CASWELL, JOHN [SSNE 2032]
- Surname
- CASWELL, CASEWELL, CASSELLS
- First name
- JOHN
- Title/rank
- COLONEL
- Nationality
- ENGLISH
- Social status
- OFFICER
Text source
John Caswell was a captain in James Spens'[SSNE 1642] regiment in 1629. When George Crawford [SSNE 2086] arrived to take up command of the men a disagreement occurred, noted by Chancellor Oxenstierna as one specifically between the "English" Caswell and the "Scottish" Crawford, which threatened the integrity of the regiment. There was a reference to Crawford grabbing Caswell by the beard. However Caswell remained in service and in 1632 he got a commission to become colonel over the remnants of Sir Thomas Conway's [SSNE 6634] old regiment taking over from Major Thomas Grove [SSNE 3728]. However, the unit were reduced to only 300 men and these joined with the remnants of Sir Frederick Hamilton's [SSNE 1184] after which the unit marched as one brigade, fighting in a major action against Pappenheim in 1632. Caswell was still in service in 1636.Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1629/11,14,16,18-20; 1630/22, 24,26-33; 1631/13,15; Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brefvexling, first series, V, p.474; Thomas Grove served as a major in Colonel Thomas Conway's [SSNE 6634] regiment of English and Irish recruits destined for service in the Swedish army. Conway himself had drowned en route to Sweden in 1632. In April that year Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna ordered that Grove and a fellow survivor, Captain Tallfell [SSNE 6670], should be paid and sent to serve King Gustav II Adolf in Germany. He took over the remaining five companies of Conway's regiment of Britons and Irishmen. His force headed down the river Elbe and on 4 January 1632 they joined up with three Scottish regiments and quartered for a time in Bardewick and then onto Warnemund. They were then joined by the mixed Scottish-Irish regiment of Sir Frederick Hamilton and the Scottish regiment of Alexander, Master of Forbes. After the siege and capture of Buxtehude, Grove was made governor. Ake Todt preferred a Swede to get this honour and after three weeks, the five English colours were ordered out of the town and a Swedish lieutenant-colonel put in place, though not the man Todt wanted.
R. Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keyes (2 vols., London, 1637), II, The List of the Scottish Officers in Chiefe; Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brefvexling, first series, vol. 7, p.162; The Swedish Intelligencer: The Fourth Part (London, 1633), pp.138, 142: CSPD, vol 17, p.354.
Service record
- SWEDEN, JAMES SPENS
- Arrived 1629-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1636-12-31, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY