Biography

Life began on the Rock of Gibraltar for James Craig, the son of a judge. After military school in Italy, Craig joined the British army at age 15. Ten years later, in 1773, he was an infantry officer in New Jersey. He led Redcoats in many northern battles of the Revolution and was wounded at least twice, including at Bunker Hill (Mass.).[1]

Craig was asked to negotiate the surrender of the British at the Battle of Saratoga (N.Y.) in 1777, and carried the terms back to London. He returned a major, in command of a new regiment of 200, the 82^nd Foot. It spent its first 18 months mostly in Nova Scotia, with Craig serving as a court martial judge.

In January 1781, the 82^nd was transferred to Charleston, where Lord Charles Cornwallis ordered Craig to occupy Wilmington with additional troops. For 11 months Craig foraged supplies for British forces in the south, captured Patriots, burned their plantations, fostered Loyalist reprisals, and raided New Bern. After Cornwallis surrendered, Craig was ordered to abandon the area.

Later he was knighted and served in Ireland, Flanders, India, and Italy, and as governor of the Colony of Good Hope in Africa. One of his officers wrote of him, “‘In person he was very short, broad, and muscular, a pocket Hercules, but with