Historical record of the Thirteenth, First Somerset, or the Prince Albert's Regiment of Light Infantry / containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent services to 1848.

by Richard Cannon

The Honorable James Murray.

Appointed 16th December, 1767.

The Honorable James Murray, son of the Duke of Athol, served several years in the fifteenth foot, of which regiment he was appointed lieut.-colonel on the 15th of January, 1751. He served with his regiment in North America, in the early part of the seven years’ war, had the local rank of colonel in that country on the 7th of January, 1758, and was appointed colonel-commandant in the sixtieth, Royal American regiment, on the 24th of October, 1759. He also served in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and was wounded in the breast with a musket ball, which could not be extracted, and he was never afterwards able to sleep in a recumbent posture. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1762, appointed colonel of the Thirteenth regiment in 1767, in succession to His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, advanced to the rank of lieut.-general in 1772, to that of general in 1783, and removed to the twenty-first, or Royal North British Fusiliers, in 1789. He also held the appointment of governor of Hull. He died in 1794, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

George Ainslie.

Appointed 5th June, 1789.

This officer was appointed in 1755, sub-lieutenant in the second, or Scots, troop of horse grenadier guards, of which the celebrated General Eliott, afterwards Lord Heathfield, Baron Gibraltar, was lieut.-colonel; and when Colonel Eliott raised his famed regiment of “Light Horse,” now the fifteenth, or King’s Hussars, lieutenant Ainslie was appointed captain of the first troop in that regiment. He proceeded with the fifteenth light dragoons to Germany, in 1760, and distinguished himself in the memorable action at Emsdorf, where his regiment acquired great honour. He was also present at numerous other actions, where “Eliott’s Light Horse” availed themselves of every opportunity to acquire additional laurels; and on the 29th of March, 1762, he was promoted to the majority of the regiment. At the engagement near Homburg, on the 1st of July, 1762, he highly distinguished himself, and was commended in the public despatch of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. In the action near Friedberg, on the 30th of August following, he was attacked by three French hussars, and received a dangerous wound in the head. He was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fifteenth light dragoons in 1770, to the rank of colonel in the army in 1779, and to that of major-general in 1782: in 1789 King George III. rewarded him with the colonelcy of the Thirteenth foot, His Majesty having frequently witnessed, and expressed his high approbation of, the condition of the fifteenth light dragoons under colonel Ainslie’s command. He was afterwards appointed lieut.-governor of Scilly Island, was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in 1796, and to that of general in 1801. He died in 1804.

Alexander Campbell.

Appointed 11th July, 1804.

On the 21st of April, 1769, Alexander Campbell was appointed ensign in the forty-second, Royal Highland regiment, then in Ireland, and in December, 1770, he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the second battalion of the Royals, which he joined at the island of Minorca; in September, 1772, he was advanced to captain of a company in the fiftieth, from which he exchanged to the sixty-second regiment in November following. He embarked for Canada with the sixty-second on the breaking out of the American war, and served the campaign of 1776, under General Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester. In 1777, he served under Lieut.-General Burgoyne, in the desperate attempt to advance from Canada, through the country, in a state of rebellion, to Albany, shared in the toils and fighting of that enterprise, and was included in the convention at Saratoga. On the 26th of December, 1777, he was promoted to major of the seventy-fourth regiment, and proceeding to New York, he was appointed to act as major of the first battalion of light infantry, with which he served two campaigns, and at the termination of the war he commanded at Penobscot. On the 31st of December, 1782, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the sixty-second foot, with which regiment he served in Scotland and Ireland until June, 1789, when he exchanged to captain and lieut.-colonel in the third foot guards. He served the campaign of 1793, and part of that of 1794, in Flanders, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York; he had, in the meantime, been promoted to the rank of colonel (12th October, 1793), and commissioned to raise the 116th regiment of foot, and he withdrew from Flanders. He subsequently commanded a brigade in the forces under Lieut.-General the Earl of Moira, and was promoted to the rank of major-general, on the 26th of February, 1795. In 1796 he served under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, in the West Indies, and was appointed colonel of the seventh West India regiment, in November of that year. He served on the staff at Newcastle in 1797; in Ireland in 1798; and afterwards in Scotland. In 1802 his regiment was disbanded; he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in April of that year, and was placed on the staff of Ireland, and subsequently on that of Scotland, where he served five years. In 1804 he was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth regiment; in 1812 he was promoted to the rank of general, and was removed to the thirty-second regiment in 1813. He died 24th of February, 1832.

Edward Morrison.