George Munro, 1st of Auchinbowie

George Munro of Auchinbowie, originally of Bearcrofts was a Scottish born military officer of the late 17th century. He was the first Munro of Auchinbowie.^[1]

Lineage

George Munro was the eldest son of Sir Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts. George married Margarat Bruce, the daughter of Robert Bruce of Auchinbowie, a property about four miles south of Stirling. Tradition tells us that the Munros of Bearcrofts descend from John Munro, 1st of Milntown who was a younger son of Hugh Munro, 9th Baron of Foulis (d.1425). From the 16th century onwards this line of the Munro family history is continuous and vouched by documentary evidence: Three generations after John Munro of Miltown is George Munro of Milntown who became one of the most prominent ministers in the Reformed Church in the north of Scotland. A younger son of his was also called George and followed in his footsteps. This George's third son was Sir Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts, father of the George Munro who would become the first Laird of Auchinbowie.^[1]

Military career

George Munro fought for the British government at the Battle of Dunkeld in 1689 where the Jacobites were defeated. He held command as a Captain in the Cameronian 26th Regiment of Foot. The Battle of Dunkeld is said to have lasted four to five hours. The Cameronian regiment of 1200 men was outnumbered by a force of 5000 Jacobites. In the first hour of the battle the Colonel of the Cameronian regiment was killed and the Major was wounded so the command fell to Captain George Munro. It is said that they had to use lead stripped off the roofs of houses and melted in the ground for ammunition. The Jacobites were eventually defeated.^[1]

After the Battle of Dunkeld, Captain George Munro was promoted to Major and was put in command of an independent company of foot in Perthshire. Later as a Major in Sir Charles Graham's Regiment of Foot he fought at the Siege of Namur in 1695.^[1]

Family

George Munro and Margarat Bruce married in 1693. Margarat was the second daughter of Robert Bruce of Auchinbowie. Margarat had no brothers, and on her father's death the property fell to her elder sister Janet Bruce. However Janet's husband, Captain William Bruce, killed another gentleman in a drunken brawl. He fled from justice, leaving Janet to cope with the debts of the property, which proved too much for her. In 1702 Janet Bruce sold the property to her brother-in-law, Major George Munro, who thus became the Laird of Auchinbowie.^[1]

George Munro had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Alexander Munro, succeeded as the Laird of Auchinbowie. George's only daughter Margarat was born in 1707. George's younger son, George Monro, is believed to have been born in Ireland in about 1700 at Clonfin in county Longford.^[1]

His younger son George Monro became famous for his resolute but ultimately unsuccessful defence of Fort William Henry in 1757 during the Seven Years' War/French and Indian War and the subsequent massacre of his garrison at the hands of France’s American Indian allies which is portrayed in the film; The Last of the Mohicans.^[2]

References