Buzz
From Colombia and Poland to Venezuela, Ireland, Sweden, and Morocco—the list goes on. For centuries, Scottish soldiers have seized the opportunity to earn a living by fighting on foreign soil. In other words, they became mercenaries. At times, these Scottish warriors fought for established rulers, and at other times, they sided with rebels eager to overthrow the existing powers. Wherever they went and whoever they fought alongside, the results were always stories worth sharing.
10. Peter McAleese
A Glaswegian born in 1942, Peter McAleese commanded a group of mercenaries to Colombia in 1989. McAleese had an extraordinary background for leading a diverse group of soldiers of fortune. He had served in Britain’s renowned elite force, the SAS. In a documentary about his life, McAleese solidified his tough-guy image, stating, “I was trained to kill by the Army, but the fighting instinct came from Glasgow.”
McAleese left the army in 1969 and drifted into the secretive world of mercenaries, engaging in conflicts in African hotspots like Angola and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). But what led him to Colombia? In a nearly unbelievable turn of events, he was hired by the Cali Cartel to eliminate the leader of its main rival, the Medellin Cartel. McAleese’s task was nothing less than the assassination of Pablo Escobar. He and his team were to be flown into Escobar’s compound by helicopter. However, McAleese’s helicopter crashed in the Andes, severely injuring him, and the mission was called off. McAleese managed to escape, and he passed away in 2021 at the age of 79. Escobar was killed in a gunfight in 1993.
9. Gregor MacGregor, Prince of Poyais
Born on Christmas Eve in 1786, Gregor MacGregor began his military career in a typical fashion by joining the British Army's 57th Foot Regiment at just 16 years old. The young man participated in the Napoleonic Wars and eventually rose to the rank of major before retiring in 1810. For his next venture, MacGregor set his sights on South America, arriving in Venezuela in 1812. MacGregor was well-acquainted with revolutionary leader General Francisco de Miranda, who accepted him into his forces as a colonel to fight against the Spanish colonialists. Claiming to have earned a knighthood, MacGregor went on to become a general in the Venezuelan Army. His military endeavors included a failed attempt to seize Florida from the Spanish and an effort to establish a colony in Nicaragua.
MacGregor's most audacious endeavor, however, was when he declared himself the Prince of Poyais and developed a colony in the Bay of Honduras. He managed to lure naive British investors and would-be colonizers with fraudulent promises, leading them to lose all their money. The colony itself was a catastrophic failure. Yet, somehow, 'Prince' Gregor emerged from the debacle unscathed.
8. Patrick Leopold Gordon of Auchleuchries
Born in northeastern Scotland in 1635, Patrick Gordon left his homeland as a teenager. He made his way to the Polish city of Danzig, now known as Gdańsk, where he enrolled at a Jesuit college. When war broke out between Poland and Sweden in 1655, Gordon embarked on his mercenary career. It seems he had few qualms about his employers, as he fought on both sides of the conflict.
In 1661, Gordon parted ways with both Poland and Sweden, choosing to enlist in the Russian army. Rising to the rank of major, he played a vital role in quelling civil unrest in Moscow. When Peter the Great assumed power in 1696, Gordon became a trusted adviser and friend to the young Tsar, eventually attaining the rank of general. He was instrumental in suppressing an attempted palace coup against Peter in 1698. Gordon passed away the following year.
7. James Francis Edward Keith
Keith, a highborn Scot and the second son of the 9th Earl Marischal of Scotland, was forced to flee his homeland after his involvement in the failed Jacobite rebellion of 1715 to claim the British throne. He sought refuge in France, but soon moved to Spain, where he joined the Spanish Army. However, as a Protestant in a Catholic country, his prospects were limited, leading him to eventually depart for Russia.
In 1728, Keith was promoted to colonel of a Russian regiment and participated in battles against the Swedes. After his time with the Russians, Keith seemed eager for a new challenge and joined the Prussian Army, where he took part in the extensive conflicts of the Seven Years' War, which spread across Europe and North America. Now a Field Marshal, Keith fought in the 1758 Battle of Hochkirch in Germany, where 80,000 Austrians faced off against 31,000 Prussians. The Austrians decisively defeated the Prussians, killing 9,000, including Keith himself.
6. Archibald Ruthven of Forteviot
Archibald Ruthven came from a prominent Scottish family, with his father being Lord Ruthven. In 1572, Ruthven journeyed to Scandinavia, where he joined the army of Swedish King Johan III. Johan’s first command was for Ruthven to return to Scotland to recruit 2,000 mercenaries. However, Ruthven ended up returning to Sweden with almost 4,000 soldiers.
Ruthven soon found himself entangled in a bitter dispute over his soldiers' wages, which led to the execution of one of the Scottish officers, Hugh Cahun, for embezzlement. Before his execution, Cahun falsely accused Ruthven of plotting to assassinate King Johan. Clear of these accusations, Ruthven then sailed with his troops to Livonia on the Baltic Sea, where a fierce conflict with their German allies resulted in the deaths of around 1,500 men. This dispute led to further accusations of treason against Johan. Despite his denials, Ruthven was imprisoned and ultimately died in jail.
5. Sir Harry Aubrey de Vere Maclean
Born into a prosperous Scottish family in 1848, Sir Harry Aubrey de Vere Maclean enlisted in the British Army in 1869, serving in Canada, Gibraltar, and Bermuda. After seven years in service, Maclean left the army and accepted a role as a drill instructor in the Moroccan army under Sultan Mawlay Hassan.
Shortly after arriving in Tangier, Maclean was appointed to command 400 infantry troops, with an added incentive of higher pay if he learned Arabic, which he successfully did. When Sultan Abdul-Aziz replaced Sultan Hussain, he kept Maclean on, dispatching him on various missions throughout Morocco. However, life in Morocco was far from safe; in 1907, the Scotsman was kidnapped and held for ransom for seven months. The following year, Abdul-Aziz was overthrown by his brother, Mawlay Abdul-Hafiz. While the new sultan intended to retain Maclean, the two could not come to terms over a contract, prompting Maclean to resign. He spent the rest of his life in Tangier, passing away in 1920.
4. Peter Duffy
Raised in the Scottish town of Elgin in the north, Peter Duffy was born into a life of some privilege in 1941. He attended Gordonstoun, a prestigious private school that was later attended by King Charles. In his later years, Duffy became second-in-command of a mercenary group involved in an attempted coup in the Seychelles in 1981.
Duffy’s commander was the infamous “Mad” Mike Hoare, a mercenary with a long history of military involvement. Together, they led a team made up of former soldiers from Rhodesia and South African special forces. Armed to the teeth, they boarded a commercial flight to Seychelles. However, their mission hit a snag when an airport official discovered an AK-47 in one of the men’s luggage. A gunfight broke out, and Duffy and his men managed to escape by hijacking an Air India plane, leaving behind a dead comrade. Several members of the group were tried in South Africa the following year. Duffy was sentenced to five years, while Hoare received ten. Duffy passed away in 1981, a broken man.
3. Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul
Born in 1590 into a landowning family in northeast Scotland, Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul began his military career fighting for the Poles in 1618, where he was captured by the Russians. After his release, Leslie joined the Swedish army in 1629, serving under King Gustav II Adolf. The Swedish king sent him to Moscow, where Leslie remained in the service of the Tsar.
The Smolensk War, a confrontation between Poland and Russia, began in 1632, and Leslie recruited regiments of mercenaries from European countries, including England and Scotland, to fight on behalf of the Tsar. He returned to Scotland in 1637, where he became embroiled in the Civil War, siding with the losing faction. Captured in battle in the Scottish Borders, he narrowly avoided execution, unlike many of his comrades. Leslie was instead banished from Scotland and could never return. He went back to Russia, where he rose to the rank of general, becoming the first Scot to hold such a position. His military successes included the conquest of Smolensk from Polish hands in 1654.
2. Redshanks
The Redshanks were a group of mercenaries, primarily drawn from the Hebrides islands off Scotland's northwest coast, though mainland Highlanders also joined their ranks. In the 16th century, they fought for the Irish against the English invaders of Ireland. Life in Scotland's Highlands and islands was often harsh, and the opportunity to earn money by fighting for Irish lords was an attractive one.
One notable instance of their service occurred in 1569 when Scottish Lady Agnes Campbell, daughter of the Earl of Argyll, married Irish nobleman and chief Turlough Luineach O'Neill. As part of her dowry, she brought 1,200 Scottish mercenaries to the marriage. Unsurprisingly, the English were displeased by the constant arrival of Highland warriors in Ireland. Beginning in the late 16th century, the English authorities began offering payments—perhaps better described as bribes—to Highland clan chieftains, urging them to keep their men from fighting abroad and instead to stay in Scotland.
1. George Sinclair
In 1612, Captain George Sinclair departed Scotland, leading a group of Scottish mercenaries whom he had recruited from Caithness in the Scottish Highlands. Their destination was Sweden, where they were to aid King Charles IX in his conflict against King Christian IV of Denmark. Sinclair and his 300 men landed in Norway, planning to march on to Sweden.
However, the Scots had failed to anticipate the hostility of the Norwegians towards foreign mercenaries marching through their land. Within seven days of their arrival, a local Norwegian force ambushed them. As Sinclair and his men entered a narrow valley, the Norwegians unleashed boulders from the slopes to block their escape. With their paths cut off, Norwegian musketeers picked off the Scots, killing over 150 of them. Sinclair was killed by Berdon Sejelstad, a Norwegian. Tragically, Sinclair’s wife and child, who had foolishly accompanied the ill-fated mission, were also killed, though the woman managed to fatally wound one of the attackers before she died.
