Battle memorial at Colzium
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Battle memorial at Colzium
estate, Photo RK
James
Graham, 5th Earl of Montrose, had signed the National Covenant in 1638, along
with most of his countrymen and indeed, had fought for it's principles against
the king, Charles I, in the short campaigns of 1639-40. By these actions the
aims of the Covenant had been achieved, but Montrose and his friends came to
realise that the Covenanting hierarchy in Scotland, headed by the Marquis of
Argyll, chief of the powerful Clan Campbell, were aiming at much greater power
and to overthrow the king.
Montrose attempted to warn his sovereign, but Charles would not listen and it
was not until the solemn league and the Covenant had been agreed between the
Scottish government and the English parliament, that the king finally realised
the danger.
It was almost too late, as the Scots had assembled a sizeable army under General
Alexander Leslie (later the Earl of Leven) and sent it south to join the
parliamentary forces operating against the King in the North of England. This so
upset the balance of power in that area, that the King's general, Prince Rupert,
lost the Battle of Marston Moor, on 2nd July, 1644.
Montrose was already at Oxford, the King's headquarters, where he had been
commissioned
as the Royal Lieutenant-General in Scotland and raised to the rank of Marquis.
He and two companions crossed the border in disguise. posing as Leslie's
troopers returning home on leave and, in Perthshire, near Blair, met a force of
about 1,500 exiled MacDonalds from Ireland, sent over by the Earl of Antrim to
aid his endeavour. He found the Irishmen, under their leader, Alistair
MacDonald, about to do battle with the local levy of 500 Stewarts and Robertsons,
who resented this intrusion into their Clan territory. The appearance of
Montrose, however, united the two sides, so he had thus found himself an army.
His aims were to raise Scotland for the king and to cause such an uproar in so
doing, that the Government would be forced to draw off troops from Leslie's army
to cope with him, thus relieving the pressure on Charles. A year and five
battles later, he had succeeded in those objects and was now poised for the
final blow, which would give him control of Scotland.
In August, 1645, Montrose had an army of 4,500 infantry and 500 cavalry
assembled at Dunkeld, in Perthshire. His infantry were principally highlanders
drawn from a number of Clans, whilst the cavalry were composed of Gordons and
Ogilvies with the addition of gentlemen volunteers from many families, including
the Livingstons and Flemings. Most were seasoned campaigners and were probably
the best troops in Britain at the time - including Cromwell's Ironside.
The government's chosen general in Scotland was William Baillie of Letham, a
sound professional soldier and one of Leslie's major - generals sent north to
take charge. Montrose knew him already, having beaten him in battle at Alford in
Aberdeenshire.
Baillie was at Perth attending the meeting of the Scottish Estates. He had been
given an army of some 6,000 foot and 800 horse; his foot were a mixture of new
levies from Fife of which he though very little, plus a number of regular
regiments withdrawn from Leslie and remnants of other forces already defeated by
Montrose. The cavalry was mainly regular dragoons. In addition to these troops,
the Earl of Lanark had raised a levy of 1,000 infantry and 500 cavalry from his
brother, Hamilton's estate in Clydesdale, and was en route north to join the
main body.
When Montrose learned of this, he resolved to insert his own army between the
other two. Marching from Dunkeld with the speed that characterised all his
movements, he slipped past Baillie and traveling
via Kinross, Glenfarg and
Alloa, he crossed the Forth by the Fords of Frew above Stirling,
circumnavigating the fortress town and crossed the Carron by ford on the site of
the later Carron Bridge, marching south on the drove road on the route of the
present Tak - Ma - Doon Road. By nightfall on the 14th August, the army was
camped in a meadow near Colzium, now covered by Townhead Reservoir, and in an
area around Colzium Castle.
It was not long before Baillie learned of Montrose's advance, but it took a
little time for its purpose to become apparent. Realising that his opponent had
gained an advantage and that Lanark was in some considerable danger, he moved in
haste and, taking the chord of Montrose's arc, reached Stirling by the line of
the modern A9 road. On the same night as Montrose reached Colzium, Baillie was
only three miles off at Hollinbush (Hollinbush, Banknock). He arrived late and
his men had little rest.
He was well served by his scouts and local people, thus he knew exactly where
the Royalists lay. At dawn the next morning his troops were on the move and,
marching directly across country, reached a point close to, and just south of,
the modern village of Banton. Here the Covenanters were on the higher ground
around the eastern rim of the hollow occupied by the Royalist infantry. It was a
fine summer morning, already warm, with the promise of great heat to come.
The Highland troops were clearly visible, leisurely cooking their breakfast
around hundreds of little bivouac fires, obviously not in the least disturbed by
the arrival of the main army of their enemies. Having a healthy respect for
them, and appreciating that his own forces were already hot, dusty and somewhat
tired, Baillie decided to take post where he was and wait events. If and when
Lanark appeared, he had Montrose between two fires, and if the general decided
to attack Lanark, being the weaker force, then Baille could take him from the
rear. Likewise, if Montrose attacked him, Lanark could provide support.
Although that was Baille's sound decision, he was not allowed to adhere to it.
With him was a substantial body of the Committee of Estates, well seasoned with
black-robed Calvinistic ministers of the Scottish Kirk. These gentlemen
considered themselves to be the Elect of God and therefore better able to
conduct a battle than their general. They were afraid that Montrose might escape
to the Highlands, and they wanted to effect a junction with Lanark. The result
was an order to Baille to march his army around the northern perimeter of the
high ground flanking Montrose's position, to the area of Colzium Castle. Now, a
flank march is a difficult and very dangerous manoeuvre at the best of times
but, in this case, in full view of an alert and active foe such as Montrose's
Highlanders, it was a suicidal one. Baille protested vigorously, but was
over-ruled and was told to re-assemble his army in column and move accordingly.
The force set off, the cavalry leading, and made a circuit of Banton Burn and
then followed the line of the Drum Burn.
Montrose watched this with astonishment, then acted speedily. Bidding his men to
cast off their plaids for ease of movement, he sent the Gordon cavalry against
the nose of the column and the body of MacLean infantry to seize the
farmsteadings of Auchinvalley, lying between his main body and the Covenanting
centre. Reinforcing both units, the first with both cavalry and infantry, the
latter with MacDonald foot, he stopped the column's advance with the first
attack and broke it with the second.
The next order was for general attack; the Highlanders surged up the slopes
about them in seconds and found the Covenanting army already broken and in
retreat. The retreat became a rout, a terrible slaughter, some three-quarters of
the troops perished dismally on the field under the Highland broadswords. Baillie
himself fled south with an escort of cavalry, but was caught in the notorious
Dullatur Bog, a deep and treacherous marshy area lying between the head waters
of the Kelvin and the Bonny. He managed to win clear eventually, though leaving
most of his escort behind. He reached his cousin's house at Castle Cary, and
then went on to greater safety at Stirling Castle. More than a hundred years
later, during the cutting of the Forth and Clyde Canal, the bodies of several
troopers, one still seated on a horse, were recovered from the Bog.
Lanark's forces were told of the disaster and scattered for home at once. Lanark
himself and the other leaders raced across the Border and, at last, Montrose
found himself undisputed master of Scotland.
It was too late for the King, however; Naseby had been fought and his cause was
in ruins. A month after Kilsyth, the Scots army in England came marching home
and took Montrose by surprise whilst he was with a small bodyguard at
Philiphaugh in the Borders. Montrose just managed to escape, but is rule was
over and the Covenanters were once more in control.
The site of Montrose's camp at Colzium is now covered by the waters of Townhead
Reservoir, established in the late 18th century. Round its perimeter, a glance
at the map reveals names such as Baggage Knowe, Slaughter Howe, Drum Burn, and
Bullet Knowes, to remind us of the events that took place there. Several
artefacts from this period have been found, including a broadsword and several
cannonballs, apparently dropped by Montrose's army whilst camped at Colzium.
This article was written by an unknown author from the former Cumbernauld & Kilsyth District Council. The excellent website at http://www.scotwars.com includes much interesting Scottish military history.