Oliver De Lancey (British Army officer, died 1822)
General Oliver De Lancey (c. 1749 – 3 September 1822), also known as Oliver De Lancey Jr., was a
Early life
Oliver De Lancey Jr was the son of Major General
De Lancey was educated in England,
American Revolutionary War
When the American Revolutionary War broke out, in 1775, De Lancey was at once despatched to his native colony to make arrangements for the accommodation and remounting of his own regiment and of the royal artillery, then under orders for active service. He found on his arrival there that his father had warmly espoused the royalist cause, and in the following year the elder Oliver de Lancey raised and equipped at his own expense three battalions of loyalist Americans, which he commanded with the rank of brigadier-general. The younger Oliver de Lancey accompanied his regiment to Nova Scotia, to Staten Island in June 1776, and then in the expedition to Long Island, where he commanded the cavalry outposts in the smart action of 28 August, in which the American General Nathaniel Woodhull surrendered to him.[2] It is agreed that Woodhull was assaulted after he had surrendered and died of his wounds. Some sources accuse De Lancey of encouraging his men to maltreat Woodhull and of using his sabre to wound Woodhull.,[4] while some other say that De Lancey tried to prevent the attack.[2]
De Lancey commanded the advance of the right column of the British Army under Sir
De Lancey then went upon the staff as deputy quartermaster-general to the force sent to
Military career in England
King George III appointed De Lancey, on Lord Sydney's recommendation, to settle the military claims of the loyal Americans, and head of a commission for settling all the army accounts connected with the American war; and on 18 November 1790 he was promoted colonel and made deputy adjutant-general at the Horse Guards.[8][10]
In 1794 he received the post of Barrack-Master-General,
On 1 January 1801 he was promoted lieutenant-general, but in November 1804 the commissioners of military inquiry found serious mistakes in his barrack accounts, and defalcations amounting to many thousands of pounds.[8] He was removed from his post as barrack-master-general,[16] but in spite of the violent attacks of the opposition, headed on this question by John Calcraft, he was not prosecuted, and was treated rather as having been culpably careless than actually fraudulent. To raise this money he was forced to sell his estate,[17] but he remained a member of the consolidated board of general officers, and was promoted general on 1 January 1812,.[18]
Retirement and death
Oliver De Lancey Jr. eventually retired to Edinburgh, where he died in September 1822.[8]
Notes
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- ^ a b c d Stephens 1888, p. 303.
- ^ Stephens 2008.
- ^ Burrows 2010, p. 14.
- ^ Stephens 1888, pp. 303, 304.
- ^ "No. 11914". The London Gazette. 29 September 1778. p. 3.
- ^ Stephens 1888, p. 304 cites: Cornwallis Correspondence, i. 38.
- ^ a b c d e f g Stephens 1888, p. 304.
- ^ "No. 12231". The London Gazette. 6 October 1781. p. 1.
- ^ "No. 13220". The London Gazette. 20 July 1790. p. 458.
- ^ "No. 13614". The London Gazette. 14 January 1794. p. 53.
- ^ Stephens 1888, p. 304 cites: Cornwallis Correspondence, ii. 288.
- ^ "No. 13653". The London Gazette. 13 May 1794. p. 426.
- ^ "No. 13780". The London Gazette. 19 May 1795. p. 498.
- ^ "No. 13710". The London Gazette. 4 October 1794. pp. 1010–1011.
- ^ "No. 15752". The London Gazette. 6 November 1804. p. 1367.
- ^ "No. 16499". The London Gazette. 25 June 1811. p. 1172.
- ^ "No. 16556". The London Gazette. 28 December 1811. p. 2498.
References
- Burrows, Edwin G. (2010). Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War. Basic Books. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-465-02030-0.
- Stephens, H. M. (January 2008) [2004]. "Lancey, Oliver De (c. 1749–1822)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7436. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephens, Henry Morse (1888). "De Lancey, Oliver (1749-1822)". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 303, 304.
Further reading
- The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies
- Bergen County Historical Society
- The On-Line National Counterintelligence Center