Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir John Angus Macleod GCH (29 January 1752 – 26 January 1833) was

Master Gunner, St James's Park The Master Gunner St James’s Park’s appointment goes back to 1678 and has generally been held by a senior officer in the Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially k ...

, the most senior ceremonial post in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

after the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

Military career

Educated at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, Macleod was commissioned into the

in 1771. In 1781, he was ordered to join the force under

Earl Cornwallis Earl Cornwallis was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1753 for Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis. The second Earl was created Marquess Cornwallis but this title became extinct in 1823, while the earldom and its ...

which was sent to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and which took part in the

Battle of Guilford The Battle of Guilford Court House was on March 15, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, at a site that is now in Greensboro, the seat of Guilford County, North Carolina. A 2,100-man British force under the command of Lieutenant General ...

. He was, in 1782, appointed

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the Royal Artillery at a time when they had just five battalions. He was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General of the Royal Artillery, an honorary position, in 1795. Under Macleod's direction the Royal Artillery had been expanded to ten battalions by 1808. He also held the position of

from 1808. In 1809, he was involved in the expedition to

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

. After the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

appointed him

Director-General of the Royal Artillery The Director of the Royal Artillery is the professional head of the Royal Regiment of Artillery the artillery arm of the British Army. The title and the responsibility of the Director of the Royal Artillery have varied over time and at times the tit ...

. In April 1827, he was given command of the Field Train, again an honorary position.

Personal life

On 2 January 1783, Macleod was married to Lady Wilhelmina Frances Kerr, the daughter of

William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian General William Henry Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian (1710 – 12 April 1775) was a Scottish nobleman, British soldier and politician, the eldest son of William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian. He was styled Master of Jedburgh until 1722, Lord Jedbu ...

, by whom he fathered five daughters and four sons. He died in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

in 1833.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, John 1752 births 1833 deaths British Army generals Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars