William Baillie (soldier)
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General William Baillie (–1653) was a
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
professional soldier who fought for the Dutch and later commanded a regiment under
Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...
in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Previously having seen service in the Scots-Dutch brigade, he joined the Scottish regiment of Colonel Alexander Hamilton in Sweden before going on to command a German regiment. Records of his service in the Swedish army fade out after 1633. He returned to Scotland in 1639. He served with the Army of the Covenant in 1639 at Duns Law with the rank of colonel.


Early life

Baillie was the
illegitimate son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
of Sir William Baillie of
Lamington A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, gi ...
in Lanarkshire and of a "Mrs. Home;" at the time of Baillie's birth, his father was married to Margaret Maxwell, Countess of Angus. After the Countess of Angus's death, Baillie's father married Mrs. Home in an unsuccessful attempt to legitimize Baillie's birth.


Military career

William Baillie was a Scottish officer who served as the lieutenant colonel of Alexander Hamilton's regiment from early in 1629 to June 1630, when Hamilton's regiment merged with another regiment led by Sir John Meldrum. In 1644, Baillie marched into England with the Army of the Covenant. He commanded part of the Scottish infantry at the Battle of Marston Moor, overall command of which fell to Alexander Leslie.Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, ''Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648'' (London, 2014), pp.128-134 In 1645, he commanded the detachment sent from
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (15804 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland b ...
's army against
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet and soldier, Lord Lieutenant, lord lieutenant and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wa ...
. On his arrival in Scotland, Baillie successfully manoeuvred to prevent Montrose from marching south. In April, he almost caught up with Montrose at
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
but Montrose succeeded in escaping into the Highlands. Baillie then split his forces, planning to trap Montrose between his own troops and a detachment commanded by Sir John Hurry. However, Montrose decisively defeated Hurry at the
Battle of Auldearn The Battle of Auldearn was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It took place on 9 May 1645, in and around the village of Auldearn in Nairnshire. It resulted in a victory for the royalists, led by the Marquess of Montrose and Ala ...
in May 1645; two months later he defeated Baillie himself at the Battle of Alford. After this defeat, Baillie tendered his resignation. This was rejected by the Covenanter leaders. Instead a new army was raised. Baillie retained command but was now accompanied by a Committee of War headed by the Earl of Argyll. Against Baillie's advice, a battle with Montrose was forced at the
Battle of Kilsyth The Battle of Kilsyth, fought on 15 August 1645 near Kilsyth, was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The largest battle of the conflict in Scotland, it resulted in victory for the Royalist general Montrose over the forces of ...
. Once again, he was defeated - his final involvement against Montrose who was in turn defeated at the Battle of Philiphaugh on 13 September. During the Second Civil War, Baillie commanded the infantry in the
Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...
's ill-fated
Engager The Engagers were a faction of the Scottish Covenanters, who made "The Engagement" with King Charles I in December 1647 while he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle by the English Parliamentarians after his defeat in the First Civil War. Back ...
invasion of England. The Engagers were defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Preston in August 1648. While Hamilton escaped, Baillie was ordered to surrender with his infantry.


Later life and death

Baillie died in 1653.


References

* *''Letters and Journals'' (3 vol. set) Publisher: Ams Pr Inc (March 2005) * https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Battle-of-Alford/ * https://books.google.com/books?id=2L-AAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=william+baillie+scottish+soldier&source=bl&ots=gLLmrk9zfY&sig=ACfU3U0t0aXV_9lrUtIeiasxST0fpiAVNw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjtrqyzpaTlAhWSm1kKHbuZDfY4ChDoATACegQIBxAB#v=onepage&q=william%20baillie%20scottish%20soldier&f=false * https://books.google.com/books?id=UkkMAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA455&lpg=RA1-PA455&dq=william+baillie+scottish+soldier&source=bl&ots=M0Eu6TI_rT&sig=ACfU3U358ncn0gv4GS0h1__9Ng0xgcnzSA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje1PL4paTlAhVL11kKHdwGDO44FBDoATAAegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=william%20baillie%20scottish%20soldier&f=false * http://www.battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk/battle_alford_1645.html * http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/BTL13 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, William Scottish generals Covenanters Scottish expatriates in Sweden Scottish mercenaries 17th-century soldiers 17th-century Scottish people 17th-century Scottish military personnel Year of birth missing 1653 deaths Military personnel of the English Civil War