Drumclog, 1679

"Bluidy Clavers" and his dragoons bogged down

In my last post, I discussed the background of the 1679 Covenanter Rebellion, giving a personal view of the progress of the Scottish Reformation from John Knox, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, to the murder of Archbishop James Sharp in May, 1679. In this post, I would like to discuss to some depth the initial armed clash of the rebellion that same year. My main source for this post is A history of the rencounter at Drumclog by William Aiton, published in 1821. 

On Sunday, May 25th, 1679 Reverend Thomas Douglas preached at an illegal conventicle on Lambhill Muir, north of Glasgow. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was distributed to a congregation who were well aware that participation in this worship service could cost them their liberty. Two of their number, David Hackston and John Balfour had even participated in the murder of Archbishop Sharp earlier that month. Were they to be apprehended by Government cavalry, they would certainly be put to death, along with Reverend Douglas. However, there was no disturbance on that Lord's Day.

The next day, Hackston and Balfour met with Sir Robert Hamilton in Glasgow to discuss their planned demonstration of resistance to King Charles, who had broken his covenant with the Kirk and Kingdom of Scotland. Hamilton's father, Sir Thomas Hamilton had followed the King's banner to the catastrophic defeats at Dunbar and Worcester, staking his own family's fortune on the King's promise to uphold the National Covenant, but had lived to see that oath forsworn, and the Covenanting cause persecuted and proscribed.

Three days later, on May 29th, Hamilton, Hackston, and Balfour rode into Rutherglen and fixed a declaration to the Mercat Cross in town (Aiton, 50). The date was massively significant, as it marked the 19th anniversary of King Charles' restoration in 1660, and was also celebrated as the King's birthday. Their declaration contained seven grievances:

1. Against the overturning of the "covenanting reformation."
2. Against the establishment of episcopacy over the Scottish Kirk
3. Against the renouncement of the National Covenant by the magistrates
4. Against the ejection of ministers from their pulpits
5. Against the declaration making May 29th a public holiday in honor of King Charles, "whereby the appointers have intruded upon the Lord’s prerogative, and the observers have given glory to the creature that is due to our Lord Redeemer, and rejoiced over the setting up an usurping power to the destroying the interest of Christ in the land."
6. Against the act of 1669, declaring King Charles to be supreme over the Church of Scotland
7. Against the Privy Council's actions in upholding the King's illegal supremacy.

(Full text of Ruthven Declaration can be found here: http://www.covenanter.org.uk/rutherglen_declaration.html).

The posting of this declaration was also accompanied by the public burning of all the offensive acts that had been passed by the Scottish Parliament since 1660. The royal administration in Scotland saw this act as open rebellion against the King's authority, and made moves to retaliate, dispatching three troops of horse to attack the next conventicle on Sunday, June 1st. The man entrusted with this task was Captain John Graham, the Laird of Claverhouse, commanding his own troop of dragoons as well as those of the Earl of Home's and the Earl of Airlie's. Although he was not yet the "Bonnie Dundee" whose death at Killiecrankie transported his memory into legend, he was still an experienced soldier and a hard-bitten Episcopalian who had no love for Covenanters or Whigs.

Reverend Thomas Douglas was next engaged to preach and minister at Loudoun Hill on June 1st, the site of one of Robert the Bruce's famous victories. Knowing that the Rutherglen declaration was sure to provoke a violent response from the powers that be, Sir Robert Hamilton had taken many precautions. The men at the conventicle, always prepared to defend themselves, were especially well-armed that Lord's Day, with a troop of horsemen patrolling the perimeter as the other congregants sang psalms, heard the sermon, and prepared their hearts to receive the sacrament. However, a rider came in, declaring that "Bluidy Clavers" was on his way from Strathaven to disperse the conventicle. Most of the women and children were sent away to safety, though it appears that some women ventured to stand by their husbands as they marched east to resist the Government troopers at Drumclog.

 

Map of the Battle of Drumclog

The force that Captain Graham saw opposing him across Drumclog Moor would have consisted of only fifty men armed with muskets, perhaps 150-200 men armed with pitchforks and scythes, as well as 50 men on horseback (Aiton, 54). There must have been some level of organization in their ranks, as Graham wrote that they were organized in "four battalions of foot and... three squadrons of horse." Perhaps this refers to companies of about 50 men, and troops of horse of no more than 20, but the Covenanters could not have been very well trained or disciplined. Graham commanded 150 well-armed troopers, but he had three significant disadvantages. His men were trained, but by no means elite, and they were outnumbered almost 2:1. The untrained Covenanter force had, by God's grace and in ignorance of military doctrine, chosen a tactically advantageous position, uphill and facing marshy ground. However, Graham's confidence led him to order an immediate attack.

William Aiton records the traditional account of the battle first, embellished with over a century's worth of legend, in which the plucky psalm-singing Covenanters avoided the first volley of the Government troopers by laying prostrate on the ground, then counter-charged their foes when the horses became mired in mud. "Ow'r the bog and to them lads!" Sir Robert Hamilton is said to have cried as they entered the fray, followed by an "instantaneous and complete" rout of "Bluidy Clavers" and his hateful dragoons (Aiton, 55). I very much agree that when the legend becomes fact one ought to print the legend, but this providential account deserves to be accompanied by the more military, if self-serving report that John Graham delivered to his superiors in the immediate aftermath. 

The Captain first sent forward a party of skirmishers to test the Covenanter's position, who sent one of their own, yet the result of these opening shots left the covenanters fleeing back to their position on the hillside. It was this that led Graham to commit his whole force against the rebels, but he seems to omit any reference to boggy ground in his account, and the rebels go from running "shamefully" to being resolved to fight a "general engagement" in a single sentence. The Covenanters, who before could not stand up to skirmishing with the dragoons, receive a volley from the troopers within ten paces, and soon overwhelms Graham's own troop, killing a cornet, a captain, and nearly Graham himself, whose horse was disemboweled by the Covenanter scythes. The dragoons retreated, pursued "hotly" by the Covenanter horse, led by 18-year old soldier-poet William Clelland. (Letters, 29-30).

Whatever the truth or falsehood in either account, the God to whose protection the Covenanters had entrusted themselves had given them a decisive victory against their hateful enemy. Sir Robert Hamilton, who had commanded that no quarter should be given to their foes, executed one of the Government prisoners with his own hand, consciously emulating the Biblical judge Samuel. It is unlikely that the Covenanters could have escaped this same fate had they been defeated at Drumclog, but it puts their victory in a very somber light. It is said that Sir Robert Hamilton regretted the killing all the rest of his life, not the incident itself, but that he had not slain half a dozen more (Aiton, 57-58).

Conclusion

Having wargamed this battle, I can attest that the Covenanter position was unassailable in the direction that Captain Graham attacked, and with the troops he had on hand. The marshy ground would have broken up any formation the troopers formed, and they could not have attacked in very good order. Dragoons in this period still functioned as mounted infantry, and were of lower quality than regular cavalry, unable to engage in close melee for very long. So the result of this wargame was just like the historical outcome, with the government troopers quickly routed after the first contact. Had Captain Graham managed to catch the Covenanters at Loudon Hill, when the conventicle was still assembled with the women and children, the ill-prepared men would have been quickly routed. But having received early warning and taken up such an advantageous position, with all the motivation that certain death or imprisonment provides, as long as Covenanter morale held good, the battle of Drumclog could only have had one outcome. You might say it was "predestined." 

Wargaming Drumclog

The map and tokens which I used in the wargame.

As I mentioned above, I wargamed this battle using the ruleset In Deo Veritas published by Helion, adjusting ranges, movement distance, and base size. These particular rules forced the dragoons to make a disorder check when passing through the marsh, so that by the time they came into contact with the Covenanter force they were not prepared to fight in good order. This was the Order of Battle I used:

Name	Type	Rank	Size	Colors
Royal Army – Captain Graham, Laird of Claverhouse
Claverhouse	Dragoons	Trained	50	Red/yellow
Earl of Home	“	“	50	Red/yellow
Earl of Airlie	“	“	50	Red/yellow
Covenanters – Richard Hamilton
Clelland	Irregular Cav.	Raw	50	Buff
Hamilton	Musketeers	“	50	Grey
Hackston	Rabble	“	50	Brown
Balfour	“	“	50	Brown
Woodburn	“	“	50	Brown

Tokens were ½” for foot, ¾” for Horse

Worked Cited

Aiton, William. A history of the rencounter at Drumclog, and battle at Bothwell Bridge, in the month of June, 1679, and reflections on political subjects. Hamilton: W. D. Borthwick and Co., 1821. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009722308.

Smythe, George, ed. Letters of John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, with illustrative documents. Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Company, 1826. https://digital.nls.uk/publications-by-scottish-clubs/archive/80260261?mode=gallery_grid&sn=50.