Charles Crosbie was appointed captain in the eighty-sixth regiment on the 24th of August, 1759, and he served with this corps on the coast of Africa, being stationed some time at Senegal. He was promoted to the rank of major, and afterwards to that of lieut.-colonel in the eighty-sixth, which regiment was disbanded after the termination of the seven years' war. In 1778 he was nominated lieut.-colonel of the sixty-seventh regiment; was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1780, and to that of major-general in 1787. In 1794 he was nominated colonel of the Royal Dublin regiment of foot, which was embodied at that period, and disbanded soon afterwards. He was appointed colonel of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment in January, 1797, and promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in December following: in 1802 he was promoted to the rank of general. He died on the 18th of March, 1807.
The Honorable John Abercromby,
Appointed 21st March, 1807.
John Abercromby was the second son of the celebrated General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B., who commanded the expedition to Egypt, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Alexandria, on the 21st of March, 1801, thus terminating an honorable life with a glorious death in the hour of victory. As a reward for his gallant conduct his widow was created Baroness Abercromby of Aboukir, and of Tullibody in the county of Clackmannan, by patent dated the 28th of May, 1801.
On the 13th of April, 1782, John Abercromby was appointed cornet in the fifth, the Royal Irish dragoons; and in 1787, when the seventy-fifth regiment was raised by Colonel Robert Abercromby, he was appointed lieutenant in that corps; in 1792 he was promoted captain in the same corps. He served in Flanders under His Royal Highness the Duke of York; and obtained the rank of lieut.-colonel in 1794. In 1795 he was appointed lieut.-colonel in the FIFTY-THIRD regiment, which corps he commanded at the capture of St. Lucia, in 1796, and distinguished himself in the action at the pass of Morne Chabot, for which he was thanked in orders. He commanded the FIFTY-THIRD in the Caribbee war in St. Vincent in 1796,—at the capture of Trinidad, in February, 1797,—and at the unsuccessful attempt on Porto Rico, in April of the same year, under his father, Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. In 1800 he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and in 1805 to that of major-general: on the 21st of March, 1807, he was nominated to the colonelcy of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment. He obtained the rank of lieut.-general in 1812, and was afterwards placed on the staff of the army in India, where he served two years as governor of Madras, and commander-in-chief of the coast army; but in September, 1814, he resigned his appointments to return to Europe for the benefit of his health. He was afterwards honored with the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. Proceeding to Marseilles, in the south of France, for the benefit of his health, he died at that place on the 14th of February, 1817, and was buried with military honors, by the French garrison; the funeral was attended by the French authorities, civil and military, of the department and of the city, and also by the consuls of several nations.
In announcing the death of Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir John Abercromby, G.C.B., in regimental orders, Colonel Sir George Bingham stated,—"The length of time he has served in the FIFTY-THIRD regiment,—his great attachment to the corps,—the interest he took in its welfare, as well as in that of every individual belonging to it, will cause him to be particularly regretted by those not personally acquainted with him; while his high military abilities and upright private character will occasion his loss to be regarded as a calamity to the service."
Rowland Lord Hill, G.C.B., G.C.H., K.C.,
Appointed 24th February, 1817.
Rowland Hill was appointed ensign in the thirty-eighth foot in 1790; and in 1791 lieutenant in an independent company, from which he was removed to the FIFTY-THIRD regiment, which proceeded to Flanders at the commencement of the French revolutionary war in 1793, and distinguished itself. In the same year he raised an independent company, was promoted to the rank of captain, and appointed to the eighty-sixth regiment, or Shropshire volunteers, then raised by Major-General Cuyler. He accompanied Mr. Drake on a mission to Genoa, and afterwards proceeded to Toulon, where he served as aide-de-camp to the three successive generals commanding there, viz., Lord Mulgrave, Lieut.-General O'Hara, and Sir David Dundas; and was wounded at the attack of the heights of Arenes, on the 30th of November, 1793, and narrowly escaped with his life, when Lieut.-General O'Hara was taken prisoner. On the evacuation of Toulon, he was sent with despatches to England. In 1794 he was promoted to a majority in the ninetieth regiment, raised at this period by Thomas Graham Esq., (of Balgowan, Perthshire,) afterwards General Lord Lynedoch; and in the same year to a lieut.-colonelcy in that corps. He served at Isle Dieu on the coast of France, at Gibraltar, Malta, and Minorca; on the 1st of January, 1800, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and commanded the ninetieth regiment in the expedition to Egypt under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, distinguishing himself during the action on the 13th of March, 1801, when his regiment was at the head of the right column, and repulsed a charge of cavalry with great gallantry. Colonel Hill fell from the blow of a musket-ball on the right temple, and was removed in a state of insensibility, but recovered; the force of the ball having been resisted by a strong brass binding in front of his helmet. On his return to England he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and placed on the staff of Ireland, where he was presented with the freedom of Cork. He was promoted to the rank of major-general, and served in the expedition to Hanover, under Lord Cathcart, in 1805; and in 1808 he embarked from Ireland, with a brigade of infantry, to serve in the Peninsula, where he speedily gave presage of those military virtues which adorned his character. He commanded a brigade at the battles of Roleia, and Vimiera, under Sir Arthur Wellesley; and during the advance into Spain under Sir John Moore, and the corps under his orders covered the embarkation at Corunna. He acquired fresh honors at the passage of the Douro at Oporto, on the 12th of May, 1809, when he commanded the corps which first passed the river, after Lieut.-General Sir E. Paget was wounded: and at the battle of Talavera he again distinguished himself, particularly in repulsing the attack of the French on the hill on the left of the position; he was wounded in the head on this occasion. His services during the whole of the campaigns in the Peninsula and South of France were of a distinguished character, and have called forth the commendations of historians, the praises of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, the thanks of Parliament, the approbation of his Sovereign, and the gratitude of his country. During the early part of 1811, he was absent from the army on account of ill health: but he returned to his post in the month of May with the rank of lieut.-general, and was placed in command of the troops in Estremadura. His abilities were conspicuously displayed in the surprise of a body of French troops at Arroyo dos Molinos, in October, 1811; in the capture of the forts and the destruction of the bridge at Almaraz, in May, 1812; and at the battle of the Nive, on the 13th December, 1813. His reputation was constantly augmented, and his talents, energy, and sound judgment became more conspicuous as the extent of his command was increased, and the nature of his services became difficult. His claim to military eminence was not established by a few solitary acts of courage and skill; but by a career of brilliant service, which will descend to posterity interwoven with the triumphs of the Duke of Wellington, whose victories were followed by the overthrow of the power of Napoleon, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of France. The services of Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill were rewarded with the dignity of Baron Hill of Almaraz, and of Hawkstone in the county of Salop, by patent dated the 17th of May, 1814.