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Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB

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Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB V^^^-w^*^^'^ i^^rv } rj/^A//^ //' '. r^ r/rjvr r/i'ii '///!( If ^-jf/y */ {:<//'/< 'n^'O/ LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY, K.R EDINBURGH: PHTNTEU BY THOMAS CONSTABLE. FOH EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS. LONDON . HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO^ DUBLIN . W. ROBERTSON. GLASGOW . JAMES MACLEHOSE. CAMBRIDGE . MACMILLAN & CO. XngravecL "br TV" Findfgi SIR RAIJ'll ABERCJiOMHV. oii. isso) FiloM Tl.lK. i)l;li;l..\Al. ()) HOPPNK.K.IN nil'. Cl.lljl.K.CTlOjS UF Lepard. fan ilad Sojz. ii'n . ruinislH-d.Miuth, IJti.u, by Harming k "^ , ^^ €Y / I III it.AI.FH / LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY K.B. 1793-1801 A MEMOIR BY HIS SON JAMES LORD DUNFERMLINE " He. was illustrious for his virtues, wliich— were unsullied by any vice. He ruled ;' his conilurt by the motto of his family ' Vive ut Vivas —his rleath was glorious, iinil he (lied in the arms of vietorv."- general f. maitland. EDINBURGH EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS 1861. HENRY MORSE STEPMS»<i PREFACE. The following Memoir of Lieutenant-Geiieral Sir Ralph Abercromby, was written by my Father during his residence at Colinton, after he had re- tired from official life. His reasons for undertaking this work, and the objects which he had in view in writing it, are so fully developed by himself in the Introductory Chapter, that all further explanations by me on these points would l^e superfluous. It may be right to observe, that although my Father, throughout this Narrative, has invariably given to my Grandfather the title of " Sir Ralph," liy which he was most generally known, it was only on the 15th of July 1795, that the Order of the Bath, from which he derived it, was conferred upon him in acknowledo;ment of his services. VI PREFACE. It only remains for me to add, that this Memoir is now printed from the original MS. of my Father, precisely as he left it. DUNFEEMLINE. CoMNTON House, August 1861. I CONTEJSTTS. I'AOE Intkoduction, ...... 1 CHAPTER I. Family and Eakly Life, ..... 13 CHAPTER II. Campaign in Flandkks, ..... 39 CHAPTER III. Command in the \Ve.st Indies, .... 54 CHAPTER IV. Command in Ireland, ..... 61 CHAPTER Y. Expedition to Holland, . .139 CHAPTER VI. Expedition against Cadiz, . 219 CHAPTER VII. Expedition to Egypt, ..... 240 CHAPTER VIII. Conclusion, ....... 303 Appendix, ....... 309 Index, ....... 323 INTRODUCTION. So many lives of those officers who distinguished themselves in the Army and Navy during the pro- tracted war with France have been written, that it has repeatedly been remarked as an omission that no authoritative account of the character and ser- vices of Sir Ralph Abercromby had ever been given to the public. The obligation to secure the per- formance of this duty to the memory of Sir Ralph was pressed upon me by some who had formed their opinions from personal intercourse and obser- vation, and by others, who, judging from his public acts, had a high estimate of his character, his ability, and his services. It was especially and strongly urged by one who, from his public situa- tion, had become familiar with the history and details of the service, and with military opinions, that the army owed more to the services of Sir Ralph than to those of any other of our generals between the Duke of Marlborough and the Duke /-i A 2 INTRODUCTION. of Wellington, and that it was due to his memory that his personal character and his public conduct should be so developed as to preserve the remem- brance of the zeal, abihty, and devotion which he displayed in improving the discipHne, elevating the character, and maintaining the renown of the Eng- lish army in the arduous struggle in which the country had been engaged. Such an appeal could only be met in a cordial spirit, and could not be dismissed without that deliberate consideration to which it was so justly entitled. Conscious of the difficulty of the task which I have undertaken, I have gladly sheltered myself under the sanction of an authority which I highly respect. The difficulties which presented themselves, in making an effi^rt to comply with this appeal, were most discouraging, and they will account not only for the delay in performing a duty, but also in some degree for the imperfection of this Memoir, and for the many deficiencies that cannot fail to be remarked. The delay is no doubt much to be regretted, for the interest that had been excited by the events in which Sir Ralph had borne a prominent part, has passed away ; but it was un- avoidable ; because justice could not have been done INTRODUCTION. 3 without revealing transactions that could not have been sooner disclosed without a violation of those rules which are prescribed by respect for the feel- ings of individuals, and for the public interest. The defeats and disasters which attended the first part of the French war, contrast so strikingly with the brilliant success of the Spanish campaigns and the glory of Waterloo, that it seems to be a hope- less efibrt to excite an interest in the life of a military officer who did not live to see the Peace of Amiens, the attainment of which was the object of the service in which he fell. The brief military career of Sir Kalph can have little attraction for those who regard success as the only test of merit ; but it may have a deep interest for those who can appreciate the virtue of an officer advanced in life who devotes himself to the service of his country from the day that war is declared to the day of his death, who is discouraged by no dis- appointment or defeat, who shrinks from no climate, who surrenders at a critical moment a high and honourable position, because he would not consent to oppress the people by violating the principles of law and of the Constitution, and who closed his life in the last, the most difficult, and the most arduous service of that war in which he had throughout 4 INTRODUCTION. borne so distinguished a part,—it may enable those who wish to trace the progress of the EngHsh army from the state of disorganization into which it had fallen at the commencement of the French war, to the discipline and skill which it subsequently ac- quired and displayed, to appreciate the efforts which were made by Sir Ealph to infuse an improved spirit into all the departments of the service. The active military life of Sir Ealph, with the exception of having served as a subaltern officer in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, from the close of the year 1758 to the end of that war, is limited to the period between the Declara- tion of War by France, in the year 1793, and the year 1801, when he fell in Egypt. During his foreign service in Europe, he never held the chief command, except in 1799, when the Helder and the Dutch fleet were taken, and he was then super- seded by the Duke of York, and afterwards during portions of the years 1800 and 1801, when he served in the Mediterranean. Sir Ealph twice held the chief command in the West Indies, but such colonial service, however important it may be to the interests of the country, or however it may be attended with complicated difficiUties, is not so well calculated to excite general interest, or to INTRODUCTION. 5 display tlie resources and genius which are charac- teristic of a distinguished commander, as the more varied and continuous operations of a continental campaign. As Sir Kalph did not court active ser- vice in the struggle for American independence, his military career did not begin until he was advanced in life, and was necessarily limited to the first por- tion of the war with France. It is unfortunate that Sir Kalph kept no journal of his proceedings, and maintained no regular private correspondence, in which his views and opinions might have been preserved. His correspondence, official or private, with thpc Ministers of the Crown, and which has been preserved, is, in consequence of his holding subor- dinate situations, limited to the early portion of the expedition to Holland, to his commands in Ireland and in the Mediterranean. This apparent indiffer- ence to the means by which his conduct, if necessary, might be explained or vindicated, and his reputation preserved, seems to be inconsistent with that ardent and honourable ambition which he always cherished and anxiously desired to gratify. It did not pro- ceed from negligence or indolence, faults from which he was entirely exempt, but from his characteristic self-reliance, and from the high standard by which alone he thought that true fame ought to be tested. 6 INTRODUCTION. He loved real fame, Lut lie always considered that it never could be honourably earned and deserved except by those who, having been placed in a posi tion which enabled them to perform critical or im- portant service, and who, relying on the conscious- ness of their own purity and devotion, could rest theii" fame on the simple and unaided narrative of the events which had occurred. From a sense of the duty which as a soldier he owed to his Sovereign and to the country, he wdUingly gave his zealous ser- vice to the public ; but wdth little hope that he should ever be able to realize fame that would bear the test of his own standard. This lofty ambition, so characteristic of generous and noble aspirations, led Sir Ralph to disregard all secondary means by which his fame could be extended or preserved.
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