DRUMMOND, DAVID [SSNE 2396]

Surname: DRUMMOND, DROMOND, DROMUNT, DORTMUND, DROMUNTT, DRUMMUNTT, DRUMME, DRUMMEN, TROMONT
First name: DAVID
Title/rank: MAJOR GENERAL
Nationality: SCOT
Region: BELLICLON, near CRIEFF, PERTHSHIRE
Social status: OFFICER

Text source

Major General David Drummond is one of the earliest Scottish soldiers listed in Swedish service in the seventeenth century to have risen to such a significant rank. He was born in Scotland in 1593, the son of David Drummond of Belliclon and Margaret Graham of Arbenie. Drummond served as a lieutenant in the Swedish Lifeguard in 1617, then as a captain in Bengt Kafle's Östergotland, Jonköping and Kaakind's area regiment in 1621. He already received land from King Gustav II Adolf in 1619, at Slefringe, as a reward for his services. He transferred to Johan Baner's Östergotland regiment in 1622 and by 1623 acted as a lieutenant colonel in Patrick Ruthven's [SSNE 3413] Kalmar regiment. In March 1626 he and his men served amongst the Swedish infantry on campaign in Livonia and was involved in prisoner exchanges. He commanded this regiment as colonel from 1627 in which year he was knighted (along with Patrick Ruthven and Alexander Leslie [SSNE 1]). The following year, after receiving instructions from the military college in Stockholm to join with Lieutenant Colonel James King's [SSNE 2815], Didrik von Scheiding's and Jakob Neuland's companies at Kalmar. Drummond's regiment served with the fleet, among other places at Stralsund, after which it moved down to Dirschau. It appears he acted as commandant at Kalmar Castle in 1629. In March that year Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna wrote a receipt for Drummond in which he certified that Drummond had bought cloth for clothing his regiment at the cost of 7408 and 1/2 Swedish daler which the Chancellor promised to reimburse him for. Drummond and his men returned to Sweden in October 1629. This is probably the same David Drummond who was involved in a court case with one Mr Israel, a parson, regarding the spreading of malicious rumours. Drummond took over the colonelcy of Thomas Muschamp's Kalmar regiment in 1630 upon the death of Muschamp. In 1632, Drummond acted as an intermediary between Charles I and Gustav II Adolf. It was around during this year that that he became associated with Stettin.

By 1634 Drummond had again been promoted and served as a major general as of 27 March (one source notes this as 1633). Drummond conquered, together with Torsten Stålhandske, the town of Krossen (or Crossen) a. d. Oder on 2 June 1634. In October that year, his regiment was quartered in Thueringen and then in Magdeburg, returning to Thueringen in December. Drummond acted as commandant of the Swedish garrison in Efurt in January 1635 and the Swedish council noted in April that his regiment (called "Drummen's") was to take in Bengt Bjorn's troops whilst Bjorn was sent home. In February 1637 he tried in vain to conquer the fortress of Driesen in Neumark. He became commendant of Gartz in Pomerania in 1638, where he was captured in February and died soon after on 12 March that year (probably in Spandau). Apparently he had not been very successful in his financial affairs and left his wife, Cecilia Spens [SSNE 6129], a daughter of the Stuart ambassador and Swedish general, Sir James Spens of Wormiston [SSNE 1642], in dire straits upon his death. After contacting Axel Oxenstierna, she eventually managed to bring his body back from Germany in 1643 and he was buried in Riddarholm church in Stockholm, where she soon followed herself (around October 1645). She died in poverty, and her cousins William [SSNE 3111] and Peter Monnipenny [SSNE 3107] asked Hugh Hamilton [SSNE 2582] to cover the 300 rdl for her funeral expenses. When Drummond's tomb was opened in September 1758 all that was left of the body was the skull which had been cleanly severed. The coffin was made of "English" tin and held the following inscription: "Hic situs est nobilis ac strenuus david drummond quondam regis ac postea coronae sueciae praefectus vigilum generalis eques auratus et urbis chiliarcha qui pie obiit d. 12 martii 1638." Another inscription noted: "morte nihil incertius, sed nulli tempus incertum" and "qualis sum talis eris civis sum in cinera eris". There is a portrait of Drummond from 1623 at Skokloster castle.

Sources:

Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1621/3; 1622/2-4; 1623/4; 1624/6; 1626/1,5,7-9; 1627/9,11,12,14; 1628/10,12-14; 1629/5-10,12,13,15,17; 1630/9,14; 1631/6,7,23-27; 1632/5,24; MR 1634/7,24,25; 1635/1,13,33-36; 1636/1,2,8,16-23; 1637/3,8,9,13-17; 1638/4,5,11,21-24; 1633/25,26; R. Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keyes (2 vols., London, 1637), II, The List of the Scottish Officers in Chiefe, list 1; Swedish Riksarkiv, P. Sondén, Militärachefer i svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; Stockholm Krigsarkiv, Pergamentsbreven och Johan Casimirs Arkiv in Stegeborgssamlingen, 78 letters by David Drummond, 1628-1638; Axel Oxenstiernas Brefvexling E589; Swedish Riksarkiv, Svea Hovrätt register till domar 1630-1646; Swedish Riksarkiv, Strödda militiehandlingar före 1631, Armen, 1621; Several letters can be found in 'Krigskollegium Kancelliet: Adressatregistratur till Krigskollegiets Registratur 1631-1654' including "att han till 1 maj med fyra komp som är överstens, övlöjt Jakob Kings, Didrik von Scheidings och Jakob Neulands komp, skall begiva sig till sjöss vid Kalmar 16/3/1631"; 2 letters 2/8/1633 and 6/2/1636; Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor vol 1 and 7, p.429; Svenska Riksradets Protokoll, vol.v., p.48; T. Fischer, The Scots in Germany (Edinburgh, 1902), p.282; F. Rudelius, 'Kalmar Regementes Chefer, 1623-1907' in Personhistorisk Tidskrift, vol. 9, 1907, appendix, pp.5-8; F. Rudelius, Kalmar Regementes Personhistoria 1623-1927, (2 vols, Norrköping, 1952), vol.1, pp.5-12 and 29; S. Curman and J. Roosval (eds) Riddarholmskyrkan: Sveriges Kyrkor Stockholms Kyrkor, Band II (Stockholm, 1937), p.694; Willhelm Ridderstad (ed.) "Gula Gardet": bidrag til Kongl. Svea Lifgardes Personal Historia (Stockholm, 1903), p.4; Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brefvexling, first series, III, pp. 310, 490-1; ibid, IV, pp.201, 243, 386, 747, 749; H.O. Prytz, Historiska Upplysningar om svenska och norska armeernas regementer och kårer jemte flottorna, II, (Stockholm, 1868), p.594; David Malcolm, Genealogical Memoir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond (Edinburgh, 1808), p. 88; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), pp.287, 289, 309.

Dr Bernd Warlich kindly provided information drawn from the following sources: Theatrum Europaeum III, p.307; [consulted 15.7.2005]; Wolfgang Huschke, Herzog Wilhelm von Weimar als Statthalter Gustav Adolfs in Thüringen und schwedischer Generalleutnant 1631-1635 (Jena, 1936), p.282; See also the MDSZ database http://www.mdsz.thulb.uni-jena.de/sz/index.php

With thanks to Gordon MacGregor for the reference to David Malcolm's memoir.

Correspondence concerning David Drummond is conserved here: Riksarkivets ämnessamlingar. Personhistoria https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0069580_00129#?c=&m=&s=&cv=128&xywh=-867%2C-1033%2C9339%2C5386

He is mentioned in the correspondence of Lieutenant Andrew Ross [SSNE 3376] along with James King [SSNE 2814] in https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0070104_00387#?c=&m=&s=&cv=386&xywh=2248%2C2698%2C4092%2C2360

And his signature appears here (1637): https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0070104_00389#?c=&m=&s=&cv=388&xywh=3922%2C1026%2C2841%2C1638

A letter from his brother is found at https://sok.riksarkivet.se/bildvisning/A0069580_00130#?c=&m=&s=&cv=129&xywh=890%2C567%2C9278%2C5351

Service record

SWEDEN, OSTGOTLAND, LIVGARD: Arrived 1617-11-24, as LIEUTENANT; Departed 1622-08-12, as CAPTAIN; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, ALEXANDER LESLIE, PATRICK RUTHVEN: Arrived 1622-08-12, as LT. COLONEL; Departed 1626-12-31, as LT. COLONEL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, DAVID DRUMMOND'S KALMAR REGIMENT: Arrived 1627-01-01, as COLONEL; Departed 1638-06-04, as MAJOR GENERAL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, DRUMMOND'S KALMAR WITH THE NAVY: Arrived 1628-01-01, as COLONEL; Departed 1628-12-31, as COLONEL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY AND NAVAL
SWEDEN, KALMAR: Arrived 1629-01-01, as COMMANDANT; Departed 1629-12-31, as COMMANDANT; Capacity OFFICER AND COMMANDANT, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, STETTIN (Szczecin): Arrived 1632-11-20, as COLONEL; Departed 1635-12-31, as MAJOR GENERAL; Capacity GOVERNOR, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, ERFURT: Arrived 1635-01-01, as COMMANDANT; Capacity MILITARY, COMMANDANT, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, GARTZ: Arrived 1638-01-01, as MAJOR GENERAL; Departed 1638-02-28, as MAJOR GENERAL; Capacity COMMANDANT, purpose MILITARY