Simon was born 26 May 1729, the son of Alexander Fraser of Balnain, son of Hugh Fraser of Balnain by his wife Katherine Chisholm, daughter of Alexander Chisholm 19th of
Chisholm by his wife, eldest daughter of Roderick Mackenzie I of Applecross. Simon Fraser's mother was his father's second wife, Jean Mackintosh, daughter of Angus Mackintosh 10th of Kyllachy by his wife Lucy, daughter of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd
baronet of Coul. Simon's brother Thomas Fraser (born 8 June 1726), M.D. of Antigua's daughter Jean married
Charles Grant, parents of
Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg Apparently seeking to atone for the participation of
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat in the
Jacobite rising of 1745, he fought with the
Dutch States Army at
Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom in 1747, and joined the
British Army as a
lieutenant in 1755. Fraser went to
Canada with the British forces in the
French and Indian War and took part in the
Siege of Louisbourg. He was promoted to
captain before taking part in the
Battle of Quebec in 1759. At that battle, he was in
James Wolfe's boat crossing St Lawrence. It was his reply, in
French through the fog, that enabled the party to sneak ashore before ascending to the
Plains of Abraham. He is not the
Simon Fraser depicted in the famous painting
The Death of General Wolfe. Fraser served in
Germany,
Ireland, and
Gibraltar between wars. In 1768, he became the Lt. Colonel of the
24th Regiment of Foot. ==American War of Independence==