Charles Ross | |
---|---|
Died | 5 August 1732 Bath |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | British army |
Rank | General |
Battles/wars | War of the Spanish Succession |
Charles Ross (or Rosse; 8 February 1667 – 5 August 1732) was a Scottish general and Member of Parliament.
Military career
[edit]Ross was born the second son of George Ross, 11th Lord Ross. He joined the British army as a cornet in the King's Own Royal Regiment of Scottish Horse some time before 1688.[1] When Wynne's Regiment of Inniskilling Dragoons was raised in 1689, Ross joined as a captain, and served with the regiment in the Williamite War in Ireland. He went to Flanders with the regiment as lieutenant-colonel in 1694, and was appointed brevet colonel of the regiment on 16 February; when Wynne died on 15 July 1695 his colonelcy was made permanent.[1] In 1704 he secured the title of the Royal Dragoons of Ireland for his regiment.
Ross was promoted brigadier-general on 9 March 1702, and major-general on 1 January 1704. He commanded a brigade of dragoons at the battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. He was further promoted to lieutenant-general on 1 January 1707, made Colonel-General of all the Dragoon Forces on 1 May 1711, and promoted to full general on 1 January 1712. He was removed from the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons of Ireland by George I on 8 October 1715, but reappointed on 1 February 1729, holding the post until his death.[1]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Balnagown_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_653262.jpg/220px-Balnagown_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_653262.jpg)
Political career
[edit]General Ross was Member of Parliament for Ross-shire from 1710 to 1722 and from 1727 to 1732. In September 1713 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to France, but did not take up the post.
Death
[edit]He died at Bath on 5 August 1732 and was buried at Fearn Abbey, leaving his estate of Balnagown, which he had inherited from David Ross, the 13th Laird of Balnagown, in 1711, to his great-nephew Charles Ross.[1]
Citations
[edit]References
[edit]- Dalton, Charles (2006). The Blenheim Roll 1704. Naval & Military Press.
- Hayton, D.W., ROSSE (ROSS), Hon. Charles (1667-1732). in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, 2002.
- Simpson, J. M., ROSS, Hon. Charles (d.1732), of Balnagowan, Ross. in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, 1970.
- Willcox, Walter Temple, The Historical Records of the Fifth (Royal Irish) Lancers, 1908. pages iii-iv