James Henry Craig

For other people named James Craig, see James Craig (disambiguation).
Sir James Craig

Sir James Craig by Schipper
Born 1748
Gibraltar
Died 12 January 1812 (aged 63)
London
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Rank General
Commands held Indian Army
Battles/wars American Revolutionary War
Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle of Quebec
Battle of Trois-Rivières
Saratoga Campaign
Battle of Ticonderoga
Battle of Hubbardton
Battle of Saratoga
Penobscot Expedition
Southern Campaign
French Revolutionary Wars
Battle of Muizenberg
Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Ulm
Awards Knight of the Order of the Bath

General Sir James Henry Craig KB (1748 12 January 1812) was a British military officer and colonial administrator.

Early life and military service

Craig came from a Scottish family whose father was a judge of the civil and military courts in the British fortress of Gibraltar.[1] At the age of 15 in 1763 he was enrolled as an ensign in the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot.[1] Colonel Robert Boyd, the lieutenant governor of Gibraltar in 1770 endorsed his promotion to an aide-de-camp[1] which allowed him to later take command of a company in the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot stationed in the American colonies.

Service during the American War of Independence

After the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1775, Craig took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he was badly wounded, but refused to leave his regiment, and participated in the defence of Quebec in 1776, where he met the American invaders at Trois-Rivières while commanding the advance guard that forced them back beyond the border.[1] During 1777 he was wounded twice, once seriously, during engagements at Fort Ticonderoga, Hubbardton, and Freeman’s Farm.[1] Major-General John Burgoyne, who expressed high regard for Craig as an officer, recommended him for the rank of a major in the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) in recognition of his service.[1] From 1778 to 1781 Craig served with the 82nd Regiment in Nova Scotia, at Penobscot, and later in North Carolina.[1] Due to constant involvement in operations during the war, Craig usually led light infantry troops. His rapid promotion suggests that Craig possessed an unusual degree of initiative and resourcefulness.

Service during the Napoleonic Wars

After promotion to lieutenant-colonel in 1781, Craig became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey in 1793 and then an adjutant general to the Duke of York in the 1794 Army of Netherlands, being promoted to major-general.[1]

In 1794-1795, the Netherlands were overrun by the revolutionary armies of the new republic of France, and Stadtholder Prince William V of Orange became a refugee in England. A British force under General Sir James Craig set out to Cape Town to secure the colony against the French. The Battle of Muizenberg successfully wrested control from William V of Orange to Britain.

In 1795 he served with Vice-Admiral Viscount Keith and Major-General Alured Clarke in occupying the Cape Colony from the Dutch Republic where he became governor of the new possession,[1] and remained in that posting until 1797, for which he received the Order of the Bath. In the same year Craig sailed to Madras, and saw combat in the Bengal region of India for which he was again promoted to lieutenant-general in January 1801. Craig returned to England to serve for three years as the commander of the Eastern District.[1]

In 1805, despite poor health, he was appointed to lead the Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples, but after a brief occupation, the mission was aborted after the news of Austrian defeat at the Battle of Ulm.[2]

Service in Canada

Craig concurrently held the positions of Governor-General of the Canadas and lieutenant-governor of Lower Canada from 1807 to 1811.[3] Craig considered measures such as creating English counties and replacing the legislative assembly with an appointed government as a means of increasing the power of English speakers in predominantly French Lower Canada. He also tried to encourage immigration from Britain and the United States in hopes of making the French a minority.

In 1809 he employed a former U.S. Army officer named John Henry to determine if the Federalist New England states desired seceding from the United States and returning to their former states as Crown colonies. The British did not pursue re-acquiring New England and, after Henry unsuccessfully sought to be rewarded for his efforts, Henry sold the correspondence to President James Madison for $50,000 and sailed for France. (See Henry letters.)

See also

Notes

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Henry Craig.
Military offices
Preceded by
Thomas Dundas
Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
1793
Succeeded by
John Small
Preceded by
Sir Alured Clarke
Commander-in-Chief, India
1801
Succeeded by
Gerald Lake
Preceded by
Charles Hamilton
Governor of Blackness Castle
18061812
Succeeded by
Sir Rowland Hill
Preceded by
Alexander Mackenzie Fraser
Colonel of the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot
1809–1812
Succeeded by
Sir Samuel Auchmuty
Preceded by
John Graves Simcoe
Colonel of the 22nd (the Cheshire) Regiment of Foot
1806–1809
Succeeded by
Edward Finch
Preceded by
William Grinfield
Colonel of the 86th (the Shropshire Volunteers)
1804–1806
Succeeded by
Sir Charles Ross, Bt.
Preceded by
Lt-Gen. Hon. Sir John Vaughan
Colonel of the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
1795–1804
Succeeded by
John Whyte
Government offices
Preceded by
Thomas Dunn
Governor General of British North America
18071811
Succeeded by
Sir George Prevost
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