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The real Blackadder who fought at the Battle of Blenheim, 1704.

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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Long before Rowan Atkinson's comic creation, a real Blackadder was fighting in some of the bloodiest battles in British military history. Lieutenant-Colonel John Blackadder was a Scottish soldier who served under the Duke of Marlborough and fought at the Battle of Blenheim—where he nearly died from a musket ball to the throat.

Born in 1664 to a firebrand Covenanter preacher who died imprisoned on the Bass Rock, John Blackadder joined the newly-raised Cameronians in 1689. This distinctively religious Scottish regiment—nicknamed the "Psalm-singing Regiment"—would become his military home for over two decades. His first taste of battle came at Dunkeld, where 800 Cameronians held off more than 3,000 Jacobite Highlanders.

During the Nine Years War, Blackadder fought at Steenkirk, Landen and the Siege of Namur. But his career was nearly derailed when he killed a fellow officer in a duel at Maastricht—an act that haunted this devout Presbyterian for the rest of his life.

The War of the Spanish Succession brought Blackadder to Marlborough's greatest victories. He survived Schellenberg, was wounded at Blenheim, served at Ramillies, and was hit twice more at the Siege of Lille. At the catastrophic Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, Marlborough personally promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel on the battlefield when his commanding officer fell wounded.

After retiring in 1711, Blackadder returned to service during the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, commanding the Glasgow Volunteer Regiment. He ended his days as Deputy-Governor of Stirling Castle, and his diaries—published in 1824—remain an invaluable account of early 18th-century military life.

Timeline of John Blackadder's Life:

• 1664: Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland
• 1689: Joins the Cameronians; fights at Battle of Dunkeld
• 1691: Kills Lieutenant Robert Murray in a duel at Maastricht
• 1693: Promoted to Captain
• 1704: Fights at Schellenberg and Blenheim (wounded)
• 1705: Promoted to Major
• 1706: Present at Battle of Ramillies
• 1708: Wounded twice at Siege of Lille
• 1709: Battlefield promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel at Malplaquet
• 1711: Sells commission and retires
• 1715: Commands Glasgow Volunteer Regiment during Jacobite rebellion
• 1729: Dies aged 64; buried in Stirling

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