Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake(27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was aBritishgeneral. He commanded British forces during theIrish Rebellion of 1798and later served asCommander-in-Chiefof the military inBritish India.
The Viscount Lake | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament forAylesbury | |
| In office 1790–1802 | |
| Preceded by | William Wrightson |
| Succeeded by | Robert Bent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1744 Harrow,Middlesex,Great Britain |
| Died | 20 February 1808(aged 63) London |
| Parent | John Gumley |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Great Britain United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1758–1808 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Irish Rebellion of 1798 Second Anglo-Maratha War |
Background
editHe was the son of Lancelot Charles Lake (d. 1751) ofHarrow-on-the-Hilland his wife Letitia Gumley, daughter ofJohn Gumley.He was educated atEton College.[1]
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 theBattle of Yorktown of 1781.After this he wasequerryto thePrince of Wales,afterwardsGeorge IV.[2]His younger brotherWarwickserved as a groom of the bedchamber for the Prince, and later oversaw his stables ofracehorses.[citation needed]
In 1790, he became a major-general, and in 1793 was appointed to command the Guards Brigade in theDuke of York and Albany's army inFlandersduring theFrench Revolutionary Wars.He was in command at the successfulBattle of Lincelleson 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 the53rd Regiment of Footand governor ofLimerickinIreland.In 1797 he was promoted to lieutenant-general.[2]
American War of Independence
editAs lieutenant-colonel Lake went out with drafts to America in the spring of 1781, made the campaign in North Carolina underLord Cornwallis,and commanded the grenadiers of the guards and of the old 80th royal Edinburgh regiment in a sortie, underColonel 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.[3]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, MajorGordonof the 76th [sic] [80th] Regiment generously volunteered to take his place. Major, then Lieut.-Colonel, Gordon died in captivity.[4]
1798 rebellion in Ireland
editIn December 1796 he was appointed commander inUlsterand issued a proclamation ordering the surrender of all arms by the civil population,[2]during which time he was 'untroubled by legal restraints or by his troops' violent actions'.[5]Historians have generally seen Lake'sDragooning of Ulsterin 1797 as effective in disarming and crippling theSociety of United Irishmenin that province, although his effectiveness has been questioned.[6]Lake succeededSir Ralph AbercrombyasCommander-in-Chief, Irelandin 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'.[5]Rather than cowing the province into submission, 'his crude methods probably contributed to the outbreak ofinsurrection' in May 1798.[5]Lake continued to deal harshly with opposition, and issued orders to take no prisoners during the rebellion.[1]
In May Lake commanded troops inCounty Kildare,and, after the unsuccessfulrebel attack on Naason 24 May, he assistedGeneral Ralph Dundasin ensuring the rebel surrender after theBattle of Kilcullen,which Dundas arranged on humane terms. Another rebel force on the nearbyCurraghwere also persuaded to surrender, but while this was being arranged by Lake the rebels were mistakenly attacked by separate government forces coming from the opposite direction, resulting in theGibbet Rath executionson 29 May. As a result, central Kildare remained quiet for the rest of 1798.[citation needed]
Lake then took overall command of a force of some 20,000 troops to crush theWexford rebelsand defeated the main rebel army atVinegar Hill(nearEnniscorthy,County Wexford) on 21 June. His harsh treatment towards Irish rebels found bearing arms brought him into conflict withLord Cornwalliswho was appointedLord Lieutenant of Irelandin June 1798 and instituted an amnesty act to encourage rebels to lay down their arms.[7]
Cornwallis sent Lake to oppose a French expedition of 1,000 troops which had landed atKillala Bay,County Mayoon 23 August. On 29 August, Lake arrived atCastlebarwith a force of 1,700 (composed of mainly of militia, fencibles and yeomanry) and witnessed the rout of his troops under GeneralHely-Hutchinson(afterwards 2nd Earl of Donoughmore) at theBattle of Castlebar.[8]Lake failed to rally his largely inexperienced troops and was forced to retreat to Tuam; the speed of which (and abandonment of material, artillery and Lake's personal baggage) led the rout to become known as the 'Races of Castlebar'. Hely-Hutchinson shouldered much of the blame, but it was accepted that Lake's troops were inexperienced and a head-on battle with the seasoned French force was probably to be avoided.[9]However, rumours also abounded that Lake had been drinking heavily the night before the battle and was only woken with difficulty while the French were already attacking.[5]
He defeated the French at theBattle of Ballinamuckon 8 September.[10]
Indian campaigns
editIn 1799, Lake returned to England, and soon afterwards travelled toBritish Indiawhere he was appointedCommander-in-Chief.He took up his duties atCalcuttain July 1801, and applied himself to the improvement of theEast India Companyarmy, especially in the direction of making all arms, infantry, cavalry and artillery, more mobile and more manageable. In 1802 he was made a full general.[2]
On the outbreak theSecond Anglo-Maratha Warin 1803 General Lake took the field againstDaulat Scindia,and within two months defeated theMarathasat Kol (now calledAligarh), after stormingAligarh Fortduring theBattle of Ally Ghur(1 September 1803). He then tookDelhi(11September) andAgra(10October), and won a victory at theBattle of Laswari(1 November), where the power of Scindia was completely broken with the loss of 31 disciplined battalions, trained and officered by Frenchmen, and 426 pieces of ordnance. This defeat, followed a few days later by Major-GeneralArthur Wellesley's victory at theBattle of Argaon,compelled Scindia to come to terms, and a treaty was signed in December 1803.[2]
Operations continued againstYashwantrao Holkar,who, on 17 November 1804, defeated Lake at theBattle of Farrukhabad.Lake was now very frustrated by theJatsand Yashwantrao Holker atBharatpurwhich held out against five assaults early in 1805.[11]Cornwallis succeededLord WellesleyasGovernor-General of Indiain July of that year – superseding Lake at the same time as commander-in-chief – and determined to put an end to the war. Cornwallis, however, died in October of the same year and Lake pursued Holkar into thePunjab.[12]However, after seeing the stronger position of Holkar and his effort to gather all Indian princes under one flag against the British, the British East India Company signed a peace treaty with Holkar which returned to him all his territory and promised no further interference from the Company.[citation needed]
Lord Wellesley in a despatch attributed much of the success of the war to Lake's matchless energy, ability and valour. For his services, Lake received the thanks ofParliament,[13]and, in September 1804, was rewarded by being created Baron Lake ofDelhiand Laswary and of Aston Clinton in theCountyofBuckingham.From 1801 to 1805 Lake wasCommander-in-Chief, India,then again from 1805 to 1807 as his successorJohn Graves Simcoehad died before heading off to India. At the conclusion of the war he returned to England, and in 1807 he was createdViscount Lakeof Delhi and Laswary and of Aston Clinton in the County of Buckingham.[citation needed]
One of his sons MajorGeorge Augustus Frederick Lakeaccompanied him in Ireland and then India, acting as his aide-de-camp and military secretary during the campaign: at one stage offering his mount when the elder Lake's horse had been shot from under him at an engagement near the village of Mohaulpoor. Minutes after seeing his father mounted Major Lake was seriously wounded in the presence of his father. Major G A F Lake recovered from his wound and went on to command the 29th Regiment of Foot during the Peninsular Campaign. He was killed in action at theBattle of Roliça,Portugal on 17 August 1808.[14]
Parliamentary career
editLike many contemporaries, Lake pursued both a parliamentary and military career. He representedAylesburyin theBritish House of Commonsfrom 1790 to 1802, and he also was brought into theIrish House of Commonsby the government as member forArmagh Boroughin 1799 to vote for theAct of Union.[13]
Later years
editViscount Lake was recorded as being an inveterate gambler who lost most of his family's fortune. He died in London on 20 February 1808 leaving his children with little or no inheritance. This was seen by many at court and the then prime minister theDuke of Portland,as a sad end for such a stalwart of Empire and his children. Portland made a special request to King George III to remedy the situation, particularly with respect to the unmarried Lake daughters.[15]
Notes
edit- ^abBennell, Anthony S. "Lake, Gerard, first Viscount Lake of Delhi (1744–1808)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15900.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^abcdeChisholm 1911,p. 85.
- ^Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900,Volume 31, "Lake, Gerard" by Henry Manners Chichester
- ^Pearse, Hugh Wodehouse (1908).Memoir of the life and military services of Viscount Lake: Baron Lake of Delhi and Laswaree, 1744–1808.W. Blackwood and Sons. p. 64.
- ^abcdQuinn, James (2009)."Lake, Gerard".Dictionary of Irish Biography.
- ^Curtin, Nancy J. (2000). "The Magistracy and Counter-Revolution in Ulster, 1795–1798". In Smyth, Jim (ed.).Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Union: Ireland in the 1790s.Cambridge University Press. p. 39.ISBN0521661099.
- ^Quinn, James (2012)."Cornwallis, Charles Earl Cornwallis".Dictionary of Irish Biography.Retrieved26 July2017.
- ^Kleinman, Sylvie (2012)."Humbert, Jean-Joseph Amable".Dictionary of Irish Biography.Retrieved26 July2017.
- ^Bartlett, Thomas (1997). "Defence,counter-insurgency and rebellion: Ireland, 1793–1803". In Bartlett, Thomas; Jeffery, Keith (eds.).A Military History of Ireland.Cambridge University Press. p. 286.ISBN0521629896.
- ^"Battle of Ballinmuck".LibraryIreland.Retrieved24 February2017.
- ^The fourth assault was on 20 February 1805 with a fifth assault the following day.The Gentleman's magazine(1805) Vol. 75, Part 2,p. 854
- ^Chisholm 1911,pp. 85–86.
- ^abChisholm 1911,p. 86.
- ^Philippart, John (1826)."Containing the Services of General and Field Officers of the Indian Army".The East India Military Calendar.3:511.
- ^(King of Great Britain), George III (1808).The Later Correspondence of George Iii(Vol Five ed.). CUP Archive. pp. 22–23.
References
edit
- See H Pearse,Memoir of the Life and Services of Viscount Lake(London, 1908);GB Malleson,Decisive Battles of India(1883); J Grant Duff,History of the Mahrattas(1873); short memoir inFrom Cromwell to Wellington,ed. Spenser Wilkinson.[1]
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Lake, Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 85–86.
- ^Chisholm 1911,p. 86.