John Abercromby, British Army officer (1772-1817)

The second son of Sir Ralph Abercromby, he served as an aide-de-camp to his father during campaigns in Flanders (1793–94), the West Indies (1796–97), Ireland (1798) and against the Batavian Republic (1799). Promoted to colonel in 1800, he left his father's staff, but became deputy adjutant general and served under General Hutchinson in the force led by his father to Egypt (1801). He became Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army in 1809. From there he led the forces that captured Mauritius in 1810, returning to Bombay in 1811. In 1813 he transferred to become Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army and temporary Governor of Madras, with promotion to lieutenant-general.