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Earl Grey.Durham, UK: N. p., 1974.HALDIMAND, FREDERICK
Haldimand, Frederick
(August 11, 1718–June 5, 1791)
English General; Colonial Governor
H
aldimand was a
scrupulously hon-
est, thoroughly
professional soldier with
considerable experience
in civil and military ad-
ministration. Despite his
reputation for bravery
and efficiency, British
prejudice against foreign-
ers prevented him from
commanding significant
bodies of troops, and he
occupied a succession of
minor posts.
Frederick Haldimand
was born in Yverdon,
Canton Vaud, Switzer-
land, on August 11, 1718,
the son of German-speak-
ing émigrés. Intent upon
a military career, he
joined the Prussian army
in 1741 as a lieutenant of the Margraf Heinrich
Regiment and fought capably at the Battles of
Mollwitz, Hohenfriedberg, and Kesseldorf. In
1748, he affected a transfer to the Dutch army
by joining the Swiss Guards, rising to lieu-
tenant colonel of that regiment by 1750. At
this juncture, Haldimand availed himself of
the opportunity to serve
in the British army, which
was experiencing a short-
age of trained officers
and sought professional
mercenaries for service
in America. Accordingly,
on January 4, 1756, he
was commissioned a lieu-
tenant colonel, Second
Battalion, of the 60th
Regiment of Foot, soon
to be famous as the Royal
Americans. This was a
unique light infantry unit,
well suited for the
forested conditions of
North America. In this ca-
pacity Haldimand fought
at the unsuccessful July
1758 attack upon Fort
Carillon (Ticonderoga),
where British forces
under Gen. James Abercromby were disas-
trously repulsed by Gen. Louis-Joseph
Montcalm. He was nevertheless roundly
praised for bravery and assigned to rebuild
British forts at Oswego, New York. By 1759,
Haldimand again fulfilled his task efficiently
and also repelled a determined attempt byFrederick Haldimand
National Archives of Canada