Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was normall ...

John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford (4 October 1702 – 25 December 1749) was a Scottish peer and the first

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

on its formation in 1739.

Biography

Lindsay was the son of Lieutenant-General

John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford and 3rd Earl of Lindsay (died December 1713) was a Scottish peer and politician. Life He was born before 1672, the eldest son of William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford, and succeeded to the earldoms in 1698 ...

and Emilia Stuart and inherited his titles on the death of his father in 1714. He was educated at

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and the Vaudeuil Military Academy, Paris. The Earl of Crawford was commissioned into the

3rd Foot Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Kingdom of Scotland, although ...

in 1726, but later served in the Austrian and Russian armies. In the summer of 1739, during the

Battle of Grocka The Battle of Grocka, also known as Battle of Krotzka, () was the decisive battle of the Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739), Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739). It was fought between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire on 21–22 July 173 ...

(part of Siege of Belgrade), he was badly wounded by a bullet to his

thigh In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissu ...

and was almost abandoned for dead on the battlefield. However, after partial recovery and against advice, he travelled back to Vienna, and onward to Britain, where he took command of the

(1739–1740). He was then Colonel of the 2nd Troop of

Horse Grenadier Guards The Horse Grenadier Guards, usually referred to as Horse Grenadiers, were a series of cavalry troops in the British Household Cavalry between 1687 and 1788, who used grenades and other explosives in battle. Originally attached to the Troops of ...

(1740–1743) and Colonel of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards ('Scottish Horse Guards') (1743–1746), fighting at the

Battle of Dettingen The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Karlstein am Main in Bavaria. An alliance composed of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops, known as the Pragmatic Army, defeated a French ...

on 16 June 1743. He gained the rank of Brigadier-General in 1744 and Major-General in 1745. He fought in the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

and the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

on 30 April 1745. Crawford was Colonel of the

25th Foot The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own ...

(1746–1747). He fought in the

Battle of Rocoux The Battle of Rocoux took place on 11 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession, at Rocourt (or Rocoux), near Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, now modern Belgium. It was fought between a French army under Marshal Saxe a ...

on 11 October 1746 and gained the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1747. He was Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons ('Scots Greys') (1747–1749) In 1732 Crawford was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. In 1734 he was Grand Master of the

Premier Grand Lodge of England The organisation now known as the Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. Originally concerned with the practice of Freemasonry in London and Westminster, it soon became known as ...

Family

Crawford married Lady Jean Murray, daughter of

James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, (28 September 16908 January 1764), styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1715 and 1746, was the Lord of Mann, a Scottish peer, and Lord Privy Seal. Life Atholl was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and was the ...

, in 1747, but she died only nine months after their marriage. The widowed Crawford shared his London home, 35

Upper Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named ...

, with his mother-in-law, the Duchess of Atholl. He died on 26 December 1749, from a leg wound received at the Battle of Krotzka in 1739. He was the last member of the Lindsay family to be buried in the

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

in the cemetery at

Ceres, Fife Ceres is a village in Fife, Scotland, located in a small glen approximately over the Ceres Moor from Cupar and from St Andrews. The former parish of that name included the settlements of Baldinnie, Chance Inn, Craigrothie, Pitscottie and Tarv ...

, Scotland. He was half brother (through a common mother, Lady Emelia Stuart, Countess of Crawford) to the judge Alexander Fraser, Lord Strichen.

Notes

Bibliography

* , - , - , - , - , - 1702 births 1749 deaths Nobility from Fife 42nd Regiment of Foot officers British Army lieutenant generals British Life Guards officers 20 Royal Scots Greys officers Scots Guards officers Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish representative peers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Grand masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Lindsay, John Lindsay, 4th Earl of {{Scotland-earl-stub