David Drummond (soldier)

Drummond, who was trained abroad, served as a lieutenant in the Swedish Life Guards in 1617. He participated in the siege of Riga in 1621, as a captain in the Östgöta field regiment, and in the fall campaign in Courland the same year. At the beginning of 1622 he was transferred to Johan Baner's newly formed field regiment, which was part of the army under Gustavus Adolphus which operated against Mitau. At the armistice shortly afterwards, the regiment returned to Östergötland. When Patrick Ruthven's field regiment was transferred to Livonia in 1625, Drummond became its lieutenant-colonel and commanded in Ruthven's absence. In the fall, Drummond's regiment was transferred to Gustaf Horn's army. In January 1626 the regiment was stationed in Kokenhusen. During the 1627 campaign, Drummond was commandant of Pillau. Infectious diseases ravaged the garrison, and before the end of the year Drummond was back in Kalmar to reestablish his regiment's combat capability. The drafting of new men took place under the auspices of Count John Casimir, and faced many difficulties; the Count had to transfer men drafted from Konga Hundred outside of Drummond's regimental area to his regiment. In the summer of 1628, Drummond's regiment was transported to Elbing; the regiment was then deployed with four companies in garrison at Marienburg and four at Dirschau.^[1][2][3]

The Polish War ended with the truce of Altmark in 1629, and Drummond's regiment, which he now commanded as colonel, was eventually sent back to Sweden. Drummond became commandant of Kalmar and reorganized his regiment in connection with new discharges, whereby parts of Ruthven's former regiment were incorporated with his own. As commandant in Kalmar, Drummond was usually well informed and sometimes forwarded correspondence between the King and Count John Casimir. When Gustavus Adolphus entered the Thirty Years' War in 1630, Drummond and his regiment remained in Kalmar, due to King's mistrust of Danish intentions. At the beginning of the fall 1630 his men were sent home to their farmsteads. It was not until May 1631 that Kalmar Regiment was transferred to Pomerania. In a letter to the King of June 2, Drummond expressed his desire to accompany the main army during the mobile operations, but this did not happen. Instead, Drummond and his regiments was stationed in Stettin until the middle of 1634. He was said to be a stern but fair commander, and maintained strict discipline.^[1][4][3]

At the end of 1631, Drummond was ordered to raise a foot regiment through volunteer enlistment in Germany. It was an order which caused him great difficulties, but he seems to have had the regiment fully organized in the fall of 1632. When Johan Banér became field marshal in 1634, Drummond was commissioned major general of foot in his army, and participated during the end of the year with distinction in his campaigns. In June, Drummond forced the fortress of Krossen to surrender.^[1][3]