Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

Prince William^[1]
Prince William
	Duke of Cumberland
	Portrait by Joshua Reynolds, 1758
Full name
	William Augustus
House	House of Hanover
Father	George II
Mother	Caroline of Ansbach
Born	26 April 1721; Leicester House, London
Died	31 October 1765 (aged 44); London
Burial	Westminster Abbey, London

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The Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (William Augustus^[1]; 26 April 1721^[2][N.S.] – 31 October 1765) was a younger son of George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. He is generally best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, though he went on to enjoy a successful military career. Following the Convention of Klosterzeven in 1757 he never held active military command, and switched his attentions to politics.

[edit] Early life

William was born in the Leicester House, Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square), London, where his parents had moved after his grandfather, George I, accepted the invitation to ascend the British throne. His godparents included The King and The Queen in Prussia (his paternal aunt), but they apparently did not take part in person and were presumably represented by proxy.^[3] On 27 July 1726^[4], at only four-years-old, he was created Duke of Cumberland, Marquess of Berkhamstead in the County of Hertford, Earl of Kennington in the County of Surrey, Viscount of Trematon in the County of Cornwall, and Baron of the Isle of Alderney. The young prince was educated well (his tutor was his mother's favourite Andrew Fountaine), becoming his parents' favourite (so much so that his father would later consider ways of making him his heir in preference over his eldest brother, Frederick, Prince of Wales). At Hampton Court Palace, apartments were designed specially for him by William Kent.

[edit] Military career

From childhood, he showed physical courage and ability. He was intended, by the King and Queen, for the office of Lord High Admiral, and, in 1740, he sailed, as a volunteer, in the fleet under the command of Sir John Norris, but he quickly became dissatisfied with the Navy, and, early in 1742, he began an Army career. In December 1742, he became a Major-General, and, the following year, he first saw active service in Persia. George II and the "martial boy" shared in the glory of the Battle of Dettingen (27 June 1743), and Cumberland, who was wounded in the action, was reported as a hero in Britain, thus founding his military popularity. After the battle he was made a Lieutenant-General.

[edit] War of the Austrian Succession

In 1745, having been made Captain-General of the British land forces, at home and in the field, the Duke was again in Flanders, as Commander-in-Chief of the allied British, Hanoverian, Austrian and Dutch troops. Advancing to the relief of Tournay, which was besieged by Marshal Saxe, he engaged the great general, in the Battle of Fontenoy, on 11 May 1745 in which he was decidedly defeated by the French under Saxe. Cumberland lost several engagements on continental Europe against the French.

British Royalty
House of Hanover

George II
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Anne, Princess of Orange
Princess Amelia
Princess Caroline
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
Mary, Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel
Louise, Queen of Denmark
Grandchildren
Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick
George III
Edward, Duke of York
Princess Elizabeth
William Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Henry, Duke of Cumberland
Princess Louisa
Prince Frederick
Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark
Great-grandchildren
Princess Sophia of Gloucester
William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester

"The Highlanders Medley", or "The Duke Triumphant"
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Published according to Act of Parliament, 1749
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"The Tombstone", published October 1765
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[edit] Jacobite rebellion - "The Forty-Five"

As the leading British general of the day, he was chosen to put a decisive stop to the successful career of Charles Edward Stuart, known as the Young Pretender, in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

Recalled from Flanders, Cumberland proceeded with his preparations for quelling the insurrection. He joined the midland army under Ligonier, and began pursuit of the enemy, but the Stuart's retreat from Derby disrupted his plans, and it was not until they had reached Penrith, and the advanced portion of his army had been repulsed on Clifton Moor, that Cumberland became aware of just how hopeless an attempt to overtake the retreating Highlanders would then be. Carlisle having been retaken, he retired to London, until the news of the defeat of Hawley at Falkirk roused again the fears of the English people, and centred the hopes of Britain on the Duke. He was appointed commander of the forces in Scotland.

[edit] Culloden

Arriving in Edinburgh on 30 January 1746, he at once proceeded in search of the Young Pretender. He made a detour to Aberdeen, where he spent some time training the well-equipped forces now under his command for the peculiar nature of the warfare in which they were about to engage. He prepared his army to withstand the aggressive charges on which all Highland successes depended and he reorganised the forces and restored their discipline and self-confidence.

On 8 April 1746, he set out from Aberdeen for Inverness, and, on 16 April, he fought the decisive Battle of Culloden, in which the forces of the Young Pretender were completely destroyed. Cumberland ordered his troops to show no quarter against any remaining Jacobite rebels (French Army personnel were treated as legitimate combatants).

[edit] "Butcher Cumberland"

"Butcher Cumberland" was a taunt was used for political purposes in England, and Cumberland's own brother, the Prince of Wales (who had been refused permission to take a military role on his father's behalf), seems to have encouraged the virulent attacks upon the Duke. Like Oliver Cromwell in Ireland, Cumberland dared to act in a way which would be held against him by some for the rest of his life, and harried an obstinate and unyielding enemy into submission. The war came to an end almost at once, and most of the populations of Scotland, England, and the colonies, however, lionised him as their deliverer from the Jacobite menace - for instance, he received an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow.^[5]^[6]

Cumberland preserved the strictest discipline in his camp. He was inflexible in the execution of what he deemed to be his duty, without favour to any man. At the same time, he exercised his influence in favour of clemency in special cases that were brought to his notice. Some years later, James Wolfe spoke of the Duke as "for ever doing noble and generous actions". The Duke's victorious efforts were acknowledged by his being voted an income of £40,000 per annum, in addition to his revenue as a Prince of the Royal House.

The Duke took no part in the Flanders campaign of 1746, but, in 1747, he again opposed the still-victorious Marshal Saxe and received a heavy defeat at the Battle of Lauffeld, or Val, near Maastricht, on July 2, 1747. This and the fall of Bergen-op-Zoom compelled the two sides to the negotiating table and in 1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was concluded and Cumberland returned home.

[edit] Peacetime

During the ten years of peace from 1748, Cumberland occupied himself chiefly with his duties as Captain-General, and the result of his work was clearly shown in the conduct of the army in the Seven Years' War. His unpopularity, which had steadily increased since Culloden, interfered greatly with his success in politics, and when the death of the Prince of Wales brought the latter's son, a minor, next in succession to the throne, the Duke was not able to secure for himself the contingent regency, which was vested in the Dowager Princess of Wales, who considered him an enemy.

[edit] The Seven Years' War

Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years War

In 1757, the Seven Years' War having broken out, Cumberland was placed at the head of a motley army of allies led by Great Britain to defend Hanover. At the Battle of Hastenbeck, near Hamelin, on 26 July 1757, he was defeated by the superior forces of d'Estrées. In September of the same year, his defeat had almost become a disgrace. Driven from point to point, and at last hemmed in by the French, under Richelieu, he capitulated at the Zeven monastery, on 8 September 1757, and with the Convention of Kloster-Zeven agreed to evacuate Hanover. He played a major role as the second-in-command to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick later in the war.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Later life

His disgrace was completed on his return to England by the refusal of his father, George II, to be bound by the terms of the Duke's agreement. In chagrin and disappointment, he retired into private life, having formally resigned the public offices he held. In his retirement, he made no attempt to justify his conduct, applying in his own case the discipline he had enforced in others. For a few years, he lived quietly at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor and subsequently in London, taking but little part in politics. He did much, however, to displace the Bute ministry and that of Grenville, and endeavoured to restore Pitt to office. Public opinion had now set in his favour, and he became almost as popular as he had been in his youth. After the accession of his nephew, George III, he vied with his sister-in-law, the Dowager Princess of Wales, for the role of regent in times of emergency. Shortly before his death, the Duke was requested to open negotiations with Pitt for a return to power. This was, however, unsuccessful.

The Duke passed away suddenly on Upper Grosvenor Street in London, on October 31, 1765 apparently from a myocardial infarction brought on by his life-long obesity, at the age of 44. There is a memorial Obelisk to the Duke in Windsor Great park. It is inscribed “THIS OBELISK RAISED BY COMMAND OF KING GEORGE THE SECOND COMMEMORATES THE SERVICES OF HIS SON WILLIAM DUKE OF CUMBERLAND THE SUCCESS OF HIS ARMS AND THE GRATITUDE OF HIS FATHER THIS TABLET WAS INSCRIBED BY HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH". According to a local park guide the Obelisk was originally inscribed "Culloden" but Victoria had “Culloden” removed^[7]. He was buried beneath the floor of the nave of the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles and styles

26 April 1721–27 July 1726: His Royal Highness Prince William^[1]
27 July 1726–31 October 1765: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cumberland

[edit] Honours

British Honours

KG: Knight of the Garter, 1730
KB: Knight of the Bath, 1725
PC: Privy Counsellor, 1742

Cumberland Farms was named on his behalf.

Academic

1751-1765: Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin

[edit] Arms

On 20 July 1725, as a grandchild of the sovereign, William was granted use of the arms of the realm, differenced by a label argent of five points, the centre point bearing a cross gules, the first, second, fourth and fifth each bearing a canton gules. On 30 August 1727, as a child of the sovereign, William's difference changed to a label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a cross gules.^[8]

[edit] Legacy

The tabard of Blanc Coursier Herald, Cumberland's private officer of arms

The Scottish Highland town of Fort Augustus takes its name from a British Army fort which was named in his honour.

Many places in the American colonies were named after him, including the Cumberland River, the Cumberland Gap, the Cumberland Plateau, and the Cumberland Mountains, in addition to several counties and towns named "Cumberland" in the mid-18th century.

In 2005 he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 18th century's worst Briton.^[9]

[edit] Biography

A Life of the Duke of Cumberland by Andrew Henderson was published in 1766, and anonymous (Richard Rolt) Historical Memoirs appeared in 1767. See especially A. N. Campbell Maclachlan, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1876) and Rex Whitworth, William Augustus Duke of Cumberland: A Life (1992).

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c The London Gazette for his ennoblement refers to him as "Prince William"
^ The Peerage – William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland
^ Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings
^ Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage
^ [1]
^ [2]
^ East Berks Ramblers Map, ISBN 978-1874258186
^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
^ 'Worst' historical Britons list

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] External links

Peerage of Great Britain
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland House of Hanover Cadet branch of the House of Welf Born: 15 April 1721 Died: 31 October 1765
New creation	Duke of Cumberland 1726–1765	Extinct
Military offices
Preceded by Sir Charles Wills	Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1742–1757	Succeeded by The Viscount Ligonier
Vacant	Captain-General 1744–1757	Vacant
Preceded by George Wade	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1745–1757	Succeeded by The Viscount Ligonier
Academic offices
Preceded by The Duke of Chandos	Chancellor of the University of St Andrews 1746–1765	Succeeded by The Earl of Kinnoull

[gaz-0] The London Gazette for his ennoblement refers to him as "Prince William"

[1] The Peerage – William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

[2] Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings

[creation-3] Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage

[4] [1]

[5] [2]

[6] East Berks Ramblers Map, ISBN 978-1874258186

[7] Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family

[8] 'Worst' historical Britons list

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