William Mure (abt. 1758 - 1831)

Born about 1758 in Caldwell, Ayrshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Hunter Blair) Mure — married 13 Jun 1791 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Descendants

Died 9 Feb 1831 at about age 73 in Caldwell, Ayrshire, Scotland

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Biography

William Mure of Caldwell was the son of William Mure of Caldwell and Katherine Graham. Served as an officer in the 82nd Regiment of Foot/the “Hamilton Regiment” (which was raised by the 8th Duke of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, in December 1777).

After arriving in New Brunswick, in August 1778, the regiment saw service primarily in the establishment and defense of New Ireland. By 1781, however, it was sent to join Lord Cornwallis, in the taking of Wilmington, North Carolina, and the events that led up to the surrender of the regiment’s light company at Yorktown, Virginia, in October of the same year.

On 21 October 1781, Capt. William Mure penned a letter, from Yorktown, to his friend, Andrew Stuart of Craigthorn, Lanark…

"I cannot sufficiently lament the unfortunate occasion on which I have commenced my correspondence with you from America. With the receipt of this you will hear of the great public loss which has befallen us by the capitulation of this Army in Yorktown, which took place yesterday, and by which I am once more a prisoner. I refer you to Lord Cornwallis’s letter in the Gazette for the particulars of this melancholy business. Every man in the garrison is conscious that all has been done that could be done, and the greatest part of them would with pleasure have sacrificed their lives, could it any further have promoted the general good. We have been blocked up since the 28th of August by a fleet of thirty-five sail of the line, and have been besieged by an army of at least 20,000 men, with artillery sufficient to attack the strongest fortified place in Europe. After expending all our ammunition, – though almost unable to show a gun against the superiority of the enemy’s artillery, – with only a weekend’s provisions, with no prospect of relief, and after having obliged the enemy to finish their second parallel within 150 yards of our lines, Lord Cornwallis, to save the lives of many brave soldiers, entered into terms. The capitulation was signed on the 19th, surrendering prisoners of war about 3200 fit for duty, besides 200 sick or wounded. We had between 500 and 600 killed and wounded during the siege. I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that your poor nephew, Major Cochrane, suffered amongst the former. He had his head carried off by a cannon shot, when standing close to my Lord Cornwallis. He came here two days ago in a most spirited manner, with dispatches from the Commander-in-Chief, in a small boat, and got through the French fleet. He is much lamented as a most gallant officer. I pity poor Mrs. Cochrane [Catherine Pitcairn Cochrane, daughter of Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines, who had been killed, in 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill], who I hear is at New York. By this capitulation only a certain number of officers are permitted to remain with the men. The rest are paroled to England or to any British port in America. As I have for some time past been Aide-de-Camp to General O’Hara, I am one of those to be paroled, and shall go to New York as soon as General Grasse chooses to send us there. As there is nobody to exchange for us, I expect this winter to have the pleasure of seeing you in England. The French officers are polite to an extreme. I have not yet found among them any of my old Parisian acquaintance, though I dare say some of them are here. Pray send my respects to the Duke of Hamilton, and believe me, Your affectionate and humble servant, Willm. Mure."

Later colonel of the Renfrew Militia, and rector (1793-1795) at the University of Glasgow.

He married Anne Blair in 1791. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYMV-HQN : 10 February 2018), William Colonel Mure and Anne Hunter-Blair, 13 Jun 1791; citing Edinburgh Parish,Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,066,690.

• William Mure Peerage
• An Unfortunate Occasion: A Mure of Caldwell, Surrendered at Yorktown; Brythonica Blog, by Robert H. Moore, II, 21 October 2020