LESLIE, JOHN [SSNE 3984]

Surname

LESLIE

First name

JOHN

Title/rank

COLONEL LESLIE OF BALQUHAIN

Nationality

SCOT

Region

BALQUHAIN, ABERDEENSHIRE

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

John Leslie of Balquhain was a Scottish cavalry colonel in Russian service killed in the storming of Igolwitz castle in 1655. In some sources he is said to have been the son of General Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul [SSNE 2916],  However, in Laurus Leslaeana explicata by William Aloysius Leslie (Graz, 1692), it is made clear at no. LXIII that he was the eldest son of John Leslie, 11th of Balquhain, a captain in Germany who died in 1638, and thus a nephew of Count Walter Leslie [SSNE 304].  The same source also states that he married a daughter of Colonel Crawford in Muscovy, though there are at least three Crawfords with that rank in the Russian service, so it's not entirely clear who is meant.. 

P. Dukes,"Aberdeen and North-east Scotland: some archival and other sources", in The Study of Russian History from British Archival Sources, (1986), p.54; D. Fedosov, The Caledonian Connection (Aberdeen, 1996).

With thanks to Dr Kelsey Jackson-Williams for updating this record.

Service record

RUSSIA, RUSSIAN ARMY

Arrived 1650-01-01, as COLONEL

Departed 1655-12-31, as COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY