SINCLAIR, JOHN [SSNE 477]
- Surname
- SINCLAIR
- First name
- JOHN
- Title/rank
- LT. COLONEL
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- CAITHNESS
- Social status
- NOBILITY
Text source
John Sinclair was the son of George, Fifth Earl of Caithness. He first found service in the Danish-Norwegian army in 1626 as part of Colonel Donald Mackay's [SSNE 93] regiment, although his company was reduced 1626-7. Sinclair was billeted in Langeland in October 1628, and left with his men for Nyborg in May 1629. He transferred to Sweden in the summer of 1629 with Mackay's regiment, after which he was appointed as a lieutenant colonel. He was killed in action against the garrison of troops commanded by Raimondo Montecuccili at Neumarkt (Oberfalz) on 29 June 1633.
Sources: R. Monro, His Expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mackeyes (2 vols., London, 1632), II, List of the Scottish Officers in Chief; Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage (8 vols., Edinburgh, 1904-1911), II, p.343; T. Riis, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot (Odense, 1988), II, p.127; DNB LII, pp. 292-3; J. Mackay, 'Mackay's Regiment' in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, VIII, 1879, p.185; Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage (8 vols., Edinburgh, 1904-1911), II, p.343.
We thank Dr Bernd Warlich for providing the following reference confirming the date of death. HELML, Stefan, Die Oberpfalz im 30 jährigen Krieg - der Deutschland und Europa in seinen Bann zog (Amberg, 1990), p.133.
Service record
- DENMARK-NORWAY, MACKAY'S REGIMENT
- Arrived 1626-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1629-06-07, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, NEUMARKT
- Arrived 1629-06-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1633-06-29, as LT. COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY