Hew Dalrymple Ross
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal
Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross, GCB
GCTE
(1779–1868) was Master Gunner, St James's Park, the most senior Ceremonial Post in the Royal Artillery
after the Sovereign
.
in 1795.
With the Royal Horse Artillery he saw active service during the Irish Rebellion of 1798
, and in 1806 he was promoted captain and appointed to command a troop of the R.H.A. (afterwards famous as the Chestnut Troop).
In 1809 the troop landed at Lisbon
and at once set out to join Wellington
's army, reaching the front two days after Talavera. Ross' guns were attached to the Light Division, and, with Robert Craufurd
, took part in the actions on the Côa and the Buçaco. When André Masséna
began his famous retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras
, Ross' troop was among the foremost in the pursuit; at Redinha and Pombal
, at Sabugal
and Fuentes d'Onor, the Chestnuts earned great distinction, and in December 1811 their commander received a brevet-majority for his services.
He was present at Ciudad Rodrigo
and Badajoz
, at the Salamanca
forts and the battle of Salamanca
, still attached to the Light Division. In the campaign of Vittoria
, Ross' guns were continually with the most advanced troops, and after Vittoria they captured the only piece of artillery that remained to the defeated French. A further brevet-promotion and a good service reward came to Ross for his part in the campaign.
At Vera in the Pyrenees
Ross' troop was one of the three which played a decisive part in the action, and Vera remains a classical example of the action of horse artillery. A troop was engaged at St. Pierre and Orthez
, and at the conclusion of peace returned to England
. It was engaged at Waterloo
, and though half its guns were disabled the remainder took part in the pursuit of the French.
Ross received the Army Gold Cross with two clasps for Busaco, Salamanca, Badajoz, Vitoria, Nivelle, and Nive; the Military General Service Medal
with three clasps for Fuentes d'Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, and the Pyrenees; the Waterloo Medal
; the K.C.B.
; the Portuguese
Order of the Tower and Sword
and the Russia
n St. Anne. He had commanded the troop for nineteen years when he at last received a regimental lieutenant-colonelcy in 1825. As officer commanding Royal Artillery in the Northern District, with delegated command over all the forces of the four northern counties, Sir Hew Ross had for nearly sixteen years to deal with continually threatened civil disorder, and bore himself as well as on the field of battle. From 1840 to 1858, when he retired, he practically directed, in one post or another, all the artillery services of the British army, and when in 1854 the test of war came, the artillery took the field in a far better condition than the rest of Lord Raglan's army. Much of the present efficiency of the Royal Regiment is directly traceable to the influence of Sir Hew Ross, to whom it owes the institution of the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness
and the establishment of the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich. Promoted to Major-general in 1841 and lieutenant-general in 1851, he became general in 1854, and died, a field-marshal and G.C.B.
, in 1868.
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross, GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
GCTE
Order of the Tower and Sword
The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459....
(1779–1868) was Master Gunner, St James's Park, the most senior Ceremonial Post in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
after the Sovereign
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
.
Military career
Hew Dalrymple Ross entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1793, and was commissioned into the Royal ArtilleryRoyal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
in 1795.
With the Royal Horse Artillery he saw active service during the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
, and in 1806 he was promoted captain and appointed to command a troop of the R.H.A. (afterwards famous as the Chestnut Troop).
In 1809 the troop landed at Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and at once set out to join Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
's army, reaching the front two days after Talavera. Ross' guns were attached to the Light Division, and, with Robert Craufurd
Robert Craufurd
Major-General Robert Craufurd was a Scottish soldier and Member of Parliament . After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, he was given command of the Light Division in the Napoleonic Peninsular War under the Duke of Wellington...
, took part in the actions on the Côa and the Buçaco. When André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
began his famous retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras
Lines of Torres Vedras
The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, constructed by Sir Richard Fletcher, 1st Baronet and his Portuguese workers between...
, Ross' troop was among the foremost in the pursuit; at Redinha and Pombal
Pombal, Portugal
Pombal is a town in Pombal Municipality, Portugal. The population of the city is about 16.000 inhabitants....
, at Sabugal
Sabugal
Sabugal is a city and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 822.7 km² and a total population of 14,222 inhabitants[in the municipality] and about 3.000 in the city....
and Fuentes d'Onor, the Chestnuts earned great distinction, and in December 1811 their commander received a brevet-majority for his services.
He was present at Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well....
and Badajoz
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....
, at the Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
forts and the battle of Salamanca
Battle of Salamanca
The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....
, still attached to the Light Division. In the campaign of Vittoria
Vittoria
Vittoria may refer to:* Vittoria Coffee, Australia's largest coffee company, founded in 1947* Vittoria, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada* Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain* Vitória, Brazil* Battle of Vitoria, an 1813 battle in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars...
, Ross' guns were continually with the most advanced troops, and after Vittoria they captured the only piece of artillery that remained to the defeated French. A further brevet-promotion and a good service reward came to Ross for his part in the campaign.
At Vera in the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
Ross' troop was one of the three which played a decisive part in the action, and Vera remains a classical example of the action of horse artillery. A troop was engaged at St. Pierre and Orthez
Orthez
Orthez is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sainte-Suzanne thus residents of the town are called either Orthéziens or Sainte-Suzannais...
, and at the conclusion of peace returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was engaged at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, and though half its guns were disabled the remainder took part in the pursuit of the French.
Ross received the Army Gold Cross with two clasps for Busaco, Salamanca, Badajoz, Vitoria, Nivelle, and Nive; the Military General Service Medal
Military General Service Medal
The Military General Service Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the British Army.The MGSM was approved on 1 June 1847 as a retrospective award for various military actions from 1793–1814; a period encompassing the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
with three clasps for Fuentes d'Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, and the Pyrenees; the Waterloo Medal
Waterloo Medal
The Waterloo Medal was awarded to any soldier of the British Army who took part in one or more of the following battles: Battle of Ligny , Battle of Quatre Bras , and the Battle of Waterloo ....
; the K.C.B.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
; the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Order of the Tower and Sword
Order of the Tower and Sword
The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459....
and the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n St. Anne. He had commanded the troop for nineteen years when he at last received a regimental lieutenant-colonelcy in 1825. As officer commanding Royal Artillery in the Northern District, with delegated command over all the forces of the four northern counties, Sir Hew Ross had for nearly sixteen years to deal with continually threatened civil disorder, and bore himself as well as on the field of battle. From 1840 to 1858, when he retired, he practically directed, in one post or another, all the artillery services of the British army, and when in 1854 the test of war came, the artillery took the field in a far better condition than the rest of Lord Raglan's army. Much of the present efficiency of the Royal Regiment is directly traceable to the influence of Sir Hew Ross, to whom it owes the institution of the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre...
and the establishment of the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich. Promoted to Major-general in 1841 and lieutenant-general in 1851, he became general in 1854, and died, a field-marshal and G.C.B.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, in 1868.