Nisbet Balfour

Quick Facts

Significance:

British Army officer

Place of Birth:

Dunbog, Scotland

Date of Birth:

1843

Place of Death:

Dunbog, Scotland

Date of Death:

October 10, 1823

The third son of John, third Lord Balfour, Nisbet Balfour was born in Dunbog in County Fife, Scotland in 1743. He entered the service of the British Army as an ensign in 1761, rising to lieutenant in 1765, and captain in 1770.

Balfour faced his first combat experience at the Battle of Bunker Hill where he was seriously wounded. He also proved his military skills at the battles at Long Island and Brooklyn. Due to his role in the capture of New York, Balfour received the honor of an assignment to return to Great Britain. He brought with him the news of the success, and was subsequently promoted major by brevet.¹

Balfour soon returned to the colonies and became friends with several fellow officers, including Charles Lord Cornwallis and Francis Lord Rawdon. He then served at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. In 1778, after being appointed lieutenant colonel of the 23rd regiment, Balfour went to Charleston with Cornwallis. 

Balfour served in South Carolina during the British occupation of the colony. Here, he was initially placed in command of the garrison at Ninety Six. He also assisted Major Patrick Ferguson in the recruitment of loyalist militia. Cornwallis then appointed Balfour Commandant of Charleston, a position he began in the beginning of August 1780. Balfour worked efficiently and methodically as Commandant. He oversaw both the civil affairs of the town and country, as well as organized military support of British forces nearby.² 

Balfour soon began to draw the anger of revolutionary Charlestonians. Brigadier General William Moultrie, one of the commanders of the American POWs, accused Balfour of “violent and arbitrary administration,” and that “Balfour, a proud, haughty Scot, carried his authority with a very high hand. His tyrannical, insolent disposition treated the people as the most abject slaves.”³

As British commandant, Balfour was unyielding toward the revolutionaries. He followed the orders his commanders provided that dictated the policies in Charleston. For civil matters, he turned to the Board of Police for support.

The writings and memories of Americans like William Moultrie and Ramsay paint Balfour as a villian in the occupation of Charleston. However, these accounts are supported by Balfour's own actions. For example, Balfour promoted the transportation of leading patriots to St. Augustine, and he also gave his support for Col. Isaac Hayne's death sentence, which Hayne received for the crimes of espionage and treason. Additionally, Balfour cruelly crammed Continental and militia captives into tight quarters on prison ships , which led many POWs to die of smallpox or fevers.⁴ 

After the war, Balfour was promoted to full colonel, and later served as an aide-de-camp to King George III. He served as a member of Parliament and also as a major general in Flanders. His ended his military career as a general, and died at Dunbog in 1823.

Footnotes

1. "Balfour, Nisbet," in Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Leslie Stephen (New York: MacMillan and Co., 1885) 57, Internet Archive. 
2. Ian Saberton, "The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain British and British American actors," Journal of the American Revolution, November 21, 2016.
3. Ian Saberton, "The Revolutionary War in the south."
4. Ian Saberton, "The Revolutionary War in the south."

Sources

"Balfour, Nisbet" In Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Leslie Stephen, 56-57. New York: MacMillan and Co., 1885. Internet Archive. 

O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson. The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire. United States: Yale University Press, 2013.

Saberton, Ian. "The Decision that Lost Britain the War: An Enigma Now Resolved." Journal of the American Revolution. January 8, 2019. 

Saberton Ian, "The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain British and British American actors." Journal of the American Revolution. November 21, 2016.