Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
Prince Frederick | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. James's Palace, London | |||||
Died | 5 January 1827 Rutland House, London | (aged 63)||||
Burial | 20 January 1827 Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | ||||
Spouse | |||||
| |||||
House | Hanover | ||||
Father | George III | ||||
Mother | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | ||||
Signature | |||||
Military career | |||||
Allegiance | |||||
Service/ | British Army | ||||
Years of active service |
| ||||
Rank | Field marshal | ||||
Unit | Life Guards | ||||
Commands held | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces | ||||
Battles/wars |
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany,
Frederick was thrust into the British Army at a very early age and was appointed to high command at the age of thirty, when he was given command of a notoriously ineffectual campaign during the War of the First Coalition, a continental war following the French Revolution. Later, as Commander-in-Chief during the Napoleonic Wars, he oversaw the reorganisation of the British Army, establishing vital structural, administrative and recruiting reforms[1] for which he is credited with having done "more for the army than any one man has done for it in the whole of its history".[2]
Early life
Prince Frederick Augustus belonged to the
On 27 February 1764, when Prince Frederick was six months old, he became
Military career
George III decided that his second son would pursue an army career and had him
He was created
Flanders
On 12 April 1793, Frederick was promoted to full general.[15] That year, he was sent to Flanders in command of the British contingent of Coburg's army destined for the invasion of France.[15] Frederick and his command fought in the Flanders campaign under extremely trying conditions. He won several notable engagements, such as the Siege of Valenciennes in July 1793,[16] but was defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in September 1793.[15] In the 1794 campaign he gained a notable success at the Battle of Beaumont in April and another at the Battle of Willems in May but was defeated at the Battle of Tourcoing later that month.[15] The British army was evacuated through Bremen in April 1795.[15]
Commander-in-Chief
After his return to Britain, his father George III promoted him to the rank of
On appointment as Commander-in-Chief he immediately declared, reflecting on the Flanders Campaign of 1793–94, "that no officer should ever be subject to the same disadvantages under which he had laboured".[17]
His second field command was with the army sent for the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799. On 7 September 1799, he was given the honorary title of Captain-General.[20] Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, in charge of the vanguard, had succeeded in capturing some Dutch warships in Den Helder. However, following the Duke's arrival with the main body of the army, a number of disasters befell the allied forces, including shortage of supplies.[21] On 17 October 1799, the Duke signed the Convention of Alkmaar, by which the allied expedition withdrew after giving up its prisoners.[21] 1799 also saw Fort Frederick in South Africa named after him.[22]
Frederick's military setbacks of 1799 were inevitable given his lack of experience as a field commander, the poor state of the British army at the time, and the conflicting military objectives of the protagonists. After this ineffectual campaign, Frederick was mocked, perhaps unfairly, in the rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York":
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.[23]
Frederick's experience in the Dutch campaign made a strong impression on him. That campaign, and the Flanders campaign, had demonstrated the numerous weaknesses of the British army after years of neglect. Frederick as Commander-in-Chief of the British army carried through a massive programme of reform.
In 1801 Frederick actively supported the foundation of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, which promoted the professional, merit-based training of future commissioned officers.[21]
In 1801 touched by the plight of children orphaned as a result of the Napoleonic wars, Frederick issued a Royal Warrant and laid the foundation stone in Chelsea to build the Royal Military Asylum (now known as the Duke of York's Headquarters) for orphaned children.[24] In 1892 the Royal Military Asylum was renamed the Duke of York's Royal Military School. The school relocated to Dover, Kent in 1909.[25]
On 14 September 1805 he was given the honorary title of Warden of Windsor Forest.[26]
Frederick resigned as Commander-in-Chief on 25 March 1809, as the result of a scandal caused by the activities of his latest mistress,
Frederick maintained a country residence at
Death
Frederick died of
Family
Frederick married his third cousin Princess
Titles, styles, honours, and arms
Titles and styles
- 16 August 1763 – 27 November 1784: His Royal Highness The Prince Frederick
- 27 November 1784 – 5 January 1827: His Royal Highness The Duke of York and Albany
Honours
His honours were as follows:[36]
- Royal Knight of the Order of the Garter, 19 June 1771[37]
- Knight Grand Cross (military) of the Order of the Bath, 2 January 1815[38]
- Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, 12 August 1815[39]
- Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle of Prussia, 11 April 1814[40]
- Knight of the Order of the St-Esprit of France, 21 April 1814[41]
- Knight of the Order of St. Andrew of Russia, 9 June 1814[42]
- Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky of Russia, 9 June 1814[43]
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III of Spain, 21 August 1814[44]
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa of Austria, 1814[41]
Legacy
Also in Canada, Duke of York Bay was named in his honour, since it was discovered on his birthday, 16 August.[46]
In Western Australia, York County and the towns of York and Albany were named after Prince Frederick.[47][48] Albany was originally named "Frederick Town".[49]
The towering
The
The first British fortification in southern Africa, Fort Frederick,
The Duke of York's Royal Military School is named in the duke's honour as he was largely responsible for the founding of the school by Royal Warrant in 1801 (it was originally called the Royal Military Asylum for the Children of Soldiers of the Regular Army). The school was moved to its current site near Dover in 1909. The original building still stands in Chelsea, London.[53]
Ancestors
Ancestors of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14. Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen[56] | |||||||||||||
7. Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen | |||||||||||||
15. Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach[56] | |||||||||||||
See also
- Beer money – a notable military allowance of the time
- List of famous duels
References and notes
- ^ a b Glover, (1963), p.12
- ^ a b The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army (1994) p. 145
- ^ a b c d e f Heathcote, p. 127.
- ^ "Family Tree for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz". Royal list on-line. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings". Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ required.)
- ISBN 9781416531982.
The Yorks had bought Oatlands on their marriage in 1791 with the impressive allowances of £18,000 from the Civil List, £7,000 from Ireland and a full £45,000 a year from the duke's holdings as Prince-Bishop of Osnabruck.
- ^ Cokayne, p.921
- ^ Weir, p. 286.
- ^ "No. 12132". The London Gazette. 31 October 1780. p. 1.
- ^ "Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany". Regency History. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "No. 12281". The London Gazette. 23 March 1782. p. 6.
- ^ "No. 12590". The London Gazette. 26 October 1784. p. 1.
- ^ "Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Heathcote, p.128
- ^ "No. 13552". The London Gazette. 1 August 1793. p. 650.
- ^ a b Glover, (1973), p.128
- ^ "No. 15004". The London Gazette. 3 April 1798. p. 283.
- ^ "No. 14038". The London Gazette. 19 August 1797. p. 795.
- ^ "No. 15177". The London Gazette. 3 September 1799. p. 889.
- ^ a b c d e f g Heathcote, p. 129
- ^ "Fort Frederick". Artifacts. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- ^ Opie, pp. 442–443
- ^ Historic England. "Duke of York's Headquarters (Territorial Army), Kensington and Chelsea (1266717)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Military Heritage". Duke of York's Royal Military School. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "No. 15842". The London Gazette. 10 September 1805. p. 1145.
- ^ "The Duke of York Scandal, 1809". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- ^ "No. 16487". The London Gazette. 21 May 1811. p. 940.
- ISBN 0812218361.
- ^ Heathcote, p. 130
- ^ Walford, Edward. "St James's Palace Pages 100-122 Old and New London: Volume 4. Originally published by Cassell, Petter & Galpin, London, 1878". British History Online. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- Longford, Elizabeth. Wellington- Pillar of State. Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1972) p.131
- ^ Knight, Sam (17 March 2017). "'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen's death". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
[In 1827], St George's Chapel was so cold during the burial of the Duke of York that George Canning, the foreign secretary, contracted rheumatic fever and the bishop of London died.
- ^ Stanley, A. P., Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (London; John Murray; 1882), p. 247.
- ^ Fox-Davies, p.498
- ^ "No. 18328". The London Gazette. 24 January 1827. p. 182.
- ^ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 47
- ^ Shaw, p. 180
- ^ Shaw, p. 447
- ^ Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 17
- ^ a b The Complete Peerage, Volume XII, Part II (1959), page 923, St Catherine's Press (London), editors Godfrey H. White and R.S. Lea.
- ^ Almanach de la cour: pour l'année ... 1817. l'Académie Imp. des Sciences. 1817. p. 63.
- ^ Almanach de la cour: pour l'année ... 1817. l'Académie Imp. des Sciences. 1817. p. 78.
- ^ Guerra, Francisco (1826), "Caballeros Grandes-cruces existentes en la Real y distinguida Orden Espanola de Carlos Tercero", Calendario manual y guía de forasteros en Madrid (in Spanish): 46, retrieved 8 October 2020
- ^ "Fredericton – Capital City". Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ Taylor, p.300
- ^ Taylor, Thomas George (1860). Western Australia; its history, progress, position, & prospects, Volume 13. London: G. Street. p. 10.
- ^ West, D.A.P., The Settlement on the Sound – Discovery and settlement of the Albany Region 1791–1831, Western Australian Museum, Perth, 1976, reprinted 2004. pp. 55–115.
- ^ Nind, Isaac Scott (7 February 1828). "View of Frederick Town, King Georges Sound, at the expiration of the first year of its settlement" (pdf). Manuscripts, Oral History and Pictures. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
- ^ "Victorian London – Buildings, Monuments and Museums – Duke of York's column". Victorian London. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "Old Scots Regiments". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "Fort Frederick". Nelson Mandela Bay. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "Royal Military Asylum, Kings Road, Chelsea, London | Educational Images | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 5.
- ^ a b McNaughton, vol. 1, p. 413.
- ^ a b Louda & MacLagan
Sources
- Cokayne, G. E. (2000). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959), volume XII/2. Alan Sutton Publishing.
- Fox-Davies, Arthur (1909). A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
- Glover, Richard (1973). Britain at Bay: Defence against Bonaparte, 1803–14, Historical problems: Studies and documents series No.20. George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London.
- Glover, Richard (1963). Peninsular Preparation: The Reform of the British Army 1795–1809. Cambridge University Press.
- Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals 1736–1997. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
- Opie, I. & Opie, P. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn.
- Taylor, Isaac (1898). Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography. Rivingtons, London. p. 300. OCLC 4161840. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
duke of york's bay.
- Weir, Alison (1999). Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy. The Bodley Head, London.
- McNaughton, C. Arnold (1973). The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy. Garnstone Press.
- Louda, Jiri & MacLagan, Michael (1999). Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe, 2nd edition. Little, Brown and Company.
Further reading
- Burne, Alfred (1949). The Noble Duke of York: The Military Life of Frederick Duke of York and Albany. Staples Press, London.
- Parry, William Edward (1844). "Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole". Project Gutenberg. pp. Second Voyage, Chapter II. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2008.