James Grant (British Army officer)

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James Grant (British Army officer) bigraphy, stories - British Army general

James Grant (British Army officer) : biography

1720 – 1806

James Grant, Laird of Ballindalloch (1720–1806) was a major general in the British Army during the American War of Independence. He served as Governor of East Florida from 1763 to 1771.

Seven Years War

By 1757, Grant was a major of the 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie’s Highlanders), fighting in the French and Indian War. In 1758, he led part of the regiment in an expedition led by General John Forbes. On this expedition, he became acquainted with others who would also play larger parts in the American Revolutionary War: George Washington, Francis Marion, and Hugh Mercer, among others. He also gained a contempt for the colonial or militia troops that would colour his later views.

In September, Grant was assigned to lead an advance part of around 800 men to determine the French strength at Fort Duquesne. The force was mainly made up of militia, but he took along a number of officers from the regulars, since he had little respect for the colonial troops. He then decided to split his force hoping to encourage a French attack that he could surprise and overwhelm. Having no wilderness experience, he was ambushed himself by Indians and French on September 14, 1758. At this engagement, the Battle of Fort Duquesne, the British force was repelled with 342 men killed, wounded or captured. The prisoners consisted of Major Grant and 18 of his men. He was paroled soon after, and tried to blame his defeat on the failure of the colonial militia to follow orders.

In 1761, he commanded an expedition against the Cherokee during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

After being briefly stationed at Fort Ticonderoga, his regiment was moved to the Caribbean Theatre of the Seven Years’ War. They fought at the Siege of Havana, held by Spanish forces, which ended in the surrender of the city. When the war was over, the regiment was disbanded in America in 1763.

Governor of Florida

With the Treaty of Paris (1763), Britain gained control of Florida from the Spanish. They divided it into two colonies, and James Grant was named governor of East Florida in 1764. He move to his capital at St. Augustine, established the Florida-Georgia border, stopped Indian raids with the Treaty of Fort Picolata, and encouraged new settlement in his colony.Grant was succeeded as Governor by General Patrick Tonyn, brother-in-law of English merchant and planter Francis Levett, whose son-in-law Dr. David Yeats was Secretary of the Province as well as agent of Governor Grant’s Mount Pleasant Plantation on the St. Johns River. Grant David Yeats, M.D., (1773-1836), noted English physician, author and mayor of Bedford and the son of East Florida Secretary Yeats, was named for General Grant.

Grant’s ventures were ultimately profitable, but most attempts failed to produce results. He encouraged new agriculture, setting up trade in cotton, indigo, timber, and cochineal. He personally gained and developed several plantations as grants. Then, in 1771, illness forced him to return to England. Patrick Tonyn replaced him as governor. Grant appointed Dr. David Yeats, the Secretary of the Colony, to manage his plantations in his absence. Yeats’ letters to Grant concerning the properties have long interested Florida colonial historians.The letters are preserved in Treasury 77, the Papers of the East Florida Claims Commission, at the National Archives at Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England.

Back home in Scotland, Grant was elected to Parliament as an MP for Tain Burghs. In the period leading up to the American Revolutionary War, he became one of the most outspoken of the anti-American members. In a speech early in 1775, he remarked that the colonists "…could not fight…", and declared that he could "go from one end of America to other and geld all the males."Leckie, Robert (1993). George Washington’s War: The Saga of the American Revolution,p.149. Harper Perennial,NY. ISBN 0-06-092215-X

American War of Independence

By the summer of 1775, he was returned to active service, and Colonel Grant was ordered to America. He arrived in Boston on July 30. In the aftermath of the Battle of Bunker Hill, he urged General Gage to move the troops to New York City, to have room to manoeuvre. His advice was ignored at the time, and he remained as a supernumerary until December, when he was made colonel and commander of the 55th Regiment of Foot. He would hold that command until 1791.