He was a young man when the involvement of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, in personal union under Queen Anne, sent many Scots to fight under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, in the War of the Spanish Succession on Continental Europe.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the thoughts of young Robert should turn to an army career, and his earliest surviving letter (Oct. 1706) deals with plans for securing a commission, perhaps through the influence of the John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll who was in Scotland for the critical pre-Acts of Union 1707 debates: even service at home was not to be despised, as it "might draw on a greater thing".

Anyhow, the commission was soon forthcoming, although its exact date is unknown, and in March 1710, Robert Munro is on record as a Captain in the Royal Scots (then at the Hague, Holland, Dutch Republic), commanded by George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney.

The health of Queen Anne and the threat of invasion were matters of concern, and some weeks after her death in August 1714, her successor George I of Great Britain arrived from Hanover to assume the throne with Whig support.

After the arrival of George I, Robert reported sadly more than once that "there is nothing yet done" for him; but in December he was offered and accepted a commission (backdated to 9 August) to replace a Mackenzie as Captain of an Independent Company raised ten years earlier to help in policing the northern Scottish Highlands.

Robert was in London when rumours first gained ground that a rising was intended, but his brother George Munro, 1st of Culcairn put the clan in a state of readiness at the beginning of August, and this example was followed by others, in spite of a great shortage of arms, ammunition and money.

It was not until 22 October that Seaforth marched south to Perth, and his enemies believed that but for this "diversion" some 4,000 Jacobites from the north would have joined Mar three or four weeks earlier than they did, before Argyll had gathered a sufficient force to oppose them at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

With the rising suppressed, and the Hanoverian succession firmly established, Colonel Robert's interest with the Government and his own compassionate nature prompted him to mediate on behalf of some of the defeated leaders (including Alexander Macdonell of Glengarry) and their wives and children.

Each Commissioner received a salary of £1,000 a year, and as they could hold no other public office (though remaining M.P.s), Robert demitted his governorship of Inverness Castle and Independent Company command (both of which were given to Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat).

Four English M.P.s joined Robert Munro and his colleague Patrick Haldane for the Scottish part of the commission's business, but they were greatly hindered by the dilatory ways of some members (including Sir Richard Steele, who was fined for non-attendance).

As a heritor and an elder of the Church of Scotland, he was one of those who arranged on behalf of the General Assembly for the spending of £1,000 a year of the "Royal Bounty" on the "reformation" of the Highlands and Islands by means of itinerant preachers and catechists.

His marriage to a member of a great English family – Mary, daughter of Henry Seymour of Woodlands in Dorset – took place in London in 1716, and the romantic story of a courtship interrupted by the purloining of their letters has been preserved by tradition.

Their uniform, approved personally by George II of Great Britain when Sir Robert presented a sergeant and private soldier to His Majesty in London in 1740, included a kilt of dark green "military" tartan, belted plaid, and blue bonnet with black cockade.

Three of those condemned to death by court-martial were shot, and the remainder transported to the British West Indies: although they blamed the Government, and not their officers, for a breach of faith, it was an unfortunate start to what was to become a remarkable record of service.

[4] They went through the broadsword exercise, and showed their skill in handling the Lochaber axe before his Majesty the king, Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, Marshal George Wade and a number of general officers.

There the men earned high praise for their behaviour towards the civilian population, and the regiment became a favourite choice as guardians of property; Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria told his envoy in London that this was owing to Sir Robert's care, "for whose sake he should always pay a regard to a Scotchman".

A British army under Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland faced the forces of Maurice, comte de Saxe and was defeated, but the "Highland furies" (as one Frenchman called them) saved it from disaster by their gallantry.

Ordered to Scotland, they reached Edinburgh early in January, in time to march out and form part of the left wing of the force led by Henry Hawley which met the Jacobites in a storm of rain and hail at the Battle of Falkirk Muir.

[6] At first, Sir Robert was reported wounded and a prisoner, and then "murdered in cold blood"; it seems that only a servant and his younger brother (Dr. Duncan Munro, who rode unarmed to his assistance and was also killed) were with him when he was shot or cut down.

Now, by its latest restoration, it is once more a fitting reminder of the man it commemorates: "Sincere and active in the service of his friends, humane and forgiving to his enemies, generous and benevolent to all, his death was universally regretted even by those who slew him.