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Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake: Difference between revisions
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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
Lake entered the foot guards in 1758, becoming lieutenant (captain in the army) in 1762, captain (lieutenant-colonel) in 1776, major in 1784, and lieutenant colonel in 1792, by which time he was a general officer in the army. He served with his regiment in Germany between 1760 and 1762, and with a composite battalion in the [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|Battle of Yorktown of 1781]]. After this he was [[equerry]] to the [[Prince of Wales]], afterwards [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]. | Lake entered the foot guards in 1758, becoming lieutenant (captain in the army) in 1762, captain (lieutenant-colonel) in 1776, major in 1784, and lieutenant colonel in 1792, by which time he was a general officer in the army. He served with his regiment in Germany between 1760 and 1762, and with a composite battalion in the [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|Battle of Yorktown of 1781]]. After this he was [[equerry]] to the [[Prince of Wales]], afterwards [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]. His younger brother [[Warwick Lake|Warwick]] served as a groom of the bedchamber for the Prince, and later oversaw his stables of [[racehorse]]s. | ||
In 1790, he became a major-general, and in 1793 was appointed to command the Guards Brigade in the [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Duke of York and Albany]]'s army in [[Flanders]] during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He was in command at the successful [[Battle of Lincelles]] on 18 August 1793, and served on the continent (except for a short time when seriously ill) until April 1794. He later sold his lieutenant-colonelcy in the guards, and became colonel of the [[53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot|53rd Regiment of Foot]] and governor of [[Limerick]] in [[Ireland]]. In 1797 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. | In 1790, he became a major-general, and in 1793 was appointed to command the Guards Brigade in the [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Duke of York and Albany]]'s army in [[Flanders]] during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He was in command at the successful [[Battle of Lincelles]] on 18 August 1793, and served on the continent (except for a short time when seriously ill) until April 1794. He later sold his lieutenant-colonelcy in the guards, and became colonel of the [[53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot|53rd Regiment of Foot]] and governor of [[Limerick]] in [[Ireland]]. In 1797 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. | ||
==American | ==American War of Independence== | ||
As lieutenant-colonel Lake went out with drafts to America in the spring of 1781, made the campaign in North Carolina under [[Charles_Cornwallis,_1st_Marquess_Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]], and commanded the grenadiers of the guards and of the old 80th royal Edinburgh regiment in a sortie, under [[Robert_Abercromby_of_Airthrey| Colonel Robert Abercromby]], from the British lines at York Town, which inflicted heavy loss on the French and American besiegers, on 11 October that year. After the surrender of Cornwallis's force [on 19 October 1781] Lake remained prisoner on parole until the end of the war.<ref>Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 31 Lake, Gerard by Henry Manners Chichester</ref> | As lieutenant-colonel Lake went out with drafts to America in the spring of 1781, made the campaign in North Carolina under [[Charles_Cornwallis,_1st_Marquess_Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]], and commanded the grenadiers of the guards and of the old 80th royal Edinburgh regiment in a sortie, under [[Robert_Abercromby_of_Airthrey| Colonel Robert Abercromby]], from the British lines at York Town, which inflicted heavy loss on the French and American besiegers, on 11 October that year. After the surrender of Cornwallis's force [on 19 October 1781] Lake remained prisoner on parole until the end of the war.<ref>Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 31 Lake, Gerard by Henry Manners Chichester</ref> Hugh Wodehouse Pearse reports that "Lake was one of the three field officers selected by lot to take charge of the troops in captivity, but, as he was anxious for private reasons to proceed to England, Major [[James_Gordon_(British_Army_officer,_died_1783)|Gordon]] of the 76th {{sic}} [80th] Regiment generously volunteered to take his place. Major, then Lieut.-Colonel, Gordon died in captivity.<ref>{{cite book|title=Memoir of the life and military services of Viscount Lake: Baron Lake of Delhi and Laswaree, 1744-1808|date=1 January 1908 |first= Hugh Wodehouse |last=Pearse |page=64|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnb6b9&view=1up&seq=90&skin=2021&q1=1781}}</ref> | ||
== 1798 rebellion in Ireland == | == 1798 rebellion in Ireland == | ||
In December 1796 he was appointed commander in [[Ulster]] and issued a proclamation ordering the surrender of all arms by the civil population, during which time he was 'untroubled by legal restraints or by his troops' violent actions'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a4643|title=Lake, Gerard|last=Quinn|first=James|date=2009|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography}}</ref> Historians have generally seen Lake's ''Dragooning of Ulster'' in 1797 as effective in disarming and crippling the [[Society of United Irishmen]] in that province, although his effectiveness has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Union: Ireland in the 1790s|last=Curtin|first=Nancy J.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=0521661099|editor-last=Smyth|editor-first=Jim|pages=39|chapter=The Magistracy and Counter-Revolution in Ulster, 1795-1798}}</ref> Lake succeeded Sir [[Ralph Abercromby]] as commander-in-chief of British troops in Ireland in April 1798 and turned his attention to Leinster, where 'public floggings and torture of suspected rebels became widespread and added to the general atmosphere of terror'.<ref name=":0" /> Rather than cowing the province into submission, 'his crude methods probably contributed to the outbreak of [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|insurrection]]' in May 1798.<ref name=":0" /> Lake continued to deal harshly with opposition, and issued orders to take no prisoners during the rebellion.<ref>{{Cite | In December 1796 he was appointed commander in [[Ulster]] and issued a proclamation ordering the surrender of all arms by the civil population, during which time he was 'untroubled by legal restraints or by his troops' violent actions'.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a4643|title=Lake, Gerard|last=Quinn|first=James|date=2009|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography}}</ref> Historians have generally seen Lake's ''Dragooning of Ulster'' in 1797 as effective in disarming and crippling the [[Society of United Irishmen]] in that province, although his effectiveness has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Union: Ireland in the 1790s|last=Curtin|first=Nancy J.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=0521661099|editor-last=Smyth|editor-first=Jim|pages=39|chapter=The Magistracy and Counter-Revolution in Ulster, 1795-1798}}</ref> Lake succeeded Sir [[Ralph Abercromby]] as commander-in-chief of British troops in Ireland in April 1798 and turned his attention to Leinster, where 'public floggings and torture of suspected rebels became widespread and added to the general atmosphere of terror'.<ref name=":0" /> Rather than cowing the province into submission, 'his crude methods probably contributed to the outbreak of [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|insurrection]]' in May 1798.<ref name=":0" /> Lake continued to deal harshly with opposition, and issued orders to take no prisoners during the rebellion.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/15900|title=Lake, Gerard, first Viscount Lake of Delhi (1744–1808)|last=Bennell|first=Anthony S.|date=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/15900|access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> | ||
In May Lake commanded troops in [[County Kildare]], and, after the unsuccessful [[Battle of Naas|rebel attack on Naas]] on 24 May, he assisted [[Ralph Dundas|General Ralph Dundas]] in ensuring the rebel surrender after the [[Battle of Kilcullen]], which Dundas arranged on humane terms. Another rebel force on the nearby [[Curragh]] were also persuaded to surrender, but while this was being arranged by Lake the rebels were mistakenly attacked by separate British forces coming from the opposite direction, resulting in the [[Gibbet Rath massacre]] on 29 May. As a result, central Kildare remained quiet for the rest of 1798.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} | In May Lake commanded troops in [[County Kildare]], and, after the unsuccessful [[Battle of Naas|rebel attack on Naas]] on 24 May, he assisted [[Ralph Dundas|General Ralph Dundas]] in ensuring the rebel surrender after the [[Battle of Kilcullen]], which Dundas arranged on humane terms. Another rebel force on the nearby [[Curragh]] were also persuaded to surrender, but while this was being arranged by Lake the rebels were mistakenly attacked by separate British forces coming from the opposite direction, resulting in the [[Gibbet Rath massacre]] on 29 May. As a result, central Kildare remained quiet for the rest of 1798.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} | ||