John Forbes. This house of Pittencrieff was the family home of Brigadier General John Forbes, born 1707, sometimes colonel of the 17th Regiment of Foot and Commander of His Majesty's Troops in the southern province of North America. He was the third son of Colonel John Forbes, proprietor of Pittencrieff from 1701-1707, and Elizabeth Graham. Brigadier General Forbes precipitated the withdrawal of the French from Fort Duquesne, in 1758, renaming the site 'Pittsburgh' after his patron, William Pitt the Elder. Forbes died at Philadelphia in 1759, and was interred in Christ Church, in that city.