Lieutenant-General Francis Grant - Colonel H.M. 63rd Regiment of Foot

Born on 10 August 1717, Francis Grant was the son of Sir James Grant of Grant, 6th Bt., and Anne Colquhoun. He was married to Catherine Sophia Cox, daughter of Joseph Cox and Katharine Sophia Herbert, on 17 March 1763. Francis Grant passed away on 30 December 1781 at the age of 64.

 

Francis Grant gained the rank of Ensign in 1739 while serving in the 42nd Regiment of Foot. He became a Captain in 1743, a Major in 1745, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1755. In 1758, while serving during the Seven Years War, Francis Grant gained the rank of Colonel. Later that year, he gained the rank of Brigadier. Francis Grant held the office of a Member of Parliament (M.P.) between 1768 and 1774. He was appointed a Major-General in 1770 and fought in the Battle of Ticonderoga. On the 5th of November, 1768, Francis Grant was appointed to Colonel of H.M. 63rd Regiment of Foot. On the 29th of August, 1777, he was appointed a Lieutenent General of the British Army.  Francis Grant lived at Dumphail, Elgin, Scotland. (1) 

 

 

Lieutenant-Colonel James Paterson - 15 June, 1763 (6)

 

Major James Wemyss - 10 August, 1778 (6) 

Born 7 November 1748,  Died 16 December 1833 (1)

Major James Wemyss was married to Rachel Wemyss, daughter of the late William Wemyss of Cuttlehill, Fife, on June 24, 1770. (Rachel may have been his cousin or second cousin).  Their son, Alexander, was baptized on August 21, 1771 in Aberdour Parish, Fife.  On March 14, 1771,  James Wemyss purchased a Captaincy in the 40th Regiment of Foot, placing him in command of the Regiment's Grenadier Company. He held that commission when he came to America. On May 14, 1776, Wemyss was appointed aide-de-camp to Major-General Robertson. He spent a short time as Governor Tryon's Aid before being replaced to take command of the Queen's Rangers on May 5th. Backdated to July 1, 1776, he held the Provincial rank of Major. He led them in the operation at Amboy in June. (The general orders for the march refer to them as "Wemys's Corps.") A month later Howe gave orders that "The Provincial Troops (except Wemys's Corps) are not to enlist Deserters from the Rebels." On August 10, 1778, Wemyss became a major in H.M. 63d Regiment of Foot. (2)

 

 

Captain Henry Lysaght - 12 July, 1775 (6)

 

Captain Francis Lord Rawdon - 12 July, 1775 / Army Lt. Col., 15 June 1778 (6)

Born 9 December, 1754, Died 28 November, 1826 (1) 

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings was married to Flora Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun, on 12 July 1804. He was given the name of Francis Rawdon at birth. (3) He was educated at Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, London, England and University College on 17 June, 1775, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.  Francis Rawdon-Hastings wounded at Bunker Hill on 17 June, 1775. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Randalstown, County Antrim [Ireland], between 1780 and 1783. He commanded a Division of British Troops in the Battle of Camden on 16 August, 1780.  Francis Rawdon-Hastings alsofought in the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill on 25 April 1781. He held the office of Aide-de-Camp to King George III between 1782 and 1793. He was created  1st Baron Rawdon of Rawdon, co. York [Great Britain] on 4 March 1783. He was invested as a Fellow, Royal Society (F.R.S.) in 1787. In 1790 his name was legally changed to Francis Rawdon-Hastings by Royal Licence. He gained the rank of Major-General in 1793. He was invested as a Fellow, Society of Antiquaries (F.S.A.) in 1793. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1798. He gained the rank of Colonel between 1801 and 1803 in the service of the 105th Foot. He was Commander of the Forces of Scotland between 1802 and 1806. He gained the rank of General in 1803. He was a Colonel in the service of the 27th Foot between 1804 and 1826.  He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1806 and held the office of Master-General of Ordnance between 1806 and 1807. He held the office of Constanble of the Tower of London between 1806 and 1826 and succeeded to the title of  13th Lord Hastings [E., 1461] on 11 April 1808. He succeeded to the title of  17th Lord Botreaux [E., 1368] on 11 April 1808 and to the title of  12th Lord Hastings, of Hungerford [E., 1482] on 11 April 1808. He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) in 1812. He held the office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of India between 1813 and 1822. He was created  1st Marquess of Hastings [U.K.] on 13 April 1817. He was created  1st Viscount Loudoun on 13 April 1817. He was created  1st Earl of Rawdon on 13 April 1817. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) in 1818. He was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, Hanoverian Order (G.C.H.) in 1818 (5). He partipicated in an ordinance between 1824 and 1826; Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Malta. (1)

 

 

Captain Charles Stewart - 15 August, 1775 / Army, Major, 29 August, 1777 (6)

 

Captain John McKinnon - 27 July, 1776 (6)

 

Captain Hayes St. Leger - 12 June, 1777 (6)

 

Captain John Mallom - 12 September, 1777 (6)

 

Captain Bent Ball (Light Infantry Company) - 14 October, 1777 (6)

Born 25 September 1753,  Died 12 October 1832 (1)

Captain Bent Ball was born on 25 September 1753. (1) He was the son of Robert Ball and Mary Croker.  He married Catherine Hamilton, daughter of Joshua Hamilton and Mary Cox, on 25 September 1785.  He died on 12 October 1832 at age 79. He lived at Rocksboro', County Cork, Ireland. (1)

 

Dr. David Griffith, Surgeon and Chaplain to General William Woodford's Virginia Brigade commented:

"Southward Cullency 1st Troop - has 12 wounds, 10 of which are in his Breast, Belly & Back.  He says, that, on the Enemys entering the Barn where his Troops lay, He and all the Men asked for Quarter, which was refused - that the British Captain (Ball of the 2nd Light Infantry) asked his Men how many of the Rebels were, actually dead; and, on being told the Number, he order'd all the men to be knock'd on the head - that the Soldiers muttered about it, and asked, why they had been made to kill them all at once? and WHY THEY NEED HAVE TWO SPELLS ABOUT IT? He adds that 5 or 6 of the wounded were knocked on the head". (5)

 

Printed copy. Vol 28, 1 page 1782, September 19. New York.-No.65.   

To pay to Captain Bent Ball of the Grenadier Co. & detachment of Light Infantry of the 63rd Regiment, the sum of 169l. 12s. 8d. being pay due to the said companies from 25  August to 24 Oct. (4)  

"At the Residence of his daughter, (Mrs T. Boles), Bent Ball, Esq aged 80 years, formerly of Roxboro', co Cork, late Capt 63rd Regt one of the few surviving officers who served in the Revolutionary War in America, where he particularly distinguished himself and received no less than three muskets balls in different parts of his body, one of which never could be extracted." (Limerick Chronicle 17 October 1832) (3)

 

Captain Walter Jones - 26 October, 1777 (6)

 

Captain John Croker - 20 April, 1778 (6)

 

Captain-Lieutenant Jonathan Roberts - 13 June, 1778 (6)

 

Lieutenant William Marshall - 15 August, 1775 / Army, 17 Dec. 1762 (6)

 

Lieutenant John Money - 23 November, 1775 (6)

Lieutenant John Money was the leader of a detachment of 80 mounted infantry of the 63d Regiment of Foot under Colonel  Banastre Tarleton at the battle of  Blackstocks Plantation, South Carolina, on November 20, 1780.  In a moment of peril, Lieutenant Money led a gallant bayonet charge to drive the enemy under Sumter back in confusion: Money was mortally wounded in the attack by Colonel Henry Hampton’s riflemen. Tarleton then fell back two miles to join up with his relief column. In the British retreat from Blackstock’s, Major James Jackson and his Georgians captured 30 rider-less horses, apparently those owned by the 63rd Regiment of Foot . (7)

 

Lieutenant Christopher Lyster - 15 May, 1776 (6)

Mortally wounded at Yorktown 

 

Lieutenant John Birmingham - 7 October, 1777 (6) 

 

Lieutenant Henry Bethune Stirke - 14 October, 1777 (6) 

 

Lieutenant William Cope - 5 November, 1777 (6)

Killed at Blackstocks Plantation on 20 November 1780

 

Lieutenant William Peers - 2 December, 1777 (6) 

 

Lieutenant Thomas Gibson - 21 Jan., 1778 (6)

Killed at Blackstocks Plantation 20 November, 1780

 

Lieutenant John Steel - 13 April, 1778 (6)

 

Lieutenant John Daillis -  13 April, 1778 (6)

 

Lieutenant David Robertson -  20 April, 1778 (6)

 

Lieutenant David Campbell - 13 June, 1778 (6)

 

Lieutenant Mathew Laler (?) - 13 April, 1778 (6)

 

Ensign Joseph Cope - 7 October, 1777 (6)

 

Ensign Francis Garforth - 8 December, 1777 (6)

 

Ensign Thomas Steel - 18 December, 1777 (6)

 

Ensign William Vaughan - 21 January, 1778 (6)

 

Ensign Owen Lloyd(?) - 13  April, 1778 (6)

 

Ensign Ambrose Wm. Barcroft - 20 April, 1778 (6) 

 

Ensign George Connor - 10 June, 1778 (6)

 

Chaplain Giles Powell - 7 January, 1779 (6)

 

Adjutant Lt. John Money - 11 July, 1775 (6)

Mortally Wounded at Blackstocks Plantation, Nov. 20, 1780

 

Quarter-Master Joseph Dalton - 13 November, 1775 (6)

 

Surgeon Robert Smith - 2 October, 1765 (6)

 

Regimental Agents: Messrs., Cox and Mair, Craig’s Court. (6)

 

(1) (website) The Peerage/compiled by Darrly Lundy

(2) (Website) Oatmeal for the Foxhounds /Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion

(3) Obituary, Limerick Chronicle 17 October 1832

(4) Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain/ By Great Britain. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Sir Henry Clinton, Royal Institution of Great Britain, Guy Carleton Baron Dorchester

(5) Thomas Demarest /"The Baylor Massacre - Some Assorted Notes and Information."Bergen County History 1971 Annual River Edge, NJ: Bergen County Historical Society, 1971, pages 28-93.

(6) Military Register for the Year of 1779, p. 130, Sixty-third Regiment of Foot, America.

(7) http://www.revolutionarywar101.com/battles/801120-blackstocks-plantation/#sthash.W6sIe2RL.dpuf