Samuel Cockburn

Who was Samuel Cockburn?

Major general Samuel Cockburn was a Scottish soldier in the service of Sweden. He was born around 1574 in Scotland. He entered Swedish service in 1598 where he participated in the Swedish civil war between Sigismund Vasa and Duke Karl Karl IX.

He is listed as one of the Scottish officers who, under the direction of General James Spens, the General of Scottish and English forces in Swedish service, was sent to King James VI and I in 1608/9 seeking levies for Sweden, although one source notes a travel pass for this purpose issued by the Swedes was dated 17 December 1609. A group of officers went with him including Hugh Cochran, Daniel Rogers, Robert Kinnaird, Patrick Ruthven, John Wauchop, George Douglas and William Horne. He served as colonel of a regiment in 1609-10 and took part in Karl IX's and Gustav II Adolf's war in Russia and in the Baltic states.

Cockburn played a leading role in the battle of Novgorod on 16 July 1611, in particular, his regiment blew open the town gates. In July 1612 he was sent by Jacob de la Gardie at Novogorod to Gustav II Adolf to seek payment for Cockburn's troops - some of his regiment had already been sent back to Finland for lack of finances.