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Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (c. 1580 - April 4, 1661), was a Scottish soldier, in Dutch and then Swedish service from 1605 until 1638, where he rose to the rank of Field Marshal. Alexander was the son of captain George Leslie and "a wench in Rannoch", and was a member of the family of Leslie of Balquhain. He was married in 1637 to Agnes Renton (died June 29, 1651, daughter of David Renton of Billie), and in due course his eldest son, Gustav Leslie became a colonel in the Swedish Army. At an early age, Alexander was fostered out to the Campbells of Glenorchy. The fosterage bond was strong and still written about by Leslie into the 1640s. Indeed it was this link that brought Leslie into the orbit of the House of Argyll as Lord Lorne, the son of the marquis of Argyll was also a Glenorchy fosterling. This relationship also explains the presence of Campbells in the same regiments as Leslie in Sweden, most notably Captain Charles Campbell (Karl Kammel), whose portrait hangs to this day in Skokloster Castle in Sweden.

Alexander Leslie

Alexander Leslie went into military service abroad in around 1605, and remained overseas until 1637, distinguishing himself on numerous occasions during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), and rising eventually to the rank of Field Marshal.

During his early years in Dutch service, he earned a reputation as a fine officer, and soon transferred to the Swedish army, where he advanced rapidly. In 1627 Alexander Leslie, now a full colonel over Swedish troops, was knighted by the Swedish monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, who had a particular affection for him and trusted him with guarding the crucial strategic garrisons in North Germany, while the main Swedish army established a foothold on the Baltic shoreline and advanced slowly southwards.

Leslie was promoted Major-General in 1631, but was badly wounded in February 1632 near Hamburg. In early 1630s he trained troops in Muscovy.[1] Nevertheless, in 1636 Leslie was appointed Field Marshal, and was one of the Swedish commanders at the Battle of Wittstock in 1636, under the overall command of Johan Banér, although the spectacular victory was largely the work of Leslie and his subordinate, a fellow Scotsman, Lieutenant-General James King.

In 1638 events in his native country compelled him to return to Scotland to lead the army of the Covenanters in the Bishops Wars. Scottish regiments were generally called into service by the lairds and clan chieftains obliging their tenants with feudal duty or coercion to send their kin to follow the Covenanters' banner into battle, though support among the Presbyterians of Scotland was widespread and the army swelled to over 20,000. The flag bore the motto 'For Christ's Crown and Covenant' and appeared in 1639 before the Covenanter army.

Leslie's reputation, guile and discretion, brought many to his standard, the English officer John Aston and Sir Cheney Culpeper both recording this in their writings. Having amassed a considerable fortune abroad he was able to bring from Sweden his arrears of pay in the form of cannon and muskets which he no doubt put to use in taking the castle of Edinburgh by surprise, without the loss of a single man, for the Scottish Parliament against the few remaining Scottish Royalists in the field. He then conducted a brilliant campaign in the North of England, overwhelming the British Royalist forces at the Battle of Newburn. From there he took Newcastle with ease putting pressure on the King to come to a treaty with the Scottish Covenanters. Thus followed the treaty of London.

In 1641 King Charles bestowed upon him, at Holyrood, the titles of Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven, and made him captain of Edinburgh Castle and a privy councillor.

Leven eventually accepted command of the forces raised for the invasion of England, and was in consequence accused of having broken his personal oath to Charles. He rose instead to become a commander of the Scottish army from 1644 to 1646 and fought for the Solemn League and Covenant which bound both the Scottish and English parliaments together against the Royalist forces in the Three Stuart Kingdoms.

In 1644 Leven commanded an army which he marched to England to take part in the Battle of Marston Moor, a crushing defeat for the king. When Charles surrendered to the Scottish army again in 1646, he was placed under the charge of General Lord Leven and was returned to the English in 1647.

Although over seventy years of age, and still active Leven passed active command of the army to David Leslie in whom he had complete confidence. However, splits within the Scottish Parliament saw the Royalist Engager faction oust the Argyll radicals. Hamilton led an ill-supported army over the border in support of the king. They were soundly defeated by English parliamentary forces of Oliver Cromwell. This led to the return of the Argyll faction in Scotland. After the execution Charles I, Argyll declared his son, Charles II, King of Great Britain and Ireland leading to an English invasion of Scotland. The Scottish Covenanters were defeated (1650) at the battle of Dunbar.

"In the new war, and in the disastrous campaign of Dunbar, Leven took but a nominal part, though attempts were afterwards made to hold him responsible".

In August, 1651 Leven had the misfortune to be captured by a group of English dragoons, and was sent to London. He was confined to the Tower of London for some time, until he was released on providing a bond of £20,000, whereupon he retired to Northumberland. Again sometime later in London he was arrested a second time, but through negotiations with the queen of Sweden he again obtained his liberty.

He died in 1661 at Balgonie Castle, Fife, Scotland.

• Clan Leslie

• Leslie Family history

The nursery rhyme "There was a crooked man" is about Sir Alexander Leslie's betrayal of the Scottish Crown. see.

• http://www.rhymes.org.uk/there_was_a-crooked_man.htm

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house