George Goring, Lord Goring
Lord Goring | |
---|---|
Governor of Portsmouth | |
Personal details | |
Born | 14 July 1608 |
Died | July-August 1657 Lieutenant-General of Horse |
Battles/wars | |
George Goring, Lord Goring (14 July 1608 – 1657) was an English Royalist soldier. He was known by the courtesy title Lord Goring as the eldest son of the first Earl of Norwich.
Early life
Goring, the eldest son of George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich, was born on 14 July 1608.
He married Lettice Boyle, the daughter of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork.
Experience before the Civil Wars
His father-in-law, Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, procured for him a post in the Dutch Army with the rank of colonel. He was permanently lamed by a wound received at the Siege of Breda in 1637, and returned to England early in 1639, when he was made governor of Portsmouth.[2]
He served in the
Lieutenant-General of Horse
Colonel Goring was there upon called on to give evidence before the
At the Battle of Marston Moor, Goring commanded the Royalist left, and charged with great success, but, allowing his troopers to disperse in search of plunder, was routed by Oliver Cromwell at the close of the battle. In November 1644, on his father's elevation to the earldom of Norwich, he became Lord Goring. The parliamentary authorities, however, refused to recognise the creation of the earldom, and continued to speak of the father as "Lord Goring" and the son as "General Goring".[3]
In August Goring had been dispatched by
He had himself prepared to besiege
Lord Goring had long been intriguing for an independent command, and he now secured from the king what was practically supreme authority in the west. It was alleged by the Earl of Newport that he was willing to transfer his allegiance once more to the parliament. It is not likely that he meditated open treason, but he was culpably negligent and occupied with private ambitions and jealousies. He was still engaged in desultory operations against Taunton when the main campaign of 1645 opened.[3]
For the part taken by Goring's army in the operations of the Naseby campaign see First English Civil War: Naseby Campaign. After the decisive defeat of the king, the army of Fairfax marched into the west and defeated Goring in a disastrous fight at Langport on 10 July 1645. He made no further serious resistance to the parliamentary general, but wasted his time in frivolous amusements.[3]
Exile and command in Spain
In November 1645 he obtained leave to quit his disorganised forces and retire to France on the ground of health. His father's services secured him the command of some English regiments in the Spanish service. He died in Madrid after converting to Catholicism (in the care of the Jesuits) in July or August 1657.[3]
Character assessment
Clarendon says of Goring that he "would, without hesitation, have broken any trust, or done any act of treachery to have satisfied an ordinary passion or appetite; and in truth wanted nothing but industry (for he had wit, and courage, and understanding and ambition, uncontrolled by any fear of God or man) to have been as eminent and successful in the highest attempt of wickedness as any man in the age he lived in or before. Of all his qualifications dissimulation was his masterpiece; in which he so much excelled, that men were not ordinarily ashamed, or out of countenance, with being deceived but twice by him".[3]
Clarendon's assessment, according to Florene Memegalos [who?] is untrustworthy as he appears to have blackened his name at court for personal reasons. Memegalos also asserts from archive material in the Venice State records and other sources, that Goring's reputation stood mainly on his military abilities as a Royalist general and not just on Clarendon's all too obvious character assassination of him.[4]
Notes
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Goring, George Goring, Lord". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 258–259. This work in turn cites:
- . Vol. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 245–248. . In
- Dugdale's Baronage, where there are some doubtful stories of his life in Spain
- Clarendon State Papers
- Lord Clarendon, History of the Great Rebellion
- Samuel Rawson Gardiner, History of the Great Civil War
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the - Memegalos, Florene S. George Goring (1608–1657): Caroline Courtier and Royalist General