Robert Ross papers

The items in this collection relate in some way to the military career of Major General Robert Ross. An apologia for the decision to burn public buildings in Washington emerges as a sub-theme. The Collection consists of one box. There are nine folders of manuscript materials {arranged in rough chronological order) and eleven folders of newspaper clippings.

The first two manuscript letters are signed by Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (1763 - 1827). The Duke of York was the second son of King George III of England and was the-brother of the Prince Regent (later King George IV). Both these letters are commendations to Ross for his bravery in the battles of Corunna and Vittoria and are dated 1813 and 1814 respectively. (These battles were part of the Penninsula Campaign during the Napoleonic Wars, and Ross was serving under . WelIington at the time). The letters were written at the command of his royal highness, the Prince Regent, on behalf of His Majesty (George III). In 18Q9 the Duke of York had been embarrassed by his involvement in a scandal with Mary Anne Clarke and was forced into a two year retirement. These letters show him back in favour as they are signed "Frederick, Commander in Chief", and they were written at the Horse Guards (located beside Whitehall). It is said that the position which the Duke of York held at the Horse Guards was always very important to him.

The third manuscript is a letter written by Fitzroy Somerset, as military secretary to the Duke of Wellington, asking Robert Ross to take a brigade from Bordeaux to North America. Wellington had led his troops into battle near Toulouse in April, 1814, the same month that Napoleon abdicated. Almost immediately thereafter, some British troops were redeployed from Europe to Canada and the United States. This letter is dated "Toulouse, May 14, 1814". Somerset went on to fight heroically at Waterloo (where he lost an arm) and much later to gain notoriety as the unfortunate Raglan whose ambiguous orders led to the disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" during the Crimean War.

Three of the remaining manuscripts are simply extractsfrom other sources. One is an account of the proceedings in the House of Commons in the Fall of 1814 when a monument to Boss in St. Paul's Cathedral was proposed. Another is a copy of a letter written by Ross' aide de camp, Duncan MacDougall, to the Times in 1861. This is a defense of Ross' actions in Washington, ancfV the content is important for its first-hand impressions of the capture of that city. The third item is a transcription of a section dealing with Ross in Washington from a French book on warfare: Precis de I'art de la guerre, by Baron Henri Jomini.

The eleven folders of newspaper clippings are arranged in general subject order. The clippings reflect Ross' military campaign in North America, namely in the Washington, D. C. area. Many are disembodied, and the newspaper titles are hard to identify ' although they appear to be British. There is a moderate amount of duplication.