SETON, JOHN [SSNE 8434]

Surname: SETON, SEATON
First name: JOHN
Title/rank: COLONEL, SIR
Nationality: SCOT
Region: CARCHUNOTH or GARGUNNOCK
Social status: OFFICER

Text source

Sir John Seton was a Scottish officer in the Thirty Years' War. J.V. Polisenksy claimed that Seton brought 1,200 Scots from the Dutch Republic to Bohemia, where he held out as governor of Trebon in Southern Bohemia until 1622 or 1623. The only indications of Seton's Dutch connections exist in the Resolutien der Staten-Generaal. In 1606, Seton raised a company of Scots, with a patent from Maurice of Nassau, and brought them to Rotterdam, where it was resolved to retain them in the army. In 1623, Colonels Seton and Andrew Gray [SSNE 378] to recruit Englishmen in England (rather than out of the Anglo-Dutch Brigades) was left undetermined by the States-General.

A letter from Seton rgearding the surrender of Trebon was transcribed in J.V. Polisensky's Tragic Triangle:

'My Dear Sir,
I have received from Bugleman Antonio Banzio your estimable letter in which you inform me that Taborhas returned to obedience to His Imperial Majesty and request me to do the same. I am unhappy that a place such as Tabor, which so bravely defended itself against your forces, was obliged to surrender, and I may also say that the defenders conducted themselves with valour. It is my wish to conduct myself in a like manner, and since I have promised my King my loyalty unto death, my only course, if I do not wish to deserve the name of liar, is to declare that, as a testimony to my loyalty, I wager my life on the struggle. Awaiting whatever war may bring, I remain, etc.
Colonel J. Seaton'

Sources:

Polisensky, J.V., Tragic Triangle (Prague, 1991), p. 245.

Polisensky, J.V., ‘A note on Scottish Soldiers in the Bohemian War, 1619-1622’ in Murdoch, ed., Scotland and the Thirty Years’ War (2001).

Polisensky, J.V., The Thirty Years War, trans. Robert Evans (London, 1974), pp. 130, 163.

Resolutien der Staten-Generaal, Oude Reeks, Deel 13, 1604-1606, 30 April 1606, p. 661.

Resolutien der Staten-Generaal, Nieuwe Reeks, Deel 6, 1623-June 1624, No. 666, 8 April 1623, p. 103.

This entry created by Mr Jack Abernethy.

Service record

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE HAGUE: Arrived 1606-04-30, as CAPTAIN; Departed 1623-12-31, as COLONEL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
STUART KINGDOMS, BOHEMIA, TREBON: Arrived 1620-01-01, as COLONEL; Departed 1623-02-02, as GOVERNOR; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY