Robert Abercromby of Airthrey
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2022) |
Sir Robert Abercromby | |
|---|---|
 Robert Abercromby painted in 1788 by George Romney | |
| Born | 21 October 1740 |
| Died | 3 November 1827 (aged 87) Airthrey |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Bombay Army Indian Army |
| Battles/wars | French and Indian War American Revolutionary War Third Anglo-Mysore War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
General Sir Robert Abercromby GCB (21 October 1740 – 3 November 1827), the youngest brother of Sir Ralph Abercromby,[1] was a general in the army, appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath, a Governor of Bombay and Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army and then Commander-in-Chief, India.[citation needed]
Military career
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2022) |
Abercromby served in the French and Indian War, and was promoted captain in 1761. On 30 Nov. 1775, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 37th Regiment of Foot. During the American Revolutionary War, he fought at the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Brandywine, the Battle of Germantown, the Battle of Crooked Billet, the Battle of Monmouth and at the sieges of Charleston and Yorktown, where he commanded the left wing of the British forces.[2] He commanded a battalion of light infantry for most of the war.
After the war, he was made Colonel for life of the 75th (Highland) Regiment, a regiment newly raised to deter the French in India. Abercromby served in India from 1790 to 1797, where he was Governor of Bombay and Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army and then, from 1793, Commander-in-Chief, India.
He was promoted lieutenant-general in 1797, elected M.P. for the county of Clackmannan in the place of his brother Ralph in 1798, and was made governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1801—a post he held until his death—and a general in 1802. His increasing blindness - arising from an eye disease contracted before his return from India in 1797 - made it impossible for him ever again to take active service, and obliged him to resign his seat in parliament in 1802.[3]
References
- ^ "Sir Robert Abercromby letter". The New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts. 22 February 1999. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/abercromby-sir-robert[bare URL]
- ^ Robert Abercromby History of Parliament Online article.
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- 1740 births
- 1827 deaths
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
- British MPs 1790–1796
- British MPs 1796–1800
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
- UK MPs 1801–1802
- British Commanders-in-Chief of India
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- British Army generals
- British Army personnel of the French and Indian War
- British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
- British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Governors of Bombay
- Commanders-in-chief of Bombay
- 37th Regiment of Foot officers
- Abercromby family
- Blind people from Scotland
- People from Clackmannanshire