John Graham, 1st Viscount of Dundee
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Early Life
He began his military career in the service of the French King, (Louis XIV), as many other Scots did over the centuries. Dundee served in the French army for four years. When the British war with Holland was concluded, he served in the guards of the Prince of Orange, whose life he saved at the Battle of Seneff, in 1674; for which he received a captain’s commission in the same troop. A few years later, being disappointed in his hopes of obtaining a regiment, Graham resigned his commission.
Military Service in Scotland
After leaving Holland, Graham was appointed captain by Charles II and sent to Scotland in 1678, with orders to suppress conventicles (Lowland Presbyterian meetings) that the king deemed seditious . His reputation for relentless repression of the Covenanters, as they are known today, in Dumfries and Galloway earned the nickname of "Bluidy Clavers". The difficulties of his task, the hostility of the populace, and the nature and extent of the country he was required to watch were too great for the leader of a small body of cavalry, and in spite of his vigorous and energetic action, Graham accomplished little. He conducted his occupation with zest, however, and interpreted consistently the orders he received.
On 1 June 1679 the Covenanters routed him and his army at the Battle of Drumclog, whereupon he fled to Glasgow, successfully defending it until his party left on 3 June, heading towards Stirling. Later joined by the Duke of Monmouth, the whole of the militia, and two regiments of dragoons, both sides met again at Bothwell Brig, on 22 June, and the Covenanters were convincingly routed. In 1680 he was despatched to London to influence the king against the indulgent method adopted by the Duke of Monmouth with the extreme Covenanting party. The king seems to have been fascinated by his loyal supporter, and from that moment Graham was destined to rise in rank and honors. Early in 1680 he obtained a royal grant of the barony of the outlawed Macdougal of Freuch, and the grant was after some delay confirmed by subsequent orders upon the exchequer in Scotland.
In January 1681 he was appointed to the sherifiships of Wigtown, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Annandale. In December 1682 Graham was appointed colonel of a new regiment raised in Scotland. He had still greater honors in view. In January 1683 the case of the earl of Lauderdale was debated in the House of Lords. Lauderdale was proprietor of the lands and lordship of Dundee and Dudhope, and the decree of the Lords against him was in March 1683 issued for the sum of 72,000 pounds. Graham succeeded in having part of the property of the defaulter transferred to him by royal grant, and in May he was nominated to the privy council of Scotland.
Marriage and Promotion
Surprisingly, he married Lady Jean Cochrane, a daughter of a fiercely Covenanting family in 1674. Shortly after the death of Charles II in 1685, Graham incurred a temporary disgrace by his deposition from the office of privy councillor; but in May he was reinstated, although his commission of justiciary, which had expired, was not renewed. In 1686 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and had added to his position of constable the dignity of provost of Dundee. In 1688 he was second in command to General Douglas in the army which had been ordered to England to aid the falling dynasty of the Stuarts. In 1688, however, he was created Viscount Dundee by James II while with the Scotch army in England.
Service in the Revolution of 1689
Dundee returned to Scotland in anticipation of the meeting of the convention, and at once exerted himself to confirm the waning resolution of the duke of Gordon with regard to holding Edinburgh Castle for the king. The convention proving hostile, he conceived the idea of forming another convention at Stirling to sit in the name of James II, but the hesitancy of his associates rendered the design futile, and it was given up. Previous to this, on March 18, he had left Edinburgh at the head of a company of fifty dragoons, who were strongly attached to his person. He was not long gone ere the news was brought to the alarmed convention. that he had been seen clambering up the castle rock and holding conference with the duke of Gordon. In excitement and confusion order after order was despatched in reference to the fugitive. Dundee retired to Dudhope. On March 30 he was publicly denounced as a traitor, and in the latter half of April attempts were made to secure him at Dudhope, and at his residence in Glen Ogilvy. But the secrecy and speed of his movements outwitted his pursuers, and he retreated to the north.
In 1689, after the overthrow of King James, he became an fervent supporter of the Stuart cause. Viscount Dundee raised his standard on Dundee Law in support of the Jacobite cause. For four months he rallied support in the hope that King James would return from Ireland.
His greatest (and final) victory was at the Battle of Killiecrankie, later that year against Williamite forces led by General Hugh Mackay. The Highlanders Graham led were completely victorious, but their leader, in the act of encouraging his men, was pierced beneath the breastplate by a bullet of the enemy, and fell dying from his horse. Graham asked a soldier 'How goes the day?' The man replied 'Well for King James, but I am sorry for your lordship.' The dying Graham replied, 'If it goes well for him, it matters the less for me.' Within an hour or two before his death he wrote a short account of the engagement to King James. The battle, disastrous as it was to the government forces, was in reality the end of the insurrection, for the controlling and commanding genius of the rebellion was no more. The death of Dundee, in the mist and the confusion of a cavalry charge, formed the subject of numerous legends, the best known of which is the long prevalent tradition that he was invulnerable to all bullets and was killed by a silver button from his own coat. He died at nearby St Bride's Kirk a few miles away.
The use of "Bonnie Dundee" as an epithet dates from Sir Walter Scott's song, the original old ballad of that name being concerned with the town of Dundee.
| Preceded by: New Creation | Viscount Dundee | Followed by: James Graham |