Blackadder had developed firm religious views, very much in the mould of his father, and in 1689, on learning that a regiment of soldiers was being raised from among the members of the Cameronian movement, a Presbyterian sect, he volunteered as a cadet.th He was quickly promoted to lieutenant, probably through his connections to the lieutenant-colonel, William Cleland, who he had known at the university. He was originally lieutenant of the fourteenth company.Carter, p. 5
