Ralph Abercromby

“ The next year, though only a lieutenant-colonel, he was selected by Sir Ralph Abercromby to be quartermaster-general of his army in the Mediterranean, at the same time that another young Scotchman, John Hope, who was also to gain fame in Moore's retreat, was nominated adjutant-general. ”

“ Moore sailed with it at a few hours' notice, and arrived on 13 April at Barbados, where he had his first interview with Sir Ralph Abercromby. He commanded a brigade under Abercromby at the attack on Lucia, and with the 27th Inniskillings formed the lodgment at La Vigie on 24 May 1796, which led to the immediate surrender of the fortress of Morne Fortunee. Abercromby left Moore in command of the island, where he was engaged for some time, under difficulties of every description, in warring with the negro brigands, who swarmed in the woods. He re-established order and security. ”

“ Meantime Sir Ralph Abercromby [q. v.] had been sent out to the Mediterranean with a large armament. He joined Keith at Leghorn on 1 July; but the plans of the government had been unsettled, and though the troops were there, nothing had been decided as to their destination. In August Keith went to Minorca, shifted his flag to the Foudroyant, and was ordered to prepare, in concert with Abercromby, for a descent on Cadiz. By 5 Oct. they were off Cadiz with a fleet numbering upwards of 130 vessels. A virulent pestilence was carrying off the inhabitants of the city by thousands ”

“ EDMONDSTON, ARTHUR, M.D. (1776?–1841) , writer on the Shetland Isles, eldest son of Laurence Edmondston of Hascosay, surgeon in Lerwick, and Mary Sanderson of Buness, Shetland, was born about 1776 at Lerwick. The family of Edmondston is one of the oldest in Shetland. Edmondston's father for most of his long life was the only medical practitioner in the islands. Arthur adopted his father's profession, entered the army, and served under Sir Ralph Abercromby in Egypt. Returning to Lerwick he succeeded to his father's practice, and died unmarried in 1841. ”

“ A letter from the War Office, dated April 11th, 1798, shows how foreigners were specially selected for the regiments sent over to Ireland. Sir Ralph Abercromby publicly rebuked the King's army, of which he was the Commander-in-Chief, for their disgraceful irregularities and licentiousness. Even Lieutenant-General Lake admits that "the determination of the troops to destroy every one they think a rebel is beyond description, and needs correction." ”

“ On the 7th of March, 1801, the English squadron of the Mediterranean, which was long stationed at Mahon, and had recently been directed towards Malta, suddenly disembarked a body of 18,000 soldiers under the orders of Sir Ralph Abercromby. Thus, with a Turkish contingent and the regiments of sepoys brought from India, there were 60,000 men united against the army of occupation, which was reduced to 15,000 or 18,000 soldiers, commanded by dissatisfied officers, and generals who could not act together. ”

“ Power saw much active service. After spending two years (1795–7) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he served with the expedition to Holland in 1799; afterwards went to Minorca in 1800, and, with his regiment, joined in Egypt, in 1801, the force commanded by Sir Ralph Abercromby [q. v.] He was present at the siege and capitulation of the French troops at Alexandria. On 25 Oct. 1802 he was placed on half-pay, but from 1803 to 1805 acted as assistant adjutant-general at the Horse Guards. On 6 June 1805 he was made lieutenant-colonel of the 32nd foot, and became colonel in the army in 1810. ”

“ A conspiracy, for which two men were executed, was formed in May 1797 to assassinate him. On 2 Aug. 1797 he was made master-general of the ordnance, and in December Sir Ralph Abercromby relieved him of the office of commander-in-chief. ”

“ On this occasion the flank companies of the Fortieth were on the right of the line, and were particularly noticed for the gallant style in which they mounted the sand-hills immediately where they landed. Captain Reynell was present in the battle of the 13th of March, and commanded the right out-piquet of the army in the morning of the 21st of that month, when the French attacked the British near Alexandria, on which occasion General Sir Ralph Abercromby was mortally wounded. ”

“ With the close of the Abercrombie Campaign, and the abandonment of headquarters at Lake George, Fort Edward became once more the northern outpost of Colonial civilization. [FN]
[FN] General Abercrombie, according to documents in William L. Stone's possession, also spelled his name "Abercromby." Montresor spells it with a "y," but leading American historians use the termination "ie."
In 1759, Sir Geoffrey Amherst was made Commander-in-Chief of the English forces in America. ”

“ No sooner, however, did a man reach the top, than he was thrown down by the troops behind the entrenchments. Captain John Campbell, [286] with a few men, at length forced their way over the breast-work, but they were immediately despatched with the bayonet. After a desperate struggle, which lasted about four hours under such discouraging circumstances, General Abercromby seeing no possible chance of success, gave orders for a retreat. ”

“ The greatest obstacles opposed to an attack on this valuable colony with a large force, had hitherto “been considered to depend on the difficulty of effecting a landing, from the reefs which surround every part of the coast, and the supposed impossibility of being able to find anchorage for a fleet of transports. “These difficulties,” says Major-General Abercromby, “were fortunately removed by the indefatigable exertions of Commodore Rowley, assisted by Lieutenant Street, of the Staunch, Lieutenant Blackiston, of the Madras engineers, and the masters of the Africaine and Boadicea. ”

“ The British were, of course, under the immediate orders of an officer of their own, and a more gallant one never led troops under fire. I now, for the first time, saw the general who was afterwards destined to sweep the French out of Egypt, and inflict the first real blow on the military supremacy of France under Napoleon. General Abercromby was then in the full vigour of life; a strongly formed, manly figure, a quiet but keen eye, and a countenance of remarkable steadiness and thought, all gave the [Pg 606] indications of a mind firm in all the contingencies of war. ”

“ He is warm in praise of his enemy, and declares that between one and seven o'clock they attacked him six successive times. Early in the action Abercromby tried to turn the French left by sending twenty bateaux, filled with troops, down the outlet of Lake George. They were met by the fire of the volunteers stationed to defend the low grounds on that side, and, still advancing, came within range of the cannon of the fort, which sank two of them and drove back the rest. ”

“ By that time he had heard of the fall of his old friend and brother officer, the gallant Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and how war and disease had thinned the ranks of his army. He sorrowed for this: but his old spirit blazed up anew when he heard of how the 28th or Gloucestershire Slashers, in the Temple of the Sun, faced their rear rank about when surrounded, and defended themselves like a double wall of fire; how the Gordon Highlanders, at the bayonet's point, carried the cannon of the foe at the Tower of Mandora; how the Black Watch destroyed the boasted Invincibles, and won their scarlet plumes ”

“ He was not a great commander; for he lacked both soundness and firmness of judgement, and he had no grasp of the principles of strategy; but he restored the discipline and prestige of the British army; and in him Moore and Wellesley hailed the dawn of a brighter era. "The best man and the best soldier who has appeared amongst us this war," was Moore's comment after Abercromby's glorious death near Alexandria. [390] Pitt has often been charged with lack of judgement in selecting commanders. Let it be remembered, then, that he sent Abercromby to the post of difficulty and danger. ”

“ For a full hour we could see nothing but the effect of the grape-shot on our own ranks as we poured on, and hear nothing but the roar of the batteries. But at length shouts began to arise in distant parts of the field, and we felt that the division which had been appointed to assault the rear of the camp was making progress. Walmoden, commanding a brigade under Ferrari, now galloped up, to ascertain whether our men were ready to assault the intrenchments. "The British troops are always ready," was Abercromby's expressive, and somewhat indignant, answer. ”

“ The latter, when he came out to reconquer the French West Indies which Victor Hugues had managed to regain for the republic, made him assistant adjutant-general to his force, and was very pleased by his conduct as a staff officer. It was one of Abercromby's great titles to fame that he always encouraged merit in officers and men, however unsupported by influence; and he therefore procured for George Airey a majority in the 68th in 1796 and a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 8th regiment in 1798. ”

“ You must excuse an old friend—an old man—and Madame Louison is like all women—only a bundle of nerves. Come over to the house to-day at noon and breakfast with Abercromby and myself alone. I’ll send you back to Calcutta with him on a little run. I appreciate your manliness in keeping out of my little misunderstanding with the Madame. By the way, a few words from Abercromby to the Viceroy would put you back on the Army Staff, where you rightly belong. Let bygones be bygones, and you can make your play on the General, It’s the one chance of a life. ”

“ From this time till half-past seven a lingering fight was kept up by the rangers and other provincials, firing from the edge of the woods and from behind the stumps, bushes, and fallen trees in front of the lines. Its only objects were to cover their comrades, who were collecting and bringing off the wounded, and to protect the retreat of the regulars, who fell back in disorder to the Falls. As twilight came on, the last combatant withdrew, and none were left but the dead. Abercromby had lost in killed, wounded, and missing, nineteen hundred and forty-four officers and men. ”

“ Abercromby refused to land unless the fleet would stop with him a fortnight. He, however, made an attempt to land on 5 Oct., but, owing to the slowness of the men in getting into the boats, not more than 3,000 men could have been got to shore in a whole day, and it would have been too dangerous to leave them unsupported. Admiral and general agreed, therefore, to retire. The latter had not to wait long for further orders, for on 24 Oct. he was directed to proceed with all his troops to Egypt to expel or capture the French army left there by Napoleon. ”

“ He took command of the whole force as senior general present, and on 29 Nov. disembarked at an open roadstead, and advanced with 6,300 Europeans, 2,000 sailors lent to him by Admiral Bertie, and 3,000 Sepoys, upon Port Louis, the capital of the island. On 30 Nov. he fought a smart action, which showed the French general that resistance was impossible, and on 2 Dec. Decaen surrendered the island. Abercromby returned to Bombay in 1811, and continued to command the forces there till 1812, when he was appointed commander-in-chief and temporary governor of Madras. ”

“ We find Sir Ralph Abercrombie speaking thus: "The very disgraceful frequency of great crimes and cruelties, and the many complaints of the conduct of the troops in this kingdom--Ireland--has too unfortunately proved the army to be in a state of licentiousness [pg 370] that renders it formidable to everyone except the enemy." Sir Ralph Abercrombie declared himself so frightened and disgusted at the conduct of the soldiers that he threw up his commission, and refused the command of the army. ”

“ Not satisfied with one futile assault, in which his men were cut down by hundreds, torn by grape-shot and mangled by cross-fires of musketry, Abercrombie ordered another and another, until the heroic and desperate fighting men were entirely exhausted. Never was there a greater display of courage and senseless devotion to a mistaken sense of duty, than on that day when the fifteen thousand British and Provincial soldiers tried vainly to dislodge one-third their number of Frenchmen from their position at Ticonderoga. ”

“ Oh well, several vessels with their load of prisoners have already sailed for England; many of the townsfolk and merchants have started, or are starting, for France; some regiments of our men are to be sent at once to reinforce General Abercromby. I fear by all accounts that they will come too late to be of any real use for the campaign this season. It is quite true that he suffered a crushing defeat at Ticonderoga, due, as many of the officers say, to bad generalship. Still he will doubtless be glad of support in the wilderness, wherever he may be. ”

“ A small skirmish, in which the advance guard of Abercromby's army, marching on Ticonderoga, fell in with a French scouting column, 350 strong, under Langy, July 6, 1758. The French lost 150 killed and wounded and 148 prisoners, and the affair would be without importance but for the fact that Lord Howe, who was the brain of Abercromby's staff, was killed in the fight. His death was followed by the disaster of Ticonderoga, and as Parkman says (Montcalm and Wolfe, chap. xx.) : "The death of one man was the ruin of fifteen thousand." ”

“ Her soliloquy crystallized itself into little fragmentary phrases emerging suddenly from the turbulence of her thought, particularly when she had to exert herself in any way, either to move, to count money, or to choose a turning. “To know the truth—to accept without bitterness”—those, perhaps, were the most articulate of her utterances, for no one could have made head or tail of the queer gibberish murmured in front of the statue of Francis, Duke of Bedford, save that the name of Ralph occurred frequently in very strange connections, as if, having spoken it, she wished, superstitiously, to cancel it by adding some other word that robbed the sentence with his name in it of any meaning. ”