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John Gordon of Glenbucket
Svejk74: ←Created page with ''''John Gordon of Glenbucket''' (c.1673 – 16 June 1750) was a Scottish Jacobite, or supporter of the claim of the House of Stuart to the Bri...'
'''John Gordon of Glenbucket''' (c.1673 – 16 June 1750) was a Scottish [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]], or supporter of the claim of the [[House of Stuart]] to the British throne. Laird of a minor estate in [[Aberdeenshire]], he fought in several successive Jacobite risings. Following the failure of the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|1745 rising]], in which he served with the rank of Major-General, he escaped to [[Norway]] before settling in [[Paris]], where he died in 1750.
Despite a reputation in later popular history as "one of the most romantic of Jacobite heroes", <ref name=shr165>Tayler, Henrietta. "John Gordon of Glenbucket", ''Scottish Historical Review'', (1948) v27, 10, p.165 </ref> Glenbucket was a controversial figure who acted as a government agent between 1715 and 1745, and was notorious for forcibly conscripting men during the 1745 rising.
==Early life==
Glenbucket was born in 1673 into a junior branch of the Gordon family. His father, John Gordon of Knockespock (c.1654-1704) purchased the small estate of Glenbucket, on the border of Aberdeenshire and [[Banffshire]], in 1701 from another branch of the Gordons.<ref name=odnb>German, Kieran. [http://bit.ly/2viv9Vk John Gordon of Glenbucket], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography </ref>
At the age of sixteen Glenbucket supposedly fought on the Jacobite side at [[Battle of Killiecrankie|Killiecrankie]];<ref name=lenman233>Lenman, Bruce. (1980) ''The Jacobite Risings in Britain'', Methuen, p.233</ref> the battle was a Jacobite victory but their commander, [[John Graham of Claverhouse]], was killed in its closing minutes and the rising later collapsed.
==1715 rising==
[[File:Battle of Sheriffmuir.jpg|thumb|left|Sheriffmuir, 1715. Glenbucket commanded a battalion of the Marquess of Huntly's forces at the battle.]]
The 1715 Jacobite rising was sparked by the power struggle between the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] and [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] factions of Parliament in the wake of [[Queen Anne]]'s death: it was initiated by the Tory [[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732)|Earl of Mar]], without the approval of the Jacobite claimant [[James Francis Edward Stuart|James Stuart]], after [[George I of England|George I]] deprived him of his offices. Glenbucket followed his feudal superior the [[Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon|Marquess of Huntly]] into the rebellion, acting of one of his two battalion commanders at the inconclusive [[Battle of Sheriffmuir]].
After the failure of the 1715 rising, Glenbucket surrendered himself and his men to Ludovick Grant at Strathbogie on 6 March 1716. Grant, one of Glenbucket's neighbours, thought that his influence over Huntly and other local gentry could be of use to the government;<ref name=shr165/> he accordingly gave Glenbucket a pass and a recommendation to the government commander [[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|William Cadogan]].<ref name=shr168>Tayler, (1948), p.168</ref> Cadogan told Glenbucket that all rebels must be imprisoned but treated him "most civilie";<ref name=shr168/> Glenbucket was held in [[Edinburgh Castle]] but was given such preferential treatment that the [[Lord Justice Clerk]] complained.<ref name=shr169>Tayler (1948), p.169</ref> He was subsequently imprisoned in Carlisle, but was released quietly without trial after a few weeks.
Glenbucket returned to Aberdeenshire and again took up the post of steward of Badenoch for Huntly, who had by now become Duke of Gordon. He was courted by both the Jacobites and the government during the [[Jacobite_rising_of_1719|1719 rebellion]], planned around a Spanish landing in South-West England, with a subsidiary rising in Scotland. One of its main planners [[William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine|Lord Tullibardine]] wrote to Glenbucket on 15 April 1715 urging him to join; he refused and in the event the rising misfired badly, with only the Scottish element taking place, and Glenbucket providing regular reports to the Government on rebel activities.<ref name=shr172>Tayler (1948) p.172</ref>
==Further Jacobite activity==
Glenbucket seems to have begun corresponded with the Jacobite court from the mid 1720s. The cause was at a low ebb, with James living in Rome having "abandoned all hope of a Restoration". <ref name=blaikiexlix>Blaikie, Walter (1916) ''Origins of the Forty-Five'', Scottish History Society, xlix-li</ref> This changed from around 1737 onwards, as the French began to see the Jacobites as a useful tool in undermining the interests of Britain and its allies on the Continent.
In 1737 Glenbucket sold his estate and used the proceeds to finance a trip to Paris and Rome, where he met with James Stuart in January 1738. In Paris he presented [[André-Hercule de Fleury|Cardinal Fleury]], Louis XV's chief minister, with a plan for a rising in Scotland with support from the Irish Brigades; he argued that an army raised in the Highlands could successfully resist the small number of government troops then stationed in Scotland.<ref name=blaikiexlix/> While Glenbucket returned from Rome with a Major-General's commission, the Jacobite camp was already affected by divisions and despite his plan sometimes being cited as the origin of the 1745 rising, it is unclear how much support he had in Scotland: [[John Murray of Broughton]], one of the Jacobites' main agents, later characterised Glenbucket as "a man of no property nor natural following, of very mean understanding, with a vast deal of vanity".<ref name=blaikieli>Blaikie (1916), li</ref> When several prominent Jacobites, including [[Donald Cameron of Lochiel]] and the [[James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth|Duke of Perth]], sent a letter to Fleury in 1740 pledging support, Glenbucket was not among those asked to sign it.<ref name=shr173>Tayler (1948), p.173</ref>
While the French abandoned a major invasion plan in 1744, the Stuart heir [[Charles Edward Stuart|Charles Edward]] continued to plan an expedition to Scotland in the summer of 1745, relying on promised support from a small number of heads of clans in the western Highlands. Most Scottish Jacobites, including Murray of Broughton, attempted to dissuade him.
==1745 rising==
[[File:Penicuik drawing (5).jpeg|thumb|right|A contemporary drawing of Glenbucket during the 1745 rising.]]
Charles landed in Scotland in late July 1745, accompanied only by [[Seven Men of Moidart|seven companions]]. Most of those he contacted advised him to return, but Lochiel and a few other influential figures were persuaded, providing Charles with the nucleus of the [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite army]].
The government seems to have believed that Glenbucket would not join Charles: "I have some confidence in my old friend Glenbucket's prudence and temper," wrote [[Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden|Lord President Forbes]] on 14 August, though by September Sir Harie Innes commented "we are in perpetual alarm for Glenbucket – he took some of the Duke of Gordon's horses this morning".<ref name=shr173/> In fact, he was the first of the eastern lairds to join the rising, having allegedly been present at [[Glenfinnan]] on 19 August when Charles raised his standard.<ref name=grant31>Grant, Charles. "Glenbucket's Regiment of Foot" in ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Researc'', v.28, 113 (Spring 1950), p.31</ref>
Returning to Banffshire with a small party of Highlanders, he began raising men in Glenlivet, allegedly by threatening them "with being plundered if they did not join".<ref name=grant32>Grant (1950) p.32</ref> He continued recruiting across Banffshire and by mid September his unit had grown to regimental size, around 300 strong, though Forbes commented that his men "desert him daily".<ref name=grant32/> By the time he joined the main Jacobite force at [[Edinburgh]] on 4 October, he had about 400 men.<ref name=grant34>Grant (1950) p.34</ref>
Despite being well into his seventies, and despite being reported dead in October,<ref name=shr174>Tayler (1948) p.174</ref> Glenbucket played an active role in the campaign. Though [[Lord George Murray (general)|Lord George Murray]] described him as "very infirm", [[Seven Men of Moidart#Sir John MacDonald|Sir John MacDonald]] claimed that he was "the only Scot I ever knew who was able to start at the time fixed, he was also the most active."<ref name=grant41>Grant (1950) p.41</ref>
Glenbucket's regiment joined the Jacobite invasion of England in November 1745, marching as part of Perth's division. The Jacobites marched rapidly as far as [[Derby]], but against Charles's wishes then decided to retreat to Scotland as there was no sign of the English support or the French invasion force Charles had promised. The retreat was conducted successfully: about 50 of Glenbucket's men were left with the [[Carlisle]], under captains George Abernethy and Alexander Leith; after a [[Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)|short siege]] the garrison surrendered to the government army on 30 December.<ref name=grant36>Grant (1950) p.36</ref>
In January 1746 the Jacobites besieged [[Stirling Castle]]. Glenbucket commanded the blockading troops until the [[Battle of Falkirk Muir]], fought against a government relief force on 15 January, after which he was replaced by the Duke of Perth. The siege was abandoned shortly afterwards and in February, while his regiment marched northwards through Aberdeenshire, Glenbucket and a party of Highlanders besieged [[Siege of Ruthven Barracks (1746)|Ruthven Barracks]],.<ref name=grant38>Grant (1950) p.38</ref> Towards the end of February he was reported to be with his regiment, recruiting in a remote area around Glenlivet and Strathdon.
Increasingly short of money and supplies the Jacobites withdrew to [[Inverness]]. When the government army advanced from Aberdeen on 8 April, the Jacobite leadership were mostly in favour of standing and fighting, but in the ensuing [[Battle of Culloden]] on 16 April they were comprehensively defeated. Glenbucket and his regiment were initially positioned in the second line; some authors have suggested that they retreated in good order to Badenoch and disbanded there, but given that they were not far from their own country they are more likely to have simply have dispersed after the battle.<ref name=grant40>Grant (1950) p.40</ref>
Glenbucket himself escaped; In June he was again reported "dead lately in the hills of Glenavon"<ref name=shr174/> but was able to leave Scotland in November on a Swedish ship. After some time in Norway he made his way to the Jacobite exile community in Paris, where he lived in some poverty despite receiving a small number of 'gratification' payments from the French. He died in 1750 at [[Boulogne]].<ref name=shr174/>
==Family==
Glenbucket was married to Jean Forbes. He had a number of children, several of whom were officers in his regiment; the eldest, John, was involved in the 1745 rising along with his own eldest son William and was taken prisoner, though later claimed to be almost completely blind; he was released in 1747.
His second son, David Gordon of Kirkhill, died in March 1746, while the third, George Gordon, was taken prisoner, later escaping and travelling to Jamaica.<ref name=grant41>Grant (1950) p.41</ref> Another son, Alexander, served in the navy of Russia. One of Glenbucket's daughters Helen married John Macdonell, 12th chief of Glengarry; another daughter Isabel married Donald Macdonell of Lochgarry.
==References==
[[Category:1673 births]]
[[Category:1750 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish generals]]
[[Category:Scottish Jacobites]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1715]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1745]]
Despite a reputation in later popular history as "one of the most romantic of Jacobite heroes", <ref name=shr165>Tayler, Henrietta. "John Gordon of Glenbucket", ''Scottish Historical Review'', (1948) v27, 10, p.165 </ref> Glenbucket was a controversial figure who acted as a government agent between 1715 and 1745, and was notorious for forcibly conscripting men during the 1745 rising.
==Early life==
Glenbucket was born in 1673 into a junior branch of the Gordon family. His father, John Gordon of Knockespock (c.1654-1704) purchased the small estate of Glenbucket, on the border of Aberdeenshire and [[Banffshire]], in 1701 from another branch of the Gordons.<ref name=odnb>German, Kieran. [http://bit.ly/2viv9Vk John Gordon of Glenbucket], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography </ref>
At the age of sixteen Glenbucket supposedly fought on the Jacobite side at [[Battle of Killiecrankie|Killiecrankie]];<ref name=lenman233>Lenman, Bruce. (1980) ''The Jacobite Risings in Britain'', Methuen, p.233</ref> the battle was a Jacobite victory but their commander, [[John Graham of Claverhouse]], was killed in its closing minutes and the rising later collapsed.
==1715 rising==
[[File:Battle of Sheriffmuir.jpg|thumb|left|Sheriffmuir, 1715. Glenbucket commanded a battalion of the Marquess of Huntly's forces at the battle.]]
The 1715 Jacobite rising was sparked by the power struggle between the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] and [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] factions of Parliament in the wake of [[Queen Anne]]'s death: it was initiated by the Tory [[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732)|Earl of Mar]], without the approval of the Jacobite claimant [[James Francis Edward Stuart|James Stuart]], after [[George I of England|George I]] deprived him of his offices. Glenbucket followed his feudal superior the [[Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon|Marquess of Huntly]] into the rebellion, acting of one of his two battalion commanders at the inconclusive [[Battle of Sheriffmuir]].
After the failure of the 1715 rising, Glenbucket surrendered himself and his men to Ludovick Grant at Strathbogie on 6 March 1716. Grant, one of Glenbucket's neighbours, thought that his influence over Huntly and other local gentry could be of use to the government;<ref name=shr165/> he accordingly gave Glenbucket a pass and a recommendation to the government commander [[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|William Cadogan]].<ref name=shr168>Tayler, (1948), p.168</ref> Cadogan told Glenbucket that all rebels must be imprisoned but treated him "most civilie";<ref name=shr168/> Glenbucket was held in [[Edinburgh Castle]] but was given such preferential treatment that the [[Lord Justice Clerk]] complained.<ref name=shr169>Tayler (1948), p.169</ref> He was subsequently imprisoned in Carlisle, but was released quietly without trial after a few weeks.
Glenbucket returned to Aberdeenshire and again took up the post of steward of Badenoch for Huntly, who had by now become Duke of Gordon. He was courted by both the Jacobites and the government during the [[Jacobite_rising_of_1719|1719 rebellion]], planned around a Spanish landing in South-West England, with a subsidiary rising in Scotland. One of its main planners [[William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine|Lord Tullibardine]] wrote to Glenbucket on 15 April 1715 urging him to join; he refused and in the event the rising misfired badly, with only the Scottish element taking place, and Glenbucket providing regular reports to the Government on rebel activities.<ref name=shr172>Tayler (1948) p.172</ref>
==Further Jacobite activity==
Glenbucket seems to have begun corresponded with the Jacobite court from the mid 1720s. The cause was at a low ebb, with James living in Rome having "abandoned all hope of a Restoration". <ref name=blaikiexlix>Blaikie, Walter (1916) ''Origins of the Forty-Five'', Scottish History Society, xlix-li</ref> This changed from around 1737 onwards, as the French began to see the Jacobites as a useful tool in undermining the interests of Britain and its allies on the Continent.
In 1737 Glenbucket sold his estate and used the proceeds to finance a trip to Paris and Rome, where he met with James Stuart in January 1738. In Paris he presented [[André-Hercule de Fleury|Cardinal Fleury]], Louis XV's chief minister, with a plan for a rising in Scotland with support from the Irish Brigades; he argued that an army raised in the Highlands could successfully resist the small number of government troops then stationed in Scotland.<ref name=blaikiexlix/> While Glenbucket returned from Rome with a Major-General's commission, the Jacobite camp was already affected by divisions and despite his plan sometimes being cited as the origin of the 1745 rising, it is unclear how much support he had in Scotland: [[John Murray of Broughton]], one of the Jacobites' main agents, later characterised Glenbucket as "a man of no property nor natural following, of very mean understanding, with a vast deal of vanity".<ref name=blaikieli>Blaikie (1916), li</ref> When several prominent Jacobites, including [[Donald Cameron of Lochiel]] and the [[James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth|Duke of Perth]], sent a letter to Fleury in 1740 pledging support, Glenbucket was not among those asked to sign it.<ref name=shr173>Tayler (1948), p.173</ref>
While the French abandoned a major invasion plan in 1744, the Stuart heir [[Charles Edward Stuart|Charles Edward]] continued to plan an expedition to Scotland in the summer of 1745, relying on promised support from a small number of heads of clans in the western Highlands. Most Scottish Jacobites, including Murray of Broughton, attempted to dissuade him.
==1745 rising==
[[File:Penicuik drawing (5).jpeg|thumb|right|A contemporary drawing of Glenbucket during the 1745 rising.]]
Charles landed in Scotland in late July 1745, accompanied only by [[Seven Men of Moidart|seven companions]]. Most of those he contacted advised him to return, but Lochiel and a few other influential figures were persuaded, providing Charles with the nucleus of the [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite army]].
The government seems to have believed that Glenbucket would not join Charles: "I have some confidence in my old friend Glenbucket's prudence and temper," wrote [[Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden|Lord President Forbes]] on 14 August, though by September Sir Harie Innes commented "we are in perpetual alarm for Glenbucket – he took some of the Duke of Gordon's horses this morning".<ref name=shr173/> In fact, he was the first of the eastern lairds to join the rising, having allegedly been present at [[Glenfinnan]] on 19 August when Charles raised his standard.<ref name=grant31>Grant, Charles. "Glenbucket's Regiment of Foot" in ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Researc'', v.28, 113 (Spring 1950), p.31</ref>
Returning to Banffshire with a small party of Highlanders, he began raising men in Glenlivet, allegedly by threatening them "with being plundered if they did not join".<ref name=grant32>Grant (1950) p.32</ref> He continued recruiting across Banffshire and by mid September his unit had grown to regimental size, around 300 strong, though Forbes commented that his men "desert him daily".<ref name=grant32/> By the time he joined the main Jacobite force at [[Edinburgh]] on 4 October, he had about 400 men.<ref name=grant34>Grant (1950) p.34</ref>
Despite being well into his seventies, and despite being reported dead in October,<ref name=shr174>Tayler (1948) p.174</ref> Glenbucket played an active role in the campaign. Though [[Lord George Murray (general)|Lord George Murray]] described him as "very infirm", [[Seven Men of Moidart#Sir John MacDonald|Sir John MacDonald]] claimed that he was "the only Scot I ever knew who was able to start at the time fixed, he was also the most active."<ref name=grant41>Grant (1950) p.41</ref>
Glenbucket's regiment joined the Jacobite invasion of England in November 1745, marching as part of Perth's division. The Jacobites marched rapidly as far as [[Derby]], but against Charles's wishes then decided to retreat to Scotland as there was no sign of the English support or the French invasion force Charles had promised. The retreat was conducted successfully: about 50 of Glenbucket's men were left with the [[Carlisle]], under captains George Abernethy and Alexander Leith; after a [[Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)|short siege]] the garrison surrendered to the government army on 30 December.<ref name=grant36>Grant (1950) p.36</ref>
In January 1746 the Jacobites besieged [[Stirling Castle]]. Glenbucket commanded the blockading troops until the [[Battle of Falkirk Muir]], fought against a government relief force on 15 January, after which he was replaced by the Duke of Perth. The siege was abandoned shortly afterwards and in February, while his regiment marched northwards through Aberdeenshire, Glenbucket and a party of Highlanders besieged [[Siege of Ruthven Barracks (1746)|Ruthven Barracks]],.<ref name=grant38>Grant (1950) p.38</ref> Towards the end of February he was reported to be with his regiment, recruiting in a remote area around Glenlivet and Strathdon.
Increasingly short of money and supplies the Jacobites withdrew to [[Inverness]]. When the government army advanced from Aberdeen on 8 April, the Jacobite leadership were mostly in favour of standing and fighting, but in the ensuing [[Battle of Culloden]] on 16 April they were comprehensively defeated. Glenbucket and his regiment were initially positioned in the second line; some authors have suggested that they retreated in good order to Badenoch and disbanded there, but given that they were not far from their own country they are more likely to have simply have dispersed after the battle.<ref name=grant40>Grant (1950) p.40</ref>
Glenbucket himself escaped; In June he was again reported "dead lately in the hills of Glenavon"<ref name=shr174/> but was able to leave Scotland in November on a Swedish ship. After some time in Norway he made his way to the Jacobite exile community in Paris, where he lived in some poverty despite receiving a small number of 'gratification' payments from the French. He died in 1750 at [[Boulogne]].<ref name=shr174/>
==Family==
Glenbucket was married to Jean Forbes. He had a number of children, several of whom were officers in his regiment; the eldest, John, was involved in the 1745 rising along with his own eldest son William and was taken prisoner, though later claimed to be almost completely blind; he was released in 1747.
His second son, David Gordon of Kirkhill, died in March 1746, while the third, George Gordon, was taken prisoner, later escaping and travelling to Jamaica.<ref name=grant41>Grant (1950) p.41</ref> Another son, Alexander, served in the navy of Russia. One of Glenbucket's daughters Helen married John Macdonell, 12th chief of Glengarry; another daughter Isabel married Donald Macdonell of Lochgarry.
==References==
[[Category:1673 births]]
[[Category:1750 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish generals]]
[[Category:Scottish Jacobites]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1715]]
[[Category:People of the Jacobite rising of 1745]]
April 24, 2019 at 03:05AM
