Battle of Philiphaugh
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The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on September 13th, 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and took place outside the town of Philiphaugh near Selkirk in Scotland between the armies of the Royalist Marquis of Montrose, and the Covenanter army of General Leslie.
In 1645 Leslie defeated the Earl of Montrose at Philiphaugh (September, 1645) and in 1647 became Lieutenant General of the Scots army.
By 1642 Montrose was already popular amongst his people and was ready to break with the Covenanters and in 1643 was with Charles I in Oxford to return the same year to fight for the King in Scotland. In 1644, he raised a Royalist army and started the Scottish Civil War.
The downfall of the Marquis however came at the battle of Philiphauge, which was fought on the plain facing the north side of the Ettrick on September 13th, 1645. The Earl had taken up his quarters, with his cavalry in the town of Selkirk, whilst his infantry, amounting to around 12-15000 men, were billeted on the town of Philiphaugh.
General Leslie arrived at nearby Melrose the evening before the decisive engagement, and taking full strategic advantage of the thick Scottish mist that had rolled in, was able to reach the Marquis’s encampment ‘without being described by a single scout’.
The surprise was complete, and before the Earl, who had been alarmed by the unexpected sound of repeated gunshots was to reach the scene of battle it was already to late, for on arrival he beheld his army ‘dispersed in irretrievable Rout’.
After a desperate but unavailing attempt to retrieve the flagging fortunes of his day he heroically cut his way through a body of Leslie’s troopers, but was compelled to retreat over Minchmore toward Peebles. This defeat conclusively sank the fruit of Montrose’s six former victories and effectively ruined the Royal cause in Scotland.
The battlefield now lies in Scottish Borders.
Source: Max Hastings; ‘The King’s Champion’.