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In 1710, a Colonel John Forbes, sired a
son he also named John. Young John avoided as a young man the clan
warfare then prevailing. He wanted to study medicine as a career. But in
his second year as a medical student, he decided to become a soldier
instead - not to fight for his clan, but in a Scots unit of the British
Army.
Well educated, he was accepted and
commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Scots Dragoons. A capable and
effective soldier like so many of his clansmen, John Forbes won praise
from General Lord Ligonier and others. His first significant
appointment was as Quartermaster General in the Third British Army of the
Duke of Bedford.
Later, as an infantry General, he earned
his unique claim to fame, first as the Commander in Chief of a British
Army in which Colonel (later, General and President) George Washington
served as his aide; and in his decisive military victory in America. Most
historical texts do not show British military forces in America in a
favorable light.
Learn
more about him here! |
