Lieutenant-Colonel John Maitland (1732 – 25 October 1779) was a British Marine and Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1779. Maitland was the eighth surviving son of

Charles Maitland, 6th Earl of Lauderdale Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Ogilvy, daughter of

James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater and 1st Earl of Seafield, (11 July 166419 August 1730) was a Scottish politician. Life Findlater was the 2nd son of James Ogilvy, 3rd Earl of Findlater and Lady Anne Montgomerie, a daughter of Hugh Montgom ...

. He was a Captain in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

in 1757 and served in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

, losing his right arm in action.Scott Martin, Bernard F. Harris Jr ‘'Savannah 1779: The British turn south'’ Bloomsbury Publishing, 24 August 2017 page 15 When peace came in 1763 he went onto half-pay. In 1768 Maitland stood for Parliament at Haddington Burghs when there was a double return, but decided not to contest the matter. He was appointed Clerk of the Pipe in Scottish Exchequer in 1769. He returned to the active list in 1770 and became a major in 1775. Meanwhile, he was returned at the 1774 general election as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Haddington Burghs. Little is known of his parliamentary career and from 1777 he was away serving in America. In May 1778 Maitland was commanding marines against vessels in the Delaware during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and became Lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Battalion, 71st Regiment of Foot, Fraser's Highlanders in October 1778. He fought at the

Battle of Stono Ferry The Battle of Stono Ferry was an American Revolutionary War battle, fought on June 20, 1779, near Charleston, South Carolina. The rear guard from a British expedition retreating from an aborted attempt to take Charleston held off an assault by p ...

, where he commanded the British redoubt, and helped lift the

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

. He died of malaria on 22 October 1779 shortly after the siege was lifted. For over a century, he was interred in a tomb in Savannah's

Colonial Park Cemetery Colonial Park Cemetery (locally and informally, Colonial Cemetery) is a historic cemetery located in downtown Savannah, Georgia. It became a city park in 1896,Nathanael Greene. In 1981, Dr. Preston Russell gained permission from the city to enter the tomb. He took Maitland's bones back to his native Scotland."Hungry for History? Savannah Square by Square"
- YouTube, 16 May 2016

External links

References

;Specific ;General *''British Peerage'' (published 1832), p. 213. *''The Siege of Savannah'', ed. Franklin Benjamin Hough, 1866 *''Highlanders in America'',

John Patterson MacLean John Patterson MacLean (March 12, 1848 – August 12, 1939) was an American Universalist minister and archaeologist and historian. While at Ohio State University he became a historian of the Shakers. Biography He was born on March 12, 184 ...

, 1900. pp. 352–358. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, John 1732 births 1779 deaths Highland Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Younger sons of earls 18th-century British Army personnel 18th-century Royal Marines personnel American Revolutionary War deaths Deaths from malaria