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Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough

Field MarshalHugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough,KP,GCB,GCSI,PC(3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869) was a seniorBritish Armyofficer. After serving as a junior officer at theseizure of the Cape of Good Hopeduring theFrench Revolutionary Wars,Gough commanded the 2nd Battalion of the87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Footduring thePeninsular War.After serving as commander-in-chief of the British forces in China during theFirst Opium War,he becameCommander-in-Chief, Indiaand led the British forces in action against theMarathasdefeating them decisively at the conclusion of theGwalior campaignand then commanded the troops that defeated theSikhsduring both theFirst Anglo-Sikh Warand theSecond Anglo-Sikh War.

The Viscount Gough
Daguerreotypeof Gough wearing theArmy Gold Cross,1850
Born(1779-11-03)3 November 1779
Woodstown,Annacotty,Kingdom of Ireland
Died2 March 1869(1869-03-02)(aged 89)
Booterstown,Dublin,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Buried
Stillorgan,Ireland
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/ branchBritish Army
Years of service1794–1849
RankField marshal
Commands
Battles / wars
Awards

Early career

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Born intoAnglo-Irishgentry, Gough was the son of Lieutenant Colonel George Gough and Letitia Gough (née Bunbury), ofLisnavagh.One of his ancestors was aWiltshireborn descendant ofRanulf de Briquessart,who settled in Ireland in the 17th century.[1]

Gough was commissioned into the Limerick Militia on 7 August 1793.[2]He transferred to a locally raised regiment on 7 August 1794 and, having been promoted tolieutenantin the119th Regiment of Footon 11 October 1794, transferred to the78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Footon 6 June 1795.[3]He took part in thecapture of the Cape of Good Hopein September 1795 during theFrench Revolutionary Warsand transferred to the87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Footin December 1795, before being deployed with the 1st Battalion of the 87th to theWest Indies,taking part in theexpedition to Dutch Guianain 1799.[4]He was promoted tocaptainon 25 June 1803, and a year later, after his return, promoted tomajorof the newly raised 2nd Battalion of his Prince of Wales's Irish.[4]

Peninsular War

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Gough joinedSir Arthur Wellesleyin Spain in January 1809 and commanded the 2nd Battalion of his regiment at theBattle of Talaverain July 1809, during which he was wounded.[4]He also fought at theBattle of Barrosa,where his regiment captured aFrench Imperial Eaglein March 1811.[2]Promoted to brevetlieutenant colonelon 30 March 1811,[5]he also took part in theSiege of Tarifain January 1812, theBattle of Vitoriain June 1813 and theBattle of Nivelle,during which he was again badly wounded in November 1813.[4]He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 25 May 1815,[6]appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bathon 4 June 1815[7]and appointed aKnight Bacheloron 16 March 1816.[8]

Promoted tocolonelon 12 August 1819,[9]Gough became commanding officer of the22nd Regiment of FootinCounty Tipperarywhere he also served as a local magistrate.[4]He was promoted tomajor generalon 22 July 1830[10]and advanced toKnight Commander of the Order of the Bathon 18 September 1831.[11]

Service in the east

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A painting of Hugh Gough that hangs in the hallway ofSt. Helen's, Booterstown,his former home inCounty Dublin,Ireland

Gough became General Officer Commanding theMysoredivision of theMadras Armyin 1837.[4]At the outset of theFirst Opium Warin March 1839 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in China. He led the assault at theBattle of Cantonin May 1841, and having been promoted to the local rank oflieutenant generalin India and in China on 18 June 1841,[12]he also led the assault at theBattle of Amoyin August 1841.[4]Advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bathon 14 October 1841[13]and promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general on 23 November 1841, he commanded the British forces at theBattle of Chapuin May 1842 and at theBattle of Chinkiangin July 1842.[14]After theTreaty of Nanking,the British forces were withdrawn and he returned to India.[14]He became abaroneton 1 December 1842[15]and was promoted to the local rank of fullgeneralin India on 3 March 1843.[16]

In August 1843 Gough becameCommander-in-Chief, India,and in December 1843 he led the British forces in action against theMahrattasdefeating them decisively at the conclusion of theGwalior campaign.[14]He also commanded the troops at theBattle of Mudkiin December 1845, at theBattle of Ferozeshahalso in December 1845 and at theBattle of Sobraonin February 1846 during theFirst Anglo-Sikh War.[14]Gough was loyally supported byLord Hardinge,thegovernor-general,who served under him during these actions.[2]Gough was elevated to thepeerageasBaron Goughof Chinkiang in China and of Maharajpore and the Sutlej in the East Indies on 7 April 1846.[17]

Hugh Gough, 1861, byCamille Silvy

TheSecond Anglo-Sikh Warstarted in 1848, and again Gough took to the field commanding in person at theBattle of Ramnagarin November 1848 and at theBattle of Chillianwalain January 1849.[14]He was criticised for relying on frontal assault by infantry rather than using artillery and was replaced as commander-in-chief bySir Charles Napierbut, before news of his replacement had arrived, Gough achieved a decisive victory over theSikhsin theBattle of Gujaratin February 1849.[14]He returned to Ireland and was advanced in the peerage asViscount Goughof Goojerat in the Punjab and of the City of Limerick on 4 June 1849.[18]He retired from active service later that year and was promoted to the substantive rank of full general on 20 June 1854.[19]

Gough also served as colonel of the99th Regiment of Foot,[20]as colonel of the87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot[21]and later as colonel of theRoyal Horse Guards.[22]In Dublin, he was a member of theKildare Street Club.[23]He was promoted tofield marshalon 9 November 1862.[24]

Death and commemoration

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Equestrian statue of Viscount Gough atChillingham Castleby the Dublin-born sculptorJohn Henry Foley.
The statue as it originally stood, in thePhoenix Park,Dublin,from 1878 to 1957

He died atSt. Helen's,his home inBooterstown,on 2 March 1869 and was buried inStillorgan.[2]

Proposals for a statue to Gough began in 1869 but were rejected byDublin Corporation,including sites in Carlisle Bridge, Foster Place and Westmoreland Street.[25]An equestrian statue of Gough byJohn Foleywas ultimately erected outside the city, inDublin'sPhoenix Parkin 1878[25]but, after being repeatedly vandalised in the 1940s and 1950s, it was moved toChillingham CastleinNorthumberlandin 1990. The inscription reads:

In honour of Field Marshal Hugh Viscount Gough, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I., an illustrious Irishman, whose achievements in the Peninsular War, in China, and in India, have added lustre to the military glory of his country, which he faithfully served for seventy five years. This statue [cast from cannon taken by troops under his command and granted by Parliament for the purpose] is erected by friends and comrades.[26]

The cannon referred to werecapturedby Gough in China and India and yielded 15 tons of gun-metal for the statue.[27]

Family

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In June 1807, Gough married Frances Maria Stephens, daughter of General Edward Stephens.[4]His daughter, the Hon. Frances Maria Gough, was married to Field MarshalSir Patrick Grant.[28]

As the 1st Viscount Gough, he set down a family seat nearGortat Lough Cutra Castle, County Galway, Ireland, when purchased by him in 1852.[29]

Gough's first cousins included Thomas Bunbury ofLisnavagh,County Carlow, MP for Carlow, and Jane McClintock ofDrumcar,mother of the1st Baron Rathdonnell.[30]

Arms

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Coat of arms of Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Crest
1st: a Boar's Head couped Or; 2nd: on a Mural Crown Argent a Lion passant guardant Or holding in the dexter paw two Flag Staves in bend sinister proper the one being the Union Flag of Great Britain and Ireland surmounting the other the staff thereof broken with a triangular Banner flowing therefrom to represent a Chinese Flag having thereon a Dragon and in an Escroll above the word "China"; 3rd: a Dexter Arm embowed in Facings of the 87th Regiment (Gules faced Vert) the hand grasping the Colour of the said Regiment displayed and a representation of a French Eagle reversed and depressed the staff broken proper in an Escroll above the word "Barossa".
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Gules on a Mount Vert a Lion passant guardant Or supporting with his dexter paw the Union Flag flowing to the sinister proper over the same in chief the words "China" and "India" in letters of gold; 2nd and 3rd, Azure on a Fess Argent between three Boars' Heads couped Or a Lion passant Gules in the centre chief point pendent from a Riband Argent fimbriated Azure a representation of the Badge of the Spanish Order of Charles III proper on a Chief within Battlements a Representation of the East Wall of the Fortress of Tarifa with a Breach between two Turrets the dexter Turret surmounted by the British Flag flying all proper.
Supporters
Dexter: a Lion reguardant Or gorged with an Eastern Crown Gules the rim inscribed with the word "Punjab" in letters of gold with Chain reflexed over the back also Gold; Sinister: a Chinese Dragon Or gorged with a Mural Crown Sable inscribed with the word "China" and chained Gold.
Motto
Above the centre Crest: Faugh a Ballagh (Clear the way); Below the shield: Goojerat.

References

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  1. ^Lodge, Edmund (1859).The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage and Baronetage: Containing the Family Histories of the Nobility. With the Arms of the Peers.Hurst and Blackett. p. 241.
  2. ^abcdChichester, H. M. (2004). "Gough, Hugh, first Viscount Gough (1779–1869) in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004 ed.)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11135.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  3. ^"No. 13784".The London Gazette.2 June 1795. p. 570.
  4. ^abcdefghHeathcote, p. 148
  5. ^"No. 16469".The London Gazette.26 March 1811. p. 573.
  6. ^"No. 17018".The London Gazette.3 June 1815. p. 1044.
  7. ^"No. 17061".The London Gazette.16 September 1815. p. 1878.
  8. ^"No. 17122".The London Gazette.26 March 1816. p. 585.
  9. ^"No. 17505".The London Gazette.12 August 1819. p. 1442.
  10. ^"No. 18709".The London Gazette.23 July 1830. p. 1535.
  11. ^"No. 18850".The London Gazette.13 September 1831. p. 1893.
  12. ^"No. 19989".The London Gazette.18 June 1841. p. 1583.
  13. ^"No. 20028".The London Gazette.15 October 1841. p. 2539.
  14. ^abcdefHeathcote, p. 149
  15. ^"No. 20173".The London Gazette.2 December 1842. p. 3565.
  16. ^"No. 20201".The London Gazette.3 March 1843. p. 732.
  17. ^"No. 20592".The London Gazette.7 April 1846. p. 1279.
  18. ^"No. 20984".The London Gazette.5 June 1849. p. 1832.
  19. ^"No. 21564".The London Gazette.22 June 1854. p. 1931.
  20. ^"No. 19809".The London Gazette.31 December 1839. p. 2723.
  21. ^"No. 19962".The London Gazette.19 March 1841. p. 732.
  22. ^Heathcote, p. 150
  23. ^Escott, pp. 329–333
  24. ^"No. 22679".The London Gazette.10 November 1862. p. 5343.
  25. ^ab"1880 – Field-Marshal Gough Statue, Phoenix Park, Dublin".Archiseek. 3 January 2013.Retrieved18 January2013.
  26. ^"Field Marshall Viscount Gough".Public Monuments & Sculpture Association. Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2014.Retrieved18 January2013.
  27. ^Rait, Robert S. (1908).Quotation:cannon captured by Lord Gough;Page 104,The Story of an Irish Property.Oxford: Privately Printed at the University Press.
  28. ^Vetch, R. H. (2004)."Sir Patrick Grant".In Moreman, T. R. (ed.).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11281.Retrieved17 November2013.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  29. ^"Lough Cutra Castle, Co. Galway".Retrieved15 March2017.
  30. ^Burke, Sir Bernard; Burke, Ashworth, eds. (1914).Burke's Great War Peerage - Noble British and Irish Families on the Eve of the First World War.Burke's Peerage.doi:10.5118/bgwp.1914.ISBN9780850110609.

Sources

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Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toHugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough.
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, India
1843–1849 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of theRoyal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues)
1855–1869 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
1841–1855 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot
1839–1841 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Gough
1849–1869 		Succeeded by
Baron Gough
1846–1869
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Synone and Drangan)
1842–1869 		Succeeded by
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