DURHAM, ALEXANDER [SSNE 6699]
Text source
Colonel Alexander Durhame served the Poles in their siege of the city of Thorn in October 1657. Along with General John Middleton, Major General Thomas Rokeby and Mr Davissone, Durhame targeted the Scotish officers inside the city in the Swedish garrison hoping they may be persuaded to help hand over the city of Thorn to the Poles. This, the Royalists argued, would demonstrate their loyalty to Charles II. Among the Scots mentioned in the letters were Major Mercer, Captain Erskine, Captain Ramsay, Captain Lawsone, Captain Edmonstone, and 'honest Archie Stirling'. Durhame served in the Regiment of Strangers commanded by Thomas Rokeby as a major while Henry Gordon, son of the Marquis of Huntly, was the lieutenant-colonel.
Sources:
Swedish Riksarkiv, Extranea 135: IX, 4, interciperade brev 1600-talet, II brev till Skotska officerare, including 1) Middleton to Erskine, no date 2 & 3) Alex Durhame to Erskine, 24 October and 28 November 1657 4)Thomas Rokeby to Erskine, 28 November 1657 5) Mr Davissone to 'my honest friends the Scots officers in Torne' no date; A. Grosjean, 'Royalist Soldiers and Cromwellian Allies? The Cranstoun Regiment in Sweden 1655-1658' in S. Murdoch and A. Mackillop (eds.), Fighting for Identity: Scottish Military Experience c.1550-1900 (Leiden, 2002), pp.61-82.
Service record
- POLAND-LITHUANIA, THORN/TORUN
- Arrived 1657-09-01, as COLONEL
- Departed 1658-12-31, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY