Hillingford - George II at the Battle of Dettingen

Daniel Webb ( – 11 November 1773) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

general. He is best known for his actions during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

Biography

At the age of twenty, Webb

purchased a commission Between the 17th and 19th centuries, officer's commissions in infantry and cavalry units of the English and British armies could be purchased. This avoided the need to wait to be promoted for merit or seniority, and was the usual way to obta ...

in the British Army at the rank of

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

on 20 March 1720. In 1742, Webb was promoted to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

while serving in the 8th Regiment of Horse, and he fought at the

battle of Dettingen The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Karlstein am Main in Bavaria. An alliance composed of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops, known as the Pragmatic Army, defeated a French ...

on 27 June 1743. Three years later in April 1745, Webb was again promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and on 11 May of that year fought at the

battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

. In 1755, he was made

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 ...

of the

48th Regiment of Foot The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881. History Early h ...

. After the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754, Webb sailed to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

as a subordinate of

Lord Loudoun General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (5 May 1705 – 27 April 1782) was a British Army officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, North America from 1756 to 1757. Early life and career Born in Scotland two years before the creation of Gre ...

. He participated in British military operations around Lake George in 1757, which culminated in the

siege of Fort William Henry The siege of Fort William Henry (3–9 August 1757, ) was conducted by a French and Indian force led by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm against the British-held Fort William Henry. This fort, located at the southern end of Lake George, on the fronti ...

. Believing a French prisoner's report that besieging forces under the command of

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Lieutenant-General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (; 28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French Royal Army officer best known for his unsuccessful defence of New France during the French and Indian ...

were 11,000-men strong, Webb refused to send any of his approximately 1,600 troops north to relieve the British garrison at

Fort William Henry Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George, in the province of New York. The fort's construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755, during the French and Indian War, as a staging ground for a ...

, since Webb's men were all that stood between the French and

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

.Nester, pp. 57–58 He was subsequently recalled due to his actions;

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations in Canada, First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Cana ...

official William Johnson later wrote that Webb was "the only Englishman ever knew who was a coward".Starbuck, p. 14 In 1759, he was promoted to the rank of major-general and again to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1761. Five years later in 1766, he was made colonel of the

8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot The 8th (King's) Regiment of Foot, also referred to in short as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's (Liverpool Regiment) on 1 July 1881. As infantry of the line, the ...

. Webb was appointed as colonel of the

14th Regiment of Dragoons The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 19 ...

in 1772, holding the office until he died on 11 November 1773. His daughter and heiress, Mary, married

Henry Theophilus Clements Henry Theophilus Clements PC(I) (1734 – 26 October 1795) was an Anglo-Irish soldier, politician and official in the Dublin Castle administration in Ireland. Early life Clements was the second son of Nathaniel Clements and Hannah (née Gore). H ...

on 2 June 1770. In American writer

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

's 1826 novel ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

'', Webb is portrayed as a minor character most noteworthy for declining to send adequate support to Fort William Henry. In the 1992 film adaptation of the novel, he is portrayed by Mac Andrews.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Daniel 1700s births 1773 deaths 7th Dragoon Guards officers 14th King's Hussars officers 48th Regiment of Foot officers British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the French and Indian War British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers Year of birth unknown