Marjoribanks, John
Marjoribanks, John
MARJORIBANKS, JOHN. (1757–1781). British officer, hero of Eutaw Springs. Commissioned as an ensign on 24 May 1749, John Marjoribanks became a lieutenant in the Scotch-Dutch Brigade on 21 October 1749. He was promoted to lieutenant in the Nineteenth Foot Brigade on 22 September 1757, and was wounded in the siege of Belle Isle (1761), after which he was promoted to captain of the 108th Foot Brigade. On 2 April 1762 he returned to the Nineteenth Foot as captain-lieutenant, was advanced to captain on 15 June 1763, to brevet-major on 29 August 1777, and to major on 17 November 1780. From December 1779 to June 1780 he commanded a light infantry company at Kilkenny, Ireland. Sent to reinforce General Henry Clinton in the South, Marjoribanks and his regiment arrived at Charleston on 4 June 1781, and marched with Lord Francis Rawdon-Hastings to the relief of Ninety Six. As commander of the flank battalion he was mortally wounded at Eutaw Springs on 8 September, and died 23 October 1781.
SEE ALSO Eutaw Springs, South Carolina; Rawdon-Hastings, Francis.
revised by Michael Bellesiles