General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

John Despard ( 4 August 1744 – 3 September 1829) was an Irish-born soldier who had a long and distinguished career in the

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 ...

and as a colonial administrator. He was the brother of

Edward Despard Edward Marcus Despard (175121 February 1803), an Irish officer in the service of the British Crown, gained notoriety as a colonial administrator for refusing to recognise race as a distinction in English law and, following his recall to London, ...

, also a soldier, who was executed in 1803 for his part in the Despard Plot. John Despard was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and served in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

and the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He was in 24 engagements, had two horses shot under him, was shipwrecked three times, was taken prisoner twice, and had the standard of his regiment shot out of his hand at the age of 15.Obituary, General Despard. ''Gentleman's Magazine'', October 1829, pp.369-370. He joined the army in 1760 as an ensign in 12th Foot. In 1762, he purchased a lieutenancy. After serving in the

, he was reduced to half pay from 1763 until he exchanged into 7th Foot (

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

) in 1768. He went with the regiment to Canada in 1773, and took part in the

, being taken prisoner a
St. John's
in 1775. He was exchanged in 1776 and promoted to captain-lieutenant and then captain of a company in 1777. In 1778, he was appointed major and de facto commanding officer of an independent company raised in America. In 1779, he was appointed deputy adjutant general to the army in South Carolina and was taken prisoner at the surrender of Yorktown in 1781, being paroled to England in 1782. He was promoted to brevet major in 1785, the rank being confirmed in 1788. He served with the regiment in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in 1790-91 and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on returning to England. He served in Canada from 1793 to 1798, being promoted to colonel in 1795. In 1798, he was appointed as a brigadier on the staff of the Severn District, and was promoted to major-general, becoming commanding officer in Dorset in 1799 and then appointed to the staff in Canada. From 1800 to 1807, he was military commander (and therefore civil administrator) of the colony of

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1805 and general in 1814. From 1808 to 1809, he was commanding officer of 12th Garrison Battalion. In 1809, he was appointed colonel of the 5th West India Regiment. He died at his home, Swan Hill,

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

References

Bibliography

* * Conner, Clifford D., "Colonel Despard: The Life and Times of an Anglo-Irish Rebel" (Combined Publishing 2000) * Jay, Mike, ''The Unfortunate Colonel Despard'' (Bantam Press 2004) * Obituary, General Despard. ''Gentleman's Magazine'', October 1829, pp. 369–37

* Oman, Charles William Chadwick. ''Unfortunate Colonel Despard and Other Studies''. Burt Franklin, 1922. * Philippart, J., ''ed''. 1820. "General John Despard". In: The Royal Military Calendar, or Army Service and Commission Book, Containing the Services and Progress of Promotion of the Generals, Lieutenant-Generals, Major-Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels, and Majors of the Army, According to Seniority: With Details of Principal Military Events of the Last Century, Vol.2, pp. 77–79. 3rd edition. London, UK: T. Egerton, and Sherwood, Neely and Jones. * Tennyson, Brian & Sarty, Roger. ''Guardian of the Gulf: Sydney, Cape Breton, and the Atlantic Wars''. University of Toronto Press, 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Despard, John British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War Irish soldiers in the British Army British Army generals Military personnel from Dublin (city) 1744 births 1829 deaths 18th-century Irish people British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War Irish people of French descent Lieutenant governors of Cape Breton Island Royal Fusiliers officers Suffolk Regiment officers