William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC (10 August 1729 – 12 July 1814), was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brothers who had distinguished military careers. In historiography of the American war he is usually referred to as Sir William Howe to distinguish him from his brother Richard, who was 4th Viscount Howe at that time.
"General Howe" redirects here. For other uses, see General Howe (disambiguation).
General The Right HonourableThe Viscount Howe
10 August 1729
England
12 July 1814 (aged 84)
Twickenham, United Kingdom
1746–1814
Having joined the army in 1746, Howe saw extensive service in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. He became known for his role in the capture of Quebec in 1759 when he led a British force to capture the cliffs at Anse-au-Foulon, allowing James Wolfe to land his army and engage the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Howe also participated in the campaigns to take Louisbourg, Belle Île and Havana. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight, a post he held until 1795.
Howe was sent to North America in March 1775, arriving in May after the American War of Independence broke out. After leading British troops to a costly victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill, Howe took command of all British forces in America from Thomas Gage in September of that year. Howe's record in North America was marked by the successful capture of both New York City and Philadelphia. However, poor campaign planning for 1777 contributed to the failure of John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign, which played a major role in the entry of France into the war. Howe's role in developing those plans and the degree to which he was responsible for British failures that year (despite his personal success at Philadelphia) have both been subjects of contemporary and historic debate.
He was knighted after his successes in 1776. He resigned his post as Commander-in-Chief, British land forces in America, in 1777, and the next year returned to England, where he was at times active in the defence of the British Isles. He sat in the House of Commons from 1758 to 1780 for Nottingham. He inherited the Viscountcy of Howe upon the death of his brother Richard in 1799. He married, but had no children, and the viscountcy became extinct with his death in 1814.
Early life and career[edit]
William Howe was born in England, the third son of Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe, and Charlotte, the daughter of Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of Leinster and Darlington, an acknowledged illegitimate half-sister of King George I.[1][2] His mother was a regular in the courts of George II and George III.[2] This connection with the crown may have improved the careers of all four sons, but all were also very capable officers.[3] His father was a politician, who served as Governor of Barbados where he died in 1735.[1] William's eldest brother, General George Howe, was killed just before the 1758 Battle of Carillon at Fort Ticonderoga. Another brother, Admiral Richard Howe, rose to become one of Britain's leading naval commanders.[4] A third brother, Thomas, commanded ships for the East India Company, Winchelsea in 1762–1764 and Nottingham in 1766, and made observations on Madeira[5] and on the Comoro Islands.[6]
William entered the army when he was 17 by buying a cornet's commission in the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons in 1746, becoming a lieutenant the following year.[7] He then served for two years in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession. After the war he was transferred to the 20th Regiment of Foot, where he became a friend of James Wolfe.[8]
Later life[edit]
In 1780, Howe lost in his bid to be re-elected to the House of Commons.[100] In 1782, he was named lieutenant general of the ordnance and appointed to the Privy Council. His colonelcy was transferred from the 23rd Fusiliers to the 19th Light Dragoons in 1786.[101] He resumed limited active duty in 1789, when a crisis with Spain over territorial claims in northwestern North America threatened to boil over into war. He was placed in command of the forces organized for action against Spain,[7] but the crisis was resolved and Howe did not see further action until 1793, when the French Revolutionary Wars involved Britain. He was promoted to full general in 1793, and commanded Northern District from 1793 and Eastern District from 1795.[9] In 1795, he was appointed governor of Berwick-on-Tweed.[100]
When his brother Richard died in 1799 without surviving male issue, Howe inherited the Irish titles and became the 5th Viscount Howe and Baron Clenawly.[102] In 1803, he resigned as lieutenant general of the ordnance, citing poor health. In 1808, he was appointed governor of Plymouth. He died at Twickenham in 1814 after a long illness.[9][a]
Howe had married Frances Connolly, often referred to as Fanny,[103] in 1765. Their marriage was childless. Therefore, his titles died with him.[9] His wife survived him by three years. Both are buried in Twickenham.[104]
In popular culture[edit]
Howe appears as an antagonist in the supernatural television series Sleepy Hollow, played in flashbacks by Nicholas Guest and depicted as a ruthless, cruel leader who was acquainted with protagonist Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) before Crane defected to the United States during the War of Independence; he is later resurrected in the present as a zombie, but is destroyed by Crane using Greek fire.[105]
Howe's remains are a plot point in the Bones episode "The Resurrection in the Remains", a crossover with Sleepy Hollow, in which Howe's decapitated skull is used as a murder weapon. The series also establishes that he was buried beneath an American church instead of Twickenham.[106]
Howe is also featured in "Howe's Masquerade" and "Old Esther Dudley", two of the stories that make up Nathaniel Hawthorne's Legends of the Province House, a quartet of tales that first appeared in 1838–1839.
