Richard Cannon - Historical Record of the First Regiment of Foot

This year Colonel James Hepburn was killed, and he was succeeded in the command of the regiment by Lord James Douglas, second son of William, first Marquis of Douglas. From this period the regiment was known in France by the title of Le Régiment de Douglas . 34 34 The following return of the establishment of the regiment in 1637 was procured by its Colonel, General Lord Adam Gordon, who died in 1801: —

While the regiment was in Alsace, Picardy was invaded by the Spaniards, and in 1637 this corps of hardy Scots appears to have been withdrawn from the army commanded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and stationed near the frontiers of Picardy.

In the spring of 1638 it was placed under the command of the Marshal de Chastillon, for the purpose of penetrating into the Earldom of Artois, which at this period formed part of the Spanish Netherlands.

After quitting the vicinity of St. Omer, the regiment was engaged in the siege of Renty , a small town on the river Aa. The army appeared before this place on the 1st of August, and on the 9th the garrison surrendered.

The next service in which the troops were employed was the siege of Catelet , a town of Picardy, which the Spaniards had captured in 1636; and this place was taken by storm on the 14th of September.

Having passed the winter in quarters in Picardy, Douglas' Regiment marched in the early part of May, 1639, to the rendezvous of the army at Doullens, and served this year against the Spaniards, forming part of the army commanded by General Meilleraie. The French commander marched first towards Aire, but after reconnoitering the defences of this place, he proceeded to Hesdin , – a town situated amongst marshes on the little river Canche, where he arrived on the 19th of May, and commenced the siege of the place with great vigour. Louis XIII. visited the camp, that his presence might animate the soldiers in their attacks; and, the garrison having surrendered on the 29th of June, the King was so well pleased with the manner in which this siege had been conducted, that he presented General Meilleraie with the baton of a Marshal of France; the ceremony was performed in the breach he had made in the fortress, and the King commanded Te Deum to be sung in the principal church of the town. 35 35 In a plan of the siege of Hesdin, published at Paris in 1639, Douglas' Scots Regiment appears formed in brigade with the Regiment of Champaigne.

After repairing the works, the army advanced against the Spanish forces under the Marquis de Fuentes; and Douglas' Regiment took part in a sharp skirmish near the village of St. Nicholas , on which occasion four pieces of cannon were captured from the Spaniards.

The regiment continued to take part in the military operations against the Spaniards. Meanwhile Scotland was violently agitated by an attempt made by King Charles I. to introduce the English Liturgy. This was followed by an unfortunate misunderstanding between the King and his Parliament in England, which produced a civil war; but, in the scenes of slaughter and devastation which followed, this regiment did not take part. It was in the service of Louis XIII. of France, who was engaged in a war with Austria and Spain; and the French King had urgent occasion for the presence of the three Scots regiments 36 36 The three Scots regiments in the service of France at this period, are designated by the French historians, the regiments of Douglas, Chambers, and Praslin. with his armies.

While the civil war was raging in England, Louis XIII. died (14th May, 1643), and was succeeded by his son Louis XIV., who was afterwards designated Louis le Grand ; at the time of his accession he was in his minority. Notwithstanding this event the war was prosecuted with vigour, and the court of France procured, in 1643, an additional regiment of foot from Scotland, commanded by Colonel Andrew Rutherford, 37 37 Père Daniel. afterwards Earl of Teviot. This regiment was designated in France Le Régiment des Gardes Escossois , or the Regiment of Scots Guards: but the title was only honorary, as it was never employed near the royal person. The date of its formation has not been ascertained; but, as it was afterwards incorporated into Douglas' Regiment, now the First Royals, this corps is its representative, and its services have a place in this Memoir.

Immediately after the regiment of Scots Guards arrived in France, it was ordered to advance to the relief of Roucroy , a town of the Ardennes, which was besieged by the Spaniards. The troops employed in this service were commanded by Louis de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien, who was afterwards celebrated for military achievements under the title of Prince of Condé , or the Great Condé. The Spaniards had a superiority of numbers: the two armies engaged near Roucroy , on the 19th of May, when the French gained a decisive victory, and captured the cannon, baggage, and many of the standards and colours belonging to the Spaniards. Rutherford's Scots' Regiment had the honor of taking part in this battle. It was soon afterwards employed in the siege of Thionville , a town situated on the river Moselle; and had one captain and four men killed, and one major and several private men wounded in the attack of the counterscarp. This siege being prosecuted with vigour, the town surrendered on the 10th of August, and the regiment appears to have marched immediately afterwards for Italy.

Meanwhile Douglas' Regiment had been removed from the Netherlands and placed under the orders of Prince Francis-Thomas of Savoy, who commanded the French army in Italy; and, having been engaged in several operations, it was employed in the autumn in the siege of the city of Turin , in Piedmont, which place was invested on the 14th of August. The Scots Regiment of Guards also arrived in Piedmont in time to take part in the siege, which was terminated on the 27th of September by the surrender of the city, when Douglas' Regiment was placed in garrison. 38 38 Mercure François; and Le Histoire Militaire de Louis le Grand, par M. Le Marquis de Quincy.

Before the following campaign the regiment was, however, removed from Piedmont to Picardy; and passing from thence to the Netherlands, it served, in 1644, under the Duke of Orleans, who held, during the minority of Louis XIV., the title of Lieutenant-General to the King. The army in the Netherlands was this year of considerable magnitude, and Douglas' Regiment formed part of the division commanded by Marshal Meilleraie, 39 39 This division consisted of the following corps; viz.: The French Guards, the Swiss Guards, the regiments of Picardy, Douglas, La Meilleraie, Grancy, and Molondin. — Mercure François. and was engaged in the siege of Gravelines , a town situated on the river Aa, nine miles from Dunkirk. The communication of Gravelines with the sea rendered it a place of great importance to the Spaniards, who made strenuous exertions for its preservation. Two sorties were made by the garrison in the early part of July, when Douglas' Regiment was sharply engaged, and the enemy was repulsed. Every attempt made by the Spaniards to relieve the place was defeated, and the town surrendered on the 28th of July, 1644. This success was followed by the capture of several forts, and places of minor importance, near the sea.

While the Scots regiments in the service of France were gaining laurels in Italy and Flanders, England continued the theatre of civil war, and many desperate engagements were fought with varied success. At length the King's army, after suffering a series of reverses, was found unable to withstand the forces of the Parliament; and a number of officers and soldiers, who had fought in the royal cause, fled to France, and were taken into the service of Louis XIV. Five English battalions were formed, and added to the French army in Flanders; and, during the campaign of 1646, the British troops were employed in the siege and capture of Courtray , a considerable town on the river Lys; and they afterwards took a distinguished part in the siege of the city of Dunkirk , which surrendered to the French army on the 10th of October, 1646.