Clan Muir's History Part III

Second and Third English Civil War

In these two finally civil war, there is a possibility that clan Muir have fought in these wars. The Moirs fought
along side the Gordons at the battlefields in Scotland, which include Battle of Aberdeen 1644 and 1646, battle of Auldearn, Alford, Siege of Inverness and Preston. There was a Sir John Mure of Auchindrane fought at the battles of Mauchline Muir, and Philiphaugh. There was James Moore, and other Mores who were prisoners at the battle of Worcester. There might of been John Moore of Cork, Ireland was at the battle of Naseby.

Battle of Carbisdale

In this battle the Moars joined the Orcadain infantry and fought on the Royalists side. Throughout the course of the year Montrose kept busy using his commission in an attempt to raise troops and money in the German state of Brandenburg, as well as Sweden and Denmark. This met with limited success; but by September he had managed to raise and equip a small force of 80 officers and 100 Danish soldiers. Under the leadership of the Earl of Kinnoul these men were sent as an advance party to occupy the Orkney Isles, charged with recruiting local forces, while Montrose remained on the Continent employing professional troops.

In March 1650 Montrose came in person, landing at Kirkwall with some more foreign mercenaries to join his advance party and the Orcadian levies. Amongst his officers was Sir John Hurry, his old opponent at the Battle of Auldearn in 1645. Altogether he had 40 horse, 500 mercenaries and 700 Orcadians, completely unskilled in the arts of war. On board his ship, the Herderinnan, anchored in Scapa Flow, Montrose issued his orders to Hurry at a conference on 9 April.

He was instructed to cross to Caithness that same evening with part of the little army and advance to Ord of Caithness, a high hill overhanging the sea just north of Kildonan. Montrose crossed with the rest of his force a few days later. Montrose had heard that the local Highland Scottish clans of Munro, Ross and Mackenzie were up in arms and were likely to join him, although as it turned out, they did not. Montrose hoped to meet up with the Clan Munro and Clan Ross. When none of the clans arrived he pressed on the Strathoikell and into the narrow valley of Carbisdale. For two days he waited in the valley for the Munros and Rosses. Waiting for them was his biggest mistake as the clans had sided with the Scottish government, and Argyll had already set his counter plans in operation.

Montrose's army was in a narrow glen, where the Culrain Burn flows into the Kyle of Sutherland. To his rear the ground rose up to the wooded hill of Creag a' Choineachan. With a good view of the surrounding countryside he would be able to deploy his men on the hill if subject to a sudden attack. Yet, believing there was only a small body of enemy horse in the area, he failed to carry out a thorough reconnaissance, thus making the same mistake that led to the disaster at the Battle of Philiphaugh. Strachan had now reached Wester Fern to the south-east of Carbisdale. On his onward march he still had the River Carron to cross by a ford which left him some miles short of the enemy position.

A direct approach would only alert the royalists to his position. Fortunately, much of the way was covered by thick broom, which ended just before the Culrain Burn was reached. Close to the Burn, Strachan concealed his men in a gully overshadowed by broom, allowing only a single troop to emerge into the open. Montrose sent his cavalry under Major John Lisle to investigate, while the infantry took cover in the woods of Creag a' Choineachan. Before these deployments were complete Strachan's whole force emerged and charged. Lisle was immediately overwhelmed, as the Covenanters rode on towards the infantry.

The Germans and Danes, seeing their cavalry defeated, retreated into nearby Scroggie Wood. Here Clan Munro and Clan Ross joined in the fight, eager to grab their share of any plunder. The Germans and Danes fought gallantly, retreating deeper and deeper into the wood, but they were losing the battle. The need for self-preservation took over and those that were left attempted to flee, with the bloodshed in the wood continuing for over two hours. Even after the battle ended the slaughter did not cease; the clansmen of Ross-shire and Sutherland for many days after continued pursuing and killing those who had escaped the battle.
Hurry and some of the Danish and German musketeers attempted to make a stand, but the Orcadians crumbled in panic. Two hundred of them were drowned trying to escape across the waters of the Kyle of Sutherland. In a matter of minutes the whole affair was over.

Carbisdale was not a battle: it was a rout. The defeated soldiers were hunted over the slopes of Creag a' Choineachan by Strachan's troopers and local hostile clansmen for two hours. Four hundred were killed, and over four hundred and fifty taken prisoner, including Sir John Hurry, whose amazing career as a soldier was shortly to come to an end. Colonel Strachan's scout had been Monro of Lemlair while Montrose's scout had been Robert Monro of Achness. Historians have speculated whether Monro of Achness had lured Montrose into a trap by giving him false information.

Battle of Rothiemurchus

Supposely during the Convenanter war, there was a skirmish at Loch an Eilean castle. During their residence there, they were attacked from the shore, while a smart fire of musketry was kept up from the castle by Grizel More, the lady Rothiemurchus, who was clever, active woman, was busily employed all the time of the attack, in casting leaden balls for the defence.

The Battle of Philiphuagh

When the Covenanters became allies of the English Parliamentarians, Montrose was given a commission as King Charles's Lieutenant General in Scotland. He was able to raise an army consisting of regiments of Irish soldiers sent to Scotland by the Irish Confederates and shifting numbers of Highland clansmen. With these troops, Montrose had won a remarkable series of victories in the year preceding the Battle of Philiphaugh. The last of these was at Kilsyth, which destroyed the last Covenanter army in Scotland and put the lowland towns at his mercy. Montrose refused to allow his army to loot Glasgow, instead accepting a sum of £500 from the Town Council as pay for his soldiers. He then summoned a Parliament to be held in Glasgow.

The Council complained at the cost which would be involved and asked to be excused the levy of £500. Montrose agreed, leaving his army without pay. Although Montrose intended to strike into England to aid the King's cause there, the Highlanders under Alasdair MacColla who made up most of Montrose's infantry refused to go any further south leaving their traditional foes, the Campbells, in their rear. At the same time, Montrose appointed the former prisoner, the Earl of Crawford as his Lieutenant General of Horse. Most of his horsemen were Gordons under Lord James Aboyne. Affronted by Crawford's appointment, they too left the army.

Montrose hoped to gain recruits from the Borders, and marched south with only 500 musketeers from his Irish Catholic regiments and a small troop of horse. He made for Kelso, but found that only a few Borders gentry joined his army instead of the thousands of recruits he expected. Meanwhile, the Earl of Leven, who commanded the main Scottish Covenanter Army in England, had heard of the result of the Battle of Kilsyth, and sent Sir David Leslie, the Lieutenant General of Horse, back into Scotland with all the cavalry he could muster. Leslie collected reinforcements from Covenanter garrisons in Newcastle upon Tyne and Berwick, and crossed the border on 6 September, with 5000 horse and dragoons and 1000 infantry.

He marched along the east coast intending to cut off Montrose from the Highlands, but learned (possibly from the turncoat Earls of Home and Roxburgh) of Montrose's position and strength, and turned south to intercept him. Contemporary accounts give only a broad outline of the battle. Subsequent authors have interpreted this in various ways in an attempt to arrive at a more detailed account.

Montrose himself, many of his officers and some of the cavalry were quartered in the town of Selkirk, with the infantry and the rest of the cavalry encamped on flat ground the other side of the river (the Ettrick Water) at Philiphaugh. Warner puts this just below the junction of the Yarrow Water and the Ettrick Water and hence about 2 miles (3.2 km) away. However, a contemporary description of the Royalist infantry position has them behind on one hand an unpassable ditch, and on the other Dikes and Hedges, and where these were not strong enough, they further fortified them by casting up ditches, and lined their Hedges with Musketeers, hence other interpretations would put the royalists within field enclosures shown on an 18th-century map between 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from Selkirk.

Leslie had arrived at nearby Melrose the evening before, and advanced up the valley of the Tweed, driving in the Royalist outposts at Sunderland (at the junction of the Ettrick Water with the Tweed, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) downstream of Selkirk) without apparently alarming or alerting the main Royalist force. The following morning was misty, and whatever scouting was undertaken by the Royalists failed to reveal the presence of Leslie's forces.

Leslie divided his force into two wings, one of which attacked the Royalist position directly, getting to within half a mile before the alarm was raised. The other executed a flanking manoeuvre, probably on the south bank of the Ettrick Water although some interpretations follow a later ballad and say through hilly ground to the north.

Montrose was alerted to Leslie's attack by the sound of gunfire, but arrived on the battlefield to find his forces in considerable confusion. Although the Royalist infantry's strong defensive position enabled them to repel at least two Covenanter attacks, the arrival of Leslie's flanking force ensured their defeat. After Montrose made a brief attempt to restore the situation by charging 2,000 Covenanter dragoons with only 100 cavalry of his own, he was urged by his friends that the Royalist cause in Scotland would die without him.

He cut his way out with 30 men, and retreated over the Minchmoor road toward Peebles. Many of Montrose's Irish foot soldiers from Manus O'Cahan's regiment had been killed in the battle, but after fighting on for some time after the flight of the cavalry about 100 of them surrendered on promise of quarter. Some Presbyterian Ministers who accompanied Leslie persuaded him that this clemency was foolish, and the prisoners and 300 camp followers (many of them women and children) were slaughtered in cold blood. Montrose attempted to raise another army in the Highlands, but was unable to take the field against Leslie's army. After fighting a guerilla campaign over the following winter and spring, he received orders from King Charles (who was now himself a prisoner) to lay down his arms. Montrose, Crawford and Sir John Hurry, who had changed sides to join Montrose after the Battle of Auldearn, were refused pardon by the victorious Committee of Estates and went into exile.

The Battle of Mauchline Muir

In June 1648, a members of the Kirk party gathered in Mauchline to join in a celebration of the Eucharist that lasted several days. No small gathering, following the celebration 2000 armed Kirk party supporters gathered on the Mauchline Moor, choosing leaders in evident preparation of making their dissatisfaction with the Engagement known. Into the midst of this rode five troops loyal to the Scottish Parliament and the Engagement. They were commanded by John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton, and James Livingstone, Earl of Callender.

The Kirk party supporters had in their company seven ministers, who managed to obtain assurance from the Engager leaders that if their group surrendered, there would be an amnesty. But the majority of the Kirk party did not accept these terms. Many were eager for the fight, and some 200 of the party were deserters who were excluded from the amnesty. For some time, the Kirk party supporters held their own, but when reinforcements arrived to more than double the Engager troops, the day was decided. Though the Engagers took the day, each side of the conflict lost roughly equal numbers, weith combined fatalities estimated between 30 and 40 men. All seven ministers and 65 members of the Kirk party were arrested, but later freed.
While the Engagers were victorious, the battle itself helped firm Scottish opposition to the Engagement.

A couple of months after this small victory the Engager army commanded by James Duke of Hamilton suffered a crushing defeat by New Model Army at the Battle of Preston, and after a short civil war in Scotland the Kirk party emerged as victors (see Whiggamore Raid, the Battle of Stirling and the Treaty of Stirling). Subsequently, a Scottish Parliament convened in Edinburgh on the 4 January 1649, "approved the opposition" represented by those at Mauchline.

The Battle of Dunbar ( 1650)

On September 3, 1650 a battle took place in Dunbar, Scotland between the English Parliamentarians and the Scottish convenanters. According to a prisoner of war during the wars of the three kingdom or is known as the convenanter war, there were Matthew Moore and Walter Morey who took part of this battle, but unfortunately they were both taken prisoners and shipped to the Americas. By early September, the English army, weakened by illness and demoralised by lack of success, began to withdraw towards its supply base at Dunbar.

Leslie, believing that the English army was retreating, ordered his army to advance in pursuit. The Scots reached Dunbar first and Leslie positioned his troops on Doon Hill on the eastern edge of the Lammermuir Hills, overlooking the town and the Berwick Road, which was Cromwell's land route back to England. Cromwell wrote to the governor of Newcastle: "We are upon an engagement very difficult. The enemy hath blocked up our way at the pass of Copperspath, through which we cannot get without almost a miracle. He lieth so upon the hills that we know not how to come that way without great difficulty; and our lying here daily consumeth our men, who fall sick beyond imagination." — Cromwell.

However, the Scots army, commissioned and funded by the Committee of Estates and Kirk representing the Scottish Parliament and the Church of Scotland, manoeuvred itself into a new position, a move that turned out to be a major tactical blunder. Eager to curtail the mounting cost of the campaign, the ministers of the Kirk in attendance are said to have put Leslie under great pressure to press on with an attack. On 2 September 1650, he brought his army down from Doon Hill and approached the town, hoping to secure the road south over the Spott Burn in preparation for an attack on Cromwell's encampment.

Witnessing Leslie's men wedge themselves between the deep ditch of the Spott Burn, and the slopes of the Lammermuirs behind them, Cromwell quickly realised that here was an opportunity for him to turn the tables on the Scots. He knew that an attack on the Scottish right flank would leave the left flank unengaged and that a successful push against the right would roll back the latter.

On observing the Scots maneuvering into their new positions, he is said to have exclaimed, "The Lord hath delivered them into our hands!" The Major-General [Lambert] and myself coming to the Earl of Roxburgh's House [Brocksmouth House], and observing this posture, I told him I thought it did give us an opportunity and advantage to attempt upon the Enemy. To which he immediately replied, That he had thought to have said the same thing to me. So that it pleased the Lord to set this apprehension upon both of our hearts, at the same instant. We called for Colonel Monk, and showed him the thing: and coming to our quarters at night, and demonstrating our apprehensions to some of the Colonels, they also cheerfully concurred. — Cromwell.

That night, under cover of darkness, Cromwell stealthily redeployed a large number of his troops to a position opposite the Scottish right flank. Just before dawn on 3 September, the English troops, shouting their battle cry "The Lord of Hosts!", launched a surprise frontal attack on the Scots, while Cromwell engaged their right flank. Soldiers in the English centre and on the right caught Leslie's men unawares but were held at bay by the long pikes of their Scottish opponents. The right flank of the Scots, however, with less freedom to manoeuvre, was pushed back under the weight of superior English numbers until its lines started to disintegrate. Cromwell's horse then clashed furiously with the Scottish cavalry and succeeded in scattering them. Observing this disaster, the rest of the Scottish army, hopelessly wedged between the Spott or Brox Burn and Doon Hill, lost heart, broke ranks and fled.

Cromwell's secretary Rushworth wrote: I never beheld a more terrible charge of foot than was given by our army, our foot alone making the Scots foot give ground for three-quarters of a mile together. In the rout that followed, the English cavalry drove the Scots army from the field in disorder.Cromwell reported to Parliament that the "chase and execution" of the fleeing Scots had extended for eight miles.Cromwell claimed that 3,000 Scots were killed. On the other hand, Sir James Balfour, a senior officer with the Scottish army, noted in his journal that there were "8 or 900 killed".

There is similar disagreement about the number of Scottish prisoners taken: Cromwell claimed that there were 10,000,(Cromwell said in his letter to Parliament that he had dismissed 5,000 men because they were Starved, sick or wounded. (Ref:Thomas Carlyle, Letters and speeches) while the English Royalist leader, Sir Edward Walker put the number at 6,000, of which 1,000 sick and wounded men were quickly released. The more conservative estimates of the Scottish casualties are borne out by the fact that, the day after the battle, Leslie retreated to Stirling with some 4,000-5,000 of his remaining troops.

In his post-battle report to the Speaker of the English Parliament, Cromwell described the victory as "...one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people...". As a result of the destruction of the Scottish army, he was able to march unopposed to Edinburgh and quickly occupied the Scottish capital, although Edinburgh Castle held out until the end of December. The prisoners taken at Dunbar were force-marched south towards England in order to prevent any attempt to rescue them.(and because it would be impossible to release the men into the local community) The conditions on the march were so appalling that many died of starvation, illness or exhaustion.

By 11 September, when the remnants arrived at Durham Cathedral where they were to be imprisoned, only 3,000 Scottish soldiers were still alive. If Sir Edward Walker's statement is correct, that 6,000 prisoners were taken and 5,000 of them were marched south, then 2,000 captives perished on the way to Durham. Even today, where, between Dunbar and Durham would you find food for up to 4,500 people? Of the estimated 5,000 Scottish soldiers that began the march southwards from Dunbar, over 3,500 died either on the march or during imprisonment in Durham Cathedral, more than the total number killed on the battlefield In Arthur Heslerig's letter to parliament on 2nd October.

He says that he received 3,000 prisoners at Durham and says that the prisoners had not been 'told' (counted) at Berwick. Of the 1,400 survivors, the majority were eventually transported as convict labourers to English colonies in New England, Virginia and the Caribbean.
After formally accepting the Solemn League and Covenant, Charles was finally crowned King in Scotland on 1
January 1651.

The Battle of Wocester

In this final battle to end the war between Scotland, Ireland, and England, in which the Parliamentarians were victious over the Royalist in a bloody conflict. In battle there were Daniel More, James Moore, John Morre, another John Morre, and an unknown More who ended up as prisoners at the end of this battle, and they to where shipped off to America. Cromwell took his measures deliberately. Lilburne from Lancashire and Major Mercer with the Worcestershire horse were to secure Bewdley Bridge, 20 miles (32 km) north of Worcester and on the enemy's line of retreat. Fleetwood was to force his way across the Teme and attack St John's, the western suburb of Worcester. While Lambert commanded the Eastern Flank of the Army which would advance and encircle the Eastern walls of Worcester, Cromwell would lead the attack on the southern ramparts of the city. The assault started on the morning of 3 September and initially the initiative lay with the Parliamentarians.

Fleetwood forced the passage of the Teme over the pontoon bridges against Royalists under the command of Major General Montgomery. Colonel Richard Deane's initial attempts to cross the Powick Bridge (where Prince Rupert of the Rhine had won the Battle of Powick Bridge, his first victory in 1642) failed against stubborn resistance by the Royalists (many of whom were Scottish Highlanders) commanded by Colonel Keith. By force of arms and numbers the Royalist army was pushed backward by the New Model Army with Cromwell on the eastern bank of the Severn and Fleetwood on the western sweeping in a semicircle four miles long up toward Worcester.

The Royalists contested every hedgerow around Powick meadows. This stubborn resistance on the west bank of the Severn north of the Teme was becoming a serious problem for the Parliamentarians, so Cromwell led Parliamentary reinforcements from the eastern side of the town over the Severn pontoon bridge to aid Fleetwood. Charles II from his vantage point on top of Worcester cathedral's tower realised that an opportunity existed to attack the now-exposed eastern flank of the Parliamentary army.

As the defenders on the Western side of the city retreated in good order into the city (although during this maneuver Keith was captured and Montgomery was badly wounded), Charles ordered two sorties to attack the Parliamentary forces east of the city. The north-eastern sortie through St. Martin's Gate was commanded by the Duke of Hamilton and attacked the Parliamentary lines at Perry Wood.

The south-eastern one through Sidbury Gate was led by Charles II and attacked Red Hill. The Royalist cavalry under the command of David Leslie that was gathered on Pitchcroft meadow on the northern side of the city did not receive orders to aid the sorties and Leslie chose not to do so under his own initiative. Cromwell seeing the difficulty that his east flank was under rushed back over the Severn pontoon bridge with three brigades of troops to reinforce the flank. Although they were pushed back, the Parliamentarians under Lambert were too numerous and experienced to be defeated by such a move.

After an hour in which the Parliamentarians initially retreated under the unexpected attack, when reinforced by Cromwell's three brigades, they in turn forced the Royalists to retreat back toward the city.The Royalist retreat turned into a rout in which Parliamentarian and Royalist forces intermingled and skirmished up to and into the city. The Royalist position became untenable when the Essex militia stormed and captured Fort Royal, (a redoubt on a small hill to the south-east of Worcester overlooking the Sidbury gate), turning the Royalist guns to fire on Worcester.

Once in the city, Charles II removed his armour and found a fresh mount; he attempted to rally his troops but it was to no avail. A desperate Royalist cavalry charge down Sidbury Street and High Street, led by the Earl of Cleveland and Major Careless amongst others, allowed King Charles to escape the city by St. Martin's Gate. This cavalry force was composed of the few Midland English Royalists who had rallied to Charles II, and largely consisted of Lord Talbot's troop of horse.

The defenses of the city were stormed from three different directions as darkness came on, regulars and militia fighting with equal gallantry. Most of the few thousands of the Royalists who escaped during the night were easily captured by Lilburne and Mercer, or by the militia which watched every road in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Even the country people brought in scores of prisoners, for officers and men alike, stunned by the suddenness of the disaster, offered no resistance. About 3,000 men were killed during the battle and a further 10,000 were taken prisoner at Worcester or soon afterwards. The Earl of Derby was executed, while the other English prisoners were conscripted into the New Model Army and sent to Ireland. Around 8,000 Scottish prisoners were deported to New England, Bermuda, and the West Indies to work for landowners as indentured labourers. Parliamentary casualties numbered in the low hundreds. Charles II's escape included various incidents, including one of his hiding from a Parliamentarian patrol in an oak tree in the grounds of Boscobel House.

The result of the battle was, in brief, one of those rare victories in which a pursuit is superfluous. In announcing the Worcester victory of the day earlier, Cromwell's 4 September 1651 despatch to William Lenthall, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has become famous: "The dimensions of this mercy are above my thoughts. It is, for aught I know, a crowning mercy." Hence, Cromwell thought the victory was the greatest of all the favours, or mercies, given to him by God, and the expression "crowning mercy" is frequently linked to the battle, thought to be descriptive of the impact of the end of the English Civil War through complete destruction of the last Royalist army.

The Parliamentary militia were sent home within a week. Cromwell, who had ridiculed "such stuff" six months ago, knew them better now. "Your new raised forces," he wrote to the Rump Parliament, "did perform singular good service, for which they deserve a very high estimation and acknowledgement". The New England preacher Hugh Peters gave the militia a rousing farewell sermon "when their wives and children should ask them where they had been and what news, they should say they had been at Worcester, where England's sorrows began, and where they were happily ended", referring to the first clash of the Royalist and Parliamentarian Armies at the Battle of Powick Bridge on 23 September 1642, almost exactly nine years before. Before the battle King Charles II contracted the Worcester Clothiers Company to outfit his army with uniforms but was unable to pay the £453.3s bill. In June 2008 Charles, Prince of Wales paid off the 357-year-old debt (less the interest, which would have amounted to around £47,500.)

The Battle of Rullion Green

They came that day from Collinton to the house of the Moore( telling me that clan Muir was present at this battle), and there, upon thier fatal spot called Rollion Green, they drew up thier discouraged remnant and not exceeding 900 spent men. The Battle of Rullion Green in the Pentland Hills, in Lothian, Scotland on 28 November 1666 was the culmination of the brief Pentland Rising (15– 28 November 1666). At least 3000 men of the Scottish Royal Army led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns opposed about 900 Covenanter rebels. The Pentland Rising was in the context of the long-running government campaign to impose episcopalianism upon Scotland.

The uprising began in St. John’s Town of Dalry, where troops were beating an elderly man who had defaulted on a fine for not attending government-approved church services. The troops were interrupted by four covenanters and then supported by the local populace, who disarmed the soldiers. Robert McClellan of Barscobe led the Rising; he gathered some men in Dalry, led them to Balmaclellan, where after a skirmish with other troops, he raised more men. McClellan led them to Dumfries, and there they captured the local commander, General Turner, at 5.30 in the morning, still in his nightshirt, in his lodgings on the Whitesands. McClellan, aided by Neilson of Corsock, took the gathering force up to Ayrshire, thence to Lanarkshire, and then to Colinton near Edinburgh, on their way to present their petition to the Parliament.

Many deserted the group following bad weather, a poor choice of routes and the news received at Colinton that they could not expect a sympathetic reception in Edinburgh. From a peak of perhaps 3000 men the force had diminished by half at Colinton, and then further dispersed as the group headed home towards Galloway. The rebels included experienced professional soldiers as well as citizenry, and were commanded by Colonel James Wallace of Auchens.The monument outside Dreghorn Barracks at Colinton near Edinburgh, which commemorates Rullion Green.

The rebel forces decided to hold a parade and review by Colonel Wallace at Rullion Green in the Pentland Hills. General Tam Dalyell of the Binns was with a force in Currie, and cut through the Pentland Hills to confront the rebels. The survivors were treated with cruelty; 15, including Neilson of Corsock, were hanged, drawn and quartered, and several, including two boys of 18, were tortured first with the boot.

The Rye House Plot

The Ryehouse Plot was a scheme in 1683 with the object of assassinating King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York (later James II ) in order to secure the succession of the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II and Lucy Walter. Born in 1649 he was raised by Lord Croft and made Duke of Monmouth in 1663. He later married the wealthy Ann, Countess of Buccleuch. The plot was intended to put him on the throne in place of his father ( and in lieu of the openly Catholic James). The hope was that the Protestant people would rise up, but they had already had enough of civil war and the rebellion failed. At the same time the mounted an invasion of Scotland, but his plan also failed for lack of support; he was was caught and executed. In England during 1682 plans were being made to further a revolution which would leave a constitutional monarchy but exclude the accession of James.

The main conspirators were the Duke of Monmouth, Lord William Russell, Lord Essex and Sir Algernon Sydney. Monmouth had commanded the royalist forces against the Covenanters at Bothwell Brig . The others were patriots concerned that James, a Catholic, would succeed to the throne. They were in contact with the Earl of Argyll and had thoughts of collaboration with him for simultaneous revolution in Scotland and England. They suggested a variety of venues and methods to take the King and his brother. Proposals included shooting them from Bow Steeple, attack them in St James Park; or in their barge on the river Thames. Outside London they considered the road between London and Winchester; the road betwen Hampton Court and Windsor.

Finally a conspirator named Rumbold ( a fearless officer from the Ironsides and a staunch republican) offered his home - Rye House as a base, about eighteen miles from London. The King and Duke of York were known by various nicknames - ` Slavery` and `Popery ` were one label , another was after their complexions - Charles was dark complexion and called ` Blackbird` while James , Duke of York, was fair and called ` Goldfinch`. There were several suggestions how they might be killed but eventually the conspirators met at Rye House, near Hoddesdon in Hertforshire to make their final plans. Near to Rye House ran a narrow lane that was regularly used by the King when he went to Newmarket. Along it was a thick hedge on one side and on the other an outhouse that afforded good cover and vantage for the assassins.

The house itself was surrounded by a moat and was easily defended by a small party if needs be. But there was no attempt made on the King`s life for he returned from Newmarket a day earlier than anticipated. The plot was discovered and Lord William Russell and Algernon Sydney were beheaded.The Rye House Plot was the excuse the government needed to arrest the chivalrous patriot Robert Baillie of Jerviswood. Baillie had been in London and had discussions about the establishment of a settlement in Carolina. In the course of several meetings there had been discussion about the succession and what might be done about it. Baillie recognised the desirability of doing something to prevent the Catholic Duke of York from the throne, but assassination was not one of them. Baillie and his fellow Scots ( Including Sir William Muir of Rowallan) were arrested and sent to Edinburgh in October 1683. He lingered in the Tolbooth suffering ill health, but was eventually tried for high treason, found guilty by a packed jury ( nothing was left to chance) and executed 23 December 1684.

The Battle of Bothwell Bridge

The Battle of Bothwell Bridge took place on 22 June 1679 in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The Covenanters had established their camp on the south bank of the Clyde, north of Hamilton. The rebels numbered around 6000 men, but were poorly disciplined and deeply divided by religious disagreements. They had few competent commanders, being nominally led by Robert Hamilton of Preston, although his rigid stance against the Indulged ministers only encouraged division. The preacher Donald Cargill and William Clevland, the victor of Drumclog, were present, as were David Hackston of Rathillet and John Balfour of Kinloch, known as Burley, who were among the group who murdered Archbishop Sharp on 3 May. The government army numbered around 5000 regular troops and militia, and was commanded by Monmouth, supported by Claverhouse and the Earl of Linlithgow.

The royalist troops were massed on the northern or Bothwell bank of the river Clyde on sloping ground that included a field that has since become known, ironically enough, as the Covenanters Field - not because the battle was fought there but because for many years it was the venue for a covenanters conventicle organised by the Scottish Covenanters Memorial Association. The battle centred on the narrow bridge across the Clyde, the passage of which Monmouth was required to force in order to come at the Covenanters. Hackston led the defence of the bridge and had some initial success in the initial skirmishes at the bridge itself. But his men lacked artillery and ammunition, and were forced to withdraw after around an hour. Once Monmouth's men were across the bridge, the Covenanters were quickly routed. Many fled into the parks of nearby Hamilton Palace, seat of Duchess Anne, who was sympathetic to the Presbyterian cause, and it was in this area that the final engagements took place.

The numbers of covenanters who were killed varies widely with estimates ranging from 7 - 700 according to the Scottish Battles Gazetteer. Around 1200 were taken prisoner. The prisoners taken at Bothwel, were banished to America; who were taken away by Paterson merchant at Leith, who transacted for them with Provost Milns, laird of Barnton, the man that first burnt the covenant; whereof 200 were drowned by shipwreck at a place called the Mule-head of Darness near Orkney, being shut up by the said Paterson’s order beneath the hatches; 50 escaped, whereof the names, so many of them as could be had, follow; these who escaped are printed in italic characters, for distinction’s sake.

Amongest those was an unknow More. Other Mores fought along side clan Leslie, Grant and Moirs who fought in clan Gordon during the Scottish and English civil wars. The list of the prisoners now in Dunnottar, not banished; all of them refused the oath of alleadgeance, and mannie of them refused His Majestie’s authoritie, and to swear the oath of abjuratione befor the Ld of Gosford, at Bruntilland, the 19th May, 1685: George Moore (George Muir), Geo Moorhead (George Moorhead), Wm. Gilmore (William Gilmore), Robert Gilmoore (Robert Gilmore).

The other clan battles and battles that the Moirs fought with the Gordons, Mores with Leslie, Boyds and other allied clans: Battle of Linlithgow, The battle of Linlithgow Bridge, Battle of Hadden Rig, Siege of Carlisle (1315), Capture of Edinburgh, Battle of Haddington, Siege of Broughty castles, Battle of Boroughmuir, Battle of Crossraguel abbey, Battle of Minishant, Siege of Kilmarnock, Skirmish of Irvine, Battle of Harpsdale, Siege of Inverness 1429, Battle of Arbroath, Siege of Stirling by Edward Mure of Middletoune and Mungo Muir of Rowallan, Battle of Glenlivet, Battle of Sauchieburn, Battle of Kerelaw, Battle of Auchenharvie, Battle of Waterstoun, Battle of Eglinton, Battle of Ardoch,Battle of Aiket, Battle of Druminnor, Battle of Auchendraine Castle, Battle of Rowallan castle, Battle of Glendale, Battle of Morranside, Battle of Lochaber, Battle of Alltan- Beath, Battle of Corgarff, Battle of Craibstone, Battle of Brechin and Battle of Torran Dubh.

Battle of Alltachuilain, Battle of Tillieangus, Battle of Corrichie, Siege of Inverness 1562, 1649 and 1650, Battle of Langside, Battle of Carberry Hill, Battle of Dornoch, Skirmish of Duppil Burn, Battle of Inverlochy, Battle of Dalnaspidal, Siege of Balquhain castle, Battle of Perth, Battle of Rhunahaorine Moss, Battle of Dunaverty, Battle of Lagganmore, Siege of Carlisle 1645, Battle of Stirling, and Battle of Inverkeithing.

The Thirty Years War

The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest, most destructive conflicts in European history. Initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting Holy Roman empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe,, becoming less about religion and more a continuation of the France-Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence. The war began when the Holy Roman Empire tried to impose religious uniformity on its domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights, banded together to form the Protestant Union.

The new emperor, Ferdinand II, was a staunch Catholic and pretty much intolerant when compared to his predecessor. His policies were considered heavily pro-Catholic and extreme to a certain degree. These fears caused the Protestant Bohemians, dominion of Habsburg, Austria to revolt against their rulers. They ousted the Habsburgs and instead elect Frederick V, elector of Palatinate as their monarch. Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Catholic, was angered by this treachery. Led by Bavaria, these states form the Catholic League to expell Frederick in support of the Emperor.

The Empire soon crushed this perceived rebellion, but reactions around the Protestant world condemned the Emperor's action. Feeling uneasy after the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union and decided to fight back. Sweden soon intervened in 1630 and began the full scale Great war on the continent. Spain, wishing to crush the Dutch rebels, intervened under the pretext of helping their dynastic ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its border, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants to counter the Habsburgs. The Thirty Years' War saw the devastation of entire regions, with famine and disease significantly decreasing the population of the German and Italian states, the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the low countries. The war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers.

Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies were expected to fund themselves by looting or extorting tribute, which imposed severe hardships on the inhabitants of occupied territories. The Thirty Years' War ended with the treaties of Osnabruck and Munster, part of the wider peace of Westphalia. The war altered the previous political order of European Powers. The rise of Bourbon France, the curtailing of Habsburg ambition, and the ascendancy of Sweden as a great power, created a new balance of power on the continent. France's dominant position would be the central tenet of European politics in the upcoming years, until another great war saw Britain rise as the foremost world power in the 18th Century. Mores/ Muir fought in the Swedish Army.

There were Sir William Muir/ Mure of Rowallan, Patrick More, Jacob Mur, and others. They all fought for the Swedish army and some have held the rank of general at the end of their services. The battles that these clansmen fought in which includes the following: Siege of Paderborn, Zusmarshausen Skirmish and others, while Sir William Muir of Rowallan fought under the brillant commander of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in Germany. Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder, Battle of Werben, First Battle of Breitenfeld,Battle of Rain or Battle of Lech or Battle of the River Lech, Battle of Alte Veste, Battle of Fürth and Battle of Lützen. There was a John Muire of Captain Johne Hamitouns, company of Sir John Meldrums regiment at Maribrig on August 1, 1629.

Colonel Patrick More

Patrick More served twenty years during the thirty years war. He recieved the commandant's position in Buxtehude, with the donations of the land ( The island of Krautsandt) serving as a partial payment for his services. In June, Patrick More also became both an adjutant general to Wittenberg and was a colonel over a German cavalry regiment in recognition of his services. Barclay and More muust have been in the forces used by Douglas to laid siege to Paderborn in June as Douglas said to have command all the Swedish cavarly and two regiments of dragoons in the blockade of the city, in which More was part of the dragoons.

Skirmish at Zusmarshausen

Wrangel's army contained five regiments led by the Scottish which includes William Forbes, Herbert Gladstone, John Nairn, Patrick More, and LT. General Robert Douglas. The Battle of Zusmarshausen was fought on 17 May 1648 between the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and France modern Augsburg district of Bavaria, Germany. The Swedish-French force was victorious, and the Imperial army barely escaped annihilation. The French army, led by Turenne, first captured several pieces of artillery, before they met up with the Swedish army. When the armies met, they numbered about 26,000 men, while the Empire only had 10,000 men. This battle was one of the last fought in the Thirty years War; its consequences were the weakening of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Holy Roman Empire and signalled the rise of France as the most powerful state of Europe. Patrick More and William Forbes also served as colonels of german regiments part of a group of eleven Scottish officers who commanded between them some thirteen non Swedish regiments and Garrisons in 1648.

Sir William Muir of Rowallan

Sir William Mure was the sixteenth and last Mure of Rowallan. He served in Germany under Gustavus Adolphus. At the following engagements in which William Mure fought at the battles of Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder, Battle of Werben, First Battle of Breitenfeld,Battle of Rain or Battle of Lech or Battle of the River Lech, Battle of Alte Veste, Battle of Fürth and Battle of Lützen. It's not clear if Sir William Mure stayed or left after his commander Gustavus was killed.

On 26 June or 6 July 1630, William Mure joinned Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden with a fleet of 27 ships arrived at the island of Usedom and made landfall near Peenemunde with 13,000 troops(10,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry on thirteen transport ships. The core of the invasion force consisted of trained peasants, recruited to the Swedish army following Gustavus Adolphus' military reforms of 1623.The western flank of the Swedish invasion force was cleared from Stralsund, which served as the basis for Swedish forces clearing Rugen and the adjacent mainland from 29 March until June 1630.

Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder

Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus started to intervene in the Thirty Years War by supporting Stralsund against Wallenstein in 1628, and landed in Pomerania in June 1630. With the central parts of the Duchy of Pomerania, Sweden had gained a bridgehead in the Holy Roman Empire's northeastern most corner, while the rest of the empire was occupied by forces of the Catholic league and FerdinandII, Holy Roman Emperor. Except for Magdeburg, which had allied with Sweden on 1 August, the German Protestant states distrusted Gustavus Adolphus and hesitated to enter an alliance.

In January 1631, Swedish forces garrisoned in the Pomeranian bridgehead proceeded southwards, and sacked the Pomeranian towns of Gartz and Greifenhagen (now Gryfino) near Pomerania's border with Brandenburg. Further southward advances along the Oder into the territory of George William, Elector of Brandenburg followed, and on 23 January 1631, Sweden allied with France in the Treaty of Barwalde, concluded in Brandenburgian Barwalde (now Mieszkowice).

The Swedish forces, commanded by Gustavus Adolphus, were supported by Scottish auxiliaries commanded by John Hepburn and Robert Monro. They laid siege on the town for two days, and stormed it on the second day. The assault was successful and resulted in the sack of the town.The success was in part due to internal quarrels in the defending force--mercenaries who had not been paid refused to fight without receiving their pay first.The defenders were "slaughtered [...] where they stood" and suffered 3,000 deaths, compared to 800 casualties on the Swedish side. Many deaths occurred when the town was looted. Scottish major general in Swedish service John Leslie was appointed governor of the town and gave orders to have its defenses strengthened and the thousands of bodies buried.

The latter task was achieved by digging mass graves for over a hundred bodies each; after six days, all dead had been buried. John Leslie was soon succeeded as Frankfurt's governor by another Scot, James MacDougal , who was in turn succeeded by a third Scot, Alexander Leslie. Frankfurt served to protect the rear of the advancing Swedish army. The other major town in northeastern Brandenburg, Landsberg (Warthe) (now Gorzow) was taken on 23 April. Subsequently, George William, Elector of Brandenburg was forced into treaties with Sweden on 14 May, 20 June, and 10 September 1631, which put Sweden in charge of the Brandenburgian military capacities, but did not have the status of an actual alliance. Throughout 1631, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden advanced into central Germany, and while Magdeburg was lost in May and Gustavus Adolphus was hard-pressed at Werben in July, the subsequent victory at Breitenfeld in September paved the way for his advance into southern Germany.

Battle of Werben

The Battle of Werben was a battle of the Thirty Years' War, fought on July 22, 1631, between the Swedish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. The Swedes had 16,000 soldiers and were led by Gustavus Adolphus, while the Imperialists had 23,000 soldiers and were led by Field-Marshal Count Tilly. Tilly's troops attacked Gustavus' entrenchments in front of Werben (Elbe), but Swedish batteries and the cavalry under Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin forced them to retreat. The attack was renewed a few days later with a similar result, and Tilly then drew off his forces, having suffered a loss of 6,000 men.

First Battle of Breitenfeld

The battle started in the middle of the day and lasted over six hours. The first two hours consisted of an exchange of artillery fire. This was followed by an imperial attack with cavalry from both wings to both ends of the Unionist line. The cavalry attack routed the Saxon troops on the Unionist left flank. The imperial army then conducted a general attack to exploit the exposed left flank. The Swedes repositioned their second line to cover the left flank and counterattacked with their cavalry to both imperial flanks. The attack on the imperial left was led personally by the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus.

It captured the imperial artillery and enveloped the imperial left flank. The Swedish now had much greater weight of fire from their artillery, infantry, and the captured imperial artillery. The imperial line became disorganized under the heavy fire and was enveloped. The imperial line collapsed and over 80% of the imperial forces were killed or captured. 120 standards of the Imperial and Bavarian armies were taken (and are still on display in the Riddarholm church in Stockholm); and Gustav's innovations in military operations and tactics were confirmed.

The combined Swedish-Saxon forces were to the north of Leipzig centered around hamlet of Podelwitz, facing southwest toward Breitenfeld and Leipzig. The battle began around mid-day, with a two-hour exchange of artillery fire, during which the Swedes demonstrated firepower in a rate of fire of three to five volleys to one Imperial volley. Gustavus had lightened his artillery park, and each colonel had four highly mobile, rapid firing, copper-cast three pounders, the cream of Sweden’s metallurgical industry. When the artillery fire ceased, Pappenheim's Black Cuirassiers charged without orders, attempting to turn the Swedish right. Instead, their attack fell between Johan Banér's line and the Swedish reserves.

They attacked with a caracole and were driven back, repeating the maneuver six more times to little effect. The small companies of musketeers dispersed between the squadrons of horse fired a salvo at point blank range, disrupting the charge of the Imperialist cuirassier and allowing the Swedish cavalry to counterattack at an advantage. The same tactics worked an hour or so later when the imperial cavalry charged the Swedish left flank. Following the rebuff of the seventh assault, General Banér sallied forth with both his light (Finnish and West Gaetlanders) and heavy cavalry (Smalanders and East Gaetlanders).

Banér’s cavalry had been taught to deliver its impact with the saber, not to caracole with the hard-to-aim pistols or carbines, forcing Pappenheim and his cavalry quit the field in disarray, retreating 15 miles northwest to Halle. During the charges of the Cuirassiers, Tilly's infantry had remained stationary, but then the cavalry on his right charged the Saxon cavalry and routed it towards Eilenburg. There may have been confusion in the imperial command at seeing Pappenheim’s charge; in their assessment of the battle, military historians have wondered if Pappenheim precipitated an attempted double envelopment, or if he followed Tilly’s preconceived plan.

At any rate, recognizing an opportunity, Tilly sent the majority of his infantry against the remaining Saxon forces in an oblique march diagonally across his front. Tilly ordered his infantry to march ahead diagonally to the right, concentrating his forces on the weaker Saxon flank. The entire Saxon force was routed, leaving the Swedish left flank exposed. Before the Imperial forces could regroup and change face towards the Swedes, the commander of the Swedish Left, Marshal Gustav Horn, refused his line and counter-attacked before the tercios could regroup and change face. With the Imperial forces engaged, the Swedish right and center pivoted on the refused angle, bringing them in line with Horn. Banér's cavalry, under the direct command of Gustavus Adolphus, attacked across the former front to strike the Imperial right and capture their artillery.

As Tilly's men came under fire from their own captured batteries, the Swedish cannon, under Lennart Torstensson, rotated, catching the tercios in a crossfire. After several hours of punishment, nearing sunset, the Catholic line finally broke. Tilly and Pappenheim were both wounded, though escaped. 7,600 Imperial soldiers were killed, and 6,000 were captured. The Saxon artillery was recaptured, along with all the Imperial guns and 120 regimental flags. After the battle, Gustav moved on Halle, following the same track that Tilly had taken coming east to enforce the Edict of Restitution on the Electorate of Saxony. Two days later Gustav's forces captured another 3,000 men after a brief skirmish at Merseburg, and took Halle two days after that.

Battle of Lützen

Morning mist delayed the Swedish army's advance, but by 9 am the rival armies were in sight of each other. Because of a complex network of waterways and further misty weather, it took until 11 am before the Protestant force was deployed and ready to launch its attack. Gustavus Adolphus rode his war-horse Streiff, a brown Oldenburg that he had purchased from a Colonel Johan Streiff von Lauenstein for the sum of 1000 riksdaler (the sum for a regular horse was about 70-80 riksdaler). Its saddle of gold embroiled red velvet was a gift from the King's wife, Maria Eleonora. Protecting the upper part of the King's body was a buff coat made of moosehide - his old musket wound to his shoulder blade making it impossible for him to wear heavy amour.

Initially, the battle went well for the Protestants, who managed to outflank Wallenstein's weak left wing. After a while, Pappenheim arrived with 2,000–3,000 cavalry and halted the Swedish assault. This made Wallenstein exclaim, "Thus I know my Pappenheim!". However, during the charge, Pappenheim was fatally wounded by a small-calibre Swedish cannonball. At the same time, Pappenheim's counterattack collapsed. He died later in the day while being evacuated from the field in a coach. The cavalry action on the open Imperial left wing continued, with both sides deploying reserves in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Soon afterwards, towards 1:00 pm, Gustavus Adolphus was himself killed while leading a cavalry charge on this wing. In the thick mix of gun smoke and fog covering the field, he was separated from his fellow riders and killed by several shots. A bullet crushed his left arm below the elbow. Almost simultaneously his horse suffered a shot to the neck that made it hard to control.

In the mix of fog and smoke from the burning town of Lützen the king rode astray behind enemy lines. There he sustained yet another shot in the back, was stabbed and fell from his horse. Lying on the ground, he received a final, fatal shot to the temple. His fate remained unknown for some time. However, when the gunnery paused and the smoke cleared, his horse was spotted between the two lines, Gustavus himself not on it and nowhere to be seen. His disappearance stopped the initiative of the hitherto successful Swedish right wing, while a search was conducted.

His partly stripped body was found an hour or two later, and was secretly evacuated from the field in a Swedish artillery wagon. Meanwhile, the veteran infantry of the Swedish center had continued to follow orders and tried to assault the strongly entrenched Imperial center and right wing.

Their attack was a catastrophic failure they were first decimated by Imperial artillery and infantry fire and then ridden over by Imperial cavalry charging from behind the cover of their own infantry. Two of the oldest and most experienced infantry units of the Swedish army, the 'Old Blue' Regiment and the Yellow or 'Court' Regiment were effectively wiped out in these assaults; remnants from them streamed to the rear. Soon most of the Swedish front line was in chaotic retreat.

The royal preacher, Jakob Fabricius, rallied a few Swedish officers around him and started to sing a psalm. This act had many of the soldiers halt in hundreds. The foresight of Swedish third-in-command 'Generalmajor' Dodo zu Innhausen und Knyphausen also helped staunch the rout: he had kept the Swedish second or reserve line well out of range of Imperial gunfire, and this allowed the broken Swedish front line to rally. By about 3 PM, the Protestant second-in-command Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, having learned of the king's death, returned from the left wing and assumed command over the entire army.

He vowed to win the battle in retribution for Gustavus or die trying, but contrary to popular legend tried to keep the king's fate secret from the army as a whole. (Although rumors were circulating much earlier, it was only the following day that Bernhard collected his surviving officers together and told them the truth.) The result was a grim struggle, with terrible casualties on both sides. Finally, with dusk falling, the Swedes captured the linchpin of Wallenstein's position, the main Imperial artillery battery. The Imperial forces retired back out of its range, leaving the field to the Swedes. At about 6 pm, Pappenheim's infantry, about 3,000–4,000 strong, after marching all day towards the gunfire, arrived on the battlefield. Although night had fallen, they wished to counterattack the Swedes.

Wallenstein, however, believed the situation hopeless and instead ordered his army to withdraw to Leipzig under cover of the fresh infantry. The body of Gustav II Adolf was plundered of its clothes and gold jewelry and left on the battlefield dressed only in his shirts and long stockings. His buff coat was taken as a trophy to the emperor in Vienna. It was returned to Sweden in 1920, in recognition of relief efforts by the Swedish red cross during and after the First World War. The king's horse, Streiff, followed the procession with the king's body through northern Germany. When Streiff died at Wolgast in 1633, his hide was saved and sent to Stockholm and Sweden where it was mounted on a wooden model. "The Hero-king's war horse" would soon be displayed in the Royal Armory as a monument to the King.

Today Streiff is permanently displayed in the Royal Armory in Stockholm, Sweden. Strategically and tactically speaking, the Battle of Lützen was a Protestant victory. Having been forced to assault an entrenched position, Sweden lost about 6,000 men including badly wounded and deserters, many of whom may have drifted back to the ranks in the following weeks.

The Imperial army probably lost slightly fewer men than the Swedes on the field, but because of the loss of the battlefield and general theatre of operations to the Swedes, fewer of the wounded and stragglers were able to rejoin the ranks. The Swedish army achieved the main goals of its campaign. The Imperial onslaught on Saxony was halted, Wallenstein chose to withdraw from Saxony into Bohemia for the winter, and Saxony continued in its alliance with the Swedes. A more long-lasting consequence of the battle was the death of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, leader of the Protestant forces. Without him to unify the German Protestants, their war effort lost direction. As a result, the Catholic Habsburgs were able to restore their balance and subsequently regain some of the losses Gustavus Adolphus had inflicted on them.

The Mures of Auchendraine who served in the Dutch Army

The Mures of Auchendraine also served in the Duke of Buceleuch regiment, which was under the command of Prince Maurice of Nassau; commander of the Dutch forces. The following battles the Mures of Auchendraine fought at includes:

The Battle of Axel
The Battle of 3rd Reinberg 1598
The Battle of 1st Bergen op Zoom, 1588
The Battle of Doetinchem
The Battle of Medemblik, 1588
The Battle of Rees 1599
The Battle of Geertruidenberg, 1589
The Battle of Nieuwpoort 1600
The Battle of 3rd Breda, 1590
The Battle of Ostend 1601
The Battle of 2nd Steenbergen 1590
The Siege of S-Hertogenbosch 1601
The Battle of 3rd Zutphen, 1591
The Siege of Sluis 1604
The Battle of Deventer 1591
The Battle of 2nd Oldenzaal 1605
The Battle of Huy 1595
The Battle of 2nd Lingen 1605
The Battle of 2nd Groenlo 1595
The Battle of Mulheim 1605
The Battle of 1st Halst 1596
The Battle of Wachtendock
The Battle of Turnhout 1597
The Battle of Krakau Castle
The Battle of 2nd Venlo 1597
The Battle of 2nd Bredevoot 1606
The Battle of 2nd Rheinberg 1597
The Battle of 4th Rheinberg 1606
The Battle of 1st Meurs 1597
The Battle of 4th Groenlo 1606
The Battle of 3rd Groenlo 1597
The Battle of 3rd Venlo 1606
The Battle of 1st Bredevoort 1597
The Battle of Julich 1621- 1622
The Battle of Enschede 1597
The Battle of 2nd Bergen op Zoom 1622
The Battle of Ootmarsum 1597
The Battle of 3rd Steenbergen 1622
The Battle of 1st Oldenzaal 1597
The Battle of 4th Breda 1624
The Battle of 1st Lingen 1597
The Battle of 2nd Meurs 1598

In March 1568, John Brown, a servant of Robert Stewart, feuar of Orkney, went to morning prayers in the cathedral. Afterwards, he apparently made for one of the turnpike stairs leading up to the triforium. The men of the bishop who were guarding the building warned Brown that they would shoot him if he did not leave. Brown went out in high dudgeon and returned with seven companions. They rushed into the cathedral and opened fire on the bishop's men, who were only five in number. Two of them, Nicol Alexander and James Moir, were killed; the others scampered upstairs and let themselves down the outside of the building on a rope, leaving Robert's men in possession of the building.

The British Empire

The Mure, Muir, Moore and the variant of spelling has played an enormous part of the British empire. They have help built and maintain the British empire throughout the centuries. The British empire started with the last Jacobite rising of the 1745-1746. In which brought Scotland and England into harmony and creating the most powerful and largest empire in history. From mainland Europe, to Africa, Pacific, Asia, North America and the Caribbean. The British will face two other empires in a struggle for dominance worldwide against the Spanish and the French empires. There was a Moore at the battle of Copenhagen.

Sir Graham Moore

Sir Graham Moore was an admiral in the British navy. Moore was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Jean Simson and John Moore, doctor and author. He entered the Navy in 1777 at the age of 13. He was promoted to lieutenant on 8 March 1782 to serve aboard Crown, taking part in the relief of Gibraltar under Lord Howe, and the subsequent battle of Cape Spartel in October. During the peace he travelled through France, but was recalled to serve aboard Perseus, Dido, and then Adamant, the flagship of Sir Richard Hughes on the North American Station. On 22 November 1790 he was promoted to commander in the sloop Bonetta, before finally returning to England in 1793. Moore was promoted to post-captain on 2 April 1794, soon after the start of the Revolutionary War, with command of the 32-gun frigate Syren, in the North Sea and the coast of France.

He then commanded the 36-gun frigate Melampus from September 1795. In her he took part in the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October 1798, capturing the French frigate Résolue two days later. In February 1800 he went out to the West Indies, but was invalided home after eighteen months. On the renewal of the war in 1803 he was appointed to Indefatigable (44), and with three other frigates -- Medusa (32), Lively (38) and Amphion (32) -- under his command, captured a Spanish treasure fleet of four frigates -- Medea (40), Clara (34), Fama (34) and Mercedes (36) -- carrying bullion from the Caribbean back to Spain off Cadiz in the Action of 5 October 1804. Moore was then attached to Sir Robert Calder's squadron blockading Ferrol. In 1808, he served as commodore, flying his broad pennant in the new ship Marlborough assisting Admiral Sir Sidney Smith with the Portuguese royal family's escape to Brazil, and was subsequently made a Knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He later served as part of the North Sea fleet for several years.

At the close of the Walcheren campaign in December 1809, he was entrusted with destroying the basin, arsenal, and sea defenses of Flushing (Vlissingen). Moore commanded Chatham from March 1812, until promoted to rear-admiral on 12 August 1812, and served as Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic for a short time, flying his flag in HMS Fame. In 1814 he served as captain of the fleet to Lord Keith in the Channel, and became second-in command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1815. Following the end of the war he served on the Board of Admiralty between 1816 and 1820, being promoted to vice admiral on 12 August 1819. He was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet between 1820 and 1823,promoted to full admiral on 10 January 1837, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth from 1839 to 1842 flying his flag in Impregnable.

The Siege of Gibraltar

The combined Spanish and French fleets blockaded Gibraltar from the sea, while on the land side an enormous army constructed forts, redoubts, entrenchments, and batteries from which to attack. General Elliott formed a corps of sharpshooters. As the winter of 1779 came down the garrison began to suffer from want of fresh provisions, which became very scarce and dear. Bread was almost impossible to get, and was not permitted to be issued except to the sick and children. Salt meat and biscuits, and not much of that, soon became the food of the troops, with an occasional issue of four ounces of rice as a full day's ration. Fuel was exhausted, and fires were only made with difficulty, the salt-encrusted timbers of old ships broken up in the harbor for the purpose.

To the rigors of the siege was added a violent outbreak of scurvy among the troops, due to the want of fresh vegetables and medicines. As the winter wore on, the scanty store of food grew so alarmingly low that the already meagre ration was reduced to just enough to keep life in the bodies of the men. But their morale remained high and the troops continued to take their turns at trench or battery, and endured the inclement weather and the shortage of food with fortitude. The Spanish were forced to commit increasing number of troops and ships to the siege, postponing the planned Invasion of England, due to this and the cancellation of the Armada of 1779. Admiral George Rodney, after capturing a Spanish convoy off Cape Finisterre on 8 January 1780, and eight days later defeating a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, reached Gibraltar in the spring of 1780, bringing reinforcements of 1,052 men and an abundance of supplies.

This greatly heartened the garrison, who, as soon as Rodney's fleet left, found the fortress as closely besieged as ever. The British defenders resisted every attempt to capture Gibraltar by assault. While the two sides unceasingly exchanged shot and shell, by the end of the summer provisions again began to be meagre and scurvy began to reappear, reducing the effective strength of the garrison. Through the use of small, fast-sailing ships that ran the blockade they were able to keep in touch with the British forces on Minorca until 1782, when that island fell. Throughout the second winter the garrison faced foes, elements, disease, and starvation, until in April 1781 another British fleet succeeded in reaching the harbor with stores and food. On 12 April 1781, Vice Admiral George Darby's squadron of 29 ships of the line escorting 100 store ships from England laden for Gibraltar entered the bay. The Spanish fleet was unable to intercept Darby's relief.

The Spanish, frustrated by this failure, opened up a terrific barrage while the stores were unloaded, but only did great damage to the town. The civilian population of Gibraltar sailed with Darby for England on 21 April, again without hindrance from the blockading Spanish and French fleet. The French and Spanish found it was impossible to starve the garrison out. They therefore resolved to make further attacks by land and sea and assembled a large army and fleet to carry this out. But on 27 November 1781, the night before they were to launch the grand attack, half the British garrison filed silently out of their defense works and made a surprise sortie. The sortie routed the whole body of the besieging infantry in the trenches, set their batteries on fire, blew up and spiked their cannon, destroyed their entrenchments, and killed or took prisoner a large number of the Spaniards.

The British did damage to the extent of two million pounds to the besiegers' stores and equipment that night. Spanish losses were over 200 and Governor Elliott claimed many were 'killed on the spot' because of the surprise. As the Spanish recovered and prepared to launch a counterattack, the British withdrew back inside their fortifications.

This reverse postponed the grand assault on Gibraltar for some time. Still, the Spaniards closely maintained the siege. A new depressing gun-carriage was devised by George Koehler which allowed guns to be fired down a slope. This was demonstrated on 15 February 1782 at Princess Royal's Battery. This new carriage enabled the defending guns to take advantage of the height of the Rock of Gibraltar. Eventually on 13 September 1782 the Bourbon allies launched their great attack; 5190 fighting men both French and Spanish aboard ten of the newly engineered 'floating batteries' with 138 heavy guns, as well as 18 ships of the line, 40 Spanish gunboats and 20 bomb-vessels with a total of 30,000 sailors and marines.

They were supported by 86 land guns and 35,000 Spanish and French troops (7,000–8,000 French) on land intending to assault the fortifications once they had been demolished. An 'army' of over 80,000 spectators thronged the adjacent hills over the Spanish border, among them the highest families in the land, assembled to see the fortress beaten to powder and 'the British flag trailed in the dust'. The 138 guns opened fire from floating batteries in the Bay and the 86 guns on the land side, directed on the fortifications after weeks of preparatory artillery fire. But the garrison replied with red-hot shot to set fire to and sink the attacker's floating batteries and warships in the Bay. In that great conflict, the British destroyed three of the floating batteries, which blew up as the 'red-hot shot' did its job. The other seven batteries were scuttled by the Spanish because they were too heavily damaged to continue the fight. In addition 719 men on board the ships (many of whom drowned) were casualties.

On 10 October a Spanish ship of the line San Miguel of seventy two guns under the command of Don Juan Moreno was captured by the garrison after it had lost its mizzen mast in a storm. Cannon fire from the King's Bastion was fired at the vessel some of which penetrated causing damage and casualties. The San Miguel then trying with great difficulty to get out of danger was grounded. Gunboats from the garrison quickly captured her being too close to the guns of Gibraltar. Moreno agreed to surrender to avoid any further bloodshed, and a total of 634 Spanish sailors, marines and dismounted dragoons were captured.

An attempt on 17 December to bombard the San Miguel by the Spanish and French with mortars failed causing only minimal damage. By this time the powder magazine had been removed or thrown overboard. In Britain the Admiralty considered plans for a major relief of Gibraltar, opting to send a larger, but slower fleet, rather than a smaller faster one. In September 1782 a large fleet left Spithead under Richard Howe, arriving off Cape St Vincent on 9 October. The following evening a gale blew up, scattering the Spanish and French fleet. This allowed Howe to sail unopposed into Gibraltar.

A total of 34 ships of the line escorted 31 transport ships which delivered supplies, food, and ammunition. The fleet also brought the 25th, 59th, and 97th regiments of foot bringing the total number of the garrison to over 7,000. Howe then sailed out and fought an indecisive battle with the combined allied fleet before withdrawing to Britain in line with his orders. The siege was continued for some months longer, but in the spring of 1783 a preliminary peace agreement brought the cessation of hostilities. Finally, in February 1783 the siege was lifted. The French and Spanish troops retired disheartened and defeated, after three years and seven months' conflict. Although the Spanish attempted to regain Gibraltar at the negotiating table, they preferred to retain Minorca and territories in the West Indies, and the final peace treaty left Gibraltar with the British. The victorious British garrison sustained a loss of 1,231 men, and expended 8,000 barrels of gunpowder.

George Augustus Elliott was made a Knight of the Bath and was created 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar. The Treaties of Versailles reaffirmed previous treaties. Many British regiments engaged in the defense were given the badge of the Castle of Gibraltar with the motto 'Montis Insignia Calpe', in commemoration of the gallant part it took in the 'Great Siege'.

Battle of Cape Santa Maria

At dawn on 5 October, the Spanish frigates sighted the coast of Portugal. At 7 a.m. they sighted the four British frigates. Bustamante ordered his ships into line of battle, and within an hour the British came up in line, to windward of the Spaniards and "within pistol-shot". Moore, the British Commodore, sent Lieutenant A Scott to the Spanish flagship Medea, to explain his orders. Bustamante naturally refused to surrender, and impatient of delays, at 10 a.m. Moore ordered a shot be fired ahead over the bows of Medea.

Almost immediately a general exchange of fire broke out. Within ten minutes the magazine of the Mercedes exploded destroying the ship, and killing all but 40 of her 240 crew. Within half an hour the Santa Clara and the Medea had surrendered, and the Fama broke away and trying to flee, the Medusa quickly followed.
However, Moore ordered the faster Lively to pursue, capturing the Fama a few hours later. The three frigates were taken to Gibraltar, and then to Gosport, England. Spain declared war on Great Britain on 14 December 1804, only to suffer a catastrophic defeat less than a year later at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805.

Napoleon, having crowned himself Emperor on 2 December, gained Spain as an ally in his war against Britain. In practical terms, the British interception of the four Real Armada frigates represented the end of an era for Bourbon Spain and regular specie shipments from the Spanish Empire's New World mines and mints. The squadron to which Mercedes belonged was the last of its kind that the world would see: a Spanish treasure fleet moving bullion from the New World Viceroyalties to the Iberian kingdoms.

Under the terms of the Cruisers and Convoys Act of 1708 ships captured at sea were "Droits of the Crown" and became the property of their captors, who received the full value of the ships and cargo in prize money. However, since technically Britain and Spain were not at war at the time of the action, the Admiralty Court ruled that the three ships were "Droits of the Admiralty", and all revenues would revert to them. The four Spanish ships carried a total of 4,286,508 Spanish dollars in silver and gold coin, as well as 150,000 gold ingots, 75 sacks of wool, 1,666 bars of tin, 571 pigs of copper, seal skins and oil, although 1.2 million in silver, half the copper and a quarter of the tin went down with the Mercedes. Still, the remaining ships and cargo were assessed at a value of £900,000 (equivalent to £69,103,000 today.). After much legal argument an ex gratia payment was made amounting to £160,000, of which the four Captains would have received £15,000 each (around £1,152,000 at present day values.).

The Medea was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Iphigenia (later renamed HMS Imperieuse), Santa Clara as HMS Leocadia and the Fama as HMS Fama. In March 2007 the Florida-based company Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered 17 tons of gold and silver from the Mercedes, insisting that it had been found in international waters and therefore beyond the legal jurisdiction of any one country. The Spanish government branded the Odyssey team "21st century pirates" and in May 2007 launched legal proceedings arguing that the wreck was protected by "sovereign immunity" which prohibits the unauthorized disturbance or commercial exploitation of state-owned naval vessels.

In June 2009 the Federal Court in Tampa found against Odyssey and ordered the treasure to be returned to Spain as has been done on 25 February 2012. Order of battle: Spain Medea 40 gun frigate, Flagship carrying Admiral Bustamante, commanded by Capitán Francisco de Piedrola y Verdugo, Fama 34 gun frigate, Capitán Miguel Zapiain y Valladares, Mercedes 36 gun frigate, Capitán Jose Manuel De Goicoa y Labart, Santa Clara 34 gun frigate, Capitán Aleson y Bueno, for Britain: HMS Indefatigable, 44 gun frigate, Flagship, Commodore Graham Moore, HMS Lively 38 gun frigate, Captain Graham Eden Hamond, HMS Amphion 32 gun frigate, Captain Samuel Sutton, and HMS Medusa 38 gun frigate, Captain John Gore.

Sir John Moore

Sir John Moore was the brother of Sir Graham Moore. While Graham Moore served in the British navy; John Moore went on joining the British army in which he will become one of Britain's best field commanders in history. John Moore will be involved in six wars total from the American Revolutionary war, French revolutionary wars, Irish rebellion of 1798, Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, French campaign in Egypt and Syria and the Peninsular war. He fought in many engagements such as the Penobscot expedition, Siege of Calvi, Battle of Foulksmills, Battles of Callantsoog, Krabbendam, Alkmaar, Aburkir, Alexandria, and the Battle of Corunna. Sir John Moore has won all nine battles.

Battle of Foulksmills

Moore's force was to link up and combine with the isolated garrison holding Duncannon before moving deeper into County Wexford, but after waiting several hours with no sign of their arrival, Moore decided to press ahead to the village of Taghmon alone. Upon nearing Goffs Bridge at Foulkesmill, his scouts reported a rapidly moving rebel force of some 5,000 moving quickly along the road with the intent to give battle. Moore dispatched a force of riflemen from the 60th Regiment to hold the bridge until artillery could be brought up in support. The rebels however, led by Fr. Phillip Roche, spotted this move and moved away from the road to the high ground on the left intending to outflank Moore's force. The 60th were forced to engage the rebels on the roads, fields and forests of the area and the rebel flanking move briefly threatened to overturn Moore's left.

Moore had to personally rally his fleeing troops to hold the line and led them in successful counter-attack. As more troops began to arrive the rebels were flushed out of their concealed positions, allowing the artillery to be brought into play and the rebels' move was foiled. The rebels were gradually pushed back field by field but were able to withdraw the bulk of their force safely. The road to Wexford was opened and the town recaptured by the Crown next day but during this battle, followers of rebel captain Thomas Dixon massacred between 35-100 (estimates vary) loyalist prisoners at Wexford bridge. Casualties are estimated at 500 on the rebel side and 100 of the military.

Battle of Callantsoog

Major-General Moore was in charge of the 4th Brigade with the 2/1st Royals, 25th, 49th Foot, 79th and 92nd Highlanders. At 3 AM on the morning of August 23, the British vanguard under Gen. Pulteney embarked in the boats of the British invasion fleet. There were not enough boats to accommodate all troops at once, so the landing had to be performed in stages. These 2500 men of the 3rd Brigade and Reserve landed without mishap; the first to put foot ashore was Lt. Macdonald of the Grenadier company of the 25th. The fleet had meanwhile swept the beach clear with a vigorous cannonade that displaced a lot of sand, but did no damage to the defenders as those were positioned behind the first row of dunes. The British had landed at the location that was locally known as Kleine Keeten (after a cluster of sheds, Dutch: Keten; further to the south existed a similar cluster, known as Groote Keeten).

On top of the dune near this location stood a semaphore station (Dutch: Telegraaf), which, as the nearest "strategic object", was immediately attacked by the British. The Batavian jagers tried to prevent its capture but were driven back on Kleine Keeten, as had been anticipated since they were just a skirmishing line. However, the inexperienced Line battalion that stood in reserve at this location, instead of letting the jagers into their line in an orderly fashion, panicked and were routed; their commander, Lt.Col. Luck, died in action during this melee. Another Batavian battalion, the 2nd of the 5th Demi-brigade counter-attacked with the bayonet, but the British numerical superiority was too great and this battalion was also driven back, again with the loss of its commander, Lt.Col. Herbig.

Gen. Guericke then decided to intervene on his own initiative and marched south from his command on the Batavian right wing with the 2nd battalion of the 7th Demi-brigade (2/VII) and two squadrons of cavalry and horse artillery, on the way rallying the 2/5th. Unfortunately, he deployed in the swamp area of the Koegras, behind the canal bordering the Zanddijk. This effectively cut him off from communications with not only his own command, but also the divisional command on the Batavian right wing. As a consequence, not only was his intervention ineffective (the canal was too much of an obstacle to attack the British around the semaphore), but also the remainder of the 7th Demi-brigade under Col. Gilquin (that was supposed to attack the British left flank) remained motionless during the entire battle for lack of orders to proceed.

All Batavian activity during the main phase of the battle was therefore on the British right flank, by the Batavian left wing. Here Daendels deployed his forces in three lines, as the front was too narrow to deploy more than two battalions in line at a time. He first had Col. Crass attack with the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 5th Demi-brigade, supported by cavalry and two pieces of horse artillery under Capt. d'Anguerand. He was opposed by the British 3rd Brigade (now under command of Gen. Coote, as Gen. Pulteney had received a wound in the arm and been forced to leave the field). The British had only enough room to deploy one battalion in line and there was a threat that they would be outflanked near Groote Keeten, where the main action was fought.

However, the Batavians were severely hampered by the terrain. The horses sometimes sank to their bellies into the dune sand and the artillery was constantly immobilized by the loose sand. Besides, the British gunboats were able to get very close to the beach and supported the British infantry vigorously, whenever they got sight of the enemy though gaps in the dunes. This British naval gunfire wrought havoc on the Batavian troops. While Col. Crass's troops were mauled by the British and slowly being driven back, Daendels piecemeal fed reinforcements into the battle. Elements of the 1st, 3rd and 6th Demi-brigades were so used up without much positive effect.

Meanwhile, the British disembarkation progressed almost without mishap; only one boat overturned, though with the loss of its crew of 20 drowned.) The British numerical superiority on their right wing kept growing, while they were able to bring up field artillery through the loose sand, manhandled by British seamen. Around 6 PM Daendels saw the futility of further fighting and withdrew to his starting position; the British did not pursue. Daendels was joined there by Guericke with his detachment.

This left only the troops of Col. Gilquin north of the British position near the batteries at Den Helder. Daendels decided to withdraw these troops also, as they were too few in number to withstand an assault by the far-superior British forces. Besides, the Helder batteries of course had their guns trained to seaward, and they therefore could not defend against an attack from the land side. (In the opinion of Admiral Story, they would have been unable to prevent an advance of the British fleet through the Marsdiep, anyway.) After spiking the 86 guns in the batteries, these Batavian troops left Den Helder by a roundabout route through the Koegras and arrived safely at the Batavian main force.

The consequence was that the roadstead of Nieuwe Diep fell into British hands without a fight, providing the British and Russian invasion forces in later phases of the invasion with a more convenient disembarkation location. Also, a number of inactive Batavian ships of the line were an easy prey for the British, as were the contents of the naval arsenal in Den Helder. The squadron of Admiral Story was forced to move away to the roadstead of De Vlieter further east. The British losses during the battle were 74 killed (including the 20 men that drowned), 376 wounded, and 20 missing. Among the dead were only three officers, but two of them were field officers: Lt.Cols. Hay, RE, and Smollett, 1st Foot.

The Dutch lost 137 dead and 950 wounded. On the night of the battle Daendels fell back on the nearby Zijpe polder where he occupied a defensive line. In the next few days he withdrew even further south, as he feared another amphibious landing near Petten in his rear, that would have placed him between two British forces. Such a landing would have exposed Alkmaar and points South to an easy British advance, too.

At first he seems to have considered retreating all the way to the line Purmerend-Monnikendam, but in the event he took up a defensive position in the Schermer polder near Alkmaar. Later historians have held this retreat against him (as they did the abandonment of the "fortress" of Den Helder). General Krayenhoff points out, however, that the abandonment of Den Helder, though deplorable in its effects, was probably unavoidable. The formidable fortress of Kijkduin, that Napoleon Bonaparte had built after 1810, and that was so tenaciously defended against the Dutch by Admiral Carel Hendrik Ver Huell in 1814, did not exist as yet.

Daendels's abandonment of the Zijpe seems more questionable, but only because the British in the event did not perform the obvious landing at Petten, of which they should have been fully capable. An important consideration was also, that the Batavians had exhausted their ammunition during the battle. They were for the moment unable to engage in a new battle for that reason. While Daendels arrived in his new position near Alkmaar on August 30, dramatic developments took place on the Batavian fleet. The crews and some officers mutinied during the notorious Vlieter Incident of that day, and the squadron of Admiral Story ignominiously surrendered to Admiral Mitchell without firing a shot.

Battle of Alexandria

The British position on the night of 20 March extended across the isthmus, the right wing resting upon the ruins of Nicopolis and the sea, the left on the lake of Abukir and the Alexandria canal. The line faced generally south-west towards the city, the reserve division under Major-General Sir John Moore on the right, the Foot Guards brigade in the center, and three other brigades on the left. In the second line were two infantry brigades and the cavalry (dismounted). On 21 March, the troops were under arms at 3 a.m., and at 3:30 a.m. the French attacked and drove in the outposts. The French army now moved forward with great rapidity in their usual formation of columns.

The brunt of the attack fell upon Moore's command, and in particular upon the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. The British repulsed the first shock but a French column penetrated in the dark between two British regiments. A confused fight ensued in the ruins, in which the 42nd Black Watch captured a color. The front and rear ranks of the 28th were simultaneously engaged, whereby the soldiers received the order "Front rank stay as you are, rear rank about turn" and the conduct of the regiment won for it the distinction of wearing badges both at the front and at the back of their head-dress. Other regiments that assisted in the overthrow of the French column were the 23rd, 40th and 58th. In a second attack the enemy's cavalry inflicted severe losses on the 42nd. Sir Ralph Abercrombie was here engaged in personal conflict with some French dragoons, and about this time received a mortal wound, though he remained on the field and in command to the end.

The attack on the center was repulsed by the cool and steady fire of the Guards, and the left wing maintained its position with ease, but the French cavalry for the second time came to close quarters with the reserve. About half-past eight the combat began to wane, and the last shots were fired at ten. The real attack had been pressed home on the British right, and the History of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment gives no undue praise to the regiments of the reserve in saying that "the determined attack would have been successful against almost any other troops." Technically, the details of the action show that, while not markedly better in a melee than the war-seasoned French, the British infantry had in its volleys a power that no other troops then existing possessed, and it was these volleys that decided the day even more than the individual stubbornness of the men. The 42nd, twice charged by cavalry, had but 13 men wounded by the sabre.

Part of the French losses were caused by the gunboats which lay close inshore and cannonaded the left flank of the French columns, and by a heavy naval gun which was placed in battery near the position of 28 March. The forces engaged on this day were approximately 14,000 British to about 20,000 French. Losses for the British were, 1468 killed, wounded and missing, including Abercrombie (who died on 28 March), Moore and three other generals wounded. The French on the other hand had 1160 killed and (?) 3000 wounded. The British advanced upon Alexandria and laid siege to it. The French garrison surrendered on 2 September 1801.

the Battle of Corunna

As day broke on 16 January the French were in position on the heights, and all through the morning both armies observed each across the valley between them. Moore planned to continue with the embarkation later that day if Soult did not attack. By afternoon Moore considered an attack unlikely and ordered the first divisions to make their way to the port; the rest of the army would follow at dusk, but shortly afterwards, at 2:00 pm, he learned that the French were attacking. Soult's plan was to move against the strongly placed British infantry of the left and center in order to contain it while the infantry division of Mermet attacked the more vulnerable British right above the village of Elvina. The cavalry was deployed further west near the more open country leading to Corunna. If the attacks succeeded they could seize the western end of the British lines and push on to cut off the bulk of the army from Corunna.

Mermet’s infantry advanced quickly and soon pushed the British parquets back, carrying the town of Elvina and attacking the heights beyond. The first French column divided into two with Gaulois' and Jardon's brigades attacking Baird front and flank, and the third French brigade pushing up the valley on the British right in an attempt to turn their flank with Lahoussaye's dragoons moving with difficulty over the broken ground and walls trying to cover the left of the French advance. The fiercest fighting took place in and around Elvina as the possession of this village would change hands several times, and the British suffered particularly from the fire of the heavy artillery on the heights opposite. As the French attack broke through Elvina and came up the hill behind it, Moore sent in the 50th Foot and the 42nd (Black Watch) to stop the French infantry while the 4th Foot held the left flank of the British line.

The ground around the village was broken up by numerous stone walls and hollow roads. Moore remained in this area to direct the battle, ordering the 4th Foot to fire down upon the flank of the second French column that was attempting the turning movement and calling up the reserve under Paget to meet it. The British advance carried beyond the village but some confusion among the British allowed Mermet's reserves to drive into and through Elvina again chasing the 50th and 42nd back up the slope.

Moore called up his divisional reserve, some 800 men from two battalions of the Guards, and together with the 42nd they halted the French advance. The British commander had just rallied the 42nd that had fallen back from Elvina and had ordered the Guards to advance on the village when he was struck by a cannonball. He fell mortally wounded, struck "on the left shoulder, carrying it away with part of the collar-bone, and leaving the arm hanging only by the flesh and muscles above the armpit". He remained conscious, and composed, throughout the several hours of his dying. The second advance again drove the French back through Elvina. Mermet now threw in his last reserves with one of Merle's brigade attacking the east side of the village. This was countered by an advance by Manningham's brigade and a long fire-fight broke out between two British: the 3/1st and the 2/81st and two French regiments: the 2nd Légere and 36th Ligne of Reynaud's brigade.

The 81st was forced out of the fight and relieved by the 2/59th and the fighting petered out here late in the day with the French finally retiring. For a time the British were without a leader until General John Hope took command as Baird was also seriously wounded. This hampered attempts at a counterattack in the crucial sector of Elvina, but the fighting continued unabated. Further west the French cavalry pushed forward as part of the flank attack and made a few charges but they were impeded by the rough terrain. Lahoussaye dismounted some his Dragoons which fought as skirmishers but they were eventually driven back by the advance of the 95th Rifles, 28th Foot and 91st Foot of the British reserves. Franceschi's cavalry moved to flank the extreme right of the British attempting to cut them off at the gates of Corunna but were countered again by the terrain and Fraser's division drawn up on the Santa Margarita ridge which covered the neck of the peninsula and the gates.

As Lahoussaye retired, Franceschi conformed with his movement. Night brought an end to the fighting by which time the French attacks had been repulsed and they returned to their original positions; both sides holding much the same ground as before the fight. Command of the British army had passed to General Hope who decided to continue the embarkation rather than to attempt to hold their ground or attack Soult. At around 9:00 pm the British began to silently withdraw from their lines, leaving behind strong picquets who maintained watch-fires throughout the night.

At daybreak on 17 January the picquets were withdrawn behind the rearguard and went aboard ship; by morning most of the army had embarked. When Soult perceived that the British had left the ridge, he posted six guns on the heights above the southern end of the bay and by midday the French were able to fire upon the outlying ships. This caused panic amongst some of the transports, four of which ran aground and were then burned to prevent their capture.

Fire from the warships then silenced the battery. On 18 January, the British rearguard embarked as the Spanish garrison under General Alcedo "faithfully" held the citadel until the fleet was well out to sea before surrendering. The city of Corunna was taken by the French, two Spanish regiments surrendering along with 500 horses and considerable military stores captured including numerous cannon, 20,000 muskets, hundreds of thousands of cartridges and tons of gunpowder.

A week later Soult's forces captured Ferrol, an even greater arsenal and a major Spanish naval base across the bay, taking eight ships of the line, three with 112 guns, two with 80, one 74, two 64s, three frigates and numerous corvettes, as well as a large arsenal with over 1,000 cannon, 20,000 new muskets from England and military stores of all kinds. As a result of the battle the British suffered around 900 men dead or wounded and had killed all their nearly 2,000 cavalry horses and as many as 4,000 more horses of the artillery and train.

The French lost around 1,000 men killed, wounded or captured. The most notable casualty was the British commander Sir John Moore, who survived long enough to learn of his success. Sir David Baird, Moore's second in command, was seriously wounded earlier in the battle and had to retire from the field. In addition two of Mermet's three brigadiers were also casualties: Gaulois was shot dead and Lefebvre badly hurt. These men were all involved in the fighting on the British right. On the morning of the battle 4,035 British were listed sick, a few hundred of these were too sick to embark and were left behind.

Two more transports were lost with about 300 troops mostly from the King's German Legion. By the time the army returned to England four days later some 6,000 were ill, with the sick returns listed at Portsmouth and Plymouth alone as 5,000. Within ten days the French had captured two fortresses containing an immense amount of military materiel which, with more resolution, could have been defended against the French for many months.

Ney and his corps reinforced with two cavalry regiments took on the task of occupying Galicia. Soult was able to refit his corps, which had been on the march and fighting since 9 November, with the captured stores so that, with half a million cartridges and 3,000 artillery rounds carried on mules (the roads not being suitable for wheeled transport), and with his stragglers now closed up on the main body, he was able to begin his march on Portugal on 1 February with a strength of 19,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 58 guns.

The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna
(1817) By Charles Wolfe

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O’er the grave where our hero we buried.
We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning;
By the struggling moonbeam’s misty light
And the lantern dimly burning.
No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him,
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
With his martial cloak around him.
Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.
We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed
And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
That the foe and the stranger would tread o’er his head,
And we far away on the billow!
Lightly they’ll talk of the spirit that’s gone
And o’er his cold ashes upbraid him,
But little he’ll reck, if they let him sleep on
In the grave where a Briton has laid him.
But half of our heavy task was done
When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
And we heard the distant and random gun
That the foe was sullenly firing.
Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
But left him alone with his glory.

Battle of Waterloo

At this battle many Mores, Moores and the variant spelling of this name fought at Waterloo. In the 2nd Regiment of Life Guard was James Moore, 2nd Royal worth British Dragoons were Andrew, and John Muir, Robert Muirhead, the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons were Samuel, and William Moore, John Moorhead, in the 17th (prince of Wales) regiment of Light dragoons were John and Thomas Moore, the 15th king's regiment of light Dragoons were James Morey, the 18th regiment of light dragoons was Thomas Moore, the 23rd regiment of light Dragoons was Michael, and Samuel Moore, the 10th regiment of light dragoons were Matthew Moorefoot and Robert Muirhead, the 11th regiment of light Dragoons were Edward and William Moore, the 13th regiment light Dragoons was William S. Moore, and in the 16th Queen's regiment of light Dragoons were George, James, John and William ( who lost his leg) Moore.

There was also a Benjamin Moir who stood beside Sir John Moore at the battle. On the 18th of June, 1815, the armies of Napoleon and Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington met near Waterloo (in present day Belgium). The ensuing battle came to be a defining moment in European history, and the end of Napoleon’s reign as Emperor of the French. Waterloo was the battle that brought the War of the Seventh Coalition to a close. It was fought between war-hardened French troops – mostly volunteers loyal to Napoleon – and a coalition of armies that comprised the British, Dutch, Hanoverians, Prussians (commanded by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher) as well as troops from Nassau and Brunswick.

Although Napoleon’s soldiers were outnumbered by the Coalition (73,000 facing 118,000), they were all veterans of at least one campaign, while Wellington’s troops were, in his own words, ‘very weak and ill-equipped’, with the majority of Britain’s experienced troops already having been sent to the United States to fight the War of 1812. Wellington’s cavalry was similarly inexperienced, with a severe shortage of heavy cavalry to call upon. In addition, Blücher’s 40,000 Prussian troops had been routed by Napoleon’s army two days previously, and so would not march into battle until the early evening, prompting Wellington to portentously say that ‘night or the Prussians must come’. Come the Prussians did, however, and by 8.30 that evening the French were defeated after a battle that Wellington would describe as ‘the nearest run things you ever saw in your life’. 44,000 men and 12,000 horses had been killed or wounded. Napoleon surrendered almost a month later, aboard the HMS Bellerophon on July 15th.

The Africa War

The British fought mostly in South Africa, even thou they annex some lands in the Northern part of Africa. They have fought against the Zulu empire and the Boers. Among them was a privates A. Moir, G. Moir, and R. Moir of the Gordon Highlanders; in which they were killed in the South Africa war. Another clansmen was Capt. James Philip Moir who served in the Nile Expedition in 1898 at the battle of Atbara. During the South Africa war in 1899-1902, which includes the battles of Belmont, Modder releif of Kimberly, paardeberg, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, and also fought in Belfast, Ireland. There was also a Maurice George Moore of the Connaught Rangers Regiment that fought in the Xhosa, Zulu and the second Boer wars. In the Boer war, he fought at Ladysmith, Colenso, Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz.

There were also Captain Waldo Alington Gwennap Moore during the South Africa war of the Welsh regiment. The engagements he fought at was Driefontein, Vet and Zand rivers, Diamond Hill, Colesberg and also in Belfast, Ireland.

The Zulu War

The Zulu war was fought from January 11 to July 4 1879. The Zulu army put up a tough fight against the British. There were Moores who fought at Isandlwana and Gingindlovu. There were probably more of our clansmen who fought in this war.

The Battle of Isandlwana

The Zulu Army was commanded by in Dunas (Princes) Ntshingwayo kaMahole Khoza and Mavumengwana kaNdlela Ntuli. The inDuna Dabulamanzi kaMpande, half brother of Cetshwayo, would command the Undi Corps after kaMapitha, the regular inkhosi, or commander, was wounded. While Chelmsford was in the field seeking them, the entire Zulu army had outmanoeuvred him, moving behind his force with the intention of attacking the British Army on the 23rd. Pulleine had received reports of large forces of Zulus throughout the morning of the 22nd from 8:00am on. Vedettes had observed Zulus on the hills to the left front, and Lt. Chard, while he was at the camp, observed a large force of several thousand Zulu moving to the British left around the hill of Isandlwana.

Pulleine sent word to Chelmsford, which was received by the General between 9:00am and 10:00am. The main Zulu force was discovered at around 11:00am by men of Lt. Charles Raw's troop of scouts, who chased a number of Zulus into a valley, only then seeing most of the 20,000 men of the main enemy force sitting in total quiet. This valley has generally been thought to be the Ngwebeni some 7 miles (11 km) from the British camp but may have been closer in the area of the spurs of Nqutu hill. Having been discovered, the Zulu force leapt to the offensive. Raw's men began a fighting retreat back to the camp and a messenger was sent to warn Pulleine. The Zulu attack then developed in the traditional horns and chest of the buffalo, with the aim of encircling the British position.

From Pulleine's vantage point in the camp, at first only the right horn and then the chest (center) of the attack seemed to be developing. Pulleine sent out first one, then all six companies of the 24th Foot into an extended firing line, with the aim of meeting the Zulu attack head on and checking it with firepower. Durnford's men, upon meeting elements of the Zulu center, had retreated to a donga, a dried out watercourse, on the British right flank where they formed a defensive line. The Rocket Battery under Durnford's command, which was not mounted and dropped behind the rest of the force, was isolated and overrun very early in the engagement. The two battalions of native troops were in Durnford's line; while all the officers and NCOs carried rifles, only one in 10 in the ranks was armed with a muzzle-loading musket with limited ammunition and many of them started to leave the battlefield at this point.

Pulleine only made one change to the original disposition after about 20 minutes of firing, bringing in the companies in the firing line slightly closer to the camp. For an hour or so until after noon, the disciplined British volleys pinned down the Zulu center, inflicting some casualties and causing the advance to stall. Indeed, morale remained high within the British line. The Martini–Henry rifle was a powerful weapon and the men were experienced. Additionally, the shell fire of the Royal Artillery forced some Zulu regiments to take cover behind the reverse slope of a hill. Nevertheless, the left horn of the Zulu advance was moving to outflank and envelop the British right. Durnford's men, who had been fighting the longest, began to withdraw and their rate of fire diminished. Durnford's withdrawal exposed the right flank of the British regulars, which, with the general threat of the Zulu encirclement, caused Pulleine to order a withdrawal back to the camp.

The regulars' retreat was performed with order and discipline and the men of the 24th conducted a fighting withdrawal into the camp. Durnford's retreat, however, exposed the flank of G Company, 2nd/24th, which was overrun relatively quickly. An officer in advance from Chelmsford's force gave this eyewitness account of the final stage of the battle at about 3:00pm. "In a few seconds we distinctly saw the guns fired again, one after the other, sharp. This was done several times - a pause, and then a flash – flash! The sun was shining on the camp at the time, and then the camp looked dark, just as if a shadow was passing over it. The guns did not fire after that, and in a few minutes all the tents had disappeared." Nearly the same moment is described in a Zulu warrior's account. "The sun turned black in the middle of the battle; we could still see it over us, or should have thought we had been fighting till evening.

Then we got into the camp, and there was a great deal of smoke and firing. Afterwards the sun came out bright again." The time of the solar eclipse on that day is calculated as 2:29pm. The presence of large numbers of bodies grouped together suggests the resistance was more protracted than originally thought, and a number of desperate last stands were made. Evidence shows that many of the bodies, today marked by cairns, were found in several large groups around the camp -- including one stand of around 150 men.

A Zulu account describes a group of the 24th forming a square on the neck of Isandlwana. Colonial cavalry, the NMP and the carabineers, who could easily have fled as they had horses, died around Durnford in his last stand, while nearby their horses were found dead on their picket rope. What is clear is that the slaughter was complete in the area around the camp and back to Natal along the Fugitive's Drift. The fighting had been hand-to-hand combat and no quarter was given to the British regulars. The Zulus had been commanded to ignore the civilians in black coats and this meant that some officers, whose patrol dress was dark blue and black at the time, were spared and escaped. The British fought back-to-back with bayonet and rifle butt when their ammunition had finally been expended.

A Zulu account relates the single-handed fight by the guard of Chelmsford's tent, a big Irishman of the 24th who kept the Zulus back with his bayonet until he was speared and the general's Union flag captured. Both the colors of the 2/24th were lost, while the Queen's color of the 1/24th was carried off the field by Lieutenant Melvill on horseback but lost when he crossed the river, despite Lieutenant Coghill coming to his aid. Both Melvill and Coghill were killed after crossing the river, and would receive posthumous Victoria Crosses in 1907 as the legend of their gallantry grew, and, after twenty seven years of steady campaigning by the late Mrs. Melvill (who had died in 1906), on the strength of Queen Victoria being quoted as saying that 'if they had survived they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross'. Garnet Wolseley, who would replace Chelmsford, felt otherwise at the time and stated, "I don't like the idea of officers escaping on horseback when their men on foot are being killed."

Of the 1,700-plus force of British troops and African auxiliaries, about 1,300 were killed, most of them Europeans, including field commanders Pulleine and Durnford. Only five Imperial officers survived, and the 52 officers lost was the most lost by any British battalion up to that time. Amongst those killed was Surgeon Major Peter Shepherd, a first-aid pioneer. The Natal Native Contingent lost some 400 men, and there were 240 lost from the group of 249 amaChunu African auxiliaries.

Perhaps the last to die was Gabangaye, the portly chief of the amaChunu Natal Native Contingent, who was given over to be killed by the udibi boys. The captured Natal Native Contingent soldiers were regarded as traitors by the Zulu and executed. There was no casualty count of the Zulu losses by the British such as made in many of the other battles since they abandoned the field. Nor was there any count by the Zulu. Modern historians have rejected and reduced the older unfounded estimates.

Historians Lock and Quantrill estimate the Zulu casualties as "... perhaps between 1,500 and 2,000 dead. Historian Ian Knight stated: "Zulu casualties were almost as heavy. Although it is impossible to say with certainty, at least 1,000 were killed outright in the assault..." Some 1,000 Martini-Henry rifles, the two field artillery guns, 400,000 rounds of ammunition, three colours, most of the 2,000 draft animals and 130 wagons, provisions such as tinned food, biscuits, beer, overcoats, tents and other supplies, were taken by the Zulu or left abandoned on the field. Of the survivors, most were from the auxiliaries.

The Battle of Gingindlovu

At daybreak on 2 April 1879, the morning sun revealed a muddy and sodden ground and a heavy mist. Chelmsford could not move his wagons until the ground dried out, and so sent out the Natal Native Contingent to provoke the Zulus into an attack while he held a strong position. Once the mist lifted, the left horn of the impi was seen advancing eastwards over the river towards the British laager before disappearing into tall grass. A long burst of fire from one of the Gatling guns saw the warriors disappear into the long grass. When the left horn re-emerged it had joined the rest of the impi and the left horn, chest and right horn were advancing over Umisi Hill.

The whole charging buffalo formation came in at a run on the three sides of the laager. This was the scenario Chelmsford had planned for, at a range of between 300 and 400 yards (300 to 400 m), the British infantry opened fire, supported by the Gatling guns and rockets. Zulu marksmen caused a few casualties within the laager, but the defenders kept the Zulus at bay and Chelmsford's defence was working. Though the Zulu regiments made persistent rushes to get within stabbing range, their charges lacked the drive and spirit that had pushed them forward at the Battle of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift.

The only Zulu to reach the laager was a 10-year-old boy, who was taken prisoner by members of the naval brigade and later served as a kind of mascotte on their ship, HMS Boadicea. After 20 minutes, the Zulu impi began to crumble away. Seeing this, Chelmsford ordered pursuit by the mounted troops and the native contingent. Large numbers of Zulu warriors were killed in this chase. By 07:30, the Zulus had fled and the grim task of killing Zulu wounded was undertaken. Around the laager itself, 700 Zulu bodies were counted and 300 more were killed in the mounted chase of the retreating warriors. The British took eleven dead, including a Lieutenant-Colonel, and 48 wounded.

According to the House of Gordon of Australia claims that the Moirs; “The main Moir homelands were between Aberdeen and Glasgow and also found in Otterbourne, Abergeldie, Invernettie, Scotstown, Stoneywood and Hilton. Also Gordon inhabited areas. Caithness in older times was most of northern Scotland and these Moirs may have been part of the Sutherland Gordons in the North but the Moirs like most families were widespread but held large tracts of land in Aberdeenshire .”
If these Moirs were from Caithness, then it is most likely that they came from areas like Loch More, and Ben More. One thing about these highlands & Aberdeen Moirs is that they are extremely close allies of Clan Gordon.William Moir, led an apprising against Inverlael in 1671 and proceeded to obtain an adjudication against Coul. Sir Alexander, who had by then succeeded his father, was forced not only to purchase this adjudication but also to acquire several other adjudications led against the Mackenzies of lnverlael