Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot

Thomas Lord Lynedoch, G.C.B., Appointed 12th December, 1834

Amongst the most distinguished of the able and scientific soldiers who led the conquering armies of England from the Tagus to the Seine, was the venerable General Lord Lynedoch, whose death took place on the 18th December, 1843, at his residence in London.

The early life of this eminent man was that of a private country gentleman, but one whose mind had been cultivated in no ordinary degree. The classical attainments of his father, and the many elegant accomplishments of his mother, were directed to that which formed with them a never ceasing object, namely, the education of their son, who, owing to the death of both his elder brothers, had become heir to the family estate. The family from which he is descended, is a branch of that from which the Dukes of Montrose trace their origin. His father was Thomas Graham, Esq., of Balgowan, and his mother was Christiana, fourth daughter of the first Earl of Hopetoun. He was born at Balgowan (Perthshire), in the year 1750. In 1774 his father died, and, in the same year, he married the Hon. Mary Cathcart, one of the three daughters of the ninth Lord Cathcart. Thus Mr. Thomas Graham apparently settled down for life in the quiet, unobtrusive, happy condition of an independent country gentleman; and thus he continued in the enjoyment of great domestic felicity, surrounded by many estimable and attached friends, for a period of nearly 20 years. He had by this time attained the mature age of forty-two, and to all external seeming was one of the last men in the world likely to enter upon a military life.

In the year 1792, however, his domestic happiness was brought to a termination by the death of his wife. The effect of this melancholy event unsettled the mind of Mr. Graham, and his case adds one to the instances that might be adduced in which domestic calamities have procured, for the State, services of the highest order in the field and the cabinet. It may be said, that this change in his condition and prospects, imparted almost a romantic character to the tenor of his life. His grief was such as injured his health, and he was recommended to travel, with a view of alleviating the one, and restoring the other, by change of scene and variety of objects. While at Gibraltar in 1793, he was led into military society, and from that period he commenced to devote himself to the profession of arms.

Lord Hood was then about to sail for the south of France, and Mr. Graham had recently been a traveller in that country. He therefore gladly acceded to his proposition to accompany him as a volunteer. In the year 1793, he landed with the British troops at Toulon, and served as extra aide-de-camp to General Lord Mulgrave, the father to the present Marquis of Normanby, who marked by his particular thanks the gallant and able services of the elderly gentleman who had thus volunteered to be his aide-de-camp: the events of that period gave Mr. Graham ample means of indulging his taste for military life: nor did he neglect any opportunity which circumstances presented; he was always foremost in the attack, and on one occasion, at the head of a column, when a private soldier fell, Mr. Graham took up his musket and supplied his place in the front rank.

On returning to this country, he received a letter of service for raising a regiment in his native country, of which he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant on the 10th February, 1794, and which having been since retained on the establishment of the army, is now the Ninetieth Light Infantry, or Perthshire Volunteers. This regiment formed part of the army under the command of Lord Moira (afterwards Marquis of Hastings). It passed the summer of 1795 at Isle Dieu, whence it proceeded to Gibraltar. On the 22nd of July, 1795, the rank of Colonel in the Army was conferred on Lieutenant-Colonel Graham.

He continued for some months with his regiment at Gibraltar, when he obtained permission to join the Austrian Army. His connexion with that service continued during the summer of 1796, taking the opportunities which his position presented him of sending to the British Government intelligence of the military operations and diplomatic measures adopted by the commanders and sovereigns of the Continent: his despatches at this period evinced, in a remarkable degree, the great talents and characteristic energy of the writer.

During the investment of the city of Mantua by the French, he was shut up there for some time with General Wurmser, but, impatient of remaining inactive, he succeeded in making his escape, under cover of night, encountering great difficulty and imminent hazard.

Early in the year 1797, he returned to England, but in the following autumn rejoined his regiment at Gibraltar, whence he proceeded to the attack of Minorca with Sir Charles Stuart, who bestowed the warmest eulogiums on the skill and valour displayed by Colonel Graham. The part which he took in the reduction of Minorca is thus described in a work, published some years ago, detailing those transactions:—

“After the debarkation of the troops innumerable difficulties opposed themselves to their operations. There is not in any part of Europe to be found a greater variety of natural obstacles to an invading army than in this island. Reports from deserters and others, contradictory in their purport, rendered General Stuart for a short time irresolute what course to pursue. He, however, resolved to proceed by a forced march to Mercadel, and by possessing that essential post, to separate the enemy’s force. To effect this object, Colonel Graham was sent with 600 men, and by dint of the utmost effort arrived at Mercadel, a very few hours after the main body of the enemy had marched towards Candarello. Here he made a considerable number of prisoners, seized several depôts of ammunition, &c., and established his corps in front of the village. The reduction of Minorca being completed, Colonel Graham repaired to Sicily, where he employed himself in the service and for the assistance of its legitimate monarch; and such were his exertions, that he received repeated acknowledgments and tributes of gratitude and esteem from the King and Queen of Naples.”

In September, 1798, Colonel Graham, having been appointed to the local rank of Brigadier-General, commanded the force, consisting of the 30th and 89th Regiments, and some corps embodied under his immediate direction, in the siege of the island of Malta. Brigadier-General Graham, aware of the prodigious strength of the place, with the assistance of the fleet, resorted to a blockade, when, after a resistance of nearly two years’ duration, a reinforcement of troops under the command of Major-General Henry Pigott was sent to assist in reducing the garrison, which capitulated on the 5th September, 1800, as announced in the following despatch from Major-General Pigott, addressed to Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, then commanding the forces in the Mediterranean.

“Malta, September 5, 1800.

“I have great satisfaction in acquainting you with the surrender of the fortress of La Valette, with all its dependencies, after sustaining a blockade of two years. The capitulation has been signed this day.

“During the short time you were here, you must have been sensible of the great exertions which Brigadier-General Graham must have made with the limited force he had, previous to my arrival with a reinforcement: he has ever since continued these exertions, and I consider that the surrender of the place has been accelerated by the decision of his conduct in preventing any more inhabitants from coming out of the fortress a short time before I came here. He was sent to negotiate the terms of capitulation with General Vaubois, and I am much indebted to him for his assistance in that business.”

On the completion of this service, General Graham came home for a few months, and, again anxious for active service, proceeded to Egypt, but before his arrival that country had been completely conquered. He returned through Turkey, making some stay at Constantinople, and during the peace of Amiens resided for a short time at Paris. His active and enterprising spirit had now to endure a period of repose. In 1808, however, he proceeded with General Sir John Moore to Sweden, where he availed himself of that opportunity to traverse the country in all directions. Shortly afterwards Sir John Moore was ordered to Spain, and Major General Graham served there during the whole campaign of 1808. He was afterwards appointed to command a division in the expedition to Walcheren, but having been attacked with fever he was obliged to come home. In February, 1811, having been previously raised to the rank of Lieutenant-General, he was appointed to the command of an expedition to attack the rear of the French army then blockading Cadiz, an operation which led to the celebrated battle of Barrosa. The thanks of Parliament were voted to him and the brave force under his command, and never were thanks more nobly earned or bestowed in a manner more honourable to those who offered and those who received them. He was at that time a member of the House of Commons, and in his place in Parliament he received that mark of a nation’s gratitude. In acknowledging the honour thus conferred on him, Lieutenant-General Graham spoke as follows:—

“I have formerly often heard you, sir, eloquently and impressively deliver the thanks of the house to officers present, and never without an anxious wish that I might one day receive this most enviable mark of my country’s regard. This honest ambition is now fully gratified, and I am more than ever bound to try to merit the good opinion of the house.”

Barrosa was to Lord Lynedoch what Almaraz was to Lord Hill, and Albuhera to Lord Beresford.

After this series of events, and having been appointed a Knight of the Bath in February, 1812, Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham joined the army under the Duke of Wellington; but from ill health he was obliged to revisit England for a short period. Early in 1813, however, he returned to the Peninsula, and commanded the left wing of the British army at Vittoria. Mr. Abbott, then Speaker of the House of Commons, (afterwards Lord Colchester,) in alluding to General Graham’s distinguished career at this period, stated that his was “a name never to be mentioned in our military annals without the strongest expression of respect and admiration;” and Mr. Sheridan, speaking of the various excellences, personal and professional, which adorned his character, said:—

“I have known him in private life; and never was there seated a loftier spirit in a braver heart.”

Alluding to his services in the retreat of the British army to Corunna, he continued:—

“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.