Lt General Robert
Douglas, abt 1745 - 1827
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General Robert Douglas was the son of Major Robert Douglas. He
married Mary Kearsley in 1777 and had four children:
Major- Gen. Robert Douglas served with distinction in
America during the Revolutionary War. Was appointed Commandant of
the Corps. of Artillery Drivers on their establishment in 1795, and
retained the appointment until the breaking up of the Corps. in
1817.
The following notes have been generously contributed:
1. Kemble White has a picture of General Douglas inscribed,
"grandfather of S.L. Douglas Willan"
2. See Will (Citation 2)
for relationships- children and others.
3. Career
A.
The Royal Artillery Library and Archive at Woolwich provided the
following material (scan in file) taken from Kane’s, "List of
Officers' in the Royal Artillery," (available also at LOC).
Gunner, Matross or Cadet c. 2 August 1760
Fireworker 26 June 1762
2nd. Lt 1 Jan 1771
1st. Lt 25 Mar 1777
Capt. Lt. 7 Jul 1779
Capt. 20 Nov 1783
Major 14 Aug 1794 (1 Mar 94)
Lt. Col. 6 Mar
1795
Col 12 Sep 1803 (29 Apr 1802)
Major General 25 Oct 1809
Lt. General 4 June 1814
Col Commandant 4 Sep 1809
d. Woolwich
4 Apr 1827
Published listing (he was No. 424) saying
N. Am
1777; disting. at the Hudson 1779 under Sir H. Clinton.
On
page 167
Succession of Directors General and Inspectors General
of Artillery; ............
He is listed as Director General of
Artillery 18 Nov 1823.
On page 232 there is a write-up of
424:
Major- Gen. Robert Douglas served with distinction in
America during the Revolutionary War. Was appointed Commandant of
the Corps. of Artillery Drivers on their establishment in 1795, and
retained the appointment until the breaking up of the Corps. in
1817.
B. "British Army Lists 1740-1780," Special Editor Ivor
F. Burton (available at the LOC Microfiche 2002/1):
1764 Lt.
Fireworker Robert Douglas, date commission 26 June 1762, in RA on
half pay
1765 No mention of Robert Douglas in RA
1767 Lt.
Fireworker Robert Douglas, date commission 26 June 1762, in RA on
half pay
1770 Lt. Fireworker Robert Douglas, date commission 26
June 1762, in RA
1774 2nd. Lt. (Regimental Rank) Robert Douglas,
date commission 1 Jan 1771 in RA, 1st. Batt.
C. Army List for
1796 & 7 (FHL 0896658):
1796 Colonel (local rank, America) 17
Nov 1790
1797 Lt. Col. 6 Mar 1795
D. British Army Lists
("A List of all the Officers of the Army," issued by War Office-
publication dates as indicated, below- (which are available in the
U.Va. Special Collections call number U11.G7.A7 1780). These list
him in the separate section covering officers of the Royal Regiment
of Artillery (which appears after the regiments of foot of the
regular army) and under the regimental rank given (with date in
rank) as indicated:
W.O. 30 June 1780; Capt. Lt. and Capt. 21
July, 1779 [SIC]
W.O. 25 March 1785; Capt. 20 Nov. 1783 [SIC]
W.O. 10 Jan 1794; Capt. 7 July, 1779 [SIC]
W.O. Feb, 1800; Lt.
Col. 6 Mar, 1795.
E. British Officers who served in the
American Revolution 1775-1783, Baule & Gilbert, (available at DAR
Library) provides following details for Douglas, Robert RA:
1st. Lt. 25 Apr 1777 [SIC]
Capt-Lt., 21 Jul 1779.
Married
December 1777 [SIC]
Died Charleston, 1780 [SIC]- probably due to
a misreading of Duncan page 339!
4. Literature:
A.
"The History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery," by Capt. Francis
Duncan, published by John Murray of Albemarle Street, London, 1872
Vol 1 indicates that he was the Captain commanding No. 5 Company,
3rd. Battalion in 1783 (the next in succession was Captain in 1794).
There is also a write-up on page 338 reading:
"The reader
will now be good enough to accompany the General up Broadway,
towards Hester Street, in the Bowery, then one of the extreme
streets yet built in New York, and near the spot where the British
landed on the 16th. of September, 1776, to occupy the city. It was
close to the place where St. Mark's Church now stands.... In Hester
Street lived Mrs. Douglas, the wife of as brave a subaltern of
Artillery as ever stepped. The General had just received a despatch
from Sir Hillary Clinton, then engaged in operations up the Hudson,
in which young Douglas's bravery, coolness, and skill had been
mentioned in the highest terms. Before writing to his subaltern to
express the satisfaction he derived from such a report, the General
hastened to tell the good news to Mrs. Douglas; thus killing two
birds with one stone."
It appears from the same source (page
354) that the action for which he was praised had to do with his
directing artillery fire onto an American sloop:
"Fortunately, the wind was against the vessel on her return; and
Lieutenant Douglas of the Artillery, who was in command of a
detachment at Verplank's Point [DALB note: on the Hudson river]
opened fire upon her with such success from an 18 pounder gun that,
after being hulled several times she was run ashore to prevent her
sinking and then set on fire. Lieutenant Douglas...and his
detachment were honoured by the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief for
their good behaviour."
B. Browne (p 43) reports the same
incident in more detail- including the British deception of holding
their fire so that the Americans believing that they were out of
shells loaded their own cannon onto a sloop which Douglas fired upon
once they were loaded. Browne indicates that he died aged 73-
clearly an error since that would make him eight years old in 1762!
C. Duncan (page 405) indicates that on the 14th of August, 1794,
an augmentation of the Royal Artillery of five companies was
sanctioned, to be called after organization, the Fifth Batallion of
which Robert Douglas was the Major.
D. Duke University has
the Scots Magazine 1739-1826 97 vols in Special Collections Library-
E15Bs434. It lists birth, marriage and death records and civil,
military and ecclesiatical for Scots at home and abroad. Indices
surname only in each volume. May be source for birth- ca. 1745.
E. May be worth looking at: Askwith, W.H., "List of officers of
the Royal Regiment of Artillery from 1716 to 1899 to which are added
notes on officers' services," Royal Artillery Institution, 4th Ed.
1900.
F. UNC has a book Royal Artillery 1731- 1781 by Robert
P. Davies Call # DA67.1 P47D38 1999.
G. The lost war: letters
from British officers during the American Revolution edited and
annotated by Mation Balderston and David Syrett (available at DAR
Library) General History 1775-1783 F: England ?????.
H.Officers of four British regiments in America during the American
Revolution 1779-1782, Sherman Lee Pompey, Call # E267.P64,
Jefferson.
5. Communication from Steven Baule, PhD
I
believe that this is the same Robert Douglas. I didn't mean to imply
he was an officer in the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot; only
that he served in Illinois alongside that regiment with his modest
detachment of Royal Artillery gunners and matrosses stationed at Ft.
Chartres. Douglas was the only Royal Artillery officer stationed at
Ft. Chartres, occasionally referred to as Ft. Cavendish by the
British, in the 1771-1772 period. His signature is on several
ordnance returns that are in the Gage papers (at the University of
Michigan) and well as he is mentioned in several letters from/to
officers of the 18th Foot. His detachment of gunners was responsible
for supervising the artillery at Ft. Chartres. Ultimately, he was
also responsible for the destruction of most of the guns when the
post was ordered to be destroyed in the spring of 1772. At that
time, Lt. Douglas, RA, left Illinois, most likely for Philadelphia.
Only a gunner and two matrosses were left in the Illinois Country
along with a small detachment of the Royal Irish.
Any additional
information on his later career would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
6. Obituary (Citation 2):
Provides honorary and
army rank at death and approximate birthdate.
7. Records of
Officers Services
A. FHL 950839 (W.O. 76) Items 5-8
Regimental Records of Officers' Services, Royal Regiment of
Artillery (1771- 1881) does not mention him but does mention his
sons General Robert Douglas and John Kearsley Douglas. There is a
note saying that this series supplements returns of services of W.O.
25. Need to figure out how Item Nos. and officers dates interrelate.
From recollection, it appeared that the later Items generally
referred to later birthdates of the officers (probably related to
dates of commissions). The earliest records of Officers' Services
appear to be 1770.
B.. From internet book review, there are
some additional service records for selected officers of the Royal
Artillery and Royal Engineers in series WO 54 [for 1727-51?] and [WO
76 for 1771-1914?] and [SIC] service records of artillery officers
are in WO 24/3913-20 for 1797-1922. Returns [of service records]
were prepared for serving officers in 1809/10...(held in WO 25).
Note: if these dates are those of commissions then they would not
contain Robert's service record.
C. For further research at
the National Archives, Kew:
Ordnance Office, Military Branch,
and War Office: Royal Artillery Records of Services and papers
WO 69/1 1776- 1806
WO 69/2 1793- 1813
WO 69/3 1794- 1815
WO 69/4&5 1794- 1813
WO 69/6 1794- 1821
WO 69/7- 15 1803- 1863
General Officers statements of service 1807- 1876.
There
is a note indicating that Item 8 may have an index.
D.
Considered searching FHL 950840 (1810- 1902) and 950843 (1770- 1890)
records of officer services for the 5th,. (invalid) Battalion of the
Royal Artillery to see if his record of services is there. However,
the following note taken from the National Archives website would
appear to indicate that further search for his record of service is
likely to be fruitless: "No original records of service of officers
appointed before 1793 have survived. However, confirmation of a
commission or an appointment can sometimes be found from documents
or official publications of a later date."
7. From Douglas
Community Network
At 10:56am on October 9, 2009, Claudine
Douglas wrote:…
Hi William, many thanks
for your message. I have the Douglas-Willan connection in my family
tree. As you will already know John Kearsley Douglas married
Isabella Maria Willan and they then changed their name to Douglas-Willan.
They were my 4xGreat grandparents. I have very limited information
going back another 4 generations prior to that....the father of John
Kearsley Douglas, being Robert Douglas (Lieutenant in the Royal
Artillery in 1779, Colonel Commandant of the R.A and a Lieutenant
General in the Army, died 1827. I have a copy of his Will dated 14
November 1826) and HIS father also being Robert Douglas (Major of
Marines). (I have an abstract of his will dated 1780). HIS father
was James Douglas (died young in Abermarle's [SIC] Regiment at
Gibralter) and HIS father was John Douglas (a Colonel in the Army).
8. Miscellaneous:
A. Artillery officers were trained at
the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich; however, it appears that
records of cadet papers are only available from 1775 onwards.
B. There was no mention of him in the one volume Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography (LOC Call # DA28.095 2004).
C. The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, was established in 1741 to
produce officers for the artillery and the engineers. There is a
film of Entry of Officer Cadets at the Royal Military Academy but
the date ranges is 1775- 1940.
D. Apparently, in the Royal
Artillery, promotions were based on seniority (i.e., officers did
not buy their commissions).
E. It might be worth checking
Index to pedigrees in Burke's Commoners 1785-1873 to see if he is
included (Ormerod, George 942D22og).
F. Father not mentioned
in sister Elizabeth's marriage record.
G. In the British
Army, the Colonel-Commandant is the honorary commander of some
corps, usually a member of the Royal Family or a senior or retired
general.
Research:
Not to be confused with:
|
General Robert Douglas,
Count of Skenninge |
1611-1661 |
|
Major-General Robert Douglas
(of Garlston, NB) |
Born c1744, died 7th June 1798 |
|
Major General Robert Douglas |
Death: Aug. 20. 1828 At Great Baddow, Essex, |
|
Major General Robert Douglas |
1727-1809 |
|
General Robert Douglas,
C.B. |
died at Claygate, Surrey on February 10, 1871 |
|
Major General Sir Robert Percy
Douglas |
died on 30 September 1891 aged 87 |
|
Major General Robert Wilkins
Douglass Jr. |
born in 1900 in Memphis, Tenneessee, USA |
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
Errors and Omissions
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