Sir James Pulteney , 7th Baronet General Sir James Murray Pulteney , 7th Baronet PC ( c . 1755 – 26 April 1811 ) was a Scottish soldier and British politician . Background and education . Born James Murray , he was the eldest son of Colonel Sir Robert Murray , 6th Baronet and his first wife Janet Murray , a younger sister of Patrick Murray , 5th Lord Elibank . Murray succeeded his father as baronet in 1771 , while still a minor . He was educated at Westminster School and joined then the British Army . Military career . Murray had had his first commission purchased in his mid - teens , as lieutenant in the 19th Regiment of Foot in 1770 . Already a year later , he became captain in the 57th Regiment of Foot . He left for Europe in 1772 and having spent the time travelling , he returned to his regiment in Ireland in November 1775 . With begin of the next year , Murray embarked for The Colonies to serve in the American War of Independence . He was wounded at the ankle during the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777 , and shared his convalescence with his cousin Patrick Ferguson . Soon after recovering , he was shot through the thigh at the Battle of White Marsh in November . Murray purchased a majorship in 1778 , serving with the 4th Regiment of Foot in the West Indies and was involved in the Battle of St Lucia . He became lieutenant - colonel of the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1780 and on the regiment ' s disbandmend after three years was set on halfpay . In 1789 , he was transferred to active duty and was appointed an aide - de - camp to King George III of the United Kingdom , ranked as a colonel . Murray was sent to Koblenz , the headquarter of the allied forces against the French Revolutionary Armies . He was attached as adjudant to the Frederick , Duke of York in April 1793 , fighting in Flanders , and was promoted to major - general in December . In 1794 , he received command of the 18th Regiment of Foot and led his regiment to suppress the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . A year thereafter , in June 1799 Pulteney ( he had taken the name of Pulteney in 1794 ) was made a lieutenant - general and in November was wounded in the Helder Campaign , having been second in command . He commanded the Ferrol Expedition in August 1800 and sailed then to Gibraltar , before returning to England . In 1808 he became a full general . Political career . In 1790 , he entered the British House of Commons , sitting as a Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis until his death in 1811 . Murray - Pulteney was sworn off the Privy Council in 1807 , when he became Secretary at War , a post he held for two years . Family and death . On 24 July 1794 , he married Henriette Laura Pulteney , 1st Baroness Bath , daughter of his cousin Sir William Pulteney , 5th Baronet in Bath House , London . Two days before he had by Royal Licence assumed the surname Pulteney only to inherit his wife ' s relative Harry Pulteney . Henrietta was raised to a countess in her own right in 1803 and inherited also the estates of her father in 1805 , worth about £50 , 000 per year . She predeceased her husband in 1808 and Murray survived her for three years , dying in Buckenham in Norfolk , from complications after losing an eye when a powder flask accidentally exploded in his face . He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his halfbrother John .