Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge
Count Robert Douglas | |
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Born | Traprain Law, Scotland | 17 March 1611
Died | 28 May 1662 Stockholm, Sweden | (aged 51)
Allegiance | Sweden |
Years of service | 1630–? |
Rank | Field marshal |
Battles/wars |
Robert Douglas (17 March 1611 – 28 May 1662), Count of
Youth
Douglas was born at Standingstone, near Garvald, East Lothian.[1] His father, Patrick Douglas of Standingstone (d.1626), was a son of
Career
Many Scottish soldiers, infantry and cavalry, found themselves engaged in the various wars that are collectively called the
In 1630, when Sweden joined the Thirty Years' War, Douglas followed the main army into Germany (where he joined the German literary society Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft).[4] Although a competent military commander, he only began to earn some notoriety in the aftermath of the Peace of Prague (1635). Then serving as a lieutenant colonel, Douglas had been tasked with the defence of Egeln in Saxony, and so was left very much within the territory of the newly hostile Elector Johan Georg who had defected to the Empire. Douglas spectacularly broke out rather than change sides and managed to return with most of his men through hostile lines to Swedish controlled territory[5] He participated in the
Unlike many of his countrymen who opted to return to Scotland to participate in the Bishops' Wars against Charles I, Douglas opted or was selected to remain behind in Swedish service. In March 1638 he was campaigning in the region of Delitzsch in the army of Johan Banér, getting complaints from the town for his alleged 'deprivations'. Within days units under Major General Adam von Pfuel pressed into Thuringia, with Douglas's regiment among them. It was during this period that the Scot captured the Imperial Fälttygmästare (master of ordinance) Salis and his regiments, who were heading towards Eger (Cheb) in Bohemia. He pressed the captured troops into his service and participated with them at the Swedish victory at battle of Chemnitz.[6]
By 1642, Douglas served in the army of Field Marshal
In December 1646, Douglas received instructions to travel to
Queen
He served between 1658 and 1661 as military governor of
Douglas was rewarded with numerous properties and fiefs in Sweden, such as Skänninge, Skälby, Zewen and Sannegården near Göteborg.
Family
In 1646 Douglas married Hedvig Mörner,[13] who bore him six sons (of whom four lived to adulthood) and a daughter. Three sons became officers and died without issue. The daughter married an Oxenstierna.[citation needed]
The remaining son, Gustaf, was first of the Swedish-born noble line of Douglas. He became a Colonel and
His grandson, Count
Robert Douglas is buried in the Douglas chapel in the church of Vreta Abbey.[citation needed]
Sources
- ^ Douglas, Robert - Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon at Project Runeberg
- ^ Given as the fourth son in the Birth Brief confirmed 1 November 1648 in The Great Seal of Scotland, no.1995.
- Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, on 21 March 1588.
- ^ C. Conermann, Die Mitglieder Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft 1617-1650 (Weinheim, 1985), III, pp.502-503
- ^ Archibald Douglas, Robert Douglas, pp.49-51
- ^ Murdoch and Grosjean, pp.146-147
- ^ Murdoch and Grosjean, pp.152-153, 156
- ^ Murdoch and Grosjean, p.161.
- ^ Murdoch and Grosjean, pp.163-164.
- ^ Alexia Grosjean, 'A Century of Scottish Governorship', p.68
- ^ Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor, vol. 2, p.283
- ^ Douglas, Robert Douglas, p.119; Conermann, Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft, III, pp.502-503
- ^ (in Swedish) (1754) Matrikel öfwer Swea rikes ridderskap och adel ...p.19
- ^ Atina Nihtinen, 'Field Marshal James Kieth', p.99
- C. Conermann, Die Mitglieder Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft 1617-1650 (Weinheim, 1985), III, no.420, pp. 502–503.
- Archibald Douglas, Robert Douglas: en krigaregestalt från vår storhetstid (Stockholm, 1957)
- Alexia Grosjean, 'A century of Scottish Governorship in the Swedish Empire, 1574-1700' in A. Mackillop and Steve Murdoch, Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers, 1600-1800: A Study of Scotland and Empires (Brill, Leiden, 2003), pp. 53–78.
- Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (London, 2014).
- Atina Nihtinen, 'Field Marshal James Keith: Governor of Ukraine and Finland, 1740-1745' in A. Mackillop and Steve Murdoch, Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers, 1600-1800: A Study of Scotland and Empires (Brill, Leiden, 2003), p. 99.
Primary Sources
- Swedish Riksarkiv, Adolf Johans Arkiv i Stegeborgssamlingen: 81 letters of Robert Douglas to Duke Adolf Johan, 1652–1661;
- Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1631/22-24; 1659/13, 1660/4, 11, 17