The Scots Army (Scots: Scots Airmy) was the army of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 1660 Stuart Restoration and Scotland's union with England to form Great Britain on 1 May 1707 following the 1706 Treaty of Union and the Acts of Union that enacted it. During the Restoration the Scots Army was raised as a small standing army which mainly engaged in suppressing Covenanter rebellions participating in counterinsurgency operations against Cameronians in Eastern Scotland. The Scottish Militia was also raised to further bolster Scotland's military capacity.

During the 1688 Glorious Revolution the Scottish army numbered over 3,500 men. Following the revolution several regiments were raised to defend the new regime of William II of Scotland, and Scottish troops served in the Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession. By May 1707 the Scots Army comprised seven infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments and one troop of Horse Guards. Scottish units initially wore grey, but later adopted red uniforms similar to those worn by English Army troops from 1684 onwards. The union with England in 1707 resulted in the merger of the Scottish and English armies into the British Army, and Scottish regiments constitute an important part of the new army into the present day.

History

At the Restoration in 1660 the Privy Council of Scotland established a force of several infantry regiments and a few troops of horse to act as a standing army. These included a troop of Life Guards, a second troop of which was raised in 1661, Lieutenant-General William Drummond's Regiment of Horse, five independent troops of horse, a regiment of Foot Guards, later known as the Scots Guards and Douglas' Regiment, formed and serving in France since 1633, which returned and eventually became the Royal Regiment of Foot.K. A. J. McLay, "The Restoration and the Glorious Revolution 1660–1702", in E. M. Spiers, J. A. Crang and M. J. Strickland, eds, A Military History of Scotland (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012), , p. 14.C. C. P. Lawson, A History of the Uniforms of the British Army Volume 1 (P. Davies, 1967), p. 57. There were also attempts to found a national militia of 20,000 foot and 2,000 horse on the English model. The standing army was mainly employed in the suppression of Covenanter rebellions and the guerrilla war undertaken by the Cameronians in the East.E. M. Furgol, "Warfare, weapons and fortifications: 3 1600–1700" in M. Lynch, ed., The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 637–8. In addition a "Foote Company of Highland Men" was raised and three troops of Scots Dragoons in 1678. Another three were added to make The Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons in 1681, by which point they were already mounted on grey horses that would give them their name of the Royal Scots Greys.C. Grant, The Royal Scots Greys (Botley: Osprey, 1972), , pp. 1–3. On the eve of the Glorious Revolution the standing army in Scotland was about 3,000 men in various regiments and another 268 veterans in the major garrison towns, at an annual cost of about £80,000.J. Young, "Army: 1600–1750" in M. Lynch, ed., The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 24–5.

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 ten regiments were raised for the defense of the regime. Some were soon disbanded,C. C. P. Lawson, A History of the Uniforms of the British Army Volume 1 (P. Davies, 1967), p. 59. but others served against Jacobite rebels, in Ireland and increasingly in William II's continental wars, beginning with the Nine Years' War in Flanders (1689–97). Their role was of such importance that the Scots Parliament forced Queen Anne to give royal assent to the controversial 1704 Act of Security by threatening to withdraw all Scottish forces back out of the Confederate armies.J. Panton, Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy (Scarecrow Press, 2011), , p. 485. By the time of the Act of Union in 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland had a standing army of seven units of infantry, two of horse and one troop of Horse Guards, besides varying levels of fortress artillery in the garrison castles of Edinburgh, Dumbarton, and Stirling.D. Grove, and C. Abraham, Fortress Scotland and the Jacobites (Batsford/Historic Scotland, 1995), , p. 38. The new British Army created by the Act of Union incorporated the existing Scottish regiments and some units would have a long regimental history, while new Scottish regiments, particularly of Highlanders, would be raised from the 1740s.A. Mackillop, "Highland Regiments 1750–1830" in M. Lynch, ed., The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 25–6.

Uniforms

Early units were probably dressed in homespun woollen cloth of hodden grey, which had been used during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 1640s. Dragoons continued to wear grey, but from 1684 red cloth was imported from England to make uniforms that matched those of the English Army. The dragoons also eventually adopted red.J. Tincey, The British Army: 1660–1704 (Botley: Osprey Publishing, 1994), , p. 15. Militia units may have been uniformed in blue. Units were differentiated by contrasting colours visible on the collars and cuffs on a regimental basis.C. C. P. Lawson, A History of the Uniforms of the British Army Volume 1 (P. Davies, 1967), pp. 57–8.

Regimental histories The following is a list of regiments commissioned between 1660 and 1707.C. C. P. Lawson, A History of the Uniforms of the British Army Volume 1 (P. Davies, 1967), pp. 57–65. Name/first colonel Date commissioned Other colonels/names Date disbandedLt-General William Drummond's Horse1660?1st Troop of Life Guards16604th Troop of Horse Guards 170917462nd Troop of Life Guards166116633rd Troop of Life Guards1663–641676Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons1694Royal North British Dragoons 1707, 2nd Dragoons 1717, 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) 1877Amalgamated 1971Royal Regiment of Foot1633His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Foot 1684, 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot 1751Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment1642Life Guard of Foot 1650, His Majesty's Foot Guards 1661, 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards 1714Lt-General Thomas Dalyell's Foot16661667Sir William Lockhart's Foot16721674Sir George Munro's Foot16741676Earl of Mar's Foot1677Royal Scots Fusiliers 1695Amalgamated 1959Lord Douglas's Foot16781679John Wauchope's Foot16881717Lord Bargany's Foot16891689Lord Blantyre's Foot16891689Earl of Glencairn's Foot16891689Earl of Mar's Foot16891689Lord Strathnaver's 1st Foot16891690Grant's Foot16891690Laird of Grant's Foot16891691Viscount Kenmure's Foot16891691Earl of Argyll's Foot1689John Lord Lorne 16941698John Hill's Foot16891698Richard Cunningham's Foot16891698Sir James Moncrief's Foot1689George Hamilton 16941714Earl of Angus's Foot1689Cameronians, 26th Foot 1751Amalgamated 1881Lord Leven's Foot1689Semphill's Foot c. 1745, 25th Foot 1751, King's Own Borderers 1805Amalgamated 2006John Hill's Foot16901698William Douglas's 1st Foot1694?William Douglas's 2nd Foot16941697Lord John Murray's Foot1694Earl of Tullibardine1697Lord Lindsay (later Lord Crawford)'s Foot16941697Robert Mackay's 1st Foot??Robert Mackay's 2nd Foot?1697Lord Strathnaver's 2nd Foot1698John Lord Lorne 1702, John Marquis of Tullibardine1717Lord Strathnaver's 3rd Foot17021713Earl of Mar's Foot1702Alexander Grant 17061713Lt-Col George MacCartney's Foot17041713

See also Military history of Scotland Warfare in early modern Scotland

References

Further reading