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.". OED ...

James Abercrombie or Abercromby (1706 – 23 April 1781) of Glassaugh, Banffshire was a

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 Gurk ...

general and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1734 to 1754. He was commander-in-chief of forces in North America during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, best known for the disastrous British losses in the 1758

Battle of Carillon The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, Chartrand (2000), p. 57 was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War (which was part of the global Seven Years' War). It was fought near Fort Carillon (now ...

Biography

Abercrombie was born in Glassaugh, Banffshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the eldest son of Alexander Abercromby, also MP for Banffshire, and his wife Helen Meldrum. He was appointed an ensign in the

25th Regiment of Foot Fifth is the Ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 5, five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth ...

at age eleven. He married Mary Duff (sister of

William Duff, 1st Earl Fife William Duff, 1st Earl Fife (1697 – 30 September 1763), of Braco, Banff, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1734. Early life Duff was the eldest surviving son of William Duff, merchant, of Dipp ...

) and they had one daughter. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

, he was returned by his brother-in-law, William Duff, later Lord Braco, 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 Banffshire. He voted regularly with the Government. Abercrombie was promoted to captain in 1736, and by 1739 was lieutenant-governor of Stirling castle. He was re-elected MP for Banff at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. In 1742, he purchased a major's commission. He was promoted to colonel in 1746 and served in the

Flemish Campaign Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

of the

War of Austrian Succession War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. He was quartermaster general under General

James St Clair General The Hon. James St Clair (1688 – 30 November 1762) was a Scottish soldier and Whig politician. Background St Clair was the second son of Henry St Clair, 10th Lord Sinclair and his wife Grizel Cockburn, daughter of Sir James Cockbur ...

at the

Raid on Lorient The raid on Lorient was a British amphibious operation in the region around the town of Lorient from 29 September to 10 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was planned as an attempt to force the French to withdraw their forc ...

in 1746 and was wounded at

Hulst Hulst () is a municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. History Hulst received city rights in the 12th century. Hulst was captured from the Spanish in 1591 by Maurice of Orange but was recaptured b ...

in 1747. At the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

, he was returned unopposed as MP for Banff as an Old Whig, but stood down in 1754 in favour of Lord Braco's son, now of age. With the outbreak of 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 (175 ...

in 1756, Abercrombie was promoted major general and ordered to America as second in command to Lord Loudoun for the upcoming campaigns against the French. Abercrombie commanded a brigade at Louisbourg in 1757 and became Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America after Loudoun's departure in December. In the summer of 1757, Abercrombie was ordered to lead an expedition against

Fort Carillon Fort Carillon, presently known as Fort Ticonderoga, was constructed by Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Governor of French Canada, to protect Lake Champlain from a British invasion. Situated on the lake some south of Fort Saint Frédéric, it ...

(later known as Fort Ticonderoga), to prepare to take

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. Abercrombie was a genius at organization but vacillated in his leadership to the point where, after his defeat, he was called ''Mrs. Nanny Cromby''. He managed the remarkable feat of assembling fifteen thousand troops and moving them and their supplies through the wilderness. Then, after losing

George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe George Augustus Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe (c. 1725 – 6 July 1758) was a career officer and a brigadier general in the British Army. He was described by James Wolfe as "the best officer in the British Army". He was killed in the French and In ...

, his second-in-command, in a skirmish on 7 July while reconnoitring, he directed his troops on 8 July into a frontal assault on a fortified French position, without the benefit of artillery support. More than two thousand men were killed or wounded. Eventually his force panicked and fled, and he retreated to his fortified camp south of Lake George.Parkman, Francis: "Montcalm and Wolfe" This disaster caused in September 1758 Abercrombie's recall to Great Britain and his replacement by General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...

. Despite his failure, he was promoted to lieutenant general in 1759, and general in 1772.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abercrombie, James Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British Army generals British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession British Army personnel of the French and Indian War 1706 births 1781 deaths People from Banffshire Royal Scots officers Scottish generals Scottish soldiers 44th Regiment of Foot officers

Biography

See also

References

External links