Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in the Reign of King James VI. of Scotland, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1846Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in the Reign of King James VI. of Scotland, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1846
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 1st (Royal Scots)
"In the hour of peril, Graham was their best adviser; in the hour of
disaster, Graham was their surest consolation."
He was second in command at the siege and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo;
and commanded the army employed in the siege of St. Sebastian, and
also the left wing at the passage of the Bidassoa; but soon after, in
consequence of ill health, he was obliged to resign his command to
Sir John Hope. In 1814 he was appointed to the command of the forces
employed in Holland, and on the 3rd of May in the same year he again
received the thanks of Parliament, and was raised to the peerage by the
title of Baron Lynedoch, of Balgowan, in the county of Perth.
As years advanced, and the infirmities of age began to accumulate,
Lord Lynedoch found the climate of Italy better calculated to sustain
his declining energies than the atmosphere and temperature of his own
country; he, therefore, spent much time on the continent; but, on a
recent occasion, so anxious was he to manifest his sense of loyalty and
his personal attachment to the Queen, that when Her Majesty visited
Scotland, he came home from Switzerland for the express purpose of
paying his duty to Her Majesty in the metropolis of his native land.
Lord Lynedoch's first commission in the army, that of Lieut.-Colonel,
was dated 10th February, 1794; and he was promoted Colonel, by brevet,
on the 22nd July, 1795. His commissions in the grade of General Officer
were,--Major-General, 25th September, 1803; Lieut.-General, 25th July,
1810; and General, 19th July, 1821. He was successively Colonel of the
90th Regiment, at the head of which he continued nearly twenty years;
of the 58th; and of the 14th Regiment, from which he was removed to
the ROYAL REGIMENT on 12th December, 1834, when the Duke of Gordon was
appointed to the Colonelcy of the Scots Fusilier Guards. He was also
Governor of Dumbarton Castle in North Britain. He wore a Cross for his
services at Barrosa (as Commander of the Forces), at Ciudad Rodrigo,
Vittoria, and St. Sebastian (where he commanded a division), and he
was a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, and of the foreign Order of St.
Michael and St. George.
To advert at greater length to Lord Lynedoch's services as a soldier
would be superfluous. Conspicuous, in action for his talents, in
council for his sagacity, and in private life for unassuming worth and
the most estimable qualities, his character displayed a rare union of
skill, chivalry, and amiability, and his widely-spread fame, his long
and intimate connexion with the army, which have been the admiration
of the present generation, will continue to hold a prominent place in
British history. Though his titles have become extinct, he has left
behind him a name which will be held in honoured remembrance while
loyalty is considered a virtue, and military renown a passport to fame.
SIR GEORGE MURRAY, G.C.B.,
_Appointed 29th December, 1843_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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