Brigadier-General Richard Kane (1662 – 1736) 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 ...
officer from Ireland who served as the
governor of Gibraltar
The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...
(acting or temporary governor) from 1725 to 1727. He also served as the
governor of Menorca from 1733 to 1736 (he had been its lieutenant governor since 1712).
Origins
Born to Thomas
O'Cahan and his wife, Margaret Dobbin, at his mother's home in
Duneane, County Antrim, in
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 ...
, Ireland, in December 1662. At the age of 26, he anglicised his name to Kane and joined a volunteer Protestant regiment in his home town,
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
, raised to oppose
James II's Catholic rule.
The Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession
Kane enlisted as a Lieutenant in the Antrim Volunteers, part of the
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 ...
. This was a scratch force of Protestants raised to oppose the
Royal Irish Army which was loyal to
James II.
Kane took part in the
defence of Derry in 1689. Shortly afterwards, he joined the Earl of Meath's Regiment (later the
Royal Irish Regiment, and otherwise known as the
18th Regiment) and fought in
William III's campaigns in Ireland. He was 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
Siege of Limerick in 1690.
His regiment was singled out in recognition of its bravery during the
1695 siege of Namur at which he was wounded. In 1702, William died and the
Duke of Marlborough took command of the army. Kane fought under
Marlborough
Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to:
Places Australia
* Marlborough, Queensland
* Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993
* Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
in many bloody battles of 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 ...
and was severely wounded at
Blenheim. In December 1710,
Queen Anne named him colonel of his own regiment of foot (formerly the regiment of the disgraced
George Macartney), which was finally disbanded in 1717.
In 1711, Kane sailed to Canada in an unsuccessful expedition under General
Jack Hill
Jack Hill (born January 28, 1933) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the exploitation genre. He was an early associate of Francis Ford Coppola and Roger Corman, and worked on many films distributed by American International Pictur ...
to take
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
from the French. On that voyage, he visited
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. In the following year he commanded British troops in a takeover of the town of
Dunkirk
Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
which ended disastrously when an epidemic killed half of the men.
Menorca and Gibraltar
In the summer of 1712, Queen Anne signed orders for the
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...
to proceed to the Spanish island of
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...
as its Governor. Menorca had been captured by the British in 1708 and under the terms of the peace treaty then being negotiated, the island would remain in British hands. Argyll remained titular governor for the next three years, but the work was really for Richard Kane, the lieutenant governor. He arrived 10 November 1712 and remained on the island, apart from a few absences, until his death twenty four years later.
In Menorca, against the interference of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and always short of funds, Kane reformed the legal system, drew up a new constitution, built a road connecting the old Spanish capital,
Ciudadela, with
Mahón
Mahón (), officially Maó (, ; formerly spelled ''Mahó''), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the ar ...
, the new capital, and improved trade by making Mahon a free port. He introduced new agricultural methods and imported new varieties of cereal, new breeds of cattle and drought-resistant clover to feed them.
In 1720–1721, he was appointed to take command of the garrison in Gibraltar when it was threatened by Spain and, in 1725,
George I ordered Kane to Gibraltar again to strengthen the defences and ward off Spanish invaders. This he did, at the same time recommending a civil government for
"the Rock". George I rewarded him in 1725 for his work by giving him the colonelcy of a regiment (later the
9th Regiment of Foot). Kane returned to Menorca in February 1727, just before the Spanish launched
an unsuccessful siege on Gibraltar.
He was formally appointed Governor of Menorca in 1733 and given the rank of brigadier general in 1735. He was not knighted. Richard Kane died in Mahon on 31 December 1736 after almost twenty five years of devoted service on the island. He was buried in the chapel of St. Philip's Castle which was later bombed by the Spanish. A bust by J. M. Ruysback with a Latin inscription listing his many achievements is in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. Although an excellent soldier, Kane is best remembered as a colonial administrator devoted to the people in his care.
Memorial at Westminster Abbey
In the west aisle of the north transept in Westminster Abbey is a memorial to Kane by the sculptor
John Michael Rysbrack. It consists of a monument in white, grey and black marbles with a bust in armour with shoulder length hair on a pedestal. The Latin inscription can be translated:
"Sacred to the memory of Richard Kane laid to rest at the citadel of the Balearic island of Menorca named for Saint Philip, who was born on December 20, 1666, at Duneane in County Antrim. In 1689, he served his military apprenticeship in the famous siege of Derry, whereafter, under William III of blessed memory, he continued in armed service both at home, until the subjugation of all Ireland, and abroad, in Flanders, at great risk of life, not least by reason of a grave wound received at the siege of Namur. In 1702, when war broke out afresh in the reign of Queen Anne, again he campaigned in Belgium before joining the expedition to Canada. In 1712, under the renowned Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, and later under Baron Carpenter, he acted as civil governor of Menorca where, capably undertaking all tasks, both civil and military, and in command of army and navy alike, he planned, ordered and maintained everything that was necessary, expedient or beneficial for the preservation of the island, in war and in peace, on sea and on land, and also had paved, fortified and adorned a truly royal road throughout the length of an island hitherto impassable. In 1720, at the behest of George I, he crossed from Mahon to Gibraltar and thwarted an attack by the Spaniards who planned to take it by surprise. In 1725, he returned to the same scene of action for eighteen months and, when the enemy laid the Peninsula under heavy siege, quashed their every hope of taking it. After this sequence of sterling achievements as Lieutenant Governor in 1733 at the command of George II neither by his own seeking nor with prior knowledge, as with his other offices wheresoever held, he was elevated to the supreme command in Menorca. But oh, oh, how uncertain is the life of man! He who under four sovereigns had borne arms with the greatest shrewdness, courage and dignity, who had served God with all his heart and played the role not less of a Christian than of a good soldier, of pure faith and old-fashioned courtesy, dear to his friends, amiable to his associates, affable to his people, kind and generous to all, and in all things concerned more for the public good than for his own, left an island that was both British and Spanish sadly mourning his loss and in his seventy sixth year on December 19, 1736, breathed his last."
Bibliography
He left a ''Narrative of All the Campaigns of King William and the Duke of Marlborough'' and wrote ''A New System of Military Discipline for Foot on Action''
which became the British army's "bible" at the time.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Richard
1662 births
1736 deaths
Governors of Gibraltar
British Army brigadiers
People from Carrickfergus
British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession
Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers
British military personnel of the Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729)
Irish colonial officials
Military personnel from County Antrim