Scots Brigade

The Scots Brigade was a corps in service of the Dutch Republic whose history extends from 1570 to 1783. The brigade consisted of three infantry regiments.

During the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) in which the newly formed Dutch Republic gained its independence from Spain, the Dutch States-General hired several foreign regiments to build up an army—some of these were English and Scottish regiments. In the years that followed, the Republic would again hire foreign regiments if it needed to build up an army in times of war. The largest expansion of the army was during the War of the Spanish Succession, when six regiments of Scots were taken into service. After the war, three regiments were disbanded, the remaining three Scottish regiments were brigaded into a separate unit, from then on known as the Scots Brigade.

During the 18th century, the regiments served mostly as garrison units. During the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), several battalions were part of the field army and fought at Fontenoy (1745), Rocoux (1746) and Lauffeld (1747). Part of the Scots Brigade was in garrison in the city of Bergen op Zoom in 1747 when a French army besieged the city. What started as a diversion to draw away the British, Austrian and Dutch troops from the main attack on Maastricht, became a lengthy siege that ended in tragedy when French troops stormed and captured the city. The battalions of the Scots Brigade counterattacked several times, until forced to withdraw to the nearby fortification at Steenbergen, which they would defend successfully in the days to come. By then, only 200 officers and men of an original number of 800 remained. A fourth regiment raised in 1747 was soon disbanded after the war ended.

After the War of Austrian Succession, the Dutch Republic lost its status as a major European power. It did not take part in the Seven Years' War that followed. The men of the Scots Brigade were still recruited, until tensions between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic grew.

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