Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

Prince William
Duke of Cumberland (more)
The Duke of Cumberland by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1759
Born	(1721-04-15)15 April 1721 (New Style) Leicester House, London, England
Died	31 October 1765(1765-10-31) (aged 44) Mayfair, London, England
Burial	10 November 1765 Westminster Abbey, London
Names William Augustus
House	Hanover
Father	George II of Great Britain
Mother	Caroline of Ansbach
Signature
Military career
Nickname(s)	The Butcher Sweet William Martial boy
Allegiance	Great Britain (1740–1757) Hanover (1757)
Service/branch	Royal Navy  British Army
Years of service	1740–1757
Rank	General
Unit	Grenadier Guards
Commands held	Pragmatic Army Government Army Hanoverian Army of Observation Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
Battles/wars	War of the Austrian Succession Battle of Dettingen Battle of Fontenoy Battle of Lauffeld Jacobite rising of 1745 Clifton Moor Skirmish Siege of Carlisle Siege of Stirling Castle Battle of Culloden Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore Seven Years' War Battle of Hastenbeck

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 [N.S.] – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach. He was Duke of Cumberland from 1726. He is best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which made him immensely popular throughout parts of Britain.^[1][2] He is often referred to by the nickname given to him by his Tory opponents: 'Butcher' Cumberland.^[3][4]

For much of the War of the Austrian Succession, with the assistance of John Ligonier, Cumberland commanded the main allied field army in Flanders acting in defence of the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic. At the head of the largest deployment of British troops on the continent since the days of Marlborough and opposed to the experienced French Marshal Maurice de Saxe, Cumberland's campaigning could not prevent the fall of the Dutch Barrier Forts. Between 1748 and 1755 he attempted to enact a series of army reforms that were resisted by the opposition and by the army itself.^[5] Following the Convention of Klosterzeven in 1757, he never again held active military command and switched his attentions to politics and horse racing.