Gordon, George, 2nd Marquis Huntley

George Gordon was the eldest son of George, the 1st Marquis of Huntley , the leader of the Scottish Catholics during the reign of King James VI , and the lady Henriette, the daughter of Esme Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox . Educated in England , George was more religiously close to the Anglican Church and its episcopate than to the more radical Presbyterians of Scotland.

When the uprising against the royal reforms of Presbyterian worship began in Scotland in 1637 , the Marquis Huntley remained on the side of the king. He refused to sign the National Covenant of 1638 and led the Scottish conservatives and royalists who opposed the abolition of the episcopate and the restriction of the power of the king. Attempts by covenanter to persuade the inhabitants of Aberdeenshire to oppose the bishops were resolutely suppressed by the marquis, who prevented Presbyterian preachers from the Aberdeen department. As a result, under the influence of the Huntly and the Gordon clan in northeastern Scotland, a center of royalists was formed, hostile to the covenant government in Edinburgh .

When the so-called Episcopal War broke out between the Scottish Parliament and the troops of King Charles I in 1639 , the Marquis Hantley took the side of the king. He strengthened Aberdeen, but the offensive of the parliamentary army of Count Montrose forced the royalists to retreat. The negotiations between Huntley and Montrose at Inveruia were not crowned with success, and the Marquis was soon arrested and taken to Edinburgh. In response, Huntley's eldest son, James Gordon, captured Aberdeen and began to form a new army of royalists. However, the effective actions of Montrose prevented the concentration of supporters of the king, and soon the Gordon uprising was suppressed.

Released at the insistence of Charles I, the Marquis Huntley remained in opposition to the rule of the covenanters. Despite his influence in the northeastern part of the country, he, however, failed to organize any significant royalist party that could repel the covenant movement. At the beginning of 1644 , the Gordons again took up arms in support of the king, but were quickly defeated, and the Marquis himself retreated to Sutherland .

The task of uniting supporters of the king was assumed by the Marquis of Montrose, the former leader of the covenant armed forces, who now sided with Charles I. In August 1644, Montrose became the head of a small army consisting of Irish Catholics and Scots of some mountain clans in the western part of the country. This army is in a series of battles of the end of 1644 — beginning of 1645. prevailed over the troops of the covenanters, which revived hopes for the triumph of the royalists. Huntly initially refused to support Montrose, his enemy in the Episcopal Wars, and part of Gordonov even defended Aberdeen against his army. However, the success of Montrose, especially in the battle of Inverloha , and the transition to his side of the northern clans, forced the Huntly to reconsider their positions. As a result, in the spring of 1645 , the cavalry detachment of Lord Gordon, the son of Marquis Huntley, joined the army of Montrose, who made a significant contribution to the victories of the royalists at Alford and Kilshite .

Despite the victories, the antagonism between Huntley and Montrose remained one of the main weaknesses of the royalists. In August 1645, irritated by the lack of due respect and appreciation from Montrose for the Marquis Huntley, older in age and titles, the Gordons left the army of Montrose, taking with them most of the cavalry. This was one of the reasons for the defeat of the troops of Montrose in the battle of Philiphou on September 13, 1645, which was decisive for the outcome of the entire civil war. Covenant armies seized the initiative and regained power throughout the country. Marquis Huntley tried to strengthen in Banff , but the attack of David Leslie’s parliamentary army in 1646 forced him to flee to the mountains. Soon Aberdeenshire and the whole of northeastern Scotland were subordinated to covenants.

In 1647 , the Marquis Huntley was captured by covenants and brought to Edinburgh . By an act of the country's parliament, he was excluded from the general amnesty granted at the end of the civil war. His possessions and titles were confiscated. On March 22, 1649 , George Gordon was executed in Edinburgh.

George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntley, from 1607 was married to Ann Campbell (1594-1638), daughter of Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll (1575-1638) from his first marriage with Lady Agnes Douglas (1574-1607). The couple had five sons and five daughters:

• George Gordon (died 1645), Lord Gordon, killed in the battle of Alford
• James Gordon (c. 1620–1649), 2nd Viscount Eboyne (since 1636 )
• Lewis Gordon (c. 1626-1653), 3rd Marquess Huntley
• Charles Gordon (died 1681), 1st Earl of Eboyne (since 1660 )
• Henry Gordon , distinguished himself in the service in Poland.
• Ann Gordon (died 1656), wife of James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth (1615–1675)
• Harriet Gordon , 1st husband - Lord George Setton, 2nd husband - John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Traquer (c. 1622—1666)
• Gene Gordon (died 1655), wife of Thomas Hamilton, 2nd Earl Haddington
• Mary Gordon , wife of Alexander Irwin of Drama (d. 1687)
• Catherine Gordon , lady at the court of the Queen of Poland Maria Louise Gonzaga .

• George Gordon, 2nd Marquess Huntley on The Peerage.com. (eng.)
• George Gordon, 2nd Marquess Huntley on Gazetteer for Scotland (eng.)