Editing George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe

{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Brigadier-General]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Viscount Howe
| image         = George Augustus, 3rd Viscount Howe, Half-Length, Wearing the Uniform of the 1st Guard.jpg
| caption       = George Augustus, 3rd Viscount Howe, Half-Length, Wearing the Uniform of the 55th Foot, by [[Joshua Reynolds|Sir Joshua Reynolds]]
| birth_date    = {{circa}} 1725
| death_date    = 6 July 1758 (aged 32–33)
| placeofburial_label = 
| placeofburial = 
| birth_place   = [[London]], England
| death_place   = [[Ticonderoga (CDP), New York|Ticonderoga, New York]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1745–1758
| rank          = [[Brigadier general]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = 
| battles       = {{tree list}}
*[[War of the Austrian Succession]]
**[[Battle of Lauffeld]]
*[[French and Indian War]]
**[[Battle of Carillon]]{{KIA}}
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = 
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}
'''George Augustus Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe''' (c. 1725 &ndash; 6 July 1758) was a career officer and a [[brigadier general]] in the [[British Army]].  He was described by [[James Wolfe]] as "the best officer in the British Army". He was killed in the [[French and Indian War]] in a skirmish at Fort Ticonderoga the day before the [[Battle of Carillon]], an ultimately disastrous attempt by the British to capture French-controlled [[Fort Ticonderoga|Fort Carillon]].

==Background==
Howe's father was [[Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe|Emanuel Scrope Howe]], 2nd Viscount Howe, and mother was [[Charlotte Howe, Viscountess Howe|Mary Sophia von Kielmansegg]] (a niece of [[George I of Great Britain|King George I]]), and he had two notable younger brothers, [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Richard Howe]], Earl Howe and [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]], 5th Viscount Howe, as well as seven other siblings. George was born either on the Howe estate at [[Langar, Nottinghamshire]], or at the Howe home on [[Albemarle Street]], [[London]].

==Early career==
Howe joined the army as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] of the [[Grenadier Guards|1st Foot Guards]] in 1745 and saw service during the Flanders campaign of the [[War of the Austrian Succession]]. In 1746 he was made an [[aide-de-camp]] to the [[Prince William, Duke of Cumberland|Duke of Cumberland]] who led the Allied Army in Flanders. In 1747 Howe fought at the [[Battle of Laufeld]]. He was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]] in 1749 following the end of the war.<ref>Stoetzel, pp. 214–215.</ref>

==Ticonderoga campaign reforms==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
In 1758, in preparation for the attack on the French fort at Ticonderoga, which controlled access from [[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]] to [[Lake Champlain]], Lord Howe set about reforming General [[James Abercrombie (British Army general)|James Abercrombie]]'s army for warfare in North America.  He used his own [[55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot|55th Regiment]] as an example for the rest of the army to follow.  Howe had uniforms cut short, so that they came just to the men's waists, and all lace was removed from the coats as well.  The cumbersome tricorn hats worn by the soldiers were cut down to brims of {{convert|2.5|in|cm}}, resembling derby hats. Infantrymen were issued [[leggings]] made of wool, in place of their linen and hemp canvas [[gaiters]].  Excess uniforms and equipment were done away with.  The men's hair was cut short, Dr. [[Richard Huck (physician)|Richard Huck]] wrote; "we are an army of round heads." Officers were not immune to his changes either, and he made himself an example of this, cutting his hair short.  He washed his own clothes, and took very little baggage into the field.

His changes did not only affect the uniforms of the army but its tactics as well.  In the fall of 1757, Lord Howe had accompanied the famous ranger Major [[Robert Rogers (soldier)|Robert Rogers]] on a scouting expedition.  In the spring he again met with Rogers to discuss warfare and tactics in the North American theater.  He began instructing the troops in Abercrombie's army in the manner of marching, forming, and fighting in the woods.  One observer stated that Lord Howe had trained his 55th Regiment so well that they were as "dexterious as rangers."

Many historians have credited Lord Howe with the creation of light infantry, and have called the 55th Regiment a light infantry regiment, however that was not the case.  While [[John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun|Lord Loudoun]] contemplated creating light infantry companies in each redcoat battalion, the idea was scrapped when Colonel [[Thomas Gage]] proposed to raise a regiment of Light Armed Foot, that became Gage's [[80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot|80th Regiment]].  They wore brown uniforms, instead of red and were the first British light infantry regiment.  At the [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|Siege of Louisbourg]], General [[Jeffery Amherst]] ordered his regiments to create light infantry companies.  Those companies were then placed into a light infantry battalion under the command of Colonel [[George Scott (army officer)|George Scott]] of the [[40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot|40th Regiment]].  The following year, as Commander-in-chief in North America, Amherst ordered each regiment in North America to create a light infantry company.

==Seven Years War==
[[File:George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe memorial, Westminster Abbey.jpg|thumb|Howe's memorial in Westminster Abbey]]
{{Main|Great Britain in the Seven Years War}}
On 2 February 1757, Howe was appointed colonel, 3rd Battalion of the 60th Foot (the Royal Americans, later the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]]), but transferred to command the [[55th Regiment of Foot]] on 28 September 1757 while at [[City of Halifax|Halifax]]. In December he was promoted to Brigadier General.

In 1758 he and the regiment were part of General [[James Abercrombie (British Army general)|James Abercrombie]]'s failed attack, the [[Battle of Carillon]] at [[Fort Ticonderoga]]. England's Prime Minister [[William Pitt the Elder|William Pitt]] had wanted Howe in command of this expedition rather than Abercrombie, but Abercrombie had more political contacts and seniority, so Howe was made second-in-command.<ref>Parkman, Francis: "Montcalm and Wolfe".</ref> On 6 July Abercrombie's force marched north from the shore of [[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]] in four columns. Howe led one of these columns, with the 55th regiment accompanied by a unit of [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] militia, with Major [[Israel Putnam]] as a scout and guide. They made contact with a French detachment that had been separated from the main force and a sharp skirmish ensued. They fought well, taking 148 prisoners, and causing an estimated 300 enemy casualties with limited losses to their own number. But one of those casualties was General Howe, who died in Putnam's arms.

==Aftermath==
[[File:Viscount Howe burial marker, St Peter's Episcopal Church, Albany, NY.jpg|thumb|right|Howe's burial marker in [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Albany, New York)|St. Peter's Episcopal Church]], [[Albany, New York]]. It is the only burial marker for a British peer in the U.S.|alt=A golden triangular marker set amidst triangular green stone tiles. Engraved on it is "George Augustus Viscount Howe" in large type, and in smaller type below "Is buried beneath this pavement ... Killed near Ticonderoga July 6, 1758"]]
Howe was widely mourned on both sides of the Atlantic. The [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] Assembly (or general court) later voted £250 to place a monument in [[Westminster Abbey]] by the sculptor [[Peter Scheemakers]], which was erected in 1759.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/george-howe#i13551 |title= George Howe |website= Westminster Abbey|access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref>

==Genealogy==
George Augustus was brother to [[Richard Howe|Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, 4th Viscount]] and [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe]].  ''The Family of Hoge'' quotes ''The Encyclopædia Britannica'' as having this to say about the Howes:
<blockquote>The friendliness of the brothers, Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe, to the colonies led to their selection for the command of the British forces in the Revolutionary War. It was thought that they could negotiate a settlement with the American forces.</blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Stoetzel, Donald I. ''Encyclopedia of the French & Indian War in North America, 1754–1763''. Heritage Books, 2008.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Howe, George Augustus|last=Carlyle|first=Edward Irving|volume=III|supplement=1}}

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{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, George Howe, 3rd Viscount}}
[[Category:1720s births]]
[[Category:1758 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army brigadiers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the French and Indian War]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons]]
[[Category:Whig (British political party) MPs]]
[[Category:British MPs 1747–1754]]
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[[Category:Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland]]
[[Category:Grenadier Guards officers]]
[[Category:55th Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:Royal American Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Seven Years' War]]
[[Category:Howe family|George]]