Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Baronet Stewart of Ramalton

From Darryl Lundy's page on Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Baronet:

http://thepeerage.com/p33068.htm#i330678

Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt.[1]

• M, #330678,
• d. 3 September 1650
• Last Edited=19 Jan 2009

Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt. married Catherine Newcomen, daughter of Sir Robert Newcomen, 4th Bt. and Anne Boleyn.[1]

He died on 3 September 1650, killed in action.[1]

He was the son of Sir William Stewart, 1st Bt.[1]

• He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baronet Stewart, of Ramalton, co. Donegal [I., 1623].
• He fought in the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650.[1]

Child of Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Bt. and Catherine Newcomen

• 1. William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy+1

--------------------------

Sources

1. Descent and alliances of Croslegh or Crossle, or Crossley, of Scaitcliffe; and Coddington of Oldbridge; and Evans, of Eyton hall (Google eBook).  Priv. print., The De La More press, 1904 - 441 pages.  Page 264  "NEWCOMEN, of KENAGH - LINEAGE, lll."

Citations

• 1. [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume IX, page 349. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.

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From the English Wikipedia page on the Battle of Dunbar (1650), where Alexander was killed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunbar_(1650)

On June 23, 1650 Charles II landed in Scotland at Garmouth in Moray. On his arrival he signed the 1638 Covenant and the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant and was proclaimed King of Scots.

This infuriated the English authorities and they decided to invade Scotland. Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Army's commander, disagreed with this strategy and resigned. Oliver Cromwell was made General in his place. John Lambert was appointed Sergeant Major General and the Army's second-in-command.

As Cromwell led his army over the border at Berwick-upon-Tweed in July 1650, the Scottish general, Sir David Leslie, decided that his best strategy was to avoid a direct conflict with the enemy. His army were not the battle hardend veterans of The Thirty Years War who had taken the field for the Scots at Newburn and Marston Moor. Many of them had perished during the Civil War and the ill fated 1648 invasion of England. Far more had left active service after the former event.

This meant that a new army had to be raised and trained by the remaining veteran soldiers. Eventually the army comprised some 12,000[1] soldiers outnumbering the English army of 11,000[2] men. Though the Scots soldiers were well armed, the lack of time meant they were poorly trained compared to their English counterparts all of whom had served with Oliver Cromwell for years. Leslie chose therefore to shelter his troops behind strong fortifications around Edinburgh and refused to be drawn out to meet the English in battle. Furthermore, between Edinburgh and the border, Leslie adopted a scorched earth policy thus forcing Cromwell to obtain all of his supplies from England, most arriving by sea through the port at Dunbar.

Whether in a genuine attempt to avoid prolonging the conflict or whether because of the difficult circumstances he found himself in, Cromwell sought to persuade the Scots to accept the English point of view. Claiming that it was the King who was his enemy rather than the Scottish people, he wrote to his opponents on 3 August famously stating "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." This plea, however, was unsuccessful.

The battle

By early September, the English army, weakened by illness and demoralised by lack of success, began to withdraw towards its supply base at Dunbar. Leslie, believing that the English army was retreating, ordered his army to advance in pursuit. The Scots army reached Dunbar first and Leslie positioned his troops on Doon Hill,[4] overlooking the town and the Berwick Road, which was Cromwell's land route back to England. However, the Scots army was funded by the Church of Scotland. Eager not to waste funds, the church officials put Leslie under great pressure to finish the battle quickly.

On 2 September 1650, Leslie brought his army down from Doon Hill and approached the town. Witnessing this manoeuvre, Cromwell quickly realised that here was an opportunity for him to turn the tables on the Scots.

That night, under cover of darkness, Cromwell secretly redeployed a large number of his troops to a position opposite the Scottish right flank. Just before dawn on 3 September, shouting their battle cry 'The Lord of Hosts!', the English launched a surprise attack. Soldiers in the centre and on the left flank caught Leslie's men unawares but were held by the greater number of Scottish opponents.

On the right flank, however, the Scots soldiers were pushed back under the weight of superior English numbers until their lines started to disintegrate. Observing this disaster, the rest of the Scottish army lost heart, broke ranks and fled. In the rout that followed, the English cavalry drove the Scots army from the field in disorder.

Cromwell claimed that 3,000 Scots were killed.[3] On the other hand, Sir James Balfour, a senior officer with the Scottish army, noted in his journal that there were "8 or 900 killed".[3] There is similar disagreement about the number of Scottish prisoners taken: Cromwell claimed that there were 10,000,[3] while the English Royalist leader, Sir Edward Walker put the number at 6,000, of which 1,000 sick and wounded men were quickly released.[3] The more conservative estimates of the Scottish casualties are borne out by the fact that, the day after the battle, Leslie retreated to Stirling with some 4,000-5,000 of his remaining troops.[3]

Footnotes:

• 1. ^ Reid p.68
• 2. ^ Reid p.64
• 3. ^ Reid, Stuart (2004). Dunbar 1650: Cromwell's Most Famous Victory. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 81. ISBN 1-84178-774-3.

References

Reid, Stuart (2004). Dunbar 1650: Cromwell's Most Famous Victory. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1 84176 774 3.