ABERCROMBY, Sir Ralph

ABERCROMBY, Sir Ralph, knight of the Bath, and a lieutenant-general in the British army, an elder brother of the preceding, was born in the year 1738. Being destined for the army, he obtained, in May 1756, a cornet's commission in the 2d dragoon guards; and rose, April 24, 1762, to the rank of a captain in the 3d regiment of horse. Ascending through the intermediate gradations of rank, he was appointed, November 3, 1781, to the colonelcy of the 103d infantry. September 28, 1787, he was promoted to the rank of major-general. November 5, 1795 he obtained the com-

Abercromby. mand of the 7th regiment of dragoons. Having been nearly 40 years in the army, having served with honour in two wars, and being esteemed one of the ablest, coolest, and most intrepid officers in the whole British forces, he was employed on the continent under his Royal Highness the Duke of York, in the commencement of the war against the French republic. In the action on the heights of Cateau, he commanded the advanced guard, and was wounded at Nimeguen. He conducted the march of the guards from Deventer to Oldensal, in the retreat of the British out of Holland, in the winter of 1794-5. In August 1795, he was appointed to succeed Sir Charles Grey, as commander-in-chief of the British forces in the West Indies. March 24. 1796. Grenada was suddenly attacked and taken by a detachment of the army under his orders. He afterwards obtained possession of the settlements of Demerara and Essequibo, in South America. St Lucia was next taken by more difficult exertions, in which his ability was signally displayed. St Vincent was, by the middle of June, added to the British conquests. Trinidad, in February 1797, shared the same fate. He returned the same year to Europe, and, in reward for such important services, was invested with the red ribbon, appointed to the command of the regiment of Scots Greys, intrusted with the governments of the Isle of Wight, Fort George, and Fort Augustus, and raised to the rank of lieutenant-general. He held, for a time, the chief command of the forces in Ireland. In that command, he laboured to maintain the discipline of the army, to suppress the rising rebellion, and to protect the people from military oppression, with a care worthy alike of the great general and the enlightened and beneficent statesman. When Sir Ralph was appointed to the command in Ireland, an invasion of that country by the French was confidently anticipated by the English Government. He used his utmost efforts to restore the discipline of an army that was utterly disorganized; and, as a first step, he anxiously endeavoured to protect the people, by re-establishing the supremacy of the civil power, and not allowing the military to be called out, except when it was indispensably necessary for the enforcement of the law and the maintenance of order. Finding that he received no adequate support from the head of the Irish Government, and that all his efforts were thwarted and opposed by those who presided in the councils of Ireland, he resigned the command. His departure from Ireland was deeply lamented by all the reflecting portion of the people, and was speedily followed by those disastrous results which he had anticipated, and which he so ardently desired to prevent.

It is known that in after life there was no part of his public conduct on which he reflected with such entire satisfaction as on those efforts which he made to protect the country from the threatened invasion. From Ireland he was called to the chief command of the forces in Scotland. When the enterprise against Holland was resolved upon, Sir Ralph Abercromby was called again to command, under his Royal Highness the Duke of York. The difficulties of the ground, the inclemency of the season, delays, though inconvenient, yet unavoidable, the disorderly movements of the Russians, and the timid duplicity of the Dutch, disappointed our hopes of that expedition. But by the Dutch, the French, the British, it was confessed, that even victory the most decisive could not have more conspicuously proved the talents of this distinguished officer. His country applauded the choice, when, in 1801, he was sent with an army to dispossess the French of Egypt. His experience in Holland and Flanders, and in the climate of the West Indies, particularly fitted him for this new command. He accomplished some of the first duties of a general, in carrying his army in health, in spirits, and with the requisite intelligence and supplies, to the destined scene of action. The landing in Egypt may be justly

ranked among the most daring and brilliant exploits of the English army. The incidental capture of two English officers, who were reconnoitering the camp, indicated the point at which the attempt to land would be made. The French prepared to meet it with a body of 2000 infantry, a detachment of cavalry, and 15 pieces of artillery. The Turks were exposed to the concentrated fire of the enemy, while they were transported for a considerable distance in open boats to the coast. When they reached the shore, they had to land and form in the face of an enemy prepared to meet them, and with the additional disadvantage of sinking deep at each step in the loose sand. Sir Ralph was not discouraged by these severe difficulties, because he had been fully apprised of the very great importance which was attached even to the partial success of the enterprise, as a prelude to the negotiations for peace which were then impending; but he at the same time made arrangements for desisting, if he saw that the sacrifice of life would be greater than it was justifiable to make. The landing, the first dispositions, the attack, and the superiority over the French which the British infantry under his command evinced, all bear testimony to the high military talents of this commander. It was his fate to fall in the moment of victory. General Lord Hutchinson, who succeeded him in the command, in the dispatches with the account of his death, has given a fine eulogium on his character as a soldier, and strongly expressive of the high estimation in which he was held. "We have sustained an irreparable loss in the person of our never sufficiently to be lamented commander-in-chief, Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was mortally wounded in the action (of the 21st), and died on the 28th of March. I believe he was wounded early, but he concealed his situation from those about him, and continued in the field, giving his orders with that coolness and perspicuity which had ever marked his character, till long after the action was over, when he fainted through weakness and loss of blood. Were it permitted for a soldier to regret any one who has fallen in the service of his country, I might be excused for lamenting him more than any other person; but it is some consolation to those who tenderly loved him, that, as his life was honourable, so was his death glorious. His memory will be recorded in the annals of his country—will be sacred to every British soldier—and embalmed in the recollection of a grateful posterity." His remains were conveyed on board Admiral Lord Keith's flag-ship to Malta, attended by Colonel Sir John Dyer, and were interred in the commandery of the grand master, with the highest military honours. A monument to his memory was erected in St Paul's church, London, in pursuance of a vote of the House of Commons. His widow was created a peeress, and a pension of £2000 a-year for her and other two lives settled on the family. For a detailed account of the military transactions in which Sir Ralph Abercromby was engaged, see BRITAIN.