“I will not end a century of peace between our nations,” he declared.
However, Alexander IV was adamantly opposed to war. In August, following a successful and unprecedented invasion of Cornwall by French forces, there were many calls for Scotland to join the war in order to weaken Britain. By this point, of a total standing army of 25,000 men, only 11,000 were stationed in the Scottish mainland. In July 1749 another attempt was made at creating a colony in Sierra Leone, this time reinforced with an extra 4,000 soldiers. Alexander IV defended this as an investment, arguing that the colonies would more than pay for themselves over time. After decades of falling debt, by 1749 it had begun to grow again. Some parliamentarians grew concerned about the spending Alexander IV was willing to incur to realise his colonial dream. This also raised the spectre of the first war between major powers to be fought in the New World. Portugal also saw itself dragged in on France’s side.
In addition to the war in eastern Europe, Britain had found itself at war with France due to a French invasion of Iroquois, a British protectorate. Fortunately, this movement of soldiers out of Scotland could be carried out in a context of diminished likelihood of a British invasion. These incidents raised doubts over Alexander IV’s competency to run a global trading empire. Shortly afterwards, in September, the same occurred in Scotland’s Sierra Leone colony natives emerged from the jungle and butchered the colonists. Not instinctively a military man, Alexander IV’s response was of fury – he ordered 3,000 Scottish soldiers be transported immediately to Greenland to pacify the natives. However, to his horror, in July 1748 natives overran the colony in Greenland, forcing the survivors to regroup along the coast. He continued support for the Greenland colony, whilst authorising another colony along the west African coast. In his first year as King, Alexander IV sought to continue his father’s legacy.
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