|
DAVID LESLIE, Lord
Newark, another scion of the house of Leslie, was a more skilful
general even than Alexander, Lord Leven, in whom the Covenanters
put such unbounded trust. He was the fifth son of Sir Patrick
Leslie of Pitcairly, Commendator of Lindores by his wife, Jean,
daughter of Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney. At an early age he
entered the service of Gustavus Adolphus, and fought the battle of
Protestantism in Germany under that famous warrior. Like Alexander
Leslie and others of his countrymen who were engaged in military
services on the Continent, he returned home when hostilities were
impending between the English Court and his countrymen, and was
appointed Major-General of the forces which the Committee of
Estates sent to the assistance of the English Parliament in
January, 1644. He commanded the Scottish cavalry in the left wing,
under Cromwell, at the battle of Marston Moor on the 22nd of July
following, and contributed not a little to the decisive victory
gained by the Parliamentary army. Meanwhile Montrose had, in six
successive victories, completely overthrown and scattered the
Covenanting forces in Scotland, and had the whole kingdom entirely
at his disposal. In this emergency, David Leslie was recalled with
the Scottish cavalry from the siege of Hereford to the assistance
of the Estates, and, by a rapid and skilful movement, he surprised
and defeated Montrose at Philiphaugh, near Selkirk, 12th
September, 1645.
After securing the
internal peace of Scotland by the complete suppression of the
Royalist party, Leslie rejoined the army in England under Lord
Leven, and assisted in the siege of Newcastle. On the surrender of
Charles to the Parliament, the Scottish forces returned home, and
General Leslie was employed in the reduction of the strongholds
held by the Gordons in the north, and by the Macdonalds, Alaster
M’Coll and his father Colkitto, in Kintyre and Isla, a service
which he discharged with great severity and, indeed, cruelty. He
put to the sword the garrison of Dunaverty, consisting of three
hundred Highlanders and Irishmen; and Colkitto, who was taken
prisoner in the castle of Dunavey, was given up to the Campbells,
by whom he was hanged. General Leslie was offered, but declined,
the command of the army which the Scottish Estates sent in 1648
into England to rescue the King from the Republican party. On the
resignation of the Earl of Leven, in 1650, he accepted the command
of the forces raised in support of the claims of Charles II., and
by his masterly tactics completely foiled Cromwell, whom he, at
last, shut up in Dunbar. He was, unfortunately, induced by the
rash and ignorant importunity of the Committee of Estates to quit
his commanding position on Doonhill, and to risk a battle, in
which he was signally defeated, 3rd September, 1650. With the
remains of his army he retired to Stirling, where he took up a
strong position, which enabled him to keep the victorious enemy at
bay. When the resolution was taken to march into England, in the
hope of being joined by the Royalists in the south, Charles
himself assumed the command of the army, with Leslie as his
Lieutenant-General. He was present at the battle of Worcester, 3rd
September, 1651, and was taken prisoner in his retreat through
Yorkshire, and committed to the Tower, where he was confined for
nine years. At the Restoration he regained his liberty and, as a
reward for his signal services and sufferings in the royal cause,
he was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Newark, 31st
August, 1661, and also obtained a pension of £500 a year. His
death occurred in the year
1682.
On the death of his
son DAVID, second Lord Newark, in 1694, without heirs male, the
title was assumed by his eldest daughter, and was borne by her
descendants till 1793, under a mistaken notion as to the
destination settled by the patent. But it was then disallowed by
the House of Lords, and is now believed to be extinct. |
