Henry Hawley

Lieutenant-general Henry Hawley (c. 1679 - 1759) was a British Army officer who entered the army, it is said, in 1694.

He saw service in the War of Spanish Succession as a captain of Erie's (the 19th) Foot. After Almanza he returned to England, and a few years later had become lieutenant-colonel of the 19th. With this regiment he served at Sheriffmuir in 1715, where he was wounded.

After this he served for some years in the United Kingdom, obtaining promotion in the usual course, and in 1739 he arrived at the grade of major general. Four years later he accompanied George II and Stair to Germany, and, as a general officer of cavalry under Sir John Cope, was present at Dettingen.

Becoming lieutenant-general somewhat later, he was second-in-command of the cavalry at Fontenoy, and on 20th December 1745 became commander-in-chief in Scotland. Less than a month later Hawley suffered a severe defeat at Falkirk at the hands of the Jacobite insurgents. This, however, did not cost him his command, for the Duke of Cumberland, who was soon afterwards sent north, was captain-general. Under Cumberland's orders Hawley led the cavalry in the campaign of Culloden, and at that battle his dragoons became infamous for their brutality to fugitive rebels, while he gained the nickname of "Hangman Hawley".

After the end of the "Forty-Five" he accompanied Cumberland to the Low Countries and led the allied cavalry at Lauffeld (Val). He ended his career as governor of Portsmouth and died at that place in 1759. He was buried in the parish church of St Mary in Hartley Wintney in Hampshire, near his family home, West Green House.

James Wolfe, his brigade-major, wrote of General Hawley in no flattering terms. "The troops dread his severity, hate the man and hold his military knowledge in contempt," he wrote. But, whether it be true or false that he was the natural son of George II, Hawley was always treated with the greatest favour by that king and by his son the Duke of Cumberland.

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