1st Earl of Leven, Scottish field marshal (born 1580)

Alexander Leslie

Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven was a Scottish army officer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in the Swedish Army and a major leader of the Thirty Years' War, and in Scotland became Lord General in command of the Army of the Covenanters, a privy councillor, captain of Edinburgh Castle, Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven. In England he commanded the Army of the Solemn League and Covenant and was senior commander of the Army of Both Kingdoms (1642–1647). Leslie served in the Thirty Years' War, the Bishops' Wars, and most of the English Civil War, fighting primarily in the First English Civil War.