- Robert Ross (British Army officer)
Major General Robert Ross-of-Bladensburg (born "Robert Ross", 1766 -September 12 ,1814 ) was a British army officer who participated in theNapoleonic War and theWar of 1812 . He led the army which burned the American capital and is thus credited as the first commander to defeat a fullUnited States army in the field.Early life
Ross was born in
Rostrevor ,County Down ,Kingdom of Ireland to Major David Ross, an officer in theSeven Years' War and his mother, half-sister to theEarl of Charlemont . He was educated atTrinity College, Dublin and joined the25th Regiment of Foot as an ensign in 1789. In 1803 he took command of the 20th Regiment. He fought at theBattle of Krabbendam in theNetherlands ,Alexandria, Egypt , theBattle of Maida , Scylla Castle, in thePeninsular War atCorunna and theBattle of Pamplona .He had been promoted to Lieutenant–Colonel before Corunna. In 1810, Ross was made a colonel as well as aide–de–camp to the king. He fought in Spain under Wellington in 1812, at the battles of Vittoria, Roncesvalles, and the
Battle of Sorauren .War of 1812
After the conclusion of the war with Napoleon, Ross sailed to North America as a
Major General to take charge of all British troops off the east coast of the United States. Ross personally led the British troops ashore inBenedict, Maryland and marched throughUpper Marlboro, Maryland to the attack on the Americans at theBattle of Bladensburg onAugust 24 ,1814 , where the American army of mostly militia quickly collapsed. [cite book
last =Markham
first =Edwin
authorlink =Edwin Markham
title =The Real America in Romance Valor and Victory: The age of Vindication 1783 1824 Volume X
publisher =William H Wise & Company
year =1912
location =New York, Chicago
pages =370-382
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=foAQAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Benedict,+Maryland%22+ross&as_brr=1&pg=PA3&ci=161,378,657,162&source=bookclip
isbn = ] [cite web
url=http://www.nps.gov/fowa/historyculture/warburton.htm
title=Fort Warburton
publisher=U. S. National Park Service
date=July 19, 2007
accessdate=2007-12-15] Moving on from Bladensburg, Ross capturedWashington, D.C. with little resistance. Ross insisted on only destroying public property, including the destruction of theU.S. Capitol and theWhite House .Ross then organized an attack on
Baltimore, Maryland . His troops landed at the southern tip of the Patapsco Neck peninsula at North Point, twelve miles from the city, on the morning ofSeptember 12 ,1814 . During the march, and just prior to the Battle of North Point, the troops encountered American skirmishers and Ross rode forward to personally direct his troops. An Americansniper shot him through the right arm into the chest. According to Baltimore tradition, two American riflemen, teenagers Daniel Wells and Henry McComas, aged 18 and 19, respectively, were credited with killing Ross; both were killed in the engagement. Ross died while being transported back to the ships. After his death, the general's body was stored in a barrel of 129 gallons (586 l) ofJamaica nrum and shipped on the British ship HMS "Royal Oak" to Halifax,Nova Scotia where his body was buried onSeptember 29 ,1814 . It is thought that preparations for theBattle of New Orleans prevented his body from being shipped back to Britain.Legacy
He is commemorated by a 100 ft granite obelisk near his birthplace alongside
Carlingford Lough inNorthern Ireland as well as by a monument inSt. Paul's Cathedral ,London . As anaugmentation of honour hisarmorial bearings were given a second crest in which an arm is seen grasping thestars and stripes on a broken staff; and the family name was changed to Ross-of-Bladensburg.References
External links
* [http://www.myedgemere.com/local_history/mg_ross.htm General Ross]
* [http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/conway/ff823138.html Ross's Monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, London]
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