Sir william howe biography of donald

Is William your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment , or contact the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question. Sponsored Search by Ancestry. Search Records. DNA Connections It may be possible to confirm family relationships. If so, login to add it. He entered the army when he was seventeen by buying a Cornet's commission in the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons in By the next year, he was fighting as a Lieutenant in Flanders as a part of the War of the Austrian Succession.

After this war, he joined the 20th Regiment of Foot where he became a friend of James Wolfe, who is remembered mainly for his victory over the French in Canada and establishing British rule there. His service in this conflict did much to raise his reputation. William commanded a regiment at the siege of Louisbourg and led a successful amphibious landing.

Sir william howe biography of donald

This action carried out under fire won the attackers a flanking position and earned Howe his commander's praise. Wolfe chose Howe to lead a fighting ascent up a narrow goat's path to gain position on the Plains of Abraham, clearing the way for Wolfe's army to assemble before that battle. Wolfe was killed in battle that day but not before news of routing the French was carried to him.

Howe's actions at the Plains of Abraham earned him the rank of Brigadier General. He earned further fame in the capture of Montreal under Jeffrey Amherst before returning to England. Howe also served in the capture of Belle Isle, off the French coast, in He was adjutant-general of the force that captured Havana in In , Howe was elected a Member of Parliament for Nottingham.

This was not unusual, as the election of sent more than 60 army officers to the Commons. He was generally sympathetic to the colonies. He did oppose the Coercive Acts, and, in , assured his constituents that he would resist active duty against the Americans. Gage's orders were to clear the American Army and break their Siege of Boston. Another brother, Admiral Richard Howe , rose to become one of Britain's leading naval commanders.

William entered the army when he was 17 by buying a cornet 's commission in the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons in , becoming a lieutenant the following year. After the war he was transferred to the 20th Regiment of Foot , where he became a friend of James Wolfe. During the Seven Years' War Howe's service first brought him to America, and did much to raise his reputation.

Promoted to the rank of major in , [ 7 ] he joined the newly formed 58th Rutlandshire Regiment of Foot in February , and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December of that year. This action won the attackers a flanking position and earned Howe a commendation from Wolfe. Howe commanded a light infantry battalion under General Wolfe during the Siege of Quebec.

In , Howe was elected a member of parliament for Nottingham , succeeding to the seat vacated by his brother George's death. His election was assisted by the influence of his mother, who campaigned on behalf of her son while he was away at war, [ 9 ] and may very well have been undertaken because service in Parliament was seen as a common way to improve one's prospects for advancement in the military.

In Parliament he was generally sympathetic to the American colonies. He publicly opposed the collection of legislation intended to punish the Thirteen Colonies known as Intolerable Acts , and in assured his constituents that he would resist active duty against the Americans and asserted that the entire British army could not conquer America.

Howe was first sent to Boston. Privately, he did not agree with the policy of the government towards the colonists, and regretted in particular that he was sent to Boston, where the memory of his brother George was still cherished by the inhabitants, and General Gage, in whom he had no confidence, was commander-in-chief. They formulated a plan to seize high ground around Boston and attack the besieging colonial militia forces, setting its execution for 18 June.

In a war council held early on 17 June, the generals developed a plan calling for a direct assault on the colonial fortification, and Gage gave Howe command of the operation. Despite a sense of urgency the colonists were still working on the fortifications at the time of the council , the attack, now known as the Battle of Bunker Hill , did not begin until that afternoon.

Howe's third assault gained the objective, but the cost of the day's battle was appallingly heavy. One subordinate wrote that Howe's "absurd and destructive confidence" played a role in the number of casualties incurred. Although Howe was not injured in the battle, it had a pronounced effect on his spirit. According to British historian George Otto Trevelyan , the battle "exercised a permanent and most potent influence" especially on Howe's behaviour, and that Howe's military skills thereafter "were apt to fail him at the very moment when they were especially wanted.

Their plans, made with recommendations from Howe, called for the abandonment of Boston and the establishment of bases in New York and Newport, Rhode Island in an attempt to isolate the rebellion to New England. Howe never attempted a major engagement with the Continental Army , which had come under the command of Major General George Washington.

Loring apparently acquiesced to this arrangement, and was rewarded by Howe with the position of commissary of prisoners. Loring, with some going so far as to level accusations that this behaviour interfered with his military activities; historian John Alden does not give these ideas credence. In January Howe's role as commander in chief was cemented with a promotion to full general in North America.

The siege was broken in March when Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox brought heavy artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston during the winter, and General Washington used them to fortify Dorchester Heights , overlooking Boston and its harbour. Howe and his troops began to arrive outside New York Harbour and made an uncontested landing on Staten Island to the west in early July.

In a well-executed manoeuvre, a large column led by Howe and Clinton passed around the American left flank and through the lightly guarded Jamaica Pass far to the east a ridge of hills running east to west bisected the island, with a series of lower entrances that were all guarded by Continentals except inexplicably to the farthest east at Jamaica , catching the Patriots off-guard and routing the Americans from their forward positions back into the entrenchments on Brooklyn Heights.

Despite the urging of Clinton and others, Howe decided against an immediate assault on these fortifications, claiming "the Troops had for that day done handsomely enough. Howe and his brother Richard had, as part of their instructions, been assigned roles as peace commissioners, with limited authority to treat with the rebels. After Long Island, they pursued an attempt at reconciliation, sending the captured General John Sullivan to Philadelphia with a proposal for a peace conference.

The meeting that resulted , conducted by Admiral Howe, was unsuccessful. The Howes had been given limited powers, as had the Congressional representatives, and the latter were insistent that the British recognise the recently declared colonial independence. This was not within the Howes' powers, so the conference failed, and Howe then continued the campaign.

However, the narrow causeway between the beach and the mainland was well-defended, and he ended up withdrawing the troops. Washington then retreated across New Jersey, followed by Howe's advance forces under Charles Cornwallis. Clinton proposed that these troops instead be landed in New Jersey, either opposite Staten Island or on the Delaware River , trapping Washington or even capturing the seat of the Continental Congress, Philadelphia.

Washington had retreated all the way across the Delaware, and Howe returned to New York, believing the campaign to be ended for the season. Howe recalled the army to positions much closer to New York for the winter. Howe has been criticised by contemporaries and historians for failing to decisively defeat the Continental Army during the New York campaign.

Contemporaries complained that his landing in Westchester failed to trap Washington, but failed to understand that his goal in the campaign was to secure Manhattan, and not necessarily to defeat Washington. On 30 November , as Washington was retreating across New Jersey, Howe had written to Germain with plans for the campaign season. He proposed to send a 10,man force up the Hudson River to capture Albany, New York , in conjunction with an expedition sent south from Province of Quebec.

He again wrote to Germain on 20 December with more elaborate proposals for These again included operations to gain control of the Hudson River, and included expanded operations from the base at Newport, and an expedition to take Philadelphia. The latter Howe saw as attractive, since Washington was then just north of the city: Howe wrote that he was "persuaded the Principal Army should act offensively [against Philadelphia], where the enemy's chief strength lies.

When the campaign season opened in May , General Washington moved most of his army from its winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey to a strongly fortified position in the Watchung Mountains. In the course of a day or two [we] discovered that they When Washington refused to take the bait, Howe withdrew the army to Perth Amboy , under harassment by Colonel Daniel Morgan 's skirmisher unit, Morgan's Riflemen , who used their superior weapons to snipe at and harry his forces as they moved.

Washington moved down to a more exposed position, assuming Howe was going to embark his army on ships. Howe then launched a lightning strike designed to cut Washington's retreat off. This attempt was foiled by the Battle of Short Hills , which gave Washington time to retreat to a more secure position. Howe then did in fact embark his army and sailed south with his brother's fleet.

Howe maintained an effective secrecy surrounding the fleet's destination: not only did Washington not know where it was going, neither did many British rank and file. Howe's campaign for Philadelphia began with an amphibious landing at Head of Elk, Maryland , southwest of the city in late August. Although Howe would have preferred to make a landing on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, reports of well-prepared defences dissuaded him, and the fleet spent almost an entire extra month at sea to reach Head of Elk.

Howe established his headquarters at the Gilpin Homestead , where it stayed until the morning of 16 September. After two weeks of manoeuvre and engagements including The Battle of the Clouds , The Battle of Paoli , and an engagement at Valley Forge where Alexander Hamilton was nearly killed in action , Howe triumphantly entered the city on 26 September.

He had been led to believe that "Friends thicker than Woods" would greet him upon his arrival; he instead was greeted by women, children, and many deserted houses. One week after Howe entered Philadelphia, on 4 October, Washington made a dawn attack on the British garrison at Germantown. He came close to winning the battle before being repulsed by belated reinforcements sent from the city.

It was late November before this task was accomplished, which included a poorly executed attack on Fort Mercer by a division of Hessians commanded by Colonel von Donop and an advance fleet commanded by Admiral Francis Reynolds. Concomitant with Howe's campaign, General Burgoyne led his expedition south from Montreal to capture Albany. Burgoyne's surrender, coupled with Howe's near defeat at Germantown, dramatically altered the strategic balance of the conflict.

Burgoyne made his advance under the assumption that he would be met in Albany by Howe or troops sent by Howe. Although Germain knew what Howe's plans were, whether he communicated them to Burgoyne is unclear. Some sources claim he did [ 84 ] while others state that Burgoyne was not notified of the changes until the campaign was well underway.

Some historians argue that Howe failed to follow instructions and essentially abandoned Burgoyne's army, while others suggest that Burgoyne failed on his own and then tried to shift the blame to Howe and Clinton. Howe's decision to focus his own activity on an expedition to Philadelphia may have been motivated by competition with General Burgoyne, who was given command of the northern force despite lobbying by Howe for its command to be given to Clinton.

With regard to Burgoyne's army, he would do only what was required of him virtually nothing. Howe himself wrote to Burgoyne on 17 July that he intended to stay close to Washington: "My intention is for Pennsylvania, where I expect to meet Washington, but if he goes to the northward contrary to my expectations, and you can keep him at bay, be assured I shall soon be after him to relieve you.

In October Howe sent his letter of resignation to London, complaining that he had been inadequately supported in that year's campaigns. Sir William was made lieutenant-general of ordnance in , and in colonel of dragoons and full general. In he was appointed governor of Berwick, and on the death of his brother, in , succeeded to his Irish viscounty.

Howe was governor of Plymouth and a privy-councilor at the time of his death, July 12, Site Copyright Son of the South. For Questions or comments about this collection,. Sir William Howe. For Questions or comments about this collection, contact: paul sonofthesouth. Are you Scared and Confused? Read My Snake Story , a story of hope and encouragement, to help you face your fears.