Dominic Sheldon, often written as Dominick Sheldon, was an English

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

. A leading Jacobite he served in James II's

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

during the

Williamite War The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobite supporters of James II and those of his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflic ...

between 1689 and 1691. He was a noted cavalry commander, present at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

and

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Irish Jacobitism, Jacobite army loyal to James II of England, James II and the forces of Will ...

. Later after going into exile, he rose to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. He was also remained a prominent

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

at the Jacobite court in exile at Saint Germain.

Early career

Sheldon was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

from

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

and a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

supporter of James II. His brother Ralph Sheldon served as an

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

to the King. He fought with an English Regiment of the

during the 1670s, but after 1678 he was unemployed for seven years. In 1685 he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Army by the

Earl of Tyrconnell Earl of Tyrconnell is a title that has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, formerly king of Tyrconnell, along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal. The 1 ...

, as part of an attempt to purge Protestants and replace them with Catholic supporters of the King. He was commissioned as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the Irish Foot Guards. Following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1688 in England, he continued to serve with the mainly Catholic forces still loyal to James in Ireland. Several other English Catholics such as William Dorrington were prominent commanders of the Irish Army. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel at this stage.

Irish war

In 1689 he accompanied Richard Hamilton during his march through

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in which the Protestant

Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

were scattered at the

Break of Dromore The Break of Dromore took place on 14 March 1689 near Dromore, County Down in the early stages of the Williamite War in Ireland. It featured Catholic Jacobite troops under Richard Hamilton and Protestant Williamite militia led by Hugh ...

. Sheldon was present at the unsuccessful

Siege of Derry The siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by an attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates. Thi ...

the same year. He was involved in heavy fighting at the

in July 1690, reportedly having two horses shot from under him. He accompanied the Irish Army during its retreat to Limerick, where they won an unexpected victory during the First Siege of Limerick. He was a close political ally of Lord Tyrconnell, and took his side when questions were raised about his conduct of the war. After further Jacobite defeats at the

and the Second Siege of Limerick, he took part in the

Flight of the Wild Geese The Flight of the Wild Geese was the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on 3 October 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland ...

that followed the

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...

. Sheldon was in charge of shipping the Irish Army to France to continue to serve James II and his French allies.

French service

Sheldon was made a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the

commanding a unit of exiled Irish during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. He was promoted to

in 1702, and distinguished himself in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. Sheldon was prominent figure at the exiled

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

court at St Germain. Along with his former comrade from the Irish Army, Richard Hamilton, he was in charge of the military education of the young

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

, considered to be James III by the Jacobites. He maintained frequent contact with James' mother

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena (; ) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James VII and II. A devout Catholic, Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was t ...

. In 1708 he accompanied James when he sailed with a French expedition in an aborted plan to land in Scotland. In June 1718 along with other prominent Jacobites such as Lord Middleton and Arthur Dillon he brought news of Mary of Modena's death to her son at his court in

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

.Miller p. 239

References

Bibliography

* D'Alton, John. ''King James's Irish Army List''. The Celtic Bookshop, 1997. * Childs, John. ''The Army, James II and the Glorious Revolution''. Manchester University Press, 1980. * Childs, John. ''The Williamite Wars in Ireland''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. * Corp, Edward T. ''A Court in Exile: The Stuarts in France, 1689–1718''. Cambridge University Press, 2004. * Miller, Peggy. ''James''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Dominic 17th-century English military personnel English Jacobites English soldiers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown French generals Military personnel from Warwickshire