General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir John Ross (18 March 1829 – 5 January 1905) was a soldier of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

and the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

who fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

and later commanded British forces in Canada.

Military career

Born at Stone House,

Hayton, Carlisle Hayton is a small village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, roughly east of Carlisle, and from the England/Scotland border. The population of the parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,222. The place name Hayton means hay farm and refer ...

, the son of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross (1779–1868) by his marriage to Elizabeth Graham, a daughter of Richard Graham, Ross was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Ri ...

in 1846. Between 1854 and 1855 he saw active service in the

, fighting at the battles of Alma, Inkermann, and Sebastopol. In 1856 he was promoted Major and went out to India. Between 1857 and 1858 in the

he was at Cawnpore and Lucknow, and in 1863–64 he fought in the North West Frontier Campaign. Promoted

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

in the Bengal Army in 1874, Ross commanded the Perak Expedition of 1875–1876. In 1878 he was in Malta, then served with the Second Division Calne Field Force from 1878 to 1879. In 1881 he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

, and between 1881 and 1886 he commanded the Poona Division of the Bombay Army, before going to North America as Commanding General of British forces in Canada from 1888 to 1893, on behalf of

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Lord Stanley of Preston Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, (15 January 1841 – 14 June 1908) styled as Hon. Frederick Stanley from 1844 to 1886 and as The Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party po ...

. In 1891 Ross was promoted full General and he retired the service in 1896.'ROSS, General Sir John GCB' in ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' (London, A. & C. Black); online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2007 He was appointed colonel of the

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

on 6 Feb. 1895, transferring to be colonel-commandant of the 3rd Battalion, the

from 29 July 1903 to his death. He died on 5 January 1905 at Kelloe, Berwickshire.

Family

In 1868, Ross had married Mary Macleod Hay, the daughter of A. M. Hay, whom he divorced, and who predeceased him. In retirement he lived at his birthplace, Stone House, Hayton, Cumberland, where his grounds were said to contain an exceptionally impressive

evergreen oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

. In London he was a member of the United Service Club. His address at the time of his death was stated as Belgrave Mansions,

Grosvenor Gardens Grosvenor Gardens is the name given to two triangular parks in Belgravia, London, faced on their western and eastern sides by streets of the same name. Both roads run roughly north to south from Hobart Place and Grosvenor Place to Buckingham ...

, London SW.''The Rifle Brigade Chronicle'' (1901), p. 37

Honours

*1861: Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...

*1881: Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath *1891: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, John 1829 births 1905 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the Crimean War Deputy Lieutenants of Cumberland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Rifle Brigade officers