Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.
Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore KB
November 13 1761 to January 16 1809
Sir John reformed the army and its training methodology preparing it to defeat Napoleon under Wellington (and if Sir John had lived, Wellington may not have risen above such a shadow.) Sir John also saw to the successful retreat from Spain in 1809 and the safety of the British troops with a victory at Corunna.
Moore was born in Glasgow the son of a doctor and writer. At the age of 11 he and the 8th Duke of Hamilton, a pupil of his father, went on a Grand Tour of France, Italy and Germany, with a 2 year stay in Geneva.
He joined the Army in 1776 as an Ensign in the 51st Foot. He saw action in the American War of Independence in 1778 as a Lieutenant with the 82nd Regiment of Foot. The regiment had been raised by his friend the Duke of Hamilton. Next he was garrisoned at Halifax in Nova Scotia. In 1779 he distinguished himself int he Penobscot Expedition holding off a larger American Force in Maine.
Returning to England after the war, he was elected to Parliament for Lanark Burghs and remained from 1784 to 1790. In 1787 he was made Major and joined the 60th regiment before returning again to the 51st. In 1791 he was assigned to the Mediterranean ad campaigned in Corsica, wounded at Calvi. He was made Colonel and became Adjutant-General to Sir Charles Stuart. But e did not get along with the Viceroy of Corsica and was posted to the West Indies.
In 1798 he was made Major-General and suppressed an Irish rebellion. He turned the tide at the battle of Foulksmills. He saved Wexford town from General Lake and a sacking. He led his troops on a higher path that did not perpetuate the atrocities that the campaign was associated with.
He became Colonel of the 52nd regiment whilst in Egypt in 1801. In 1803 he commanded a brigade at Shorncliffe camp near Folkestone. He now established an innovative training regimen that produced the light infantry regiments. When it was clear that Napoleon wanted to invade, Moore was put in charge of defenses from Dover to Dungeness. He recruited about 340,000 volunteers to the militia. In 1804 he was knighted and promoted to Lieutenant-General. In 1806 he was on active duty again in the Mediterranean.
In 1808 he was sent tot he Baltic to help the Swedish, but disagreements with King Gustavus IV caused him to be sent to Portugal instead. He took over from Burrard, Dalrymple and Wellesley. Initially he was able to chase the French into Spain, but then things turned over the course of Winter and the French started to chase the British out of Spain. This led to the battle of Corunna where the British were wanting to embark. Against a larger force, Moore fought his way through to victory, yet he was wounded during the day and died of his wounds.
He asked to be remembered to Lady Hester Stanhope and it is possible they had a secret engagement.
Charles Wolfe wrote “The Burial of Sir John Morre after Corunna” which begins:
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O’er the grave where our hero we buried.
and ends, six verses later, with:
Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone with his glory.
Young John Moore with his father, and the 8th Duke of Hamilton
Previous Notables (Click to see the Blog):
There will be many other notables coming, a full and changing list can be found here on the blog as I keep adding to it. The list so far is:
William Wilberforce
Hannah More
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
John Phillip Kemble
Sarrah Siddons
John Burgoyne
Harriet Mellon
Mary Robinson
Wellington (the Military man)
Nelson
Howe
St. Vincent
Packenham
General Banastre Tarleton
Henry Paget
Stapleton Cotton
Thomas Picton
Constable
Lawrence
Cruikshank
Gillray
Reynolds
Rowlandson
Josiah Wedgwood
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Sir Marc Brunel
Marquis of Stafford George Leveson-Gower
George Stephenson
William Huskisson
Robert Stephenson
Fanny Kemble
Mary Shelley
Ann Radcliffe
Paul III Anton, Prince Esterházy
Charles Arbuthnot
Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton
Henry Herbert Southey
John Nash
Matthew Gregory Lewis
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Thomas Hope
William Beechey
Beau Brummell
William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley
Henry Mildmay
Henry Pierrepoint
Scrope Davies
Henry Holland
Sir Walter Scott
Lord Elgin
Jeffery Wyatville
Duke of Argyll, George William Campbell (1766-1839)
Lord Barrymore, Richard Barry (1769-1794)
Lord Bedford, Francis Russell (1765-1802)
Mr. G. Dawson Damer (1788-1856)
Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish (1748-1811)
Lord Foley, Thomas Foley (1780-1833)
Colonel George Hanger (c.1751-1824)
Lord Hertford, Francis Seymour-Ingram (1743-1822)
Lord Yarmouth, Francis Charles Seymour-Ingram (1777-1842)
Edward “Golden Ball” Hughes (1798-1863)
Earl of Jersey, George Bussey Villiers (1735-1805)
Sir John , John Lade (1759-1838)
Duke of Norfolk, Charles Howard (1746-1815)
Duke of York , Frederick Augustus Hanover (1763-1827)
Louis Philippe Joseph, Duc de Chartres, acceded 1785 as Duc d’ Orleans (1747-1793)
Louis Philippe, Duc de Chartres, acceded 1793 as Duc d’ Orleans (1773-1850)
Captain John (Jack) Willett Payne (1752-1803)
Viscount Petersham, Charles Stanhope(1780-1851)
Duke of Queensberry, William Douglas (1724-1810)
Duke of Rutland, John Henry Manners(1778-1857)
Lord Sefton, William Philip Molyneux (1772-1838)
Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (1759-1801)
Sir Lumley St. George Skeffington Baronet (1771 – 1850)
Lord Worcester, Henry Somerset (1766-1835)
Lord Worcester, Henry Somerset (1792-1853)
Hon. Frederick Gerald aka “Poodle” Byng
Edward Pellew
Thomas Cochrane
Warren Hastings
Mendoza
Edmund Burke
Patronesses of Almacks
Emily Lamb, Lady Cowper
Amelia Stewart, Viscountess Castlereagh
Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey
Maria Molyneux, Countess of Sefton
Mrs. Drummond Burrell
Dorothea Lieven, Countess de Lieven, wife of the Russian Ambassador
Countess Esterhazy, wife of the Austrian Ambassador
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