LUMSDEN, ROBERT [SSNE 514]

Surname

LUMSDEN, LUMSDEL, LUMISDEN. LUMSDALE, LUMSDAIL

First name

ROBERT

Title/rank

COLONEL AND GOVERNOR

Nationality

SCOT

Region

FIFE, AIRDRIE

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

Robert Lumsden (fl. 1628- 1651) of Stravithie, was a son of Robert Lumsden of Airdrie in Fife and Isabel Cor (sometimes erroneously described as a French woman), daughter of Clement Cor. Robert was a brother of Colonel James Lumsden [SSNE 3003] and Major William Lumsden [SSNE 515]. He appears to have entered Danish service as a lieutenant colonel in Colonel Donald Mackay's [SSNE 93](Lord Reay) regiment in 1628. He later served as a lieutenant colonel in the Green Regiment in Swedish service from 1630-1632 where his troops were united with Colonel John Hepburn's [SSNE 2660], and other Scottish troops. James Lumsden recommended him as a replacement for himself as commandant of Osnabruck, but the Swedish general Johan Baner did not take well to this idea. He described Robert as incapable and unqualified, and that his appointment would pose a danger to the Swedish forces there. Robert took part in the battle of Vlotho Bridge [Lemgo] on 17 October 1638 along with General James King and Prince Elector Karl Ludwig of the Palatinate. Robert and the elector's brother (Prince Rupert) were captured. While Rupert remained in captivity for three years, Robert was eventually released in March or April 1639 after, among other things, attempts by James Lumsden to release his brother. It is uncertain when he returned to Scotland, although he was probably still in (or had returned to) Swedish service in 1643. By 1644 Robert was a major general in the army of the Solemn League and Covenant under James Livingston, Lord Callendar [SSNE 8050]. He also sat on parliamentary war committees in 1647 as Major General Robert Lumsden of Montquhanie. When General Monck stormed Dundee in September 1651, Robert Lumsden, who had been acting as governor of city, was killed.

Sources: R. Monro, His Expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mackeyes (London, 1632), II, List of the Scottish Officers in Chief; Swedish Riksarkiv, P. Sondén, Militärachefer i svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; DNB; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.131; J. Mackay, 'Mackay's Regiment' in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, VIII, 1879, p.188; T. Fischer, The Scots in Germany (Edinburgh, 1902); Lt. Col. H.W. Lumsden, Memorials of the families of Lumsdaine, Lumisden or Lumsden (Edinburgh, 1889). 

Dr Bernd Warlich kindly provided information from Günther ENGELBERT/Hubert SALM, eds., Das Kriegsarchiv des Kaiserlichen Feldmarschalls Melchior von Hatzfeldt, 1593-1658 (Düsseldorf, 1993), nos. 218, 257, 207. 

Dr Aonghas Maccoinnich provided the information on Isabel Cor.

English Civil War

Service record

DENMARK-NORWAY, MACKAY'S REGIMENT

Arrived 1628-01-01, as LT. COLONEL

Departed 1628-10-04, as LT. COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

SWEDEN, GREEN REGIMENT, ROBERT LUMSDEN

Arrived 1630-01-01, as LIEUTENANT COLONEL

Departed 1643-12-31, as COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

SWEDEN, PRISON

Arrived 1638-10-17

Departed 1639-04-30

Capacity PRISONER, purpose MILITARY, MISC

STUART KINGDOMS, ARMY OF THE SOLEMN LEAGUE, MARSTON MOOR

Arrived 1644-01-20, as MAJOR GENERAL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

SCOTLAND, DUNDEE

Departed 1651-09-01, as GOVERNOR

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY