Montrose, James Graham, 5th earl and 1st marquess of (b. 1612—d. May 21, 1650, Edinburgh), general who won a series of spectacular victories in Scotland for King Charles I of England during the English Civil War (1642—51) between the King and Parliament. He inherited the title earl of Montrose from his father in 1626. In 1637 Montrose signed a covenant promising to defend Scotland’s Presbyterian religion against attempts by Charles I to impose Anglican forms of worship. Nevertheless, Montrose was still essentially a royalist, and, as such, he became the bitter enemy of Archibald Campbell, earl of Argyll, leader of Scotland’s powerful anti-royalist party. Montrose served in the covenanter army that invaded and occupied part of northern England in August 1640, but he subsequently lost his political struggle with Argyll and was imprisoned by the Earl in Edinburgh from June to November 1641. In 1644, when the covenanters invaded England to fight for Parliament against the King, Charles appointed Montrose lieutenant general in Scotland; three months later he was made a marquess.

Making his way to the Scottish Highlands in August 1644, Montrose raised a wild, ill-equipped army of Highlanders, and within a year his tactical brilliance had brought him victories in major battles: at Tippermuir (Tibbermore), Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Auldearn, Alford, and Kilsyth. Charles then made him lieutenant governor and captain general of Scotland. But after the King’s decisive defeat at Naseby in June 1645, Montrose’s army melted away, and the small force remaining was routed at Philiphaugh in September. Montrose fled to the Continent in 1646 but returned to Scotland with about 1,200 men in March 1650. After suffering a defeat at Carbisdale on April 27, he was surrendered by Neil MacLeod of Assynt, with whom he had sought protection. He was hanged in the marketplace of Edinburgh in May. A biography of Montrose by John Buchan appeared in 1913 and one by C.V. Wedgwood in 1952.

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