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MONK,
General George, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-70)
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 George
Monk is one of the enigmas of the Civil War period. Born a
Royalist, the second son of a minor aristocratic Devon family
and fighting on the King's side till his capture by the Parliamentary
party at the Battle of Nantwich, be became one of Oliver Cromwell's
most effective generals and his deputy in Scotland. Though
courted by the King in exile, he served Cromwell with unwavering
loyalty, publicly proclaiming his support for his son Richard
on his accession as Protector in 1658. It was only in the
face of chaos and extreme influence in the army that he secretly
responded to approaches from Royalist leaders. Marching across
the border from his camp at Coldstream on 1 January 1660,
he became the most powerful man in England, securing the return
of Parliamentary government and the restoration of the Stewart
dynasty. Ironically his regiment, named the Coldstream Guards
after this event, had been raised for him by Cromwell to fight
Charles I in Scotland. The chief threat to the Commonwealth
in 1650 had come not from the purely Royalist rising of Montrose
(who had been executed by the Covenanters in May), but from
those who supported some combination of Presbytery and/or
King. Monk played only a minor part in the defeat of the Scottish
army at Dunbar on 3 September 1650, but he led the successful
sieges of Tantallon Castle and Blackness in early 1651. Promoted
to commander-in-chief after Cromwell pursued the King across
the border in August 1661, he completed the reduction of the
Covenanters' political and military authority with the submission
of Stirling and St Andrews and the conquest of Dundee, where
responsibility for excessive brutality has been inconclusively
attributed to him. Despatched north again in April 1654 to
put down the rising led by Glencairn and Middleton, Monk was
from then until the Restoration the lynchpin of English civil
and military authority in Scotland, first as commander-in-chief
and, after the Ordinance of Union and the establishment of
the Scottish Council in 1655, as its most important member.
Monk skilfully masterminded the military campaign in which
the Royalists were driven into the Highlands and starved of
supplies by ruthless destruction of their crops and pasture
and of their natural supporters by a characteristic combination
of conciliation and coercion. Securing the active help of
Argyll, whose son supported the Royalists, was a vital step.
Their decisive defeat at Dalnaspidal (Glengarry) was followed
by the erection of a cordon of fortresses round the Highlands
at Leith, Perth, Ayr, Inverlochy and Inverness. Solidly built
and costing an estimated £100,000 each, they were invested
with permanent English garrisons and symbolised the imposition
of law and order. Instrument of Cromwell's policies and inheritor
of many of the ideas of his predecessor Robert Lilburne, Monk
nonetheless made his individual mark. He believed that the
political and economic policies applied to Scotland should
take into account the reasons for unrest, and he worked hard
to reduce ill-judged instructions from London, particularly
the high tax assessments and harsh penalties levied on leading
Royalists. Although contemporary personal comments on 'honest
general George'are favourable, even from many Scots, and although
his numerous orders were given with 'such a grace and rigid
gentleness', his government was always resented (despite its
undoubted physical benefits). Created Duke of Albemarle at
the Restoration, he continued to offer effective and versatile
public service, both on land and sea, in his role of Lieutenant-General
of the armed forces, and in his direction of the people of
London during the Great Plague of 1665. He is buried in Westminster
Abbey.
- Encyclopaedia of Scotland',
edited by John & Julia Keay
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