Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / The Battle of Kilsyth: Montrose's Highland Thunderbolt
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the big set-pieces of Scottish history — Bannockburn, Culloden, the Wars of Independence. But there's one campaign that often gets overlooked, and it's arguably the most stunning display of military genius in the whole story. I'm talking about Montrose's year of victories in 1644-45. Luna: Montrose — the royalist commander, right? The one who fought for Charles I? Lucas: Exactly. James Graham, Marquess of Montrose. He was originally a Covenanter himself — he'd signed the National Covenant in 1638. But by 1644, he'd switched sides to the king, partly because he saw the Covenanters becoming too extreme. And what he did next is almost unbelievable. Lucas: He raised an army from virtually nothing. He had about 1,500 Irish troops, sent over by the Earl of Antrim, under a commander named Alasdair Mac Colla. Mac Colla was a MacDonald from the Isles, and he brought with him a burning hatred of the Campbells. Then Montrose added a few hundred Highland clansmen — some MacDonalds, some MacLeans, some Camerons. And with this small, ragged force, he took on the entire Covenanter military establishment. Luna: And he won? More than once? Lucas: Six battles in less than a year. Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Auldearn, Alford, and then Kilsyth — which is the one I want to focus on. Kilsyth, on 15 August 1645, was the crowning achievement. It gave Montrose control of all Scotland for a brief, glorious moment. Lucas: Let me set the scene. The Covenanter government in Edinburgh was terrified. They'd already been beaten several times, and now Montrose was heading south towards the Lowlands. They scraped together their biggest army yet — about 6,000 men, mostly well-trained Lowland levies, commanded by General William Baillie. Baillie was a competent officer, but he had a committee of ministers and nobles breathing down his neck, telling him what to do. That would prove fatal. Luna: So the Covenanters had numerical superiority and better equipment? Lucas: They did. Baillie's army had musketeers, pikemen, even some cavalry. Montrose had maybe 4,000 men, but his core was those Irish veterans under Mac Colla — tough, experienced soldiers who'd fought in the Irish wars. And he had the Highland charge, which was still a terrifying tactic if used right. Lucas: The battle took place near the town of Kilsyth, about fifteen miles northeast of Glasgow. The ground was hilly, with a stream called the Bannock Burn — not that Bannockburn, a different one — running through a valley. Baillie took up a strong position on the high ground, but his committee wanted to attack. They forced him to advance downhill, which disrupted his formation. Lucas: Montrose saw his chance. He ordered Mac Colla's Irish, along with the Highlanders, to charge downhill into the Covenanter flank. The Highlanders came screaming, firing their muskets once, then dropping them and drawing swords and axes. The Covenanter line wavered, then broke. Within an hour, the entire army was in flight. Baillie lost maybe 3,000 men killed or captured; Montrose lost fewer than a hundred. Luna: That's a massacre. What happened to Baillie? Lucas: He escaped, but his reputation was ruined. The Covenanter government collapsed — Edinburgh surrendered, and Montrose marched into the city unopposed. For a few weeks, he was the master of Scotland. He held a parliament in Glasgow, and it looked like Charles I might win the whole war. But it didn't last. Lucas: The problem was that Montrose's army was a coalition of factions held together by his personal charisma and the promise of loot. Mac Colla's Irish and the MacDonalds were primarily interested in fighting the Campbells, not in securing Scotland for the king. After Kilsyth, Mac Colla took his men off to ravage Campbell territory, and Montrose was left with a much smaller force. Luna: And then the Covenanters got their act together? Lucas: Exactly. They raised a new army under David Leslie, a much better general than Baillie. Leslie caught Montrose by surprise at Philiphaugh in September 1645, just a month after Kilsyth. Montrose's army was destroyed, and he fled into exile. The dream of a royalist Scotland was over. Lucas: But Kilsyth remains one of the most stunning victories in Scottish history. It showed what a small, motivated force could do against a larger, less determined enemy. And it also showed the fragility of coalition warfare — Montrose won Scotland, but he couldn't hold it. Luna: And all of this happened while England was in the middle of its own civil war. It's like a whole parallel conflict. Lucas: Exactly, and that's something we should mention — the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Scotland, England, and Ireland were all interconnected. The Irish Confederation sent troops to Scotland to help Montrose, as part of a deal with the king. Montrose's victories actually forced the Covenanters to recall their army from England, which helped the Royalist cause there. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Lucas: You know, it's funny — we spend so much time on these stories, and every episode is a labour of love. I was thinking the other day, we're only able to do this because a small group of listeners chips in through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No ads, no sponsors — just people who enjoy the show keeping it alive. Luna: It's true. And it's not a big ask — just a few pounds a month from those who can. It makes a real difference. Lucas: Anyway, back to Montrose. After Philiphaugh, he spent years in exile, then returned in 1650 for one last, doomed attempt. He was captured, hanged, and his body was quartered. But his legacy as a brilliant commander endures. There's a statue of him in Edinburgh, and his campaigns are still studied in military academies. Luna: I've seen that statue — on a horse, near the castle. It's hard to imagine that one man could have come so close to changing the course of history. Lucas: That's the thing about Scottish history — it's full of what-ifs. What if Montrose had held together his coalition? What if Charles I had trusted him more? What if the Covenanters hadn't panicked at Kilsyth? The whole British Isles might look different today. Lucas: But what we do know is this: on a summer's day in 1645, a Highland army smashed a Lowland force twice its size, and for a few weeks, Scotland belonged to the king. It's a story of audacity, clan loyalty, and the terrible cost of civil war. Luna: And the role of the Irish Brigade — that's something I hadn't really thought about. They were key to Montrose's success. Lucas: Absolutely. Men like Manus O'Cahan, who commanded a regiment of Irish veterans. They were professional soldiers, unlike most of the Highlanders, and they provided the disciplined core that Montrose needed. Without them, Kilsyth wouldn't have happened. Luna: So next time someone talks about Bonnie Prince Charlie and Culloden, I'll remind them that a Highland army won a much more impressive victory nearly a century earlier. Lucas: Exactly. And maybe that's the real takeaway — that Scottish military history isn't just about defeat and tragedy. There are moments of brilliance, too. Kilsyth is one of them.