Battle of Alford
57°14′17″N 2°43′26″W / 57.23806°N 2.72389°W
Battle of Alford | |||||||
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Part of the Scottish Civil War | |||||||
The site of the Battle of Alford | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Royalists Irish Brigade | Covenanters | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Manus O'Cahan |
General William Baillie Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,000 foot 250-300 cavalry |
2,000 foot 5-600 cavalry | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Several hundred | 1,500 | ||||||
Registered battlefield | |||||||
Designated | 21 March 2011 | ||||||
Reference no. | BTL1 | ||||||
The Battle of Alford was an engagement of the
The battlefield is included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011.[1]
Background
Following the Scottish Parliament's decision to intervene in the
Aided by
Following Auldearn, the commander of the Irish contingent,
Montrose caught Baillie on 24 June near Keith, but the latter formed up for battle in a strong defensive position. Montrose refused to attack and, after several days of waiting, moved his force on and across the River Don. Baillie was now compelled to follow, otherwise Montrose would have had a clear route of march into central Scotland.[3] By 1 July, Montrose occupied high ground near the village of Alford, probably at Gallows Hill.[3] Early on the morning of 2 July, he received word that the Covenanters were rapidly approaching the ford of the Don and made a decision to attack, mainly as he knew that Lindsay was finally en route to reinforce Baillie.[1]
The battle
The two armies appear to have been roughly equal in size, though Baillie later claimed the Royalists outnumbered them. Up to 1,000 of Baillie's troops may have been local militia hastily pressed into service just before the battle. Baillie's position was further weakened by the presence of representatives of the Committee of Estates on his chain of command in the person of the Earl of Balcarres.
In Mac Colla's absence, the Irish troops supporting Montrose were commanded by Col.
Order of battle and deployments
- Royalist (James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose)[5]
- Irish Brigade (600 men) (Col. Manus O'Cahan)
- Thomas Laghtnan's Regiment
- James McDonnell's Regiment / O'Cahan's Regiment
- Strathbogie Regiment (500)
- Col. William Gordon of Monymore's Regiment (200)
- Col. James Farquharson of Inverey's Regiment (300)
- Clan MacDonell of Glengarry (200)
- Lord Gordon's Regiment of Horse (200)
- Viscount Aboyne's Regiment of Horse (300)
- Irish Brigade (600 men) (Col. Manus O'Cahan)
- Covenanter (Maj-Gen. William Baillie)[5]
- Infantry regiments (2,400)
- Lord Elcho's Regiment
- Earl of Cassilis' Regiment
- Earl of Callendar's Regiment
- Earl of Glencairn's Regiment
- Earl of Lanark's Regiment
- Cavalry (380)
- Earl of Balcarres' Horse
- Sir James Halkett's Horse
- Sir William Forbes of Craigevar's Horse
- John Forbes of Leslie's Horse
- Master of Forbes' Horse
- Infantry regiments (2,400)
Following Montrose's occupation of high ground overlooking the Don, Baillie did not want to risk crossing the river, seeing that his troops would be vulnerable to attack before they could form up. It was afterwards rumoured that Balcarres, a member of the Committee of Estates and Baillie's cavalry commander, insisted on giving battle, and Baillie later wrote that he was unhappy about engaging as he felt they were outnumbered.[5] Other accounts, however, suggest that despite Montrose moving his whole army down to within musket shot of Baillie, Baillie was misled into believing he faced only a Royalist rearguard, as the majority of their troops were concealed on the hill's reverse slope.[1] Montrose had drawn up his army with the majority of the infantry in the centre and the cavalry on the flanks: Aboyne on the left and Gordon on the right, each strengthened by a unit of Irish foot.[3] As Baillie was still in the process of moving forward, he attempted to use a stretch of marshy ground, intersected by ditches and pools, to strengthen his position.[1]
Montrose attacks
Montrose waited until Balcarres' cavalry was across the river, and the infantry was in the process of crossing, before ordering Lord Gordon's horse to attack Balcarres. A fierce fight ensued around the ford between the two groups of cavalry. Balcarres threw back the attack, but Gordon regrouped and attacked again, supported by Thomas Laghtnan's regiment of Irish infantry.[3] Balcarres' cavalry broke and retreated: Baillie, now having no choice but to commit to the battle, ordered Halkett forward but the latter was driven off by the Royalist left wing under Aboyne.[3]
Baillie and his infantry had now crossed the Don only to witness their cavalry routed. Baillie responded to the threat of being outflanked by extending his line: however to do so he had to deploy his troops only three ranks deep.[3] Montrose finally ordered his infantry to attack: Baillie's men initially held firm and refused to give quarter.[1] However, when some of the Royalist cavalry under Gordon returned and attacked them on the flank and rear, they broke and began to flee from the battlefield.[3] It is likely that by being deployed only three lines deep they were unable to turn and effectively face the cavalry assault.[1] The difficulties presented by escaping across a ford meant that the rout was particularly vicious: government losses were about 1,500 of their 2,000 infantry, although much of their cavalry escaped, along with Baillie, Balcarres and other commanders. Cassilis' and Glencairn's regiments in particular were reduced to little more than 100 men each. Primary sources suggest that the pursuit of the defeated Covenanter infantry went on until the early evening, over a distance of 9 miles.[1]
The Royalists lost several hundred men, including Lord Gordon - a serious loss to their cause, and in the long run possibly the most significant outcome of the battle.[1] Nevertheless, the battle was one of the few bright moments for the Royalists in the aftermath of the Battle of Naseby, only two weeks earlier. Montrose's success helped convince Charles that it was worthwhile to continue the fight in England.[1]
Aftermath
After the defeat an unhappy Baillie tendered his resignation to the Committee of Estates, but was compelled to stay in command until his intended replacement, Maj-Gen. Monro, could be recalled from the war in Ireland.[2] The Committee appointed a deputation to advise him on tactics, although many of those involved had already been defeated by Montrose at some point,[3] and their interference in the next engagement was to prove disastrous.
Montrose was now at last in a position to march towards the south of the country, where he would face a freshly raised government force at Kilsyth the following month.
In culture
The Historic Scotland report commented that despite its importance the battle "has drawn little popular attention"[1] outside the immediate area, but notes that a fragment of a ballad called The Battle of Alford has survived, though the surviving verses do not relate to the fighting itself. It also noted that the great-grandfather of James Watt, a Kildrummy crofter named Thomas Watt, was among the militia conscripted to fight on the government side, and was killed there.[1][6]
Citations
References
- "Battle of Alford (1645)". Battlefields of Britain. CastlesFortsBattles.co.uk. 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- "The Inventory of Historic Battlefields –Battle of Alford" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- Plant, David (27 December 2010). "The Battle of Alford, 1645". BCW Project. David Plant. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- Reid, S. (2012). Auldearn 1645: The Marquis of Montrose's Scottish campaign. Osprey.
- "Site of the Battle of Alford 1645 – Wars of the Three Kingdoms". British Towns and Villages Network. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
- Year Book of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 1980.
- Young, John (2000). Lenihan, P (ed.). Invasions: Scotland and Ireland 1641–1691. Brill.