The Siege of Dundee, and the subsequent
massacre
On 1st of September 1651, the storming of Dundee and the siege of
General Monck began. General George Monck, Commander-in-chief to Oliver
Cromwell, stormed the town of Dundee and captured its townsfolk. A
bloody battle and siege ensued, provoked by Cromwell’s outrage at the
Royalist stance of it’s people.
At the time of the Civil War of 1642-1651 which saw republican
Oliver Cromwell destroy the English Crown and execute Charles I, Dundee
was a royalist stronghold.
Behind its stout stone walls it was one of the safest towns in the
entire country even Edinburgh kept its gold reserves in Dundee, as did
nobles from as far away as the borders.
Cromwell wanted royalist power extinguished in Scotland too so he
unleashed General George Monck.
Devon-born Monck was by then 43 years old, a soldier all his days, and
if there was something he knew well it was to how to handle a campaign.
He stormed into Scotland and arrived at Dundee’s gates near the end of
August 1651 with his army of 7,000 seasoned Puritan troops and
supporting artillery.
Dundee was not intimidated: they had their militia, they had their
walls. But, unfortunately, they also had lots to drink. Indeed,
intelligence gleaned from spies reported that the town’s soldiers were
“usually drunk by lunchtime”.
On September 1, the day of the assault, three hours of thundering cannon
fire smashed the northern wall as the city cowered.
Breaching the walls was only half the battle, of course, and Monck
promised his troops that they could loot and pillage “without licence”
if they took the town he was effectively telling them they could do
whatever they wanted. With sword, pistol and pike the Puritans poured
into the shattered wall and the city was taken in just 30 minutes.
Governor of Dundee Robert Lumsden and a handful of his troops fell back
into the Old Steeple church which stands at the heart of the city centre
to this day and made a desperate last stand.
Across this prosperous and well-ordered city Monck’s troops smashed into
homes robbing, killing and raping. The plunder was exceptional and the
murder without equal in Scotland’s history. It has been stated that the
massacre only ceased when Monck himself witnessed a terrified infant
trying to cuddle against his slaughtered mother and ordered his soldiers
to stop.
Meanwhile, Lumsden’s embattled party only surrendered when they were
promised “honourable terms”.
They laid down their arms, walked out and were murdered on the spot
Lumsden’s head was displayed on a spike for all to see.
Conservative estimates for those killed are around 1,000, but some
accounts state 2,000 people captured members of the garrison, innocent
men, women and even children died in the carnage. Monck’s forces lost 20
killed and a similar number injured.
One of Monck’s officers later stated: “The townspeople were most
obstinate, being confident of their own works and strength. But they
have now most suffered for it, and paid dearly for their contempt.”
The streets literally ran with blood for 3 days, and it was said that it
took the sight of a dead woman with a baby still feeding at her breast
to move Monck to pity and call off his men. The troops pillaged
everything of value they could find, and a fleet of 60 ships, many
commandeered from the harbours of Dundee was needed to take the vast
amounts of treasure back to England. A collection of over 200,000 gold
coins, estimated to be worth up to £12 billion is suspected to have been
on board, but the full value of the treasure pillaged from Dundee is not
known.
When the fleet sailed from Dundee, stories say that a freak storm rose
up to swallow all 60 ships to the bottom of the Tay estuary. Other
stories refer to a fire on one of the ships, which quickly got out of
control and spread to the rest of the fleet, causing the ships to sink.
Whatever tragedy befell the vessels, one thing remained clear – the
treasure had been lost. Despite many subsequent search efforts, the
ships have never been recovered, and the wrecks of the 60-strong fleet
laden with treasure remain lost to the sea, eager to be found and
returned to land.
Dundee’s famed wall was torn down, the dead were buried and the city
rebuilt.
As for Monck, he carefully kept his cards close to his chest and when
Cromwell died, he quietly moved back to the royalist side and served
Charles II. He died at the age of 62 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
And to this very day, building work in Dundee’s city centre is likely to
bring up the bones of those cut down in 1651.
Note:
• It is thought that Col Richard Douglas,
then commanding what had been Sir Andrew Kerr of Greenhead’s Regiment of
Foot, was part of the Garrison of Dundee and possibly besieged there
from August to September, and destroyed' at the 'Storm of Dundee'.
• The Siege of Dundee in 1645 is sometimes referred to as the
Storm of Dundee. However, when is is, the accompanying description
bears a remarkable likeness to that described above. It seems
likely that the earlier event was a lesser affair as when General
Baillie's forces arrived on the scene, Montrose beat a hasty retreat
towards Arbroath, although damage to persons and property was indeed
done.
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