James Hope

General Sir James Archibald Hope, (14 April 1786 – 30 December 1871) was a senior officer in the British Army. Military service Hope was born the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Erskine Hope of the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot. In January 1800 he joined the British Army as an ensign in the 26th, then stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hope became a lieutenant in the regiment in 1801 and a captain in 1805. He served with the regiment in the Hanover Expedition in 1805–06 and was a deputy assistant adjutant-general under Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. He then served on the staff of Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope in Sweden during the Finnish War in 1808 and in the Peninsular War in 1808–09, including at the Battle of Corunna, and the Walcheren Campaign. He was aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham at the Battle of Barossa, and brought home despatches and the French eagle captured by the 87th Regiment of Foot. He was afterwards with Graham at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. When Graham went home on sick leave during Lord Wellington's advance against the forts of Salamanca, Hope was appointed an assistant adjutant-general, in which capacity he was present at the Battle of Salamanca, Siege of Burgos, Battle of Vitoria, Siege of San Sebastián, and the Battle of the Bidassoa. He was afterwards selected, while attached to the 7th Division, to act as assistant adjutant-general and military secretary to Marshal William Beresford, who was in command of an army corps of three divisions. With this corps Hope was present at the concluding campaigns, including the Battle of Nivelle, Battle of the Nive, Battle of Orthez, and the Battle of Toulouse.