Sir Charles Munro, 9th Baronet of Foulis-Obsdale (born 20th May 1795) was a Scottish Baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 and soldier. He was also chief of the Highland Clan Munro

Clan Munro

-Origins:The main traditional origin of the clan is that the Munros came from Ireland and settled in Scotland in the 11th century and that they fought as mercenary soldiers under the Earl of Ross who defeated Viking invaders in Rosshire...

.

Biography

Sir Charles Munro was the son of George Munro of Culrain and a lineal descendant of Sir George Munro, 1st of Newmore

George Munro, 1st of Newmore

Sir George Munro, 1st of Newmore was a 17th century Scottish soldier and member of parliament from the Clan Munro, Ross-shire, Scotland. He was seated at Newmore Castle.-Lineage:...

. Sir Charles was born in 1795 and educated at Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

.

Sir Charles Munro entered the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 as Ensign

Ensign

An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

 in the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot

45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot

The 45th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment. During the Childers Reforms it was united with the 95th Regiment of Foot to form the The Sherwood Foresters ....

, and served with much distinction, under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

 - who in the General Orders of Madrid described Sir Charles Munro as "one of the bravest officers in the British Army", in the Peninsular Campaign, from 1810 to the conclusion of the war in 1815. He was badly wounded at the storming of Badajoz

Badajoz

Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....

. As an acknowledgment of his distinguished services he was awarded a medal with seven clasps: for the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) (18th January 1812), Battle of Badajoz

Battle of Badajoz (1812)

In the Battle of Badajoz , the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, besieged Badajoz, Spain and forced the surrender of the French garrison....

 (6th April 1812), Battle of Salamanca

Battle of Salamanca

The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....

 (22nd July 1812), Battle of Nive (13th December 1813), Battle of Orthez

Battle of Orthez

The Battle of Orthez saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington defeat a French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France near the end of the Peninsular War.-Preliminaries:...

 (17th February 1814), and Battle of Toulouse

Battle of Toulouse (1814)

The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition...

 (10th April 1814).

Sir Charles Munro also served in the War of Independence in South America and in 1817 commanded the 1st Regiment of English Lancers in the service of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. In 1818 he served under the celebrated patriot, General Simon Bolivar

Simón Bolívar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

.

Family

Sir Charles Munro married first while a Captain in the army on the 20th of June 1817, Amelia, daughter of Frederick Browne, 14th Light Dragoons, with issue:

1. George Frederick Munro. (died young)
2. Charles Munro, 10th Baronet. (heir and successor)
3. Harry Munro. (whose son was Sir George Hamilton Munro, 12th Baronet)
4. Frederick Munro. (moved to Australia)
5. Gustavus Francis (Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines
   Royal Marines
   The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
   
   ).
6. Arthur Munro
7. Marion Ross Munro.
8. Amelia Agnes Munro.

Sources

• History of the Munros of Fowlis. Published in Edinburgh 1898. Written by Alexander Mackenzie. Pages 155 to 157.