Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross

General Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross (23 November 1725 – September 1802), known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Lord Gore until 1768 and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Irish soldier, politician and peer.

Born at Belle Isle Castle, he was the second son of Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet and his second wife Elizabeth, only daughter of St George Ashe, at that time Bishop of Clogher. Gore was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and in 1744, he purchased a lieutenantcy in the 33rd Regiment of Foot. In 1746, he succeeded his older brother St George as baronet.

In the middle of the War of the Austrian Succession, Gore joined the regiment in Flandern in 1745 and took over a company. At the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May, he was hit on his right arm by a shot, however quickly recovered. During the Battle of Lauffeld on 2 July 1747 all his superior officers were killed or severely wounded, so command of the battalion fell to Gore, who performed so well, that on the following day he received the thanks of the British commander Prince William, Duke of Cumberland.

In 1760, he raised the 92nd Regiment of Foot (Donegal Light Infantry) and became its lieutenant-colonel until the regiment's dissolution three years later. Gore was promoted to colonel in 1772 and to major-general in 1777. Two years thereafter he was admitted to the Irish general staff and in 1781 obtained colonelship of the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot. In the following year, he was made a lieutenant-general and in 1788 during the absence of Sir William Augustus Pitt was acting Commander-in-Chief, Ireland. Gore was promoted to a full general in 1796.

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