Sir Harry Munro, 7th Baronet (c. 1720 – 12 June 1781) was 25th Baron and the 28th chief of the
Clan Munro. He was a Scottish soldier and politician. He was loyal to the
Hanoverian dynasty and served as a captain in
Loudon's Highlanders Regiment 1745–48.
Early life
Harry Munro was the second surviving son of
Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet and Mary, daughter of Henry Seymour of Woodlands. His elder brother Robert having died in infancy.
His uncle was
George Munro, 1st of Culcairn.
Early military career
Sir Harry's military career seems to have started when he was among nine young gentlemen appointed
Ensigns in Bisset's Regiment later the
30th Regiment of Foot
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
in May 1742. In June 1745 he was appointed on the recommendation of Lord Stair and Henry Pelham as one of the company commanders in a new Highland Regiment being raised by
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun.
Jacobite rising of 1745 - 1746
Harry Munro's company was one of three in the process of being raised in the North when the Commander in Chief in Scotland, General Sir
John Cope arrived at
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
on 29 August.
Harry's uncle George Munro, 1st of Culcairn met Sir John Cope and agreed that the Munros "should instantly take arms and join the King's troops" and the next day Harry brought in 200 of his men in three companies. These three companies were raised by Harry Munro himself, Hugh Munro of
Teaninich and William Munro of
Achany
Achany is a hamlet in Sutherland in the Scottish council area of Highland, Scotland. It lies off the B864 road on the west bank of the River Shin south of Lairg. The hamlet, which includes the Achany Glen (or Achany Forest), is also home to a ...
.
Harry joined Sir John Cope at the Water of
Nairn and when the army marched for
Aberdeen on 4 September
Loudon's Highlanders regiment included his three companies, while George Munro of Culcairn's detachment acted as scouts.
Sir John Cope remained in Aberdeen where a fourth company of Loudoun's regiment joined the others until 14 September from whence they sailed to
Dunbar and their infamous defeat at the
Battle of Prestonpans.
Harry was among 70 officers taken prisoner and for a time was imprisoned in
Glamis Castle but by mid January 1746 he was among 31 men released who arrived at
Edinburgh, where he learnt the news of the deaths of his father Robert and his uncle Duncan after the
Battle of Falkirk (1746).
Meanwhile, the main body of Munros having escorted Sir John Cope successfully to Aberdeen had returned to the north under
George Munro, 1st of Culcairn and were not present at Prestonpans.
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun and Sir John Cope had escaped by sea to London after the Battle of Prestonpans from whence Loudoun later returned north to Inverness to take command in the north but was forced with the Lord President Forbes and George Munro of Culcairn to withdraw through the
Black Isle into
Ross-shire being
pressed by a much larger Jacobite force.
The commander of British forces,
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S..html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki> N.S.">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Old_Style_and_New_St ...
, had no wish to have the support of any Highland troops at the time for he distrusted them all and deliberately gave the Earl of Loudoun no help to extricate himself from his difficulties with the Jacobites in the north.
Harry Munro was with
George Mackay of Skibo, son of
George Mackay, 3rd Lord Reay
George Mackay, 3rd Lord Reay (1678–1748), was a Scottish noble and chief of the Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. During his life the Glorious Revolution took place which directly affected his family and estate, and during ...
, at the
Skirmish of Tongue
The Skirmish of Tongue was a battle that took place in March 1746 near Tongue in the Scottish Highlands during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
Background
On 25 March 1746 a French ship named the ''Le Prince Charles'', formerly HMS ''Hazard'', whic ...
in March 1746 where they defeated a Jacobite force and captured money and supplies that were meant for the Jacobite leader
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...
.
Three other companies of Loudoun's regiment raised in Argyll from the
Clan Campbell came under the Duke of Cumberland's command in his march north from
Stirling but they were used mainly as scouts and baggage guards.
However, several of them, including one officer were killed when they fought at the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
.
Loudon's Highlanders Regiment was at Culloden but Harry Munro himself was listed as absent "by HRH leave" presumably to try to deal with the problems at
Foulis Castle which had been burned after the Battle of Falkirk.
At the request of
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Harry Munro of Foulis and Ludovick Grant of Grant visited Lovat while he was imprisoned in the
Tower of London having received the death sentence.
After the suppression of the rebellion, Loudon's Highlanders later took part in the
mopping up operations based at
Fort Augustus.
The regiment remained in Scotland until May 1747 when they embarked at Bruntisland to join the allied army under Cumberland in
Flanders.
The Munro company under Harry appears to have stayed in Scotland but in a letter from another officer in March 1748, Sir Harry is said to be going over to join the regiment.
However, with the ending of the war in Flanders, Loudon's regiment was ordered back to Scotland and reduced at Perth in June of that year.
Member of Parliament
In politics Harry Munro was a supporter of the
Duke of Newcastle, a prominent
Whig who was
Prime Minister 1754 - 1756 and 1757 - 1762. Harry Munro also served as MP for
Ross-shire 11 December 1746 - 1747 and for
Tain Burghs
Tain Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832, sometimes known as Northern Burghs. It was represented by one Member of P ...
1747 - 1761.
Family
Harry married Anne, daughter of
Hugh Rose of
Kilravock
Kilravock Castle (pronounced ''Kilrawk'') is located near the village of Croy, between Inverness and Nairn, in the council area of Highland, Scotland. It was begun around 1460 and has been the seat of the Clan Rose since that time. The castle is ...
, chief of the
Clan Rose. Harry was succeeded by his son
Sir Hugh Munro, 8th Baronet
Sir Hugh Munro, 8th Baronet (of Foulis), born 25 October 1763,Mackenzie. p. 146. was a Scottish noble and also the chief of the Clan Munro, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. By tradition he was also the twenty-sixth Baron of Foulis. Befor ...
of Foulis.
He is buried in
Greyfriars Kirkyard in the centre of
Edinburgh. The grave lies on the north side of a vault in an obscured location north-west of the Adam mausoleum.
Independent Highland Company
The Independent Highland Companies that were raised by Lord Loudoun in 1745-46 were not regimented until 1747 and therefore they are often confused with the eighteen
Independent Highland Companies
The Independent Highland Companies were irregular militia raised from the Scottish clans of the Scottish Highlands by order of the Government between 1603 and 1760 in order to help keep the peace and enforce the law in the Highlands and were reco ...
that were raised by
Duncan Forbes of Culloden.
The ''Loudoun Papers'' are held in the
Huntington Library in
San Marino, California and include four lists of the soldiers under Sir Harry Munro in the company raised for Lord Loudoun dated September 17, 1746, November 18, 1746, January 12, 1748 and January 16, 1748. The first of these being five months after the Jacobite rising was effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746, and Sir Harry Munro's three companies having been reduced to just one company. The following two lists are the soldiers who were in Sir Harry Munro's company on September 17, 1746, and on November 18, 1746.
[The ''Loudoun Papers'' as held in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, reference: LO12361.]
;List of soldiers in Sir Harry Munro's company on September 17, 1746
;List of soldiers in Sir Harry Munro's company on November 18, 1746
Sources
See also
*
Munro Baronets
*
Clan Munro
*
Scottish clan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Harry, 7th Baronet
1720 births
1781 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia
30th Regiment of Foot officers
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
Harry Munro, 7th Baronet of Foulis
British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745
British MPs 1741–1747
British MPs 1747–1754
British MPs 1754–1761
Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard