Alexander Leslie
BIRTH
1731
Scotland
DEATH
December 27, 1794
Edinburgh, Scotland
FAMILY
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Leslie, Alexander
(1731-1794)
The Honourable Major General Alexander Leslie was a major general in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was the commander of the British troops at the Battle of Harlem Heights. He replaced Cornwallis as commander in the South in 1782.
4
Mary Anne Leslie
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Common | 139 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02111 | PARK | ||
Battle of Harlem Heights | 478 Riverside Drive, New York, New York, 10027, USA | MARKER | ||
Leslie's Retreat Marker | 96 North St, Salem, MA 01970 | MARKER | ||
First Armed Resistance Salem Marker | 2 Commercial Street, Salem, Massachusetts, 01970, USA | MARKER |
DIED:
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dec 27, 1794
He enlisted in the 3rd Foot Guards of the British Army in 1753. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 64th Regiment of Foot in 1766. In 1775, before the American War of Independence broke out, he led troops to Salem, Massachusetts looking for contraband weapons. His advance was delayed by a standoff at a bridge, during which the colonists removed the weapons he was looking for. His force was eventually allowed to proceed, but found nothing of consequence, and was received with hostility during the expedition.
In 1776, Leslie was promoted to brigadier-general. He fought in the Battle of Long Island, the Landing at Kip's Bay, the Battle of White Plains and the Battle of Harlem Heights, the Battle of Princeton and the Siege of Charleston during the American War of Independence. At Princeton, his nephew, Captain William Leslie was mortally wounded.
In 1780, he was sent to the Chesapeake Bay by Sir Henry Clinton in order to "make a powerful diversion in Cornwallis's] favor by striking at the magazines then collecting by the enemy ... for supplying the army they were assembling to oppose him." He became major general in 1782 and was made Colonel of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot the same year. He transferred in 1788 to be Colonel of the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot to his death.