James Abercrombie

Who was James Abercrombie?

Colonel James Abercrombie was a British army officer who died during the American Revolutionary War.

There is much uncertainty about Abercrombie's family. He may have been related to General James Abercrombie, but the Dictionary of Canadian Biography states that the common identification of him as the general's son or nephew is probably erroneous.

On 11 June 1744 Abercrombie was made Lieutenant of the 1st Foot. On February 16th 1756, he was promoted to the rank of Captain of the 42nd Foot. With this rank he served in the French and Indian War, notably partaking in the Battle of Fort Carillon under General Abercrombie as one of the general's aides in 1758 before being made aide-de-camp to General Amherst in 1759. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1770.

At the Battle of Bunker Hill he led the grenadier battalion in their charge of the redoubt on the Americans' left wing. During the assault he sustained a gunshot wound and was carried from the field. He was treated at a hospital facility in Boston, where he succumbed to his wound a week later.