General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir James Murray Pulteney, 7th Baronet, PC ( – 26 April 1811) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and politician who served in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (sometimes called the Great French War or the Wars of the Revolution and the Empire) were a series of conflicts between the French and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompas ...

Background and education

Born James Murray, he was the eldest son of Colonel

Sir Robert Murray, 6th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

and his first wife Janet Murray, a younger sister of

Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank (1703 – 3 August 1778) was a British Army officer, lawyer and economist. Life He was the son of Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank (1677–1736), and his wife Elizabeth (née Stirling; die ...

. Murray succeeded his father as baronet in 1771, while still a minor. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and joined then the British Army.

Military career

Murray had had his first commission purchased in his mid-teens, as lieutenant in the

19th Regiment of Foot 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13. ...

in 1770. Already a year later, he became captain in the 57th Regiment of Foot. He left for Europe in 1772 and having spent the time travelling, he returned to his regiment in Ireland in November 1775. At the beginning of the next year, Murray embarked for The Colonies to serve in the

. He was wounded at the ankle during the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Am ...

in September 1777, and shared his convalescence with his cousin

Patrick Ferguson Major Patrick Ferguson (1744 – 7 October 1780) was a British Army officer who designed the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War in the ...

. Soon after recovering, he was shot through the thigh at the

Battle of White Marsh The Battle of White Marsh or Battle of Edge Hill was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought December 5–8, 1777, in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the for ...

in November. Murray purchased a majority in 1778, serving with the 4th Regiment of Foot in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and was involved in the Battle of St Lucia. He became lieutenant-colonel of the

94th Regiment of Foot The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in Decemb ...

in 1780 and on the regiment's disbandment after three years was set on halfpay. In 1789, he was transferred to active duty and was appointed an aide-de-camp to King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

the United Kingdom, ranked as a colonel. Murray was sent to

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, the headquarters of the allied forces against the

French Revolutionary Armies The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great nu ...

. He was attached as adjudant to the Frederick, Duke of York in April 1793, fighting in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, and was promoted to major-general in December. In 1794, he received command of the

18th Regiment of Foot 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors and no smaller number ha ...

and led his regiment to suppress the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

. A year thereafter, in June 1799 Pulteney (he had taken the name of Pulteney in 1794) was made a lieutenant-general and in November was wounded in the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

, having been second in command. He commanded the

Ferrol Expedition The Ferrol Expedition (also known as the Battle of Brión) was an unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol, Spain on 25 and 26 August 1800. Ferrol was a major Spanish Navy base with a shipyard for List of ships built at El Ferrol shipyard ...

in August 1800 and sailed then to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, before returning to England. He became General Officer Commanding Eastern District in 1805. In 1808 he became a full general.

Political career

In 1790, he entered the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, sitting as a member of parliament (MP) for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis until his death in 1811. Murray-Pulteney was sworn of the privy council in 1807, when he became

Secretary at War The secretary at war was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Aft ...

, a post he held for two years.

Family and death

On 24 July 1794, he married Henriette Laura Pulteney, 1st Baroness Bath, daughter of his cousin

Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet (born William Johnstone; October 1729 – 30 May 1805) was a Scottish lawyer, Whig politician and landowner who sat in the British House of Commons between 1768 and 1805. One of the wealthiest Britons duri ...

in Bath House, London. Two days before he had by Royal Licence assumed the surname Pulteney as a condition of his wife becoming the heir to her father's fortune. Henrietta was raised to a countess in her own right in 1803 and inherited the estates of her father in 1805, worth about £50,000 per year. She predeceased her husband in 1808 and Murray survived her for three years, dying in

Buckenham Buckenham is a small village and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Strumpshaw in the English county of Norfolk. Buckenham is located south-west of Acle and east of Norwich. History Buckenham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, from complications after losing an eye when a

powder flask A powder flask is a small container for gunpowder, which was an essential part of shooting equipment with muzzle-loading guns, before pre-made paper cartridges became standard in the 19th century. They range from very elaborately decorated works o ...

accidentally exploded in his face. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his halfbrother

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 ...

Background and education

Military career

Political career

Family and death

References

Further reading