Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB (7 October 1734 – 28 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797.

[3] Abercromby's education was begun by a private tutor, then continued at the school of Mr Moir in Alloa, then considered one of the best in Scotland despite its Jacobite leanings.

[5] On returning from the continent, Abercromby expressed a strong preference for the military profession, and a cornet's commission was accordingly obtained for him (March 1756) in the 3rd Dragoon Guards.

He served with his regiment in the Seven Years' War, and thus, the opportunity afforded him of studying the methods of Frederick the Great, which moulded his military character and formed his tactical ideas.

During the 1794 withdrawal to Holland, he commanded the allied forces in the action at Boxtel and was wounded directing operations at Fort St Andries on the Waal.

[11][12] That same month he had been made a Knight of the Bath and in August Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Wight – a reward for his services but also possibly an incentive to lead the army in the Caribbean.

[15] Control of much of Saint Vincent had been lost to rebelling French planters and native Caribs since early 1795, while Grenada was in the midst of an insurrection led by Julien Fédon.

He marched his troops near to the insurgent base at Vigie Ridge and camped nearby as the British started to execute an encircling movement: Quartermaster General John Knox manoeuvred his men on the seaward side in order to prevent the enemy retreating north, and Lieutenant Colonel Dickens used the 34th Regiment as a diversion on the opposite side.

[6] A major assault on the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in April 1797 failed[21] after fierce fighting where both sides suffered heavy losses.

[6] He took the unusual step of publicly criticising the command of his predecessor, The 2nd Earl of Carhampton, for bequeathing an army "in a state of licentiousness, which must render it formidable to everyone but the enemy".

[22] To quote the biographic entry in the 1888 Encyclopædia Britannica, "[H]e laboured to maintain the discipline of the army, to suppress the rising rebellion, and to protect the people from military oppression, with the care worthy of a great general and an enlightened and beneficent statesman.

He used his utmost efforts to restore the discipline of an army that was utterly disorganized; and, as a first step, he anxiously endeavoured to protect the people by re-establishing the supremacy of the civil power, and not allowing the military to be called out, except when it was indispensably necessary for the enforcement of the law and the maintenance of order.

[6] Finding that (he) received no adequate support from the head of the Irish government and that all his efforts were opposed and thwarted by those who presided in the councils of Ireland, he resigned the command.

His departure from Ireland was deeply lamented by the reflecting portion of the people, and was speedily followed by those disastrous results which he had anticipated, and which he so ardently desired and had so wisely endeavoured to prevent.

[23] After holding for a short period the office of commander-in-chief in Scotland, Abercromby was again called to command under the Duke of York in the 1799 Anglo-Russian expedition against the Napoleonic Dutch Republic.

The high watermark of British success came when a squadron of the Dutch fleet then surrendered and the Anglo-Russian army advanced through North Holland capturing the cities of Hoorn, Enkhuizen and Medemblik.

Before he could leave for Portugal to inspect their defences and army, the resignation of General Charles Stuart in the Mediterranean in April led to a change of plans.

The Austrian plan was that Abercromby could create a distraction from the activities of General Michael von Melas in North Italy by landing at various points on the Italian coast.

General Charles O'Hara in Gibraltar was pleased with the appointment, for while Stuart had been hot-tempered and difficult to work with, Abercromby was "a reasonable, considerate good soldier, and listens with temper and patience to every proposal made to him".

His experience in the Netherlands and the West Indies particularly fitted him for this new command, as was proved when he carried his army in health, in spirits, and with the requisite supplies to the destined scene of action despite great difficulties.

On 17 August, British forces laid siege to Alexandria and later captured the city which effectively ended French control of Egypt and Syria.

He was eventually borne from the field in a hammock, cheered by the blessings of the soldiers as he passed, and conveyed on board the flag-ship HMS Foudroyant which was moored in the harbour.

[25] Abercromby's old friend and commander, the Duke of York, paid tribute to Abercromby's memory in general orders:[6] "His steady observance of discipline, his ever-watchful attention to the health and wants of his troops, the persevering and unconquerable spirit which marked his military career, the splendour of his actions in the field and the heroism of his death, are worthy the imitation of all who desire, like him, a life of heroism and a death of glory.

[32] The ballad song "The Banks of the Nile", perhaps most notably recorded by Sandy Denny and Fotheringay, refers to Sir Ralph Abercrombie's campaign in Egypt.