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John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier

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Field Marshal The Right Honourable
John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier
John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier
Master-General of the Ordnance
In office
1759–1763
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
In office
1757–1759
Military Governor of Plymouth
In office
1752–1759
Governor of Guernsey
In office
1750–1752
Member of Parliament
for Bath
In office
1748–1763
Personal details
Born
Jean Louis de Ligonnier[1]

(1680-11-07)7 November 1680
Castres, France
Died28 April 1770(1770-04-28) (aged 89)
North Audley St, London
Resting placeSt Andrews, Cobham, Surrey [2]
RelationsFrancis Ligonier (1693–1746)
AwardsKnight of the Bath
Military service
Allegiance England
 Great Britain
Years of service1702–1759
RankField marshal
UnitColonel, 7th Dragoon Guards 1720–1749
Grenadier Guards 1757–1770
Battles/wars

Field Marshal John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier, KB, PC (born Jean Louis de Ligonnier; 7 November 1680 – 28 April 1770), styled Sir John Ligonier from 1743 to 1757, was a French-born British soldier and politician who fought for the English and British armies for more than half a century. In 1757, he was appointed Commander-in-chief and raised to the peerage as Viscount Ligonier in 1757, and in 1766 further elevated as Earl Ligonier.

Ligonier was a Huguenot refugee who fled his native Castres for England in 1697, following the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau, which stripped the rights of French Protestants to practice their religion. He joined the British Army in 1702 as a volunteer, and for the next six decades was dedicated to the British cause. He fought in the European wars of the Spanish Succession, of the Quadruple Alliance, and of the Austrian Succession. During the Seven Years' War, he also served as Master-General of the Ordnance, effectively acting as Minister of War for the Pitt–Newcastle ministry. He retired from active duty in 1763 and died at his home in London on 28 April 1770.

He sat in the House of Commons for Bath from 1748 to 1763 and served as Governor of Guernsey from 1750 to 1752.

Early life and family

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John Ligonier was born Jean-Louis de Ligonnier in Castres, Languedoc, the second son of Louis de Ligonnier, sieur de Montcuquet, and Louise de Ligonnier, daughter of Louis du Poncet. His parents were married 28 March 1677 at Roquecourbe.[3] His grandfather built the family's hôtel particulier, Hôtel Poncet [fr], in Castres. Louis de Ligonnier died around 1690.[4] John, a Huguenot, was educated in France and Switzerland.[5] In 1697, he became the first of Louis' three younger sons who left for England, where they altered the name to Ligonier.[6]

His younger brother Antoine de Ligonnier followed in 1698. He served in several of the Duke of Marlborough's campaigns during the War of the Spanish Succession and died unmarried in 1767, with the rank of major. His youngest brother François-Auguste de Ligonnier emigrated in 1710.[7]

Their eldest brother, Abel de Ligonnier (1669-1769), inherited his father's estates and stayed in Castres. He married Louise de Boileau, daughter of Jacques de Boileau de Castelnau, sister of Huguenot refugee Charles Boileau, the progenitor of the Boileau family in Britain, many of whom served in the British Army.[4] Abel was recorded living in France as late as 1769.[8]

Military career

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In 1702, Ligonier volunteered to join a regiment in Flanders commanded by Lord Cutts.[5]

Equestrian portrait of Lord Ligonier by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1760

He fought, with distinction, in the War of the Spanish Succession and was one of the first to mount the breach at the siege of Liège in October 1702.[9] After becoming a captain in the 10th Foot on 10 February 1703,[9] he commanded a company at the battles of Schellenberg in July 1704[9] and Blenheim in August 1704,[9] and was present at Menen[10] where he led the storming of the covered way as well as Ramillies in May 1706,[9] Oudenarde in July 1708[5] and Malplaquet in September 1709[9] where he received twenty-three bullets through his clothing yet remained unhurt.[11] In 1712, he became governor of Fort St. Philip, Menorca.[5] During the War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1719 he was adjutant-general of the troops employed in the Vigo expedition, where he led the stormers of Pontevedra.[9][12]

Two years later, he became colonel of the Black Horse.[5] He was made a brigadier general in 1735,[13] major general in 1739,[5] and accompanied Lord Stair in the Rhine Campaign of 1742 to 1743.[9] He was promoted to lieutenant general on 26 February 1742[14] and George II made him a Knight of the Bath on the field of Dettingen in June 1743.[9][12] At Fontenoy in May 1745, Ligonier commanded the British, Hanoverian, and Hessian infantry.[5]

Monument to Earl Ligonier, by John Francis Moore, at Westminster Abbey

During the Jacobite rising of 1745 he was called home to command the British army in the Midlands.[15] In November 1745 he led a column of troops sent to Lancashire to oppose the rebels.[16] Having been promoted to the rank of general of horse on 3 January 1746,[17] he was placed at the head of the British and British-paid contingents of the Allied army in the Low Countries in June 1746.[18]

He was present at Rocoux in October 1746[19] and, having been made Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance on 19 March 1747,[20] he fought at Lauffeld in July 1747, where he led the charge of the British cavalry.[19] He did this with such vigour that he overthrew the whole line of French cavalry.[21] In this encounter his horse was killed and he was taken prisoner by Louis XV, but was exchanged within a few days.[22] The official despatch reported:

it is impossible to commend too much the conduct of the generals both horse and foot. Sir John Legonier, who charged at the head of the British dragoons with that skill and spirit that he has shown on so many occasions, and in which he was so well seconded...[22]

He became Member of Parliament for Bath in March 1748[19] and colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards in 1749.[19] From 1748 to 1770 he was governor of the French Hospital.[23]

On 6 April 1750 he was appointed Governor of Guernsey[24] and on 3 February 1753 he became colonel of the Royal Horse Guards.[25]

Seven Years' War

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Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years' War
Coat of Arms of Lord Ligonier, at Fort Ligonier

In September 1757, following the disgrace of the Duke of Cumberland who had signed the Convention of Klosterzeven, Ligonier was made Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.[19] He worked closely with the Pitt–Newcastle ministry who sought his strategic advice in connection with the Seven Years' War which was underway at this time.[19] Ligonier was also made a field marshal on 3 December 1757,[26] Colonel of the 1st Foot Guards on the same date[26] and a peer of Ireland on 10 December 1757 under the title of Viscount Ligonier of Enniskillen.[27] He was notionally given command of British forces in the event of a planned French invasion in 1759 though it never ultimately occurred.[5] He stood down as commander-in-chief in 1759 and became Master-General of the Ordnance.[5] He was given a further Irish peerage on 1 May 1762 as Viscount Ligonier of Clonmell (with remainder to his nephew) and on 19 April 1763 he became a Baron, and on 6 September 1766 an Earl, in the British peerage.[28]

Fort Ligonier, commanded by Lord Ligonier from 1758 to 1766, became the permanent settlement of Ligonier, Pennsylvania and lent its name to Ligonier Valley and Ligonier Valley Railroad.[29] After extensive excavations, Fort Ligonier was reconstructed in 1954 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[30]

Retirement

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Cobham Park

Ligonier spent his later years at Cobham Park in Cobham, Surrey, which he bought around 1750.[31] He died, still unmarried, on 28 April 1770 and was buried in Cobham Church.[32] There is a monument to him, sculpted by John Francis Moore[33] in Westminster Abbey.[32]

The earldom became extinct but the Irish viscountcy and Cobham Park passed to his nephew Edward (son of his younger brother Francis), who would also be created Earl Ligonier in the Peerage of Ireland six years later.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Agnew, David C. A. (1866). Protestant Exiles from France in the Reign of Louis XIV: Or, The Huguenot Refugees and Their Descendants in Great Britain and Ireland. Private circulation. p. 254. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ Heathcote 1999, p. 204.
  3. ^ "Presidential Address: "From Refugee to C-in-C"". Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 590–591. 2007. ISBN 978-0-906100-40-0.
  4. ^ a b Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica. Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke. 1884. p. 219. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wood, Stephen (2004). "John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16653. Retrieved 1 May 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ Agnew 1866, p. 191
  7. ^ Agnew 1866, p. 192
  8. ^ Agnew, David Carnegie Andrew (1866). Protestant Exiles from France in the Reign of Louis XIV: Or, The Huguenot Refugees and Their Descendants in Great Britain and Ireland. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-267-34860-2. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote p. 202
  10. ^ Clarke p. 45
  11. ^ Mayo p. 12
  12. ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
  13. ^ Pilkington p. 546
  14. ^ "No. 8200". The London Gazette. 22 February 1742. p. 3.
  15. ^ "No. 8484". The London Gazette. 12 November 1745. p. 10.
  16. ^ The Scots Magazine. Vol. 7. 1745. p. 535.
  17. ^ "No. 8602". The London Gazette. 1 January 1746. p. 1.
  18. ^ "No. 8548". The London Gazette. 24 June 1746. p. 5.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Heathcote p. 203
  20. ^ "No. 8728". The London Gazette. 15 March 1747. p. 1.
  21. ^ Browne, p. 153
  22. ^ a b Albemarle p. 358
  23. ^ Murdoch and Vigne, pp. 17 and 18.
  24. ^ "No. 8942". The London Gazette. 3 April 1750. p. 1.
  25. ^ "No. 9238". The London Gazette. 30 January 1753. p. 2.
  26. ^ a b "No. 9744". The London Gazette. 3 December 1757. p. 1.
  27. ^ Walpole p.267
  28. ^ Kimber p.185
  29. ^ Boucher, John Newton (1906). History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 584. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  30. ^ The Encyclopedia of North American Colonial Conflicts to 1775: A-K. HarperCollins Christian Publishing. 2008. ISBN 978-1-4185-6064-5. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  31. ^ "Ancient History of Cobham Park". andywebber.com. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  32. ^ a b Heathcote p.204
  33. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660–1851 by Rupert Gunnis

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bath
1748–1763
With: Robert Henley 1748–1757
William Pitt 1757–1763 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of Sir John Ligonier's Regiment of Horse
(Black Horse)
1720–1749 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
1748–1757 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of The Queen's Regiment of Dragoon Guards
1749–1753 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Guernsey
1750–1752 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Plymouth
1752–1759 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
The Duke of Richmond 		Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards Blue
1753–1758 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
1757–1759 		Vacant
Title next held by
Marquess of Granby
Preceded by Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards
1757–1770 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Vacant
 Master-General of the Ordnance
1759–1763 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Earl Ligonier
1766–1770 		Extinct
Baron Ligonier
1763–1770
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Viscount Ligonier
1757–1770 		Extinct
Viscount Ligonier
1762–1770 		Succeeded by
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