by Jonathan Tucker

The Setting

Clan MacIntyre was a relatively small but widely distributed West Highland clan, whose political and social focus was the chief’s glen of Glenoe (“North Glen”) on the north slope of Ben Cruachan.  Glenoe was also the name of the small settlement on a rise near the bottom of the glen where the chief lived.  Within the glen, the small River Noe (“North River”) gathers and flows east to west, emptying into Loch Etive, the shoreline of which forms the base of the glen.  Ben Cruachan, the largest mountain in the region, accounts for the clan’s battle cry (“Cruachan!”), which was also ‘appropriated’ and is still used by Clan Campbell as well as Clan MacIntyre.

In the Scottish Highlands in the mid-1600s, clan members owed allegiance first to their chief and then, through their chief, to whatever larger clan held theirs in feudal obligation.  During the 1600s, Argyll and its subregion of Lorn were under the feudal control of Clan Campbell, and Clan MacIntyre was tied to the Campbells by both feudal and family obligations.  Our chiefs frequently married the daughters of neighboring Campbell chieftains, in part to help keep the peace.

The MacIntyres were also related to Clan MacDonald—perpetual territorial rivals of the Campbells—by ancient ties of kinship resulting from descent from Somerled’s family and intermarriage while Clan MacIntyre lived in Sleat on the Isle of Skye.  This between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place position may explain Clan MacIntyre’s Latin motto, “Per Ardua”—“through difficulty.”  A small, ancient clan negotiating its way between powerful rival clans for centuries would have had an excuse for viewing the world in that way.  But the MacIntyres successfully made their way through that difficulty—and survived it—together. 

The Campbell chief during the period of Micum McIntire’s life in Scotland was Archibald Campbell, 8^th Earl of Argyll.  Archibald Campbell’s allegiances in pursuit of the interests of Clan Campbell determined who the members of clans subordinate to the Campbells would fight for or against, and these decisions were usually calculated to enhance the strength and influence of the Campbells.

As they had for some time, during the 1600s the MacIntyre chiefs were married to the daughters of local Campbell lords.  It was a way to create a binding network of obligations that protected everybody by discouraging open armed conflict.   Chief Donald MacIntyre (Donald McDuncan McEan Vic Donald MacIntyre, to be precise) lived from 1596 through 1655—the period coinciding with Micum’s life in Scotland.  Donald was married to Isobel Campbell.  Donald’s son and later Chief, Duncan MacIntyre, lived from 1640 to 1722, and was married to Mary Campbell, a younger daughter of Patrick Campbell, Lord of Balcardine.  All in the family.

Campbell of Lawers

The Civil Wars—also known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms—were overlapping, extended religious and political civil wars involving the entire British Isles.  The earlier phases were fought for the most part between Royalist Catholic forces loyal to the king on one side, and Protestant forces under Oliver Cromwell representing the English Parliament on the other.  The war was fought in three phases, first in England, then in Ireland, and finally in Scotland and England.  For Micum’s story, we are principally concerned with the third and final phase in Scotland.  Many Highland clans, including the MacIntyres, were predominantly Catholic but, as in the case of the MacIntyres, were under feudal obligation and consistently fought for the Protestant Campbells, regardless of who they were saupporting.

In 1639, Sir Mungo Campbell of Lawers had organized a regiment of infantry for his chief (Archibald Campbell of Argyll) to go fight in Ireland on the Campbells’ behalf.  Over time, this regiment became the premier infantry regiment for the Campbells.  The Campbells of Lawers’ home territory was located on the western edge of Perthshire, along Loch Tay in Scotland, close to the eastern border of Argyll.

The Campbells of Lawers were perhaps the oldest branch of Clan Campbell, and were descended from the Campbells of Glenorchy and Breadalbane, both of which were also MacIntyre territories in Argyll.  Conscripted foot soldiers from the other smaller clans in those areas could under feudal obligation be required by their own chiefs to serve and fight as members of this Campbell regiment.  This included the MacIntyres.

Being from Glenorchy and Glenoe, if conscripted, Micum, Robert, and Philip MacIntyre were likely to have been members of this regiment, which is documented as having fought at Dunbar, where they were captured.  So we need to work our way backwards from Dunbar following this regiment to try to understand what might have happened to our MacIntyres.  We will start only five years earlier—in 1645—and work our way forward.

1645 – Battle of Inverlochy 

While the Macintyres were obligated to defend the interest of Clan Campbell, their feudal obligations did not override the need to preserve their own clan.  There is a story (parts of which are unconfirmed but oft-repeated legend) that at the battle of Inverlochy on February 2, 1645—a battle in which Micum was likely involved—Donald, the MacIntyre clan chief, was standing next to his Campbell brother-in-law, Colin Campbell, with their backs to Inverlochy Castle and Loch Linne, along with other Campbell forces, allied clans, the MacIntyre chief’s household retinue, and about half of the Glenoe MacIntyre warriors.  They were defending the interests of Clan Campbell, which were at the time aligned with those of the Protestant government in Edinburgh and the Puritan (Protestant) English Parliament.

Coming down the hill at Donald and his men was an opposing Royalist army that supported the Catholic King, Charles I.  Led by the Hamilton Marquis of Montrose, this army included warriors from assorted Royalist (Catholic) Highland clans, and ‘gallowglas’ mercenaries (also Catholic) from northern Ireland.  Among those coming down the hill as part of that Royalist army were some of the MacIntyres of Badenoch, a northern sept of the Glenoe MacIntyres who also belonging to the Clan Chattan confederation.  They were fighting under the banner of Captain Donald Macpherson of Phoness.  And with them (here’s the unconfirmed part) were many of the rest of the Glenoe MacIntyre warriors, led by the MacIntyre chief’s piper and possibly by one or more of Chief Donald’s household retinue.

It was said (legend alert) that the MacIntyre chief had loaned his piper and some of his warriors, with their willing support, to Alastair ‘Colkitto’ MacDonald, the leader of the mercenary northern Irish troops, many of whom were MacDonalds like Colkitto, and were thus were related to the MacIntyres from very early on.  Donald had loaned his piper and his men to Colkitto in gratitude for Colkitto honoring their ancient kinship and choosing not to put Glenoe, the MacIntyres’ home glen, to fire and sword.  A tangle of relation and obligation and self-interest.  It’s like having all the relatives over for Thanksgiving.  Sometimes these family relations get complicated.

On the field at Inverlochy, MacIntyre warriors on both sides were probably just very careful about who they chose to attack (except possibly for the settling of some old personal scores).  No matter the outcome of the battle, MacIntyre interests would be protected.  As it turned out, the Campbell forces lost badly—Archibald Campbell fled the scene early on, by boat.  Colin Campbell, our MacIntyre chief’s brother-in-law, was severely wounded, and our chief Donald, himself unscathed, took Colin home to Glenoe where Donald’s wife Mary (Colin’s sister) could nurse him back to health.  The Glenoe MacIntyre warriors who had fought for the Royalist army under Montrose filtered back to their homes unobtrusively, and everybody’s interests were served.  One MacIntyre foot was kept firmly planted on either side of the conflict.  As noted, parts of this story are unconfirmed, but it illustrates how complex warfare in Scotland could be, given the multiple, intertwining ties of kinship and obligation.

Of our three brothers, Micum is most likely to have seen battle at Inverlochy—he would have been about 20 years old at the time, with Robert 16, and Philip 15.  It is interesting to speculate whether Micum would have been with the Campbells and his own chief Duncan by the castle or coming down the hill with Montrose.  If he was in the Campbell of Lawers regiment at the time, it would have been the former.

1645 – Battle of Auldearn

Sir Mungo and his Campbell regiment of infantry fought on the losing side at the battle of Inverlochy in February 1645. Three months later, at the May 9, 1645 Battle of Auldearn, Mungo Campbell’s regiment was badly defeated, and he and many of his officers were killed.

Micum might also have fought at—and, if so, survived—the battle of Auldearn, during which the Lawers regiment was defeated and Mungo Campbell himself was killed.  Mungo’s son, James Campbell of Lawers, reconstituted and rebuilt the regiment, and it seems likely that Micum and then his brothers were a part of it by 1650.  To date, none of the other Scottish infantry regiments identified as being present at Dunbar were raised under Campbell influence or in Argyll.

The Battle of Dunbar, 1650

Five years later (1650), the confusing threads of Scottish allegiance had gotten even more entangled and complicated.  In January 1649, the Puritan English Parliament—under Cromwell’s influence—had tried and executed King Charles I.  Charles’s Catholic son, Charles II, was convinced to seek the monarchy and was forced to enter into a Covenant with Scottish Protestant Kirk leaders in exchange for their support for his bid to be king.

The Scottish Army supporting Charles II is therefore often referred to as a Covenanting Army, and its solders as Covenanters.  (There were earlier Covenants, as well, so it can get confusing—this Covenant was the one in place after 1649.)  As chief of Clan Campbell, and a Protestant, Archibald Campbell had decided to switch sides and throw Clan Campbells’ fate and that of many of the west Highland clans in with the Covenanters.  In supporting Charles II, a Catholic king under a binding Protestant Covenant, Scottish forces were now trying to preserve Scotland’s sovereignty from English domination.

We need not review all of the conflicts and campaigns that led up to Dunbar.  Suffice it to say that after Charles II declared himself king of England and Scotland at Edinburgh, Cromwell hurried his armies north to challenge this new threat.  Frustrated by an unsuccessful attempted siege at Edinburgh, his army was forced east toward Dunbar by a larger Scottish army.

The Setting

When our MacIntyres’ curtain opens at Dunbar in early September 1650, the Scottish army under General David Leslie was occupying the high ground of Doune Hill, south and west of the village (and castle) of Dunbar.  Together with a large Scottish infantry regiment waiting on the plains due west of Dunbar, Leslie and the Scottish army essentially had Cromwell and his Puritan Roundhead army trapped against the North Sea.

It is important to describe the basic outline of the Battle of Dunbar itself, so that we can get some idea what Micum and his brothers experienced.  Micum was about 25, Robert 21, and Philip 20.  Let’s first describe the regiment in which I am recklessly asserting they found themselves.

As noted, the MacIntyre brothers had likely been in the elite infantry regiment under Sir James Campbell of Lawers for at least a few years.  The regiment numbered about 600 men.  Lawers’ infantry dressed in Scots ‘hodden grey’ jackets and trews (trousers) woven locally in Argyll out of a blend of rough white and black wool—very practical and warm in the chill of an early Scottish fall at Dunbar.  They were wearing distinct bright blue woolen bonnets (tams), and their regimental flags included the iconic blue and white Scottish saltire (the cross of St. Andrew) as well as Clan Campbell flags and others.  Many wore protective helmets.

The musketeers in the regiment were principally armed with ‘firelock’ (matchlock) smoothbore muzzle-loading long guns that used a slow-burning wick.  These guns were primitive and slow to reload, and their ever-burning wicks were hard to keep dry and lit in wet weather.  In contrast, many of the English soldiers had more modern and reliable flintlocks.  About forty percent (40%) of Lawers’ regiment were probably armed with pole weapons, like pikes and halberds—long stout poles affixed with different kinds of spear points, blades, axeheads, and hooks, or sometimes a combination of those.  Pole weapons allowed you to engage your opponent at a greater distance, and, if equipped with hooks, could be effective against mounted cavalrymen, who were always a problem for foot soldiers.

Finally, it is likely that these Highlanders, trained to arms from a young age, also carried their own personal bladed weapons—baskethilt broadswords, fighting axes, dirks, and knives.  Whether they had any protective mail or armor depended on how what they could afford.  Too much extra weight was not an advantage for a foot soldier.  Many wore at least thick leather vests under their jackets that could withstand a slashing blow or turn the initial thrust of a blade. 

How the Battle Came About

Scottish General Leslie had Cromwell trapped against the North Sea, and initially he wanted to maintain the high ground and starve the English into submission.  He also knew the weaknesses among his assembled troops.  The Scots outnumbered the English Roundheads, but many of the Scottish soldiers were young, untrained Lowland conscripts—essentially farm boys who had been rounded up and handed weapons.  The fiery Protestant Kirk leaders who had browbeaten Charles II into signing the Covenant were certain that their God would deliver them the victory.  (Not surprisingly, the ferociously devout Puritan English army’s leadership had exactly the same belief.)  Claiming to have received a vision of divinely-assisted victory the previous evening, on September 2, 1650, the Scottish “dominies” forced Leslie’s hand.

That evening (September 2, 1650), the word went quietly around that an attack was imminent the following day.  The Highlanders among the Scottish troops began to fast, which they believed sharpened their wits and focus in battle.  It rained heavily that night.  Micum and his brothers probably huddled together for warmth under their large woolen plaides, trying to keep themselves and their weapons dry.

During the dead of night, the Scottish infantry and cavalry troops began to move into position and shifted down the hill. In doing so, they abandoned the advantageous high ground.  They placed the furthest end of their left flank in a narrow valley formed by the hill, the nearby Broxburn (a wide stream), and a rise to the west.  Observing these maneuvers, Cromwell was delighted—the trap was being lifted—and he repositioned his own forces in the rainy dark to meet the likely attacks.

In the dim misty morning, there were several prolonged early skirmishes along the center of the front lines.  As the light grew, the battle joined in earnest.

Where Were Our MacIntyres?

Imagine the Scottish army in disciplined groups set along a rough line facing north across the Broxburn on flat ground below Doune Hill, ground that was soggy from a night’s hard rain.  Campbell of Lawers’ infantry regiment of 600 men, including Micum, Robert, and Philip, occupied the exact center of that line.  To their immediate left were other infantry brigades under Major-General James Holbourne of Menstrie, Major-General Colin Lindsay of Pitscottie, and Colonel John Innes (who also had some cavalry, which he himself led).  Further to the left, next to the narrowing valley, were Scottish cavalry commanded by Colonel William Stewart.

Sir James Campbell of Lawers himself led Lawers brigade.  Other officers commanding units within the Lawers brigade included Colonel Alexander Stewart and Sir John Haldane of Gleneagles.

To the immediate right of Lawers’ regiment was a large infantry troop composed largely of about 2,000 recent Lowland conscripts—many of them very young—under the command of Sir James Lumsden of Invergallie.  Many of the mature, lower-level combat leaders (the equivalent of squad sergeants) for these men had been purged from the troop because the kirk leaders found the seasoned warriors to be too profane and insufficiently devout.  Further to the right, close to but not against the shore of the North Sea, was a troop of mounted Scottish lancers (cavalry) under Colonel Archibald Strachan. Across the Broxburn facing them were English regiments of infantry and cavalry.

The Battle Itself

When the initial battle was joined, a regiment of English infantry charged across the Broxburn, and the untried young troops under Sir James Lumsden folded quickly before them.  These troops may have collapsed in part because they had nearly exhausted their ammunition during earlier skirmishes, but most likely they simply panicked.  They had no real experience of combat and, thanks to the righteous purges by the Kirk leaders, they had no battle-tested squad-level leaders to rally them and tell them what to do.  In response to this development on their right flank, part of Lawers’ regiment turned and extended to its right, successfully beating back the nearest English infantry (led by Colonel George Monck) who had overrun Lumsden’s men.

Strachan’s cavalry on the far right of the Scottish line against the sea were attacked both by English lancers (cavalry) from the front and from their right flank, Cromwell’s cavalry having hooked around along the seashore.  With many of Lumsden’s men gone, Strachan’s cavalry was also attacked by English infantry from their left flank.  The combined assault proved too much, and Strachan’s cavalry broke and fled.

With Lumsden’s infantry non-existent and Strachan’s cavalry fleeing, the right hand side of the Scottish line had collapsed.  This freed up English cavalry and infantry to attack the right flank of Lawers’ regiment, who were also fighting off an infantry attack along their front line.

Over-extended, and fighting on two fronts, Lawers’ regiment began after a time to break apart, and, after fierce fighting, they were overrun.  The Highlanders in Lawers’ regiment—we presume this included Micum, his brothers, and warriors they knew—were experienced, trained, and used to fighting alongside one another.  They progressively formed and reformed smaller defensive groups and kept fighting, back-to-back, until, as these defensive groups were completely surrounded, they were forced to surrender.  Their skill and discipline accounted for their survival, and allowed them to be taken as prisoners rather than being killed in battle.

With the collapse of Lawers’ regiment at the center, the entire Scottish line dissolved.  Unable to maneuver well in the narrow valley between Doune Hill and the Broxburn, the remaining infantry and cavalry units on the left side of the Scottish line retreated north across the Broxburn to more level ground.  They were covered in a desperate rearguard action by a contingent of infantry from Lawers Brigade under Sir John Haldane of Gleneagles.  In the process, Haldane’s men were completely destroyed, and he and his officers were killed.  So was the regiment commanded by Colonel Alexander Stewart, who was also killed.  The ensuing rout of Scottish infantry, who were pursued for miles as they fled west on foot for Edinburgh and were cut down from behind by English cavalry, became known as the “Race of Dunbar.”

Historical accounts of the battle—including English accounts—single out Campbell of Lawers’s regiment as the backbone of the Scottish army, the regiment that gave the best account of itself.

The battle was over in about 3 hours.  Cromwell claimed to have killed 3,000 Scottish soldiers and captured 10,000 at Dunbar—a likely exaggeration, but it was without doubt his greatest victory in a long career filled with military victories.  Several thousand of the most badly wounded Scots were released, as no longer representing a threat.

Later that day or early the next, Cromwell’s men had mopped up the battlefield, reassembled themselves, and treated their own wounded.  They gathered together, disarmed, and looted their prisoners, then fed themselves on captured stores, and reorganized to head for home.  Only then did about 3,900 Scottish prisoners of war—regular troops and officers—begin a long and deadly march southward toward England and Durham Cathedral.  Malcolm, Robert, and Philip MacIntyre and other survivors of Lawers’ regiment were among them.  Although they could not have known it then, the MacIntyre brothers’ journey to a new world and a new life had begun.