Robert Ross (British Army officer, born 1766)

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Major-General Robert Ross (1766 – 12 September 1814) was a British Army officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Ross joined the British army in 1789. He served as an officer in several battles during the Napoleonic Wars, including the battles of Maida and Corunna, gaining promotion to colonel. In 1809, he was sent to serve in the Peninsular War, including the Battles of Vittoria, Roncesvalles, Sorauren, and Orthez. He was wounded in the neck at the Battle of Orthez in France on 27 February 1814. Upon returning to duty later that year, Ross was made a major general and sent to North America, as commander of "all British forces on the East Coast". In August 1814, he reached Benedict, Maryland and continued on, leading the professional soldiers who quickly defeated a poorly organized American militia at the Battle of Bladensburg on 24 August; that evening, he led his troops into Washington D.C. During his command of the Burning of Washington...

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