Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal Sir Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KP, GCSI
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...

, KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, PC
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

 (3 November 1779 – 2 March 1869), was an Irish
Irish
Irish may refer to:*Irish cuisine* Ireland, an island in north-western Europe, on which are located:** Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom** Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state...

 British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 officer. He was said to have commanded in more general actions than any other British officer of the 19th century except the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

.

Early career

Born at Woodstown
Woodstown
Woodstown is home to a historic settlement measuring 1.5 km by 0.5 km, located on the southern bank of the River Suir, about 5.5 km west of Waterford City in the southeast of Ireland...

 House, Co. Limerick, he was the son of Lieut.-Colonel George Gough (1750-1836) of Woodstown House, Deputy-Governor of County Limerick, and his wife Letitia Bunbury, daughter of Thomas Bunbury of Lisnevagh House and Moyle, Co. Carlow. He was a member of an old Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 family long settled in County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...

 since the early seventeenth century.

Having obtained a commission in the army in August 1794, he served with the 78th Highlanders
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...

 at the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

, taking part in the capture of Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 and of the Dutch fleet in Saldanha Bay
Saldanha Bay
Saldanha Bay is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa, north west of Cape Town. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality in 2000. The current population of...

 in 1796. His next service was in the West Indies, where, with the 87th
87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
The 87th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1793 and amalgamated into the Princess Victoria's in 1881....

 (Royal Irish Fusiliers
Royal Irish Fusiliers
The Royal Irish Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th Regiment of Foot and the 89th Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment's first title in 1881 was Princess Victoria's , changed in 1920 to The Royal Irish Fusiliers...

), he shared in the attack on Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, the capture of Surinam, and the brigand war in St Lucia.

Peninsular War

In 1809 he was called to take part in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

, and, joining the army under Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

, commanded his regiment as major in the operations before Oporto, by which the town was taken from the French.

At the Battle of Talavera he was severely wounded, and had his horse shot under him. For his conduct on this occasion he was afterwards promoted lieutenant-colonel, his commission, on the recommendation of Wellington, being antedated from the day of the duke's despatch. He was thus the first officer who ever received brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...

 rank for services performed in the field at the head of a regiment. He was next engaged at the Battle of Barrosa
Battle of Barrosa
The Battle of Barrosa was an unsuccessful French attack on a larger Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish force attempting to lift the siege of Cádiz, Spain during the Peninsular War...

, at which his regiment captured a French eagle. At the defence of Tarifa
Tarifa
Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. The municipality includes Punta de Tarifa, the southernmost point in continental Europe. There are five...

 the post of danger was assigned to him, and he compelled the enemy to raise the siege. At Vitoria
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...

, where Gough again distinguished himself, his regiment captured the baton of Marshal Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...

. He was again severely wounded at Nivelle
Battle of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the River Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War . After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who only had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter...

, and was soon after created a knight of Charles III by the king of Spain.

At the close of the war he returned home and enjoyed a respite of some years from active service. He next took command of a regiment stationed in the south of Ireland, discharging at the same time the duties of a magistrate during a period of agitation. Gough was promoted to major-general in 1830.

Service in the east

Seven years later he was sent to India to take command of the Mysore division of the army. But not long after his arrival, the difficulties which led to the First Opium War
First Opium War
The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...

 made the presence of an energetic general on the scene indispensable, and Gough was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in China. This post he held during all the operations of the war, and by his great achievements and numerous victories in the face of immense difficulties, he at length enabled the British plenipotentiary, Sir Henry Pottinger, to dictate peace on his own terms.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Nanking
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanking was signed on 29 August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China...

 in August 1842 the British forces were withdrawn, and before the close of the year Gough, who had been made a GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 in the previous year for his services in the capture of the Canton forts, was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 on 23 December 1842. In August 1843 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in India
Commander-in-Chief, India
During the period of the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India was the supreme commander of the Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his staff were based at General Headquarters, India, and liaised with the civilian Governor-General of India...

, and in December he took the command in person against the Mahratta
Mahratta
Mahratta may refer to* the Maratha caste, a ruling class of the Indian subcontinent* the Maratha EmpireShips*SS Mahratta , lost in a collision with SS Victoria in 1887 in the River Hoogly.* SS Mahratta , lost on the Goodwin Sands in 1909....

s, and defeated them
Gwalior Campaign
The Gwalior Campaign was fought between British and Marathan forces in Gwalior in India, December 1843.- Background :The Maratha Empire controlled much of central and northern India and had fallen to the British in 1818 giving the British control over almost all of the Indian subcontinent...

 at Maharajpur, capturing more than fifty guns. In 1845 occurred the First Anglo-Sikh War
First Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company between 1845 and 1846. It resulted in partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom.-Background and causes of the war:...

, the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s having crossed the Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...

 river in large numbers, and Sir Hugh Gough conducted the operations against them, being well supported by Lord Hardinge
Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge
Field Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, GCB, PC was a British field marshal and Governor-general of India.-Army career:...

, the governor-general, who volunteered to serve under him. Successes in the hard-fought battles of Mudki
Battle of Mudki
The Battle of Mudki was fought on 18 December 1845, between the forces of the British East India Company and part of the Khalsa, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The British army won an untidy encounter battle, suffering heavy casualties....

 and Ferozeshah
Battle of Ferozeshah
The Battle of Ferozeshah was fought on 21 December and 22 December 1845 between the British and the Sikhs, at the village of Ferozeshah in Punjab. The British were led by Sir Hugh Gough and Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge, while the Sikhs were led by Lal Singh.The British emerged victorious,...

 were succeeded by the victory of Sobraon
Battle of Sobraon
The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab...

, and shortly afterwards the Sikhs sued for peace at Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

.

The services of Sir Hugh Gough were rewarded by his elevation to the peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

 as Baron Gough of ChingKangFoo in China and of Maharajpore and the Sutlej in the East Indies in April 1846. War in India broke out again in 1848, and again Lord Gough took the field; but the result of the Battle of Chillianwala
Battle of Chillianwala
The Battle of Chillianwala was fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala region of Punjab, now part of modern-day Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company. Both armies held their positions at the end of the battle and both sides...

 being a bloody stalemate from which the British withdrew, he was superseded by the home authorities in favor of Sir Charles Napier
Charles James Napier
General Sir Charles James Napier, GCB , was a general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan.- His genealogy :...

. Before the news of the supersession arrived Lord Gough had finally defeated the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s in the Battle of Gujarat
Battle of Gujarat
The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the British East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the Company's control of the Sikh Kingdom, represented by the child Maharaja Duleep Singh who was in...

 (February 1849). His tactics during the Sikh wars were the subject of an embittered controversy. Lord Gough now returned to England, was raised to the viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...

cy of Viscount Gough, of Goojerat in the Punjab and of the City of Limerick, and for the third time received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. A pension of £2000 per annum was granted to him by parliament, and an equal pension by the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

. He did not again see active service. In 1854 he was appointed colonel of the Royal Horse Guards
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...

, and two years later he was sent to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

 to invest Marshal Aimable Pélissier and other officers with the insignia of the Bath.

Honours were multiplied upon him during his latter years. He was made a knight of St Patrick, being the first knight of the order who did not hold an Irish peerage, was sworn a privy council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

lor, was named a G.C.S.I.
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...

, and in November 1862 was made field-marshal. An equestrian statue by JH Foley
John Henry Foley
John Henry Foley , often referred to as JH Foley, was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...

 in Dublin's Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...

 was vandalised and later moved to England. In Dublin, Gough was a member of the Kildare Street Club
Kildare Street Club
The Kildare Street Club was a gentlemen's club in Dublin, Ireland, at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy.The Club remained in Kildare Street between 1782 and 1977, when it merged with the Dublin University Club...

.

Mount Gough
Mount Gough
Mount Gough is a hill on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is east of Victoria Peak. It peaks at above Admiralty.The peak is named for Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in China.-See also:...

 on Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 is named after him.

Family

He was twice married, and left children by both his wives. On 24 October 1840 his daughter Hon Jane Eliza-Mona married Captain, later Lieut.-Colonel Gregory Haines, son of Commissiary-General Gregory Haines, CB (1778–1853) and brother of Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...

 Sir Frederick Haines
Frederick Haines
Field Marshal Sir Frederick Paul Haines, GCB, GCSI, CIE was a British army officer.-Military career:Haines was commissioned into the 4th Regiment of Foot in 1839. Haines served in the Crimean War and as the senior officer at the Battle of Inkerman in 1854 held the barrier for six hours...

, Commander-in-Chief of India. In 1844, another daughter, Hon Frances Maria Gough, married Field Marshal Sir Patrick Grant
Patrick Grant
Field Marshal Sir Patrick Grant, GCB, GCMG was a senior British Army officer.-Military career:He was the second son of Major John Grant, of the 97th Regiment of Foot, of Auchterblair, Invernessshire, where he was born....

. Gough was the great-uncle of Generals Hugh Henry Gough
Hugh Henry Gough
General Sir Hugh Henry Gough VC, GCB was born in Calcutta, India and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:He was 23 years old, and a lieutenant in the...

 and Charles John Stanley Gough
Charles John Stanley Gough
General Sir Charles John Stanley Gough VC, GCB was born in Chittagong, India was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:At age 16, Gough moved to India,...

, both of whom won the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

. He was succeeded by his youngest son, George Gough, 2nd Viscount Gough
George Gough, 2nd Viscount Gough
George Stephens Gough, 2nd Viscount Gough. Born 18 January 1815. Died 31 May 1895.Married Sarah-Elizabeth Palliser 17/10/1841, she b? d 17/8/1841 3 June 1846 to Jane Arbuthnot b 22/10/1816 in Edinburgh d 3/2/1892, daughter of George Arbuthnot, 1st of Elderslie 1772-1843 &...

.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK