ther retribution if he were tried, Rommel
chose the former course, dying on October 15,
- His cause of death was publicly an-
nounced as a heart attack, and he received a
state funeral. Thus closed the career of one of
history’s legendary generals, a man so tal-
ented, heroic, and chivalrous that he was
revered by friends and enemies alike. The
Desert Fox remains the epitome of initiative
and boldness on the battlefield.
See also
Arnim, Hans-Jurgen; Bayerlein, Fritz; Kesselring, Albert;
Rundstedt, Gerd von
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A. Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign,
1942–1943.Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999.ROSS, ROBERT
Ross, Robert
(1766–September 12, 1814)
English General
T
he heroic Robert Ross was a distin-
guished veteran of the Napoleonic Wars
and a former subordinate of the Duke
of Wellington, However, his brief tenure in
America was marked by the infamous capture
and destruction of Washington, D.C. He ap-
parently entertained similar aspirations for
nearby Baltimore before dying in a minor
skirmish.
Robert Ross was born in Rostrevor, County
Down, Ireland, in 1766, the son of an army of-
ficer and was educated at Trinity College in
Dublin. He embarked upon a military career
in 1789, commissioned as an ensign in the
25th Regiment of Foot, and two years later he
rose to lieutenant in the famous Seventh
Fusiliers. By 1799, Ross had transferred as a
major to the 20th Regiment, where he ac-
quired his military reputation. That year he
accompanied the Duke of York’s English-Rus-
sian expedition against Holland and was se-
verely wounded prior to the First Battle of
Bergen. Two years later Ross fought in Egypt
under Gen. Ralph Abercromby and was pres-
ent during the capture of Alexandria. In 1803,
he assumed command of the 20th, gaining a
reputation as a strict disciplinarian who al-
ways led from the front. He offered conspicu-
ous proof of this during Gen. John Stuart’s in-
vasion of Calabria, Italy, in 1806. During the