Peter Lacy
Peter Graf
Considered one of the most successful
One of his sons was
Life
Family
Peter Lacy was born Pierce Edmond de Lacy[6] on 26 September 1678 in Killeedy near Limerick into a noble Irish family.
In an autobiography preserved by his descendants, Lacy claimed that his father Peter was the son of John Lacy of Ballingarry.[7] Count Peter also claimed Pierce Oge de Lacy of Bruff as a kinsman. It appears that Count Peter's grandfather John Lacy of Ballingarry was of the House of Bruff, and possibly the brother of Pierce (Peter) Oge (the young) Lacy of Bruff (−1607, executed) celebrated from the wars against Elizabeth I, the son of Sir Hempon Pierce de Lacy, who maintained that he was 18th in direct descent from William Gorm de Lacy,[8] son of Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, and great-great-grandson of Walter I de Lacy (–c.1085), the Norman soldier.
His uncle was Lieutenant-Colonel John Lacy of the House of Bruff, and this was the uncle John with whom Count Peter served at the age of 13 in the defence of Limerick, who had rescued Count Peter by buying him off at the capitulation of Limerick, then fled overseas with Count Peter and the rest of his regiment (which included Count Peter's father and brother) to join the Irish Brigade in France, and who was killed in October 1693 while fighting with Count Peter in the battle of the "Val de Marseilles". Lieutenant-Colonel John Lacy of the House of Bruff who had resided in Kilmallock had, before 1647, been an officer in the time of Charles I of England, had fought in France and Flanders, and been a prisoner in England for 2 years. In 1647 he was the only Lacy to be a member of the Supreme Council of Confederate Catholics, and in 1651 he was excluded from amnesty after the 1st Siege of Limerick. He was Deputy Governor of Limerick 1685–86, and one of the representatives of Kilmallock in the Parliament of Dublin in 1689.[7]
Early career in Ireland and Western Europe
At the age of 13, during the
Service under Peter the Great
His first taste of land battle in Russia was the disastrous
In 1719 as a Major General
Lacy was one of the first recipients of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky when it was established, furthermore, he was given command of all infantry in St Petersburg, Ingria and Novgorod. By 1728 he was ranked third of only six full generals in the Russian Army and the only foreigner. As a foreigner, his salary was 3,600 Roubles a year, 15% higher than Russian generals. Higher salaries for foreign-born generals were seen in other ranks too. Lacy's signature, even on documents in Cyrillic script, always appears in English and Latin script which would suggest he never gained proficiency in Russian.
When Catherine was Empress Lacy was given responsibility for removing Maurice de Saxe from Courland. Saxe had managed to gain support and was even mentioned as marrying Anna, Duchess of Courland.[11]
Service under Empress Anna
Having saved her from marriage to Saxe, Anna was very familiar with Lacy and he became one of her most trusted generals. The
With the patent of Field Marshal was the news that
As soon as peace had been restored, Lacy was reinstated as the Governor of Livland, while
Service under Empress Elizabeth
In December 1741 Elizabeth seized power. Lacy was roused from bed in the early hours of the morning in a test of his loyalty. He was not aware if the men sent to him were from Elizabeth or Grand Duchess Anna. Lacy was asked what party he was of, Anne or Elizabeth, Lacy answered "Of the party of the reigning Empress."[14] A period of unrest followed and Lacy was called upon to restore order. Most of what was known as the German Faction fell out of favour at this stage. The restoration of order in St Petersburg was largely down to the prompt actions of Lacy.
When the
The war over, Lacy withdrew to
Marriage and children
Count Peter married Baltic German noblewoman Maret Philippine ("Martha") von Funcken from Liezere, widow of the young Count Hannes Kristof Frölich (d 1710), and daughter of general Remmert von Funcken, lord of Liezere, and his second wife baroness Helena Üksküla. They had 5 daughters and 2 sons.
One son was
Nothing is known about the other, supposedly older, son and in some references, he is incorrectly attributed with accolades that belong to his father Count Peter and/or his brother Count Franz.
Ancestry
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Orders
- Order of St. Andrew
- Order of St. Alexander Nevskygranted 1725 during Coronation ceremonies of the Czarina, Catherine I
- Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
See also
- Irish military diaspora
- Irish regiments
References
- ^ Ó'Ciardha 2014, p. 15.
- ^ Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919.
- ^ Edward de Lacy-Bellingari: The roll of the house of Lacy: pedigrees, military memoirs and synoptical history of the ancient and illustrious family of De Lacy, from the earliest times, in all its branches, to the present day. Full notices on allied families and a memoir of the Brownes (Camas). Waverly Press, Baltimore (MD) 1928. viii, 409 pages, 24 cm. online
- ^ Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2020). Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland [The Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia], in: Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte [Diachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History]. Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno: Tribun EU, pp. 259–279 (open access), here pp. 259–261.
- ^ Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2019). Die irischen Reichsgrafen von Browne-Camus in russischen und österreichischen Diensten. Vom Vertrag von Limerick (1691) bis zum Tod ihres Hausfreunds Ludwig van Beethoven (1827) [= The Irish counts of Browne-Camus in Russian and Austrian service. From the Treaty of Limerick (1691) to the death of their friend Ludwig van Beethoven (1827)]. In: Lazar Fleishman – Stefan Michael Newerkla – Michael Wachtel (eds.): Скрещения судеб. Literarische und kulturelle Beziehungen zwischen Russland und dem Westen. A Festschrift for Fedor B. Poljakov (= Stanford Slavic Studies, Volume 49). Berlin: Peter Lang, pp. 43–68, here pp. 50–57.
- ^ Spiers, Edward M., Radical general: Sir George de Lacy Evans, 1787–1870
- ^ a b D'Alton, John, Illustrations, historical and genealogical, of King James's Irish army list, 1689 (1855)
- ^ Annals of the Four Misters, vol. III. p. 75
- ^ Ó Ciardha, Éamonn (November–December 2014). "Peter Lacy, 'the Prince Eugene of Muscovy". History Ireland. 22 (6).
- ^ McGee, James E. (1873). Sketches of Irish soldiers in every land. New York: Lang, Little & Hillman. pp. 104–105.
- ^ McGee, James E. (1873). Sketches of Irish soldiers in every land. New York: Lang, Little & Hillman. p. 106.
- ISBN 1862321426.
- ^ Anderson, M.S. (December 1960). "BRITISH OFFICERS IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 38 (156): 168–173.
- ^ McGee, James E. (1873). Sketches of Irish soldiers in every land. New York. p. 116.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ O'Meara, Patrick J. (2001). "FIELD MARSHAL PETER LACY: AN IRISHMAN IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RUSSIA". Философский Век Шотландия И Россия В Эпоху Просвещения. 15: 82–90.
Sources
- Ó'Ciardha, Eamonn (2014). "Peter Lacy, the Prince Eugene of Muscovy". History Ireland. 22 (6): 14–16. JSTOR 44897442.