General Sir John Murray, 8th Baronet, (''c.'' 1768 – 15 October 1827
) 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 who led a brigade under
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...
, in the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
. Later in the war, he commanded an independent force that operated on the east coast of Spain.
Early career
Murray served as Quartermaster General in India from 1801 to 1805. There, "his alternations of torpor and feverish activity had greatly embarrassed the young Arthur Wellesley with whom he was supposed to be cooperating." He married Anne Elizabeth Cholmley Phipps on 25 August 1807.
Peninsula
During the
Second Battle of Porto in 1809,
Major General Murray commanded the 7th Brigade, the largest brigade in Wellington's army. This 2,900-strong unit included the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th
King's German Legion
The King's German Legion (KGL; ) was a formation of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Consisting primarily of expatriate Germans, it existed from 1803 to 1816 and achieved the distinction of being the on ...
(KGL) Infantry battalions, plus elements of the 1st and 2nd KGL Light Infantry. After giving Murray two additional cavalry squadrons, Wellington entrusted him with the task of crossing the
Douro River
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...
and cutting off the escape route of Marshal
Nicolas Soult's French corps. Accordingly, Murray crossed the Douro at a ferry east of Porto and moved north. However, he failed to seriously contest the French retreat to the northeast. Instead, he skirmished ineffectually with the enemy. Michael Glover, historian of the Peninsular War, calls Murray "a stupid and irresolute officer."
He soon left Portugal because he feared he would have to serve under
William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford
William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was a British army officer and politician. A General (British Army), general in the British Army and a Marshal of Portugal, Marshal in the Portuguese Army, ...
, who was a marshal of the Portuguese Army. Beresford was junior to Murray in British rank, but as a marshal would outrank him in the field. He became 8th Baronet of Dunerne in 1811.
On 31July 1812, an 8,000-man Anglo-Sicilian force under Thomas Maitland landed at
Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. It then went through a succession of commanders until February 1813, when Murray, now a lieutenant-general, took command. By this time, the force was 10,000 men strong. Of these, 3,000 were Sicilians and Italians, while the rest were British and KGL troops. Two Spanish divisions, 8,000 men, also came under his orders.
With his 18,200-man army, Murray defeated Marshal
Louis Suchet at the
Battle of Castalla on 13April 1813. Though Suchet's 13,200 were considerably outnumbered and the battle was largely won by the steadiness of the British and Spanish infantry, Castalla was undoubtedly Murray's finest hour. But he did not pursue the beaten French, continuing his withdrawal to the coast.
Fiasco at Tarragona
Soon after, Wellington ordered Murray to move by sea to capture the port of
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...
. By this manoeuvre, Wellington intended to distract Suchet from his summer offensive (this ended in victory in the
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813), a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British, Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese and Spanish Empire, Spanish army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington bro ...
). Rear-Admiral
Benjamin Hallowell Carew put Murray's 16,000 men ashore six miles south of Tarragona on 2 June. Joined by Spanish Major-General Francisco Copons with 7,000 men, the Allies quickly invested the 1,600-man Franco-Italian garrison of Brigadier-General Bertoletti. Thus began the
Siege of Tarragona's comedy of errors. Bertoletti quickly pulled most of his men into the inner defences, leaving token garrisons in two
outwork
An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier
A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...
s. Rather than storm these, Murray chose to reduce them by siege. By 7 June, his siege guns had reduced one of the two forts to rubble.
Meanwhile, Major-General
Charles Decaen sent Major-General
Maurice Mathieu
David-Maurice-Joseph Mathieu de Saint-Maurice de La Redorte or Maurice Mathieu (; 20 February 1768 – 1 March 1833) was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.
Biography
Mathieu was born into a French noble family and entered the French ...
with 6,000 men south from Barcelona to interfere with the siege. At the same time, Suchet marched 8,000 men north from Valencia toward Tarragona. Soon, a Spanish move against Valencia caused the southern column to be recalled. Mathieu bumped into Copons's pickets, found that he was facing a combined force of 23,000 men and quickly backpedalled.
By this time, Murray had been driven into a state of panic by rumours of the two French relief columns. He cancelled a planned 11 June attack on the small outwork and ordered his supplies to be taken aboard ship. Later, he decided to withdraw his entire force. Issuing a stream of orders that confused everyone and enraged Hallowell, Murray finally got his entire force aboard ship after spiking and abandoning the eighteen heavy siege cannon. Copons was advised to flee to the mountains.
Once safely aboard, Murray determined to land at a different place on 15 June. Soon, confusion again reigned. In despair, Hallowell wrote, "the debarkation and the re-embarkation continually going on was enough to confound any operation in the world." Mathieu finally marched into Tarragona on 16 June. The appearance of these fresh troops caused Murray to give up his plans again, and his thwarted expedition returned to Alicante. He was relieved of command on 18 June.
[Smith, p 425]
Later career
After the war ended in 1814, Murray was court-martialled for his conduct before Tarragona. The court acquitted him of all charges except one: he was found guilty of abandoning his guns without due cause and admonished by the court. Acting as though he was cleared of all charges, Murray petitioned to become a member of the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
, but was denied.
He was
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis from 1811 to 1818.
Murray died on 15 October 1827.
Footnotes
References
* Glover, Michael. ''The Peninsular War 1807-1814.'' London: Penguin, 2001.
* Oman, Charles. ''Wellington's Army, 1809-1814.'' London: Greenhill, (1913) 1993.
* Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.
* http://www.thepeerage.com/p8617.htm#i86168
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, John
1760s births
1827 deaths
British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
British Army generals
British Army personnel who were court-martialled
56th Regiment of Foot officers
Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1807–1812
UK MPs 1812–1818