Justice dealt by the victors was harsh, and properties held by the sympathizers were confiscated and
some people were killed. The brothers had no choice but exile, and in March of 1716, they set sail,
destined for France. That same day, the Keith family was stripped of their rank, privilege, lands and
properties. After escaping to the Continent, James Keith briefly entered the Spanish service. Finding
his Protestantism a barrier to promotion, he obtained from the king of Spain a recommendation to
Peter II. of Russia, from whom he received the command of a regiment of the guards. He obtained
the rank of general of infantry and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the ablest officers in the
Russian service. There he also found favor with Russian Empress Anna who promoted him and
showered him with honors. However, when she died in 1740 and was succeeded by lusty Empress
Elisabeth, the tall, handsome Keith faced a different dilemma: the notorious appetite of an Empress
who clearly had designs on him.
During his time as part of Russia's successful campaign against Sweden, Keith fell in love with a
young orphan girl 28 years his junior named Eva Methens, a Swedish prisoner captured by him in
the war of 1741-43. She ended up being his lover and lifelong mistress, marriage being out of the
question because of her common background. They had two sons together (and some sources say
more children), but gossip and the Empress's increasing romantic demands upon him made life in
Russia nearly impossible. Accompanied by Eva, his sons and his black valet, Keith travelled to Berlin
and offered his services to Friedrich the Great. The King recruited both he and his brother into
Prussian service, and he made Keith a field marshal in 1747. He and Keith became good friends and
Keith, who had a deep appreciation of literature, was welcomed into the King's inner circle.
For a time life was idyllic for Keith, but his young wife's indiscretions (it is said she even became
involved with Friedrich's brother Heinrich) were becoming too much for the Prussian court to bear,
and Friedrich finally banished her from the land in August of 1751. Keith, now aged 55, was greatly
saddened and became withdrawn, throwing himself completely into his work. Apart from his military
duties, Keith relentlessly promoted trade relations between Prussia and Britain, persuading Prussia of
the quality of English cloth and helping Scottish merchants who were trying to establish trade links
with the East Indies.
Shortly afterward, his remains were transferred by Friedrich to the Garrison Church of Berlin. Here,
in 1873, Adolph Menzel created a monument to him and many other memorials were erected to him
by the King, Prince Heinrich and others, few of which survived World War Two. After the historic
Garrison Church was destroyed by Allied bombing, approximately 200 of its victims were buried in
the churchyard in a mass grave. In 2008, the German village of Hochkirch, where Keith was killed,
unveiled a new monument to him, in a rare act of remembrance in a country that has spent decades
distancing itself from any reminder of its "shameful military past", but it made sure the inscription did
not glorify war, and it simply says, "Suffering, Misery, Death".
Scotsman James Keith: Prussian Feldmarschall
He participated in the doomed Jacobite uprising of 1715, and in the abortive invasion of 1719 with
his brother, forcing them both into exile. His mother, the Countess, raised all the money she could,
trying to help finance her sons' cause, even accepting a bag of coins from the childrens' nanny. It was
all in vain.
Some Scots were among greatest soldiers that the world has ever
seen, and over the centuries Scottish men embarked for Prussia
and other German destinations knowing that their skills would be
appreciated. Many of them heeded the call of Friedrich the Great
and other Hohenzollern kings who saw to it the Scots and their
families were well treated, and although those Scots who settled
there became fully Germanized, they remained cognizant of their
Scottish roots. James Francis Edward Keith, born in 1696 in
Invergurie Castle, was no exception.
The second son of a wealthy Earl, James Keith was a Jacobite by
birth. He had been groomed for a career in law at Edinburgh, but
entered a military life in the footsteps of his older brother George
who first joined up with the Jacobites at their mother's urging.
In 1756, the Seven Years' War broke out. Keith was employed in high
command from the onset, and in 1756, he commanded the troops covering
the investment of Pirna, and distinguished himself at Lobositz. In 1757, he
commanded at the siege of Prague and he later defended Leipzig against a
greatly superior force, was present at Rossbach, and, while the king was
fighting at Leuthen, Keith conducted a foray into Bohemia. In 1758, he took
a prominent part in the unsuccessful Moravian campaign, after which he
briefly withdrew from the army. He returned in time for the autumn
campaign in the Lausitz, and was killed on Friday, October 13, 1757 at the
battle of Hochkirch, shot at close range by a Croat as he rallied his troops.
His body was buried on the field by Marshal Daun and General Lacy, the
son of his old commander in Russia
Empress Elisabeth of Russia died unmarried. She wrote endearing letters to Keith for years after he
left Russia. His mistress Eva eventually married a captain of the Prussian palace guard and died in
1811, apparently still loving James Keith. There is a statue of Field Marshal James Keith in
Peterhead, Aberdeenshire and an identical image of Feldmarschall von Keith stood in Berlin which
was built by the request of Wilhelm I of Prussia.