Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres and de jure 23rd Earl of Crawford (18 January 175227 March 1825) was the son of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres. He was a general in the British Army. Early life He entered the army at the age of fifteen as an ensign, in the 53rd Regiment of Foot. After attending Eton College, he studied at the University of Göttingen for two years, and subsequently purchased a captaincy in the 42nd Highland Regiment in 1771. He saw action during the American Revolutionary War; in 1775, he was appointed a major of the 53rd, and he commanded the light infantry companies at the Battle of Saratoga (1777), and surrendered there with Burgoyne. He was released from captivity in 1779. Around this time he founded the famous Haigh Ironworks with his partners, his brother Robert and James Corbett. Marriage On 1 June 1780, he married his first cousin, Elizabeth Bradshaigh Dalrymple, who had inherited Haigh Hall and estate, in Haigh near Wigan, Lancashire. They had five children: Elizabeth Keith Lindsay (died 1825), second great-grandmother of Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford (1783–1869) Edwin Lindsay Charles Robert Lindsay (1784–1835) Anne Lindsay (died 1846) Career He was subsequently promoted to the rank of colonel and made lieutenant-colonel commandant of the second 71st Regiment of Foot made up of the four additional or recruiting companies of the 71st Highlanders in Scotland. He was chosen a representative peer for Scotland in 1784, and was re-elected through 1807, inclusive. On 27 August 1789, he was appointed colonel of the 63rd Regiment of Foot, and was promoted major-general in 1793. Governor of Jamaica Commander of the forces in Jersey from 1793 to 1794, he was then appointed Governor of Jamaica. He was governor when the Second Maroon War broke out, and he mishandled the situation so badly that he allowed a minor dispute over land to mushroom into a costly conflict that lasted months. In early 1795, worried at the prospect of an uprising, Balcarres sent representatives to Havana to purchase 100 Cuban bloodhounds, which in his words were "[a] breed which are used to hunt down runaway negroes". Arriving a few months later, the bloodhounds were successfully employed against Maroons and runaways for the duration of the conflict, though their use provoked heavy criticism from abolitionists and military officers in Britain. Balcarres underestimated the