Dom James Robertson OSB (1758–1820) was a Scottish Benedictine monk and the intelligence agent during the Napoleonic Wars responsible for the

evacuation of La Romana's division The evacuation of La Romana's division in August 1808 was a military operation in which a division of troops belonging to the Kingdom of Spain and commanded by Pedro Caro, Marquis of La Romana defected from the armies of the First French ...

. Educated at

Dinant Dinant () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south ...

and

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, took solemn vows as a monk in 1778 and ordained in 1782. He published the first Catholic version of the New Testament to be printed in Scotland in 1792. In 1808, disguised as a cigar merchant, he made secret contact with the Spanish general, Marqués de la Romana and a plan was worked out by which his 10,000 soldiers were secretly removed from Danish territory by the Royal Navy and returned to Spain to join the war against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. He subsequently published his own account of this mission: ''Narrative of a Secret Mission to the Danish Islands in 1808''.

References

* Nicholas Rodger, ''The Command of the Ocean'', 2004. 1758 births 1820 deaths Scottish Benedictines Scottish spies {{espionage-stub