Portmore's regiment of the Scots brigade

1 Wauchope's regiment of Foot

1.1 James II recalls his countrymen

Portmore's regiment was both a relatively new regiment and a very ancient one. It was founded when in early 1688 King James II recalled 'his' soldiers from the Anglo-Dutch brigade. In order to employ the relatively low number of men that answered this call, James II founded three new regiments. One of these was raised at Musselburgh for Scotland.

1.2 How the regiment was composed

Its first colonel was John Wauchope. The Mackay regiment, later nr 58 Murray contributed Captains John Gordon; Aeneas Mackay and Henry Graham as getting appointed to this regiment. The Balfour regiment, later nr. 57 Lauder, contributed Gavin Hamilton and Henry Balfour. From Wauchope's Ramsay regiment, later 59 Colyear's, came Colonel John Wauchope; George Hamilton and John Dalyell¹.

1.3 Becomes David Colyear's regiment

With regard to the choice of these officers to return to Scotland one can perhaps think that the result was a regiment of fanatic pro King James II soldiers, but a more obvious explanation would be that these officers were the ones who were least settled in the United Provinces, and thus had most to fear from reprisals. Soon after the revolution the command was conferred upon David Colyear, Earl of Portmore, who had been lt-Colonel of the Mackay regiment. He was the older brother of Walter Philip, who would become colonel of Colyear's regiment

2 Colyear's regiment during the Nine Years War

2.1 Cork and Kinsale

That Colyear's regiment was not perceived very differently than other English regiments can be decuced from the fact that the old regiments of the Scots brigade were sent to Scotland, and Colyear's was sent to Flanders. In the 1689 Battle of Walcourt it had 1 corporal killed². In early 1690 Colyear's regiment was called back from Flanders. Next the regiment was employed in the expedition to take Cork and Kinsale³. On 22 September 1690 Colyear's regiment arrived in Cork harbour⁴. It stayed there some time, because in March 1691 300 of its men marched to Bantry, and in April a detachment defended Iniskeen.

2.2 Siege of Athlone

In a list published in January 1691 Colyear's regiment can be found as 'David Coliers' regiment⁵. After the Siege of Athlone it was ordered to join the main force, but it probably missed the Battle of Aughrim. When the war in Ireland was over Collier's regiment was ordered to leave by embarking at Cork and Kingsale in November 1691⁶. In January 1692 Colyear's regiment marched through London and was to receive new clothes before a supposed crossing to Flanders⁷.

2.3 Service in England

In early 1692 there was fear of a French invasion attempt. Therefore plans were made to concentrate an army near Southampton. In April 1692 the Colyear regiment received orders to march to Southampton⁸. On about 26 April Colyear's regiment had received its new clothes and was reviewed by the queen in Hyde Park, and supposed to embark for Flanders on the 27th⁹. In the end it probably marched to Southampton, where the Duke of Leinster had been ordered to make a camp¹⁰.

On 29 May 1692 the Battle of Barfleur was fought, and the subsequent destruction of a large part of the French fleet at La Hogue relieved fears of an invasion attempt. The alliance then made plans to make a descent on the French coast and to that effect a number of troops was embarked. In mid June 1692 this fleet sailed from Saint Helens. We can suppose that Colyear's regiment was on this fleet, because in July 1692 we find David Colyear in a Council of War on board the Bredah off of the Highland of St. Albans¹¹.

In 1693 the regiment was again listed as part of the British forces, now as Collier¹². In February 1693 David Colyear was made Brigadier-general¹³. Colyear's regiment probably started the year in England, because in late April 6 of its companies were ordered to the Isle of Wight^13b. On 14 May 1693 Collier's regiment started to embark at Portsmouth¹⁴. In August 1693 the Colyear regiment was ordered to Flanders^14b. In November 1693 Colyear's was ordered to Oostende and Nieuwpoort^14c. In all probability Colyear's indeed arrived there in early December^14d.

In early February 1694 Colyear's was again ordered to Flanders¹⁵. By 1 March it obviously had not moved yet, because there were again orders to embark¹⁶. One can again doubt whether these orders were executed, because in late May it was camped near Portsdowne¹⁷. In mid-August 1694 Colyear's regiment was on board the fleet and rumored to go to Flanders¹⁸. For 1695 I've not found any particulars of the regiment.

In May 1696 Collier became a Major-General¹⁹. In August 1696 David Colyear was to marry the Countess of Dorchester²⁰. The actions of the regiment are not very clear in these years. It seems that from 11 March 1698 Colyear's regiment was on the Scotch establishment.

2.4 On the Scottish establishment

After the peace of Rijswijk the three old Scottish regiments of the Anglo-Dutch brigade returned to the service of the States General accompanied by three other Scots regiments. After that certain Dutch regiments were dismissed out of English service, and as a consequence the United Provinces dismissed the three new Scots regiments.

3 The regiment in the War of the Spanish Succession

3.1 Returns to Dutch service

When the conflict about the Spanish Succession seemed to turn to war in 1701 two of these new regiments were again taken into the service of the Dutch, accompanied by one other regiment. This latter was the regiment owned by David Colyear also known as Lord Portmore. The money for taking Portmore's regiment into Dutch service was arranged by the second extraordinary state of War for 1701. It had 24 new Scots companies to be paid by Holland and 12 new Scots companies to be paid by Zeeland, but left the names blank³⁰. In 1702 the extraordinary state of war mentioned the names of the regiment and companies as follows³¹:

3.2 Siege of Kaiserswerth

The Dutch opened their first campaign of the War of the Spanish Succession with the siege of Kaiserswerth. On 16 April 1702 Portmore's regiment was part of the alliance troops that closed in³². In the bloody assault on the counterscarp on 9 June 1702, Portmore's suffered the highest losses of all; 100 dead and 168 wounded³³. Later on Portmore's was mentioned in camp at Dukenburg on 7 July. On 21 December 1702 Portmore's was in 's Hertogenbosch^33b

3.3 becomes Dalrymple's regiment

On 27 February 1703 David Colyear first earl of Portmore was appointed as colonel of the Bellasis regiment, the later second foot, and thus the regiment became vacant. As a replacement Queen Anne recommended John Dalrymple viscount (later earl) of of Stair, up till then lieutenant-colonel of the Scots Guards³⁴. He was supposedly appointed on 4 April 1703³⁵.

3.4 Captured in Tongeren

It's however not that sure what happened with this appointment. In early 1703 a Scots regiment designated as 'Portmore's' was in Tongeren together with the Dutch Van Elst regiment. This post was only secured by a simple medieval wall. On 9 May the French summoned the town, but after a refusal by the Dutch commander Van Elst, they started a formal siege. From half past four in the afternoon till dusk the town was bombarded and the next day Tongeren surrendered, the 1,100 strong garrison becoming prisoners of war³⁶. The allies were anxious to get these regiments back, and they planned to exchange them with the garrison of Huy even before it was taken. They even made a condition about this exchange in the capitulation of Huy, but in fact the exchange was handled differently. On 10 October 1703 the Huy garrison was exchanged mostly for prisoners made at Ekeren, and on the 17th the two battalions were returned to the Alliance³⁷. It's thus quite probable that Dalrymple only came into possession of his regiment in October 1704, and thus the confusion was brought about.

3.5 Brabant Lines

In July 1704 the Dalrymple regiment was in Ouwerkerk's army near Maastricht³⁸. It probably enjoyed the whole rather dull campaign, but I've found no particulars of its actions. In earl 1705 the Dalrymple regiment was again in Ouwerkerk's army near Maastricht³⁹. Later in 1705 it was present in the Battle for the Brabant Lines.

3.6 Borthwick's regiment

In January 1706 Dalrymple and Borthwick agreed to exchange their regiments, and so Dalrymple became colonel of the Cameronian regiment (later 26th Foot) and Borthwick became colonel of this regiment⁴⁰. In May 1706 Borthwick's fought in the Battle of Ramillies.