106 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. LI.
SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY, KB,,
GIVING THE WORD OF COKI\IAP\’D.
SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY was the son of George Abercromby of Tullibody,
in Clackmannanshire. He was born in 1734 in the old mansion of
Menstrie,’ which at that period was the ordinary residence of his parents. The
house, which is in the village of Menstrie, although not inhabited by any of the
family, is still entire, and is pointed out to strangers as the birthplace of the
hero. After going through the usual course of study, he adopted the army as
his profession; and, at the age of twenty-two, obtained in the year 1756 a
commission as Cornet in the third Regiment of Dragoons.
During the early part of his service he had little opportunity of displaying
his military talents, but he gradually rose, and in 1787 had attained the rank
of Major-General.’ After the breaking out of the French revolutionary war,
Sir Ralph Abercromby served in the campaigns of 1794 and 1795, under the
Duke of York, and by his judicious conduct preserved the British army from
destruction during their disastrous retreat through Holland. He commanded
the advanced guard, and was wounded at the battle of Nimeguen.
After the returh of Sir Charles Grey from the West Indies, the French
retook the islands of Guadaloupe and St. Lucia, made good their landing on
Martinique, and hoisted their national colours on several forts in the islands of
St. Vincent, Granada, etc., besides possessing themselves of booty to the amount
of 1800 millions of limes. For the purpose of checking this devastation, the
British fitted out a fleet in the autumn of 1795, with a proper military force.
Sir Ralph was entrusted with the charge of the troops, and at the same time
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the West Indies. Being
detained longer than was expected, the equinox set in before the fleet was
ready to sail, and, in endeavouring to clear the Channel, several of the trans-
The estate of Tullibody and Menstrie, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, belonged to
Sir William Alexander the poet, better known as Earl of Stirling, which title w8s conferred upon him
by King Charles I. His lordship was much involved in pecuniary difficulties, and his succeasora had
not sufficient prudence to economise ; the result of all which was, that their estates were swept away
by their creditors somewhere about the middle of that century, by what, in Scots law parlance, are
termed “apprisings.” Sir Ralph’s grandfather, who was a writer in Edinburgh, was the first of the
name of Abercromby that possessed Tullibody. He is represented by the Peerage compilers as a
descendant of the family of Birkenbog; but no evidence has been produced to substantiate this
averment. Alexander, an
advocate, was, on the 7th June 1792, raised to the bench by the title of Lord Abercromby, and died
17th November 1795 ; and Sir Robed, K.C.B., a General in the Army, who died in 1827.
He had two brothers who attained eminence in their respective callings.
9 In 1788 Sir Ralph’s place of residence in Edinburgh was in George Square.
