Robert Craufurd (Newark, condado de Ayrshire, Escocia, 5 de mayo de 1764 - Ciudad Rodrigo, 24 de enero de 1812), oficial escocés del ejército británico y miembro del Parlamento. Participó en las invasiones inglesas al Rio de la Plata y en la Guerra de la Independencia española.
Inicio de la carrera militar
Era un oficial de carrera del ejército de Gran Bretaña, que en 1782 estudió táctica, estrategia y disciplina militares en Berlin. Participó en la conquista de la India y contra las rebeliones de Irlanda. Durante las guerras contra los franceses estuvo agregado durante cinco años a los ejércitos austriaco y ruso, con algunas participaciones en los Paises Bajos y Suiza.
Entre los años 1801-1805 fue miembro del parlamento East Redford, por el partido liberal y se opuso a la política exterior de William Pitt. Llegó al grado de general.
Guerra de la Independencia Española y muerte
Enviado a la península ibérica, participando activamente en la guerra de la independencia española, en la que al frente de su División Ligera siempre fue la avanzada de los ejércitos de lord Wellington. En 1809 protagonizó una brillante marcha de apoyo a Wellington, cubriendo más de 100 km en sólo 26 horas, y apoyando a su superior al día siguiente de la batalla de Talavera (1809). Su división alcanzó con esta proeza el prestigio de una de las más eficientes del ejército británico.
Pasó algunos meses en Inglaterra, pero a petición propia regresó al frente español. Poco después fue ascendido al grado de mayor general, el segundo más alto del escalafón británico.
En enero de 1812, murió durante el segundo sitio a Ciudad Rodrigo, en el oeste de España, cercano a la frontera con Portugal, tras cinco días de agonía en el Convento de San Francisco. Fue enterrado en la brecha donde había sido herido de muerte, en la parte de la muralla de Ciudad Rodrigo cercana a la Catedral, con honores tributados por el propio Wellington.
ENGLISH VERSION
Major General Robert Craufurd (5 May 1764 – 23 January 1812) was a Scottish soldier. After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, he was given command of the Light Division in the Napoleonic Peninsular war under the Duke of Wellington. Craufurd was a strict disciplinarian and somewhat prone to violent mood swings which earned him the nickname "Black Bob". He was mortally wounded storming the lesser breach in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo on 19 January 1812 and died four days later.
Craufurd was born at Newark, Ayrshire, the third son of Sir Alexander Crauford, 1st Baronet (see Crauford Baronets), and the younger brother of Sir Charles Craufurd. After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, he found himself commanding a brigade during the Peninsular War in 1808. By 1809 he was in charge of the Light Brigade, which was composed of the elite foot soldiers in the army at the time.
Coa and Agueda
In "Random Shots of a Rifleman" Kincaid estimated the strength of infantry at 4,000 and cavalry as 1,200 with one brigade of Horse Artillery in Craufurd's divisions, although Alexander Craufurd later thought this an exaggeration. The whole French army was only two hours march away. On March 23 Wellington advised that he wanted to send more money. He had three days previously indicated that the Carcaores were good, but Elder's Portuguese Corps were unavailable. Wellington suggested encouraging desertion in the French cavalry.
Craufurd's operations on the Coa and Agueda in 1810 were daring to the point of rashness; the drawing on of the French forces into what became the Coa in particular was a rare lapse in judgement that almost saw his removal from command. Although Wellington censured him for his conduct, he at the same time increased his force from brigade-strength to division-strength by the addition of two picked regiments of Portuguese Caçadores. The conduct of the renowned Light Division at Bussaco is described by Napier in one of his most vivid passages.
The winter of 1810-1811, Craufurd spent in England, and his division was commanded in the interim by another officer. He reappeared on the field of the Fuentes de Oñoro to the cheers of his men.
Death at Ciudad Rodrigo
Craufurd at Ciudad Rodrigo (from a British book)
A little later, he obtained major-general's rank; and on 19 January 1812, as he stood on the glacis of Ciudad Rodrigo, directing the stormers of the Light Division, he fell mortally wounded. His body was carried out of action by his staff officer, Lieutenant Shaw of the 43rd, and, after lingering four days, he died.
He was buried in the breach of the fortress where he had met his death, and a monument in St Paul's Cathedral commemorates Craufurd and Mackinnon, the two generals killed at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo.
Major-General Crauford was nicknamed 'Black Bob'. The nickname is supposed to refer to his habit of heavily cursing when losing his temper, his nature as a strict disciplinarian and even to his noticeably dark and heavy facial stubble. During the First World War, a Lord Clive class monitor was named for hims, HMS General Craufurd.