[32] Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden was born on the 9th of December, 1594. He learnt the duty of a musketeer as soon as he could carry a musket; and when seventeen years of age he was Colonel of a Cavalry corps, and served a campaign against the Danes. In the same year (1611) his father died, and the young Gustavus succeeded to the throne of Sweden; and he soon afterwards evinced, to the surprise of all Europe, the most distinguished abilities as a commander, a hero, and a politician. The discipline which he introduced into his army was strict beyond all precedent, and to this many of his victories may be attributed. His improvements in arms, equipment, and in military tactics, were particularly important; and he was brave even to rashness. He was wounded in action on six different occasions, had three horses killed under him, and was several times in the power of the enemy, but was rescued by his own men. On the fatal 6th of November, 1632, he fought sword in hand at the head of the Smoland cavalry, and was shot through the left arm, but continued fighting until his voice and strength failed from loss of blood, when he attempted to retire. At that instant an Imperial cavalier came galloping forward, and, crying "Long have I sought thee," shot the King through the body; and the next moment one of his Majesty's attendants shot the cavalier dead on the spot. As the King and his attendants were retiring, they were charged by a troop of cuirassiers; his Majesty was held for a few moments on the saddle, but his horse, being shot in the shoulder, made a desperate plunge, and threw the rider to the ground. After his fall the King received five wounds in different parts of his body, and was shot through the head. Thus fell the brave Gustavus, the most distinguished warrior of his age; with whose life the early services of Hepburn's regiment, now represented by the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot, are intimately connected.
[33] Monro's Expedition.
[34] In the Mercure François and other French works he is called Colonel Hebron and Le Chevalier d'Hebron; Père Daniel, the French historian, gives the following reason for this change—"On l'appelloit en France 'le Chevalier d'Hebron,' son nom d'Hepburn étant difficile à prononcer."
[35] This transfer of men from the service of the Crown of Sweden to that of France was not peculiar to Hepburn's veterans; but the German and Swedish forces which, after the defeat at Nordlingen, retreated, under the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, towards the Rhine, were nearly all taken into the pay of France.
[36] Mercure Françoise; Anderson's History of the Reign of Louis XIII.; and the Complete History of Europe.
[37] "The most deplorable accident was the death of the Scottish "Colonel Hepburn, who, with his usual coolness, surveying the breach, received a ball in his neck, and died, extremely regretted in the army, and by the Court of France."—Anderson's History of France, vol. v. p. 90.
"Le combat fut fort opiniâtre en ceste prise, et de telle façon; que le Colonel Hebron Escossois, y fut tué d'une mousquetade dans le col, qui luy passoit dans les reins, ayant laissé une reputation digne de sa valeur, fidelité, et experience au fait de la guerre."—Mercure François, tom. xxi. p. 277.
[38] The following return of the establishment of the regiment in 1637 was procured by its Colonel, General Lord Adam Gordon, who died in 1801:—
| Colonel (Lord James Douglas) | 1 |
| Lieutenant-Colonel (Colonel Monro) | 1 |
| Major (Sir Patrick Monteith) | 1 |
| Captains | 45 |
| Captain-Lieutenant | 1 |
| Lieutenants | 45 |
| Ensigns | 48 |
| Surgeons | 4 |
| Adjutants | 6 |
| Chaplains | 2 |
| Drum-Major | 1 |
| Piper | 1 |
| Sergeants | 88 |
| Corporals | 288 |
| Lance-Parade | 288 |
| Drummers | 96 |
| 48 Companies of 150 Privates each | 7200 |
| Total | 8316 |
[39] Mercure François.