indicate no less than 65 new commissions being issued to some 60
Britons during the period of the English Civil War. Some of these were veterans and
the commissions simply represent their promotions. However, many appear to be new
ocers arriving in service. ese included such men as the young Sergeant Major
Aubrey Vere, Earl of Oxford (commissioned on 7 November 1644).111 He joined the
regiment of Colonel Ferdinando Knightley, who had succeeded as colonel to Henry
Herbert’s regiment in October.112 Just like with the Scottish commanders overseas,
the English colonels in the Dutch Republic also coveted prisoners of war. In 1645
Colonel John Cromwell, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferdinando Knightley and Sergeant
Major omas Hammond had requested permission to recruit as many prisoners as
the English Parliament was prepared to send them. Goring’s regiment was declined
recruits due to the colonel serving Charles I. Rather the committee wanted to establish
that the regiment really was rmly under Killigrew’s command before allowing him
troops.113 By July permission was granted for Knightley to proceed with the levy.114 So
in an unexpected twist, it is now possible to conrm that many soldiers in the later
irty Years’ War were, in fact, veterans of the English Civil War.
108 Fotheringham (ed.), e Diplomatic Correspondence of Jean de Montereul, II, p.544. M. de Boisivon to
M. de Brienne, 20 November 1643.
109 Parliamentary Archives HL/PO/JO/10/1/145. Certicate from Sir Charles Morgan, colonel of a regiment
of foot […] and Governor of Bergen-op-Zoom, 8 March 1643. Furgol, ‘Morgan, Sir Charles’ in ODNB.
110 Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, p.328.
111 ese numbers are extrapolated from a database of Dutch Military Commissions NT000914, ‘Raad van
State Commissieboeken’ from the Nationaal Archief in the Hague. e index can be downloaded at:
<https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00194?searchTerm=>; See also Victor Stater,
‘Vere, Aubrey de, twentieth earl of Oxford’ in ODNB. An interesting letter from the young earl was sent
from Assenede in Flanders in September 1644 suggesting he was already with the English regiment
occupying the town. See J.A. Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, Deel IV, 1644–1649
(e Hague: Nijho, 1915), p.60. Constantijn Huygens to the Earl of Arundel, 2 September 1644.
112 Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, Deel IV, pp.91–92. Constantijn Huygens to
Ferdinando Knightley, and another to Gravin von Löwenstein, both dated 19 October 1644. Huygens is
expansive on Knightley gaining his colonelcy at Bergen-op-Zoom, not least as he felt this might aid in
Knightley’s wooing of the widowed ‘Gravin von Löwenstein’, Elisabeth Dudley (.1613–1662).
113 TNA, SP21/8, f.198 (point 13). Proceedings of the Committee of Both Kingdoms, 16 April 1645; TNA,
SP21/20, f.261. e Committee of Both Kingdoms to Mr Knightley, 23 May 1645.
114 TNA, SP21/21, f.67. e Committee of Both Kingdoms to Mr Knightley, 8 July 1645.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 33
As the Dutch army under Prince Frederick Henry marched towards the River Lys
in 1644, all seven British regiments had mobilised with him. In a brash move Colonel
Erskine led his Scots across an incomplete bridge which the prince had ordered to
be built across the Lys, overwhelming the defenders of the Spanish fortication
on the other side with little resistance.115 Some of the enemy were killed, and the
rest were sent to the Prince as prisoners; more importantly, the action facilitated
a swifter progress of the army than had been anticipated. Prince Frederick Henry
pressed forward and fortied his encampments on the way. Both Henry Herbert’s and
William Lord Craven’s regiments were frequently involved in ongoing small action
against the Spanish, Craven losing some of his sappers in an action at Sas van Gent
in mid August.116 By the end of the campaigning season the Scots were occupying
Selsaten while the English were based around Assenede.117 ey spent the winter
and spring recuperating. Two English ocers – Captain Joseph Brown and Ensign
Nicholas Cave (of Knightley’s regiment) – had to provide an adavit at the request
of a Dutch innkeeper to the eect that, although being at his inn in the afternoon,
they were unaware of any untoward noise.118 We can draw our own conclusions, but
perhaps they had reason to enjoy a lively pint as a big military push was coming. ere
were others who were simply not game for campaigning and had other things on
their mind. Another English soldier, William Barck, deserted his regiment in 1645
to elope and live in sin with Janettje Makeroel, the widow of a fellow soldier. is
caused consternation to the Dutch neighbours who reported him.119 But perhaps the
high jinks and low morals are unsurprising. All four English regiments were being
mustered after the winter season and joined the three Scots units to march with
Frederick Henry deeper into Flanders.120
e main actions took place in late autumn. Lieutenant-Colonel William Killigrew
(commanding Goring’s regiment) was applauded for the taking of the fort of K ieldrecht
on 11 October.121 Two weeks later Colonel John Kirkpatrick’s actions in hastening
the capture of the city were applauded by contemporaries.122 Reports circulating in
England suggested that on the march towards Hulst, Craven and Cromwell had fallen
out over the ordering of the troops. Sir Robert Honeywood reported (from London)
115 Ferguson (ed.), Scots Brigade, I, pp. 315–16.
116 Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, IV, pp.34–36. Constantijn Huygens to Princess
Amalia van Oranje, 11 & 12 August 1644.
117 Ferguson (ed.), Scots Brigade, I, p.316.
118 Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Notarissente Rotterdam (ONA) 344/196. Attestatie of verklaring, 3 April 1645.
119 Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Notarissente Rotterdam (ONA) 333/133. Attestatie of verklaring, 2 May 1645.
120 Frederick Henry (Prince of Orange), Memoires de Frederic Henry Prince D’Orange (Amsterdam: Pierre
Humbert, 1733), p.331 & 334. Regiments are named by colonel, thus Goring is presented rather than
Killigrew. An English summary of this mobilisation is given in Ferguson, Scots Brigade, I, pp.315–316, 324.
121 Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, IV, p.228. Constantijn Huygens to Princess
Amalia van Oranje, 12 October 1645.
122 Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, IV, p.237. Constantijn Huygens to Princess
Amalia van Oranje, 24 October 1645.

34 Britain Turned Germany
that the two colonels removed themselves from camp and fought a duel on horseback
resulting in Craven killing Cromwell, and then eeing for France.123 is was untrue.
e presence of Craven in the army was explicitly mentioned in dispatches weeks later
while Dutch sources appear silent on the matter. Moreover John Cromwell met with
his cousin, Oliver Cromwell, several times in the following years.124 With Cromwell
very much alive he, along with all seven British regiments, took part in the Siege
of Hulst.125 Here the British contributed 64 out of 285 companies in the Prince of
Orange’s army – or not far o a quarter of his ghting strength.126 Of these, the
Scots contributed 24 companies and the English a staggering 40 (over 3,000 men).
e British regiments were stationed together on the right-hand side of the army,
repeatedly assaulting the positions facing them until the surrender of the city on
4 November. is proved to be the nal major operation by the Dutch in the irty
Years’ War.
With the war between Spain and the Dutch Republic eectively over, there were
changes to the command structure. Aubrey de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, had disgraced
himself by killing a man ‘in self-defence’, but was apparently forgiven by the Prince
of Orange due to his remorsefulness. He also had allies among the Dutch elite, with
Constantijn Huygens, his cousin, also seeking the intervention of Elisabeth, Countess
of Löwenstein, to enable the completion of his rehabilitation and help restart his
military career.127 Such intervention clearly worked and he was promoted full colonel
on 8 December within weeks of Huygens’ letter.128 A few months later, William
Killigrew nally earned the colonelcy of Goring’s regiment after the latter sold his
commission for £2,000 and retired to Brussels to join his father.129 However, there was
little for the British colonels to do other than remain in garrison until the conclusion
of the Spanish war in 1648. Rumours that this might lead to the return of the Anglo-
Dutch brigade to join the Royalist cause were soon rubbished. One pamphlet even
123 TNA, SP 16/511, .11–13. Robert Honeywood to Henry Vane, 7 October 1645.
124 For Craven see Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, IV, p.240. Constantijn Huygens
to Princess Amalia van Oranje, 27 October 1645. For Cromwell see James Heath, Flagellum, or, e life
and death, birth and burial of Oliver Cromwell faithfully described in an exact account of his policies and
successes, not heretofore published or discovered (London: S.T., 1663), pp.40–50.
125 Frederick Henry, Memoires, pp.351–359; Ten Raa and De Bas, Het Staatsche Leger, IV, pp.143–149; Olaf
van Nimwegen, e Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588–1688 (Woodbridge: e Boydell
Press, 2010), pp.276–278.
126 e companies of the army are listed in Rijksmuseum, ‘Beleg van Hulst door Frederik Hendrick, 1645’
by Claes Jansz. Visscher (1645). See also Rijksmuseum, ‘Beleg van Hulst, 1645’ by Abraham Diriksz.
Santvoort (1645) and the same artist’s updated ‘BelegenVerouvering van Hulst door Frederik Hendrik’
(1646). Each shows the Scots and English brigaded together though one orientates the scene dierently.
For the latter see Rijksmuseum, Anon., ‘Obsidio Huls, tenae civitatis et fortality’(1645).
127 Worp (ed.), De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens, IV, p.365. Constantijn Huygens to Elizabeth,
Gravin van Löwenstein, undated, but c.November 1646.
128 Nationaal Archief, e Hague. NT000914, ‘Raad van State Commissieboeken’, 8 December 1646.
129 TNA, SP16/515/1, f.46. Sir John Conyers to Edward Viscount Conway, 6/18 March 1647.

Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War 35
recorded William Lord Craven in front of his assembled men declaring that he would
lead them against any enemy ‘to the true faith of Christianity’ (i.e. Protestantism),
but emphatically stating that he would not take them into England.130 Colonel John
Cromwell did return to England, but apparently as a messenger from the Prince of
Wales seeking to intercede with his cousin Oliver to spare the life of King Charles.131
Although the Dutch had eectively been out of the ghting since 1646, there were
other British units in action elsewhere. Again, the Scottish aspect of this has been
looked at in some detail.132 Decommissioned soldiers of the Army of the Solemn
League joined the Swedes in Germany in 1647 in time for the nal push towards
Prague the following year. It had been Alexander Leslie’s intention to send out a full
10,000 men to Sweden to help nish the war once he reduced his army on their return
from England in January 1647. is had been organised through the mediation of his
long-time friend (and opponent from Marston Moor), James King Lord Eythin the
previous year. Leslie’s rationale was twofold. Firstly, he wished to keep the soldiers
of his vaunted ‘Army of the Solemn League and Covenant’ out of the hands of the
increasingly fractious fanatics running both Scotland and England (as he viewed
them). Secondly, he still believed the wa r for the Palatinate to be unnished business.133
However, Marquess Hamilton’s gaining control of the Scottish Parliament scuppered
the full levy and only two regiments have been shown to have reached Swedish
service. ey joined the remaining Scots in the French army. e Garde Écossaise and
James Douglas’s Régiment de Douglas (formerly Hepburn’s) distinguished themselves
repeatedly, most notably at the Battle of Lens in 1648.134 is proved to be the last
pitched battle of the irty Years’ War and one in which the Scots remained the
last infantry regiment on the eld before they were nally relieved by French cavalry
units. However, there were still ongoing campaigns including the Swedish assault
on Prague. In this eleventh-hour action we nd the last known Scottish (or British)
casualty killed in action in the course of the conict uncovered so far. His name was
Major Alexander Kinnemond, and he died during an assault on Prague’s fortications
on 20 October 1648, just four days before the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia that
ended the irty Years’ War.135 It is worth noting that at the time of that assault, 10
out of the 21 native Swedish infantry regiments had Scottish colonels, while George
Fleetwood was still at the head of a regiment (albeit no longer an English one).136
130 Anon. [S.G.], e Resolution of His Highness, the Prince of Wales concerning his coming into England to
assist His Royal Father, the King (London: N.P., 1648), pp.5–6. ‘A declaration of the Prince of Wales and
the proceeding of the Lord Craven, touching the King’s Majesty’ by William Vandere, Del, 2 July 1648.
131 Heath, Flagellum, pp.67–69; Weylen, e House of Cromwell, p.15.
132 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, chapter 7.
133 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.165.
134 Guthrie, e Later irty Years’ War, p.192.
135 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, p.166.
136 For Fleetwood’s regiment see variously Krigsarkivet Stockholm, KrA/0022/1642/14 (1642) through
until KrA/0022/1648/20 (1648).ese show Fleetwood’s regiment in continuous service around Colberg

36 Britain Turned Germany
Eight more German regiments were also commanded by Scots. In the cavalry, Robert
Douglas served as a newly promoted lieutenant-general joining Alexander ‘Arvid’
Forbes among the senior Swedish sta ocers at the conclusion of the war.137
e role of such commanders – and of course the central position of Elizabeth
of Bohemia – points to the British being more engaged in the war than is typically
understood. Indeed, assumptions about when British interest in either Elizabeth or the
wider Protestant cause outside Britain ceased are clearly shown here to be fallacious.
e 1639 or 1642 end dates are a gment of the imagination resulting from a myopic
focus on the British Civil Wars. Many Britons were far more concerned with the
ongoing defence of Protestantism (as discussed above): for others, the veterans of the
British Civil Wars, service overseas was preferable to imprisonment, execution or an
intolerable life under a regime they despised.
Recent scholarship has, to some degree addressed these fallacies by highlighting the
role of the senior commanders and the actions they engaged in. Moreover,by looking
to the corpus of letters like those of the Scottish soldier, Drummer James Spens (in
Dutch, Swedish and then Dutch VOC service), we now have a greater understanding
of many equally important aspects of the war. is includes the role of the common
solder and their motivations for participation in the war, and in Spens’ case, for
leaving it for the East Indies just as Gustav II Adolf was at the height of his victories
in Europe.138 e English soldier Robert Philips also had personal reasons to choose
his theatre: he remained in the Dutch Republic rather than participate in the British
Civil Wars and we can speculate as to why. In March 1640 he and his English wife,
Anneken French, christened their newborn child in the Dutch Reformed Church
in Bergen-op-Zoom.139 He had a young family, a settled life in the community, and
secure employment in the Anglo-Dutch Brigade. rough scrutiny of Continental
sources, we are moving beyond simply the great men and big battles in which the
British participated. e role of women, widows, children and orphans in the war is
now nally being properly researched.140 To many people it is these, non-combatant
aspects that can engage the historical imagination as much as the war itself. And on
those subjects, there is still much work to be done.
where Fleetwood was also governor.
137 Murdoch and Grosjean, Alexander Leslie, pp.167–168.
138 Steve Murdoch, Alexia Grosjean and Siobhan Talbott. ‘Drummer Major James Spens: Letters from a
Common Soldier Abroad, 1617–1632’ in Northern Studies, 47 (2015), pp.76–101
139 See Zeeuwsarchief, DTBL Terneuzen 1A (ondertrouwregister 1631–1796), f.15. Baptismal record, 10
March 1640. Consulted online at <www.zeeuwsarchief.nl>. Philips was married to the English woman
‘Anneken’ French and was a soldier under Sir Charles Morgan in Captain Huntly’s company.
140 Siobhan Talbott, ‘Scottish Women and the Scandinavian Wars of the Seventeenth Century’, North ern Studies
40 (2007), pp.102–127; Murdoch and Zickermann, ‘Bere of all human help?’, pp.114–134. e SSNE
database contains information several hundred soldiers’ wives, sisters and daughters from this period.