E NO. 10 NOTES SUR LE GENERAL MURRAV

Murray, James (1752-1794), general, governor of Quebec and of Minorea, born about 1725, was fifih son of Alexander, fourth lord Elibank, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of George Sürling, surgeon, and M. P. for Edinburgh city. Te was brother of Henry Patrick Murray, fifth lord Elibank, and of Alexander Murray (1723-1777). There is some ambiguity in the date of his tirat commission, 48 there are several officers of the name uadistinguisbable in the entry and commission books, Probably he was tho James Murr: 1ÿ who, on 2 february 1740, was appointed second lieutenant in Vyny 4 marines (Home Office Military Entrybook XVII, 12) Henry tra was lieutenant colonel of that a In a memorial to Ligonier in 1738, James Murray states that he had then served nearly twenty yeurs 48 à COMmissioned officer, and had been present withthe 15th foot throughout all its service in the West Indies, Flanders, and Brittanny during the last war (addit. Ms. 21628, f. 302). These services included the Carthagena expedition and subsequent operations in the east of Cuba, the defence of Ostend in 1745 by a mixed force of british and austrians under count Chanclos,and the L'Orient expedition of 1748 (Cannon Hist. Rec. 15th Foot). At L'Orient Murray was captain of the grenadier company of the 15th, which attack:d the French with great gallantry when many of the other troops shamefully misbehaved. Murray became major in the 15th in Ireland in the following yeur, and on 5 jan. 1761 purchased the lieutenant coloneley. He commanded the regiment in the Rochfort

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pedition à defence and auspedition L'Orient 1y of the rallantry behaved.

the foleutenant Rochfort

APPENDICE XVII expedition of 1757, and was a witness for the defence at the ensuing trial of Sir John Mordaunt (1697-1780).

He took the regiment out to America in 1757, and commanded à brigade at the siege of Louisbourg, Cape Breton, in 1758. Wolife wrote to lord (reorse Sackville, afterwards Germain, from Louisbourg : Murray, my old antagonist, has aetad with intinite spirit, The public is inuch indebted to him for great services in advancing….. this siege. (HList, M SS, Comm, 9th Rep. pt. LL, p. 764) Murray was one of the three brigadiers (Monckton and Townshend were the other two) under Wolfe in the expedition against Quebec. Wolfe appears to have had à high opinion of Murray, and singled him out for the most hazardous exploits of the campaign. (Wright, Life Of Wolfe, p. 501). Murray commanded the left Wing Of the army in the battle on the plain of Abrahum, 13 sept, 1759, where Wolfe fell. The city surrendered on 18 sep., When a council of war decided on its retention, Murrax was left there with four thousand troops, while the rest of the army sailod away with the fleet, belore the navi. gation of the St-Luwrence should be closed for the season. Murray spent the winter of 1759-1760 in active preparations tor an expected siege, and his difficulties wer. numerous (cf.his manuseript journal from september 1759 to may 1760, printed by the Historical S:ciery of Quebec in 1870), He was without funds, which had to be raised at 5 per cent, on the note of hand of the two semor officers : drunkenness and thieving were rife among the soldiers, and had to be met by special measures : sickness was very prevaient, Knox, Who was one of the gurrison, says that during the first nine months of the occupation they buried a thousand men and had a daily average of an equal number sick, chiefly of scurvy (Knox, Hist. account, vol. IT), Murray established a number of out posts round the city, repuired the defences, and mounted [32 pieces of cannon of all sorts upon them, On 26 april 1760 the French commander, De Levis, landed in the vicinity with à very superior force, and was menucing the out posts at Lorette and St-Foix, On 28 april Murray marched out with two thousand men and twenty guns, and attacked the French at Sillery with great

VXIII APPENDICE

vigour, driving their first line in upon the second, und inflicung very heavy loss, The audacity of the attack with a force 80 inferior surprisd the trench, but the british were outnumbered three to one, and after losing one-third of their number were driven back into the city, which wus forthwith besieged by an army of tifteen thousund men, À planofthe battle, showing 1he country round bout Quebec, is in the british museum (Addit, M. S. 21656, 61, 81), Walpole repeats the version of the atfluir current in London that Murray got into a misiake and a morass, and was losed, embogwed and defeated (Wulpole, letters, [TI, 317). The French battevies did not open upon the city until 11 muy, and on 15 may De Levis, disheartened by tue arrival in the St. Laurence of a naval squadron under Lord Colville, and the destruction of the trench ships by some of the advunced frigates, raised the siege and retirel precipitately to Montreal, where he joined the troops under De Vaudreuil. In accordance with orders from general Amherst (see Amberst, Jeffrey, Lord Ambherst), Murray embharked on 10 june 1760 with all his remuining effective Lr'OOpS, 2,500 in all, for Montreal, the place of importance in Canada remaining in the hands of the fre nch, whither columns from New-York under Ambherst,and from Crown point under colonel William “ar were converging, After a tedious voyage Murruy landed on the island of Montreal on 7 sept. éviiurid Hiva the same evening and Amherst the next day. On 13 sept., 1760 De Vaudreuil's troops, which included all the french troops, remaining in the country, laid down their arms, and the dominion of Cunadu passed to the victors.

Murray was appointed governor of Quebec 27 oct. 1760 (War office, Privy Council, p. 21). He had bcen made colonel commandant of x battalion of the 60th royal americans L8 oct. 1759, and was promoted 10 major general 10 july 1762. He was accused of harshness in bis government,und his severity was contrasted with the conduct of general Thomas Gage (1721-1787), in command at Montreal, A report of his government by Murray in 1762 isinthe british museum (addit. M.S$. 21667). When Canada was finally ceded to great Britain on the

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APPENDICE XIX peace of 1763, Murray was appointed on 21 nov. that year governor Of Canada, a position he held till 1766. In sept. of the same vear he suppressed, without resorting to extreme ineasures,a dangerous mutiny of the troops at Quebec, who, in consequence of à stoppage of supplies, threatened to march to New.York and lay down their arms to general Ambherst, During Murrav's administration the forms of goverment and the laws to be observed in the new colony were promulgated ; but his efforts to alleviate the discontent of the conquered population met with only partiul success.

Representutives of the people were sammoned to Quebec by the wovernment in 1769 : but the atiempt to form a representative failed, owing, it is said, to the objection of the Roman eutholics to the test-outh imposed by stutute, Murray's efforts to con@iliate the French Canadians incensed the british setlers, Who accused him sacrificing their interest to French prejudices and petitio ned for his recall, An inquiry inthe houseof lordsafter his return homeïin 1766 fully absolved Murray from these charges, Hist last years in Canada were troubled by the uprising of the indian tribes in the west, Kaown us the CONSpPIracy of Pontiac.

Aîter his retirement from Canada in 1766, Murray was for ax timeonthe irish stat}, Ie was transfered from the royal americans to the eoloneley of the 13th foot in 25 may 1712, und in 1774 wus appointed governor of Minorca, in succession to Sir George Howard. When war broke ont with Spain, in 1779, a licutenant governor was added to the establishment of the island, in the person of Sir William Druper, K. B. between whom and Murray there was want of accord from the first, and afterwards open rupture, In 1781 Minorca was threatened With a siege. Murray sent of his wife and family to Leghoro, and, shutting h'mself upin Fort St-Philip, prepared for a vigourous detence, on 20 Aug, he was, blockaded by x force ot sixteen thousand French and Spaniards under the due de Crillon, Murray's garrison consisted of 2,016 regular troops, four bundred of them being invalids (worn out soldiers), and all the troops more or less unhealthy and two hundred

mn 1. | 1707, becume « Heutenant general

XX APPENDICE

seamen from the Minorca sloop of war, which had been scuttled and sank at the mouth of the harbour to bar the entrance, Despairing of reducing the place, which had very extensive bomb proof cover, De Crillon secretly offered Murray a bribe of a million sterling to surrender, Murray spurredtheinsult, When vour brave ancestor, he wrote back to De Crillon under date 16 Oct. 1781, was desired by his sovereing,to assassinate the Duc de Cruise, he returned the answer that you should have done when you were charged to assassinate the character of a man whose birth isas illustrious as yonr own or that of the Duc de Guise, can have no further communication with you except in arms. Ifyou have any humanity, pray send clothing for vour unfortunate prisoners in my possession, Leave it at a distance to be taken for them, us will udinit of no contact for the future but such as is hostile to the mostinveterate degree. De Crillon replied : your letter restores each of us to our place ; it contirms the high opinion | alwuvs had of you, l accept your last proposal with p leasure. On 5 Feb, 1782 Murrav'sgarrison was soreducedbhy the ravages ofscurvy that only six bundred men remuined fit for duty, and of these five hundred were tainted with the disease, Such was the incommon spirit of the king's troops, that they concealed their disorder and inability rather than go into hospital ; several men died on guard after having stood on sentry, their fate not being discovered till called upon for the relief (Murray's despatch, see ann. reg, 1782, chap. X). A capitulation was arranged, and the remnant of the garrison, six hundied ol and decrepit soldiers, two hundred seamen a hundred and twenty attillerymen, and forty-five corsicans, Greeks, Turks, Moors and Jews marched out between two lines of fourteen thousand French and Spanish tioops, and laid down their arms of the glacis of George Town, declaring they surrendered to God alone, as the victors could not plume themselves on taking a hospital. After the return home

of the trooÿs Sir William Draper preferrea a number of

miscellaneous charges against Murray... twenty-nine in all...alleging,waste of publie money “4 store, extortion, rapacity, cruelty, ete, Murray was tried by a general

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APPENDICE XXI court-murtial presided over by Sir George Howard, which eut at the horse guards in november, december 1582 and januury 1783, Contemporary accounts of the trial describe Murray...Old Minorca he was nicknamed, as looking very broken, but with all the remains of a very stout man, and quite the old soldier, The court fully und honourubly ucquitted Murray of all the charges prefered against him except two oftrifle importance, some interference With auction dues in the island, and the issue of an otder derogatory to his lieutenant gover nor...for which it sentenced him to be reprimanded, On the procecdings being submitted to him,the king wus pleused 10 upprove ot the zeal, courage, and firmness with which general Murray had conducted himself in the detence of Fort St Philip, as well as of his former long and approved services. The reprimand was dispen sed with, and the king further expressed his concern that oflicer bike Sir William Draper should have allowed his judgment to become so perverted as to bring such churges awainst his sujerior ! Lest some intemperate expressions of Draper should leud to a duel, the court dictated an apologry to be signed by Draper, which, after some difliculty, was acquiesced in by Murray.

Immediately atierwards à Mr Sutherland brought an action against Murray tor illegal suspension from the oflice of juige of the vice-adimiraulty court in Minorca Murray had offered to reinstate Sutherland on his making a certain apology, ‘The matter had been referred home, and the king had approved Murray's action ; but a jury the king's approval notWwithstanding found that Murray had acted arbitrarily and unreasonably, and gave doma- Les against him to the amount of 5.000 pounus, Baron Eyre declured that it never occured to any lawyer 10 question the verdict (Term Rejorts, p, 538), On 6 may 1789, on a division by 97 ayes aguinst 22 noes, the house of commons decided that the dumages and Murray s costs be paid out of the public money.

Murray, who was made à full weneral 19 Feb. 1783, and colonel of the 21st fusiliers 5 june 1789, and was governor of Hall, died at his residence, Beauport house, near Battle, Sussex, 18 june 1794 À portrait, engraved by J. 5, \\ cele, is mentioned by Bromley,

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