Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot

Who was Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot?

Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot was a Scottish soldier.

Andrew was the fifth and youngest son of a merchant burgess of Edinburgh - William Rutherfurd of Wrightslands and of Easter and Wester Quarrelholes in Restalrig - and his wife Isobel, daughter of James Stewart of Traquair. His education was received at Edinburgh University, and he took up the career of soldier of fortune.

His services were given to the French government, which maintained regiments of Scottish mercenaries. On the restoration of Charles II, Rutherford was taken into employment by his own king on the recommendation of Louis XIV of France. He had held a commission as lieutenant-general in France and had a high reputation for personal courage.

Rutherford returned to Scotland in 1660. In 1661 Charles II gave him the Scottish title of Lord Rutherford and the governorship of Dunkirk, which had been acquired by the Protector Oliver Cromwell. When Charles II sold the town to France in 1662 Rutherford was consoled by the command of the Colony of Tangier and the Tangier Regiment, and was made Earl of Teviot.

He was sent in 1663 as governor to Tangier. His tenure of office was very short, for on 4 May 1664 he was trapped in an ambush by the Moors, who carried on incessant irregular warfare against the English garrison, and was killed, together with nineteen officers and nearly five hundred men of his garrison.