Abercromby was a Freemason.

He was Initiated into Scottish Freemasonry in Lodge Canongate

Kilwinning, No. 2, (Edinburgh, Scotland) on 25 May 1753.[5]

Career
On returning from the continent, Abercromby expressed a strong preference for the military
profession, and a cornet's commission was accordingly obtained for him (March 1756) in the 3rd
Dragoon Guards. He served with his regiment in the Seven Years' War, and thus, the opportunity
afforded him of studying the methods of Frederick the Great, which moulded his military character
and formed his tactical ideas.[6]
Abercromby rose through the intermediate grades to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the regiment
(1773) and brevet colonel in 1780, and in 1781, he became colonel of the newly raised King's Irish
infantry. When that regiment was disbanded in 1783, he retired on half pay.[6] He also entered
Parliament as MP for Clackmannanshire (1774–1780).[7]
Abercromby was a strong supporter of the American cause in the American Revolutionary War, and
remained in Ireland to avoid having to fight against the colonists.[8]
When France declared war against Great Britain in 1793, Abercromby resumed his duties. He was
appointed command of a brigade under the Duke of York for service in the Netherlands, where he
commanded the advanced guard in the action at Le Cateau. During the 1794 withdrawal to Holland,
he commanded the allied forces in the action at Boxtel and was wounded directing operations at
Fort St Andries on the Waal.
In July 1795, Abercromby was nominated by Secretary of State for War Henry Dundas to lead an
expedition to the West Indies. That same month he had been made a Knight of the Bath and in
August Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Wight - a reward for his services but also possibly an
incentive to lead the army in the Caribbean.[6] The appointment of Abercromby as Commander-in-
Chief of the Leeward and Windward Islands was officially announced on 5 August.[9]
On 17 March 1796 Abercromby arrived in Carlisle Bay, Barbados on the Arethusa.[10] A third of
the 6,000 troops that had arrived on the island before him had already been sent on to Saint Vincent
and Grenada, leaving the general with 3,700 soldiers at his disposal.[11] Control of much of Saint
Vincent been lost to rebelling French planters and native Caribs since early 1795, while Grenada
was in the midst of an insurrection led by Julien Fédon. The reinforcements to Grenada allowed
General Nicolls to attack enemy posts south of Port Royal on 25 March, preventing further French
reinforcements from Guadeloupe.[11] Three months later Abercromby arrived with further
reinforcements and attacked Fédon's camp on 19 June, routing the insurgents and ending the
rebellion.[12]
The British fleet sailed on 25 April 1796 for Saint Lucia, landing the following day and establishing
a beachhead. The French were soon repelled and retreated to the fort at Morne Fortune, which
Abercromby decided to besiege. The garrison under General Goyrand surrendered to the British
army 26 May. The island had been retaken at the cost of 566 men. A force of around 4,000 was left
to hold Saint Lucia under the command of John Moore before Abercromby left for Saint Vincent at
the beginning of June.[13]
Afterwards, Abercromby secured possession of the settlements of Demerara and Essequibo in South
America, and the island of Trinidad.[6] A major assault on the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in
April 1797 failed[14] after fierce fighting where both sides suffered heavy losses.

A medallion showing the capture of Trinidad and Tobago by the British in 1797.

Sir Ralph Abercromby, Commander of the British forces that captured Trinidad and Tobago.
Abercromby returned to Europe and, in reward for his services, was appointed colonel of the 2nd
(Royal North British) Regiment of Dragoons. He was also made Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of
Wight, Governor of Fort George and Fort Augustus in the Scottish Highlands, and promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant-general. He again entered Parliament as member for Clackmannanshire from
1796 to 1798. From 1797 to 1798, he was Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland.[6]
To quote the biographic entry in the 1888 Encyclopædia Britannica,
"There he laboured to maintain the discipline of the army, to sup