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Clan Munro USA
Genealogy Pages
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 1685 - 1746 (60 years)
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| Name |
George Munro |
| Suffix |
Of Culcairn |
| Born |
18 Sep 1685 |
Of, Culcairn, Scotland  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
31 Aug 1746 |
Locharkaigside, Scotland |
| Person ID |
I6005 |
Munro |
| Last Modified |
15 Jan 2008 |
| Family |
Christian Munro, b. Abt 1696, d. Yes, date unknown |
| Children |
| + | 1. John Munro, Of Culcairn, b. Abt 1719, Of, Culcairn, Scotland , d. 24 Aug 1766, Of, Bombay (Age ~ 47 years) |
| | 2. Andrew Munro, b. Abt 1721, d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 3. George Munro, b. Abt 1723, d. 14 Dec 1748, London, , Greater London, England (Age ~ 25 years) |
| + | 4. Margaret Munro, b. Est 1724, Of, Culcairn , d. 1809 (Age ~ 85 years) |
| | 5. Duncan Munro, b. Abt 1725, d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 6. Anne Munro, b. Abt 1727, d. Yes, date unknown |
| + | 7. Jane Munro, b. Abt 1729, d. Yes, date unknown |
| + | 8. Christian Munro, b. Abt 1731, d. Yes, date unknown |
| + | 9. Janet Munro, b. Est 1733, Of, Culcairn , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 10. Helen Munro, b. Abt 1735, d. Yes, date unknown |
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| Last Modified |
20 Jan 2009 |
| Family ID |
F4578 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- George was the second son of Sir Robert Munro, the 23rd Baron of Foulis. He was born on 18 Sep 1685.
He received a liberal education and was a man of considerable intelligence and erudition. In addition to the branches of learning common to all the professions, he acquired an extensive knowledge of theological literature. Before he turned seventeen years, he was so well acquainted with the ecclesiastical history of the world that he was able to give a good account of the advance and decline of the Christian religion in various countries and ages, and of the degree and manner of the corruption of the Church and how its reformation had been introduced, obstructed, and finally established.
He entered the army when he was quite young, and attained the rank of Captain before the Rising of 1715. On 20 Jul 1715, the Rising was formally announced to Parliament. The Munros, the Grants, and the Rosses were mustered by their respective Chiefs. On 26 May, the Earl of Seaforth, in the Chevalier's name, requested Sir Robert of Foulis to deliver up to him all his defensive weapons. Sir Robert refused to comply with this request. Instead, he garrisoned his house and sent the remainder of his men to the general rendezvous called at Alness under the command of his son, Captain George Munro.
In 1719, General Wightman was ordered to the West Coast of Scotland to repel the Spanish invasion of 1719. The Spaniards and Highlanders were encamped at Glenshiel, but General Wightman was unable to obtain guides to conduct his troops over the mountains, so he was detained in Inverness for some time. Captain George Munro, acting for his father, quickly assembled a body of Munros and marched to Inverness to the general's assistance. The Munros marched with the regular troops to the West Coast.
This petty rising was the idea of Cardinal Alberoni of Spain. He hoped it would cause the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The Cardinal organized an army of six companies of Spanish infantry, which he placed under the command of the Earl Marischal, with a Spaniard named Don Alonso de Santarem second in command. After a stormy and dangerous voyage, the small army landed at Stornoway in the Lewis. After some delay there, the Earl passed over to Kintail, where he was met by the famous Rob Roy and a company of Macgregors, Mackenzies and Macraes.
General Wightman, on his way across country from Inverness, was joined by those clans who had declared for the Government. When he reached Glenshiel he had 1600 men under his command. He arrived on 14 Jun, and found the Highlanders strongly posted ready to receive him. The road by which he came followed the course of the stream at the foot of the Pass of Glenshiel, and could easily be commanded from the precipitous heights on either side. The scantily covered rocks shelved down towards their base in such a manner that a passage through the Glen while an opposing force held the upper ground appeared quite impossible.
The Highlanders were distributed in admirable order upon the hill which rose on one side of the glen. The Spaniards were posted upon the higher ground, as it was expected that their skill in musketry would prove most valuable in that position, while next to them were the Mackenzies under Seaforth, and a small body of Murrays under the Marquis of Tullibardine. The advanced guard was composed entirely of Macgregors, with Rob Roy at their head, and to them was entrusted the task of leading the attack.
The forces seemed so nearly equal that both parties stood at bay, each expecting the other to make the first advance. At five o'clock in the afternoon General Wightman made a movement as if to pass through the glen, and when, deploying in line, his troops had reached a critical position, the Spaniards opened fire and disorded the enemy's ranks. Taking advantage of the confusion the Macgregors rushed down the hill, threw away their firelocks after they had discharged them, and met their opponents at the point of the claymore. At this juncture the skirmishers, whom Wightman at the outset had placed on the hills, poured their deadly fire upon the Highlanders and forced them to retreat, surprised, but not defeated. The Spaniards, somewhat staggered at the simultaneous appearance of enemies above and in front of them, lost heart and became useless, but the undaunted Highlanders, goaded to greater enthusiasm by the odds against them, repeatedly advanced to the attack, and at close quarters did great execution.
Again and again the Mackenzies, Macgregors, and Macraes assailed their opponents in front, in flank, and in rear, but the defection of the Spaniards had made the conflict hopeless. For three hours the battle raged without either side gaining much apparent advantage. Had it been possible for Wightman to engage his opponents upon an open plain, he would have had no difficulty with his superior numbers in defeating the Highlanders, but their heroic defence of the strong position which they held forced him to withdraw and call in his skirmishers before nightfall.
When the Highlanders were able to review the situation, they found that three of their leaders, Seaforth, Tullibardine, and Lord George Murray, had been seriously wounded, and that many of the clansmen had fallen. Numbers of the Spaniards, unused to the mode of warfare adopted, had in the meantime ignominiously fled, and those of them who remained were too demoralised to be of any real service. The most sanguine among the Highlanders could not now hope for victory, and in the circumstances it only remained for them to make the best possible terms of surrender. But Rob Roy, upon whom the command now fell, dared not approach Wightman since it was not at all likely that the Hanoverian General would agree to treat with a man like him whom the Government had so repeatedly denounced. He proposed, therefore, that the Highlanders should quietly disperse, bearing their wounded Chiefs along with them, and that the Spanish leader should yield himself and his men as prisoners of war, and in that way secure a safe passage for themselves to their native land. The advice was adopted, and the Highlanders soon found their way by various paths, only known to themselves, from the place which had witnessed their fruitless but indomitable bravery. Don Alonso de Santarem and his crestfallen soldiers capitulated, and thus ended the battle of Glenshiel.
General Wightmen, on reckoning his losses, found that he had twenty-one men killed, and a hundred and twenty-one wounded, among the latter being Captain George Munro of Culcairn, dangerously in the thigh. The enemy, posted on the declivity of the hill, kept on firing at him, it is alleged, after he fell. When he realised that they were determined to kill him, he told his servant, a clansman of his own, who was faithfully watching him, to get out of danger, as he could be of no further service to him, and requested him when he got home to let his father, the Blind Baron, and his family know that the son had done his duty. The faithful Highlander thereupon burst into tears and asked his master how he thought he could leave him in that condition, and what would they think of him at home if he did? He refused to leave, but on the contrary, determining to shield him from further injury, laid himself down on his hands and knees over his master's body, until Sergeant Robert Munro, son of Hugh Munro of Tullochue, with a small party, dislodged Captain Munro's assailants, after having previously swore upon his dirk that he would effect his rescue. The body servant who thus bravely saved his master's life afterwards became the Captain's companion, and was ever after treated by him more like a friend than as a subordinate.
Having recovered from the wounds received at the battle of Glenshiel, the gallant Captain continued active for several years in the service of the Government, and ultimately obtained the command of one of the Independent Companies, then in the national pay, and first formed in 1729-30. On 25 Oct 1739, these companies, then known as the Black Watch, were formed into the 43rd regiment, later the 42nd Royal Highlanders, and placed under command of the Captain's brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Munro. George was appointed senior Captain, and in 1743 accompanied it to Flanders.
In 1744, he was obliged to retire from active service, owing to a severe attack of asthma, aggravated by the air of that country. He accordingly sold his commission, and on the advice of General Wade and his own brother Sir Robert, returned home to his seat at Newton, in the parish of Kiltearn, intending to spend the remainder of his days with his family and friends in that peaceful retreat. But it was otherwise determined, and Captain Munro soon found himself destined for further service in the military field.
The Rising of 1745 broke out soon after his arrival at Newton, and the danger which he felt threatened his country and its civil and religious liberties brought him renewed strength and vigour.
When Sir John Cope came to Inverness, he had been assured of being joined there by a number of Highlanders to conduct him and his small army through the Jacobite counties between Inverness and Aberdeen, but Captain George with two hundred Munros, were the only persons found willing to implement the promises thus made. He conducted Sir John to Aberdeen, where he was himself ordered back to Ross-shire. On the homeward journey he had to pass through a district invested by a detachment of the Jacobites under Gordon of Glenbucket, who seemed disposed to oppose his return, but finding that the Captain was determined to force his way, Gordon retired and allowed him to proceed without further molestation. That this special service was highly appreciated by the Earl of Loudon is evident from the following extract from a letter addressed to Sir John Cope by Lord President Forbes, dated "Culoden, Friday, 13th September, 1745, 10 at night." Addressing Sir John the Lord President says--
"I do not know whether there will be room for what Lord Loudon seems to point at, the giving three companies among the Munros, who marched with you, because, though they have merit as being first, nay the only kindred that have hitherto broke the ice, yet so signal notice taken of them, when the number of Commissions to be given out will not permit of the bestowing in anything like proportion on the kindreds more powerful, may create a kind of jealousy, and may provoke Highland vanity in such sort as to produce indifferent consequences. Besides that I imagine that if you were to consult with Captian Munro of Culcairn, they will be content with less. However, sir, if you, upon weighing what I have represented, shall think otherwise, they shall have their Commissions, and I shall save Commissions for 3 Captains, 3 Lieutenants, and three Ensigns, till I receive your directions." (Culloden Papers, p. 404)
Not long after this, the Earl of Loudon, who commanded for the King at Inverness, sent Norman Macleod of Macleod and Captain Munro with 600 Macleods and Munros to relieve the city of Aberdeen and the neighboring country, and to counteract the Jacobites there under Lord Lewis Gordon.
They marched as far as Inverury, a small town a few miles west of the city of Aberdeen, where they halted to receive intelligence. Here they were obliged to quarter a considerable number of their men in different places throughout the neighborhood. In the meantime a strong reinforcement from the main body of the Highland army, then stationed at Perth, was sent under command of a French officer to Lord Gordon's assistance. On their arrival, Gordon resolved to surprise and cut off Macleod, Captain Munro, and all their followers. With object the Jacobite leader, taking advantage of his knowledge of the fact that the Munros and Macleods had been quartered on the inhabitants in the town and district, moved toward the town in the dusk of the evening of 23 Dec 1745, after Macleod and Munro had dismissed their men to their quarters.
Gordon's impending attack was accidently discovered in time for Macleod and Munro to quickly position some of their men in the town. They briefly resisted the attack before being forced to retreat into the country side by vastly superior numbers. Munro and Macleod lost quite a number of men killed and captured. Lord Gordon did not attempt pursuit, but marched to the Highland rendezvous at Stirling.
When the Jacobites retreated northward before the Duke of Cumberland, the Earl of Loudon had not sufficient strength to maintain his position at Inverness, and in consequence he, with Lord President Forbes and Captain George Munro, retreated through Ross into Sutherlandshire, with the intention of defending themselves there until the season allowed the Duke to march his troops to Inverness. But in the interval, the Jacobites, having spread themselves over the counties of Ross, Moray, and Inverness, got possession of a number of boats by means of which, under cover of a dense fog, they transported a large body of their men across the Kyle of Sutherland. This action of the enemy compelled Loudon, the President, and Captain Munro to retreat through the west of Ross-shire into the Isle of Skye, where they remained until the Prince's army was broken up and dispersed at Culloden.
On his return from Skye, Captain Munro was constantly employed on expeditions through the insurgent districts, reducing them to order and submission, duties which he diligently and zealously, but at the same time most humanely, performed. This the Highlanders themselves acknowledged, as he never did the least injury to anyone, and in all his vast circuit over the North and West Highlands he neither seized, nor allowed those under his command to seize, anything but arms. Yet, notwithstanding all his humanity, his diligence and zeal during the whole period of the Rising had rendered him so obnoxious to the Jacobites that they vowed his destruction upon the first opportunity. He was, however, shot dead by accident on Sunday, 31 Aug 1746, having been killed by mistake in place of another officer.
After the suppression of the Rising, an order was issued to the Highlanders to deliver up their arms. A Lochaber man named Dugald Roy Cameron sent his son to Fort William with his arms to be delivered up. When proceeding down by Loch Arkaig, the young man was met by an officer named Grant, who was conducting a party of soldiers to Knoydart. Grant seized young Cameron and shot him on the spot. His father swore to be revenged, and hearing that the officer rode a white horse, he watched behind a rock for his return on a height above Loch Arkaig. Captain Munro had borrowed the white horse on which Grant rode, and while he was passing between the advanced guard and the main body of his men the, he passed the spot where the irate Lochaber man lay in ambush, and met the fate intended for Grant, Cameron firing and killing him on the spot. Dugald Roy escaped and afterwards became a soldier in the British army.
There are several variations to this story, but at the heart of each is the fact that Captain George Munro was killed in a case of mistaken identity.
References:
(1) "The Munro Tree (1734)" by R. W. Munro (1978) - L/66, L/67, Y, Y/1
(2) "History of the Munros of Fowlis" by A. Mackenzie (1898) - p. 97-98,
103-114, 121-127, 159-161, 497, 507
Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA
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