View source for Eyre Coote (British Army officer, born 1762)

{{Short description|British general and politician (1762–1823)}}
{{For|his uncle, Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote|Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name             = Eyre Coote
| caption       = An 1895 illustration of Coote
|honorific-suffix =
|image            = Sir Eyre Coote (born 1762).jpg
|office           = Governor of Jamaica
|monarch          =
|primeminister    =
|term_start       = 1806
|term_end         = 1808
|predecessor      = [[Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet]]
|successor        = [[William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester]]
|birth_date       =
|birth_place      =
|death_date       = {{death-date and age|10 December 1823|20 May 1762}}
|death_place      =
| parents     ={{Plainlist|
* Charles Coote (1713 – 12 February 1776)
* Grace Tilson (d. 1767)
}}
| spouse       = {{Plainlist |
* Sarah Rodbard (1765–1795)
* Jane Bagwell
}}
| children     = Catherine, Sarah and Susannah and Eyre Coote.
|alma_mater       = [[Trinity College Dublin]]
| module        = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance    = {{UK}}
| branch        = [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  =
| rank          = [[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| unit          =
| commands      =
| battles       = [[American War of Independence]]<br/>[[French Revolutionary Wars]]}}
}}
'''Eyre Coote''' (20 May 1762 – 10 December 1823) was an [[Kingdom of Ireland|Irish]]-born [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] soldier and politician who served as [[Governor of Jamaica]]. He attained the rank of [[General (United Kingdom)|general]] in the [[British Army]] and was created a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] before being stripped of his rank and honours in 1816 after [[Conduct unbecoming|conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman]].
==Background==
He was the second son of the [[Very Rev.]] Charles Coote (1713 – 12 February 1776), DD, [[Dean of Kilfenora]] and wife (m. 31 July 1753) Grace Tilson (- 1 January 1767), brother of [[Charles Henry Coote, 2nd Baron Castle Coote|Charles Henry Coote]] (1754–1823), who succeeded the last [[Earl of Mountrath]] as 2nd Baron Castle Coote in 1802, and nephew of [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Sir Eyre Coote, KB]], the celebrated Indian General, to whose vast estates in England and Ireland he eventually succeeded.
==Career==
[[File:Sir Eyre Coote in 1801.jpg|thumb|Sir Eyre Coote in 1801]]
Following studies at [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Trinity College Dublin]],<ref>''Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of [[Trinity College, Dublin|Trinity College in the University of Dublin]] (1593–1860)'', [[George Dames Burtchaell]]/[[Thomas Ulick Sadleir]] p. 176: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935</ref> Coote [[Purchase of commissions in the British Army|purchased a commission]] in 1774 as an ensign in the [[37th Regiment of Foot]], of which his uncle [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Lieutenant- General Sir Eyre Coote]] was colonel.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=161}}
His regiment embarked for North America to fight in the [[American War of Independence]], and he carried the colours at the [[Battle of Long Island]] on 27 August 1776. He was then promoted lieutenant, and served with that rank at York Island, Rhode Island, the [[Expedition to the Chesapeake (1777)|expedition to the Chesapeake]], and the battles of [[Battle of Brandywine|Brandywine]], [[Battle of Germantown|Germantown]], and [[Battle of Monmouth|Monmouth Court House]]. He was promoted captain on 10 August 1778, and served in the [[campaign in New York]] in 1779, at the [[siege of Charleston]] in 1780, and finally throughout Lord Cornwallis's campaigns in Virginia up to the [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|capitulation of Yorktown]], when he became a prisoner.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=161}}
After his release he returned to England, and became major of the [[47th Foot]] Regiment in 1783, and lieutenant-colonel of the [[70th Foot]] in 1788. In 1793, on the outbreak of the [[War of the First Coalition|war with France]], he accompanied Sir [[Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey|Charles Grey]] on [[West Indies Campaign (1793–1798)|campaign to the West Indies]] in command of a battalion of light infantry, formed from the light companies of the various regiments in the expedition, and greatly distinguished himself throughout the operations there, and especially at the storming of the [[Morne Fortuné]] in [[Guadeloupe]], for which he was thanked in general orders.<ref>{{harvnb|Stephen|1887|p=161}} see: ''Military Panorama'' for May 1813.</ref>
Coote was promoted colonel on 24 January 1794, and returned with Sir [[Ralph Abercromby]] in 1795 to the [[West Indies]], where he again distinguished himself, and for his services was made an [[aide-de-camp]] to King [[George III]]. In 1796 he was made a brigadier-general, and appointed to command the camp at [[Bandon, County Cork|Bandon]] in Ireland, and on 1 January 1798 he was promoted [[major-general]], and shortly after given the important command of [[Dover]].{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=161}}
As Coote held the Dover post he was appointed to command the troops employed in [[Expedition to Ostend|the expedition]] which had been planned by Sir [[Home Popham]] to cut the sluices at Ostend, and thus flood that part of the Netherlands which was then in the possession of the French. The troops were only thirteen hundred in number, and were successfully disembarked and cut the sluices as proposed on 18 May. A high wind off the land then sprang up, and the ships could not come in to take the troops off. French troops were hurried up, and the small English force was completely hemmed in, and after a desperate resistance, in which he lost six officers and 109 men killed and wounded, Coote, who was himself severely wounded, was forced to surrender. He was soon exchanged, and then returned to his command at Dover, but was summoned from it in 1799 to command a division in the [[Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland]].{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=161}}
Coote's and Don's division formed [[Sir James Pulteney, 7th Baronet|Sir James Pulteney's]] column in the fierce [[Battle of Bergen (1799)|battle of Bergen]], but the successes of Pulteney's and Abercromby's columns could not make up for the failure of the rest, and [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Frederick, Duke of York]] had to sign the [[Convention of Alkmaar]].{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=161}}
[[File:Philip James de Loutherbourg - The Battle of Alexandria, 21 March 1801 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The Battle of Alexandria (painting)|The Battle of Alexandria]]'' by [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]]. Coote is amongst the officers around the fatally wounded [[Ralph Abercromby]].]]
In 1800, Coote was appointed to command a brigade in the Mediterranean, and bore his part in the disembarkation of Sir Ralph Abercromby in Egypt and in the battles there of 8, 13, and 21 March. When Sir John Hutchinson, who succeeded Sir Ralph Abercromby, commenced his march to Cairo, Coote was left in command before [[Alexandria]], and conducted the blockade of that city from April to August 1801.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|pp=161–162}} Coote appears as one of the Heroes of the Egypt Campaign in a commemorative engraving of 1802.<ref>Black Watch Museum, Perth.</ref>
In the latter month General Hutchinson rejoined the army before Alexandria, and determined to take it. He ordered Coote to take two divisions round to the west of the city, and to attack the castle of Marabout, which commanded it. Victory at the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]] followed; Coote took Marabout after a stubborn resistance, and Alexandria surrendered. His services in Egypt were so conspicuous that Coote was made a Knight of the Bath, and also a knight of the new order of the Crescent by the Sultan.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}
Coote was appointed to command an expedition which was to assemble at Gibraltar for service against [[South America]]. This expedition, however, was stopped by the [[Peace of Amiens]], and Coote returned to England, and in 1802 he was elected M.P. for Queen's County, in which he possessed large property inherited from the more famous Sir [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Eyre Coote]] (1726–1783). He had already represented, in the [[Irish House of Commons]], [[Ballynakill (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Ballynakill]] (1790–1797) and [[Maryborough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Maryborough]] (1797–1800). He did not sit long in the House of Commons at this time, for in 1805 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and appointed lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of Jamaica. In April 1808, he resigned his government from ill-health, for the West Indian climate greatly tried his constitution and affected his brain.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}
Nevertheless, he was appointed second in command to [[John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham|Lord Chatham]] in 1809, when the [[Walcheren Campaign|Walcheren expedition]] was projected, and he superintended all the operations of the siege of Flushing until its surrender. His proceedings, however, were so eccentric during the expedition, that it was obvious that he could never again be trusted with a command.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}
He was colonel of the [[62nd Foot]] (1806–1810) and the [[34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot]] (1810–1816), elected M.P. for [[Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnstaple]] in 1812, and promoted general in 1814. His conduct became more and more eccentric, and as "William Cooper" describes in his ''Flagellation and the Flagellants: A History of the Rod'',{{efn|William Cooper was a pseudonym of [[James Glass Bertram]] (1824–1892)}} in November 1815, he entered [[Christ's Hospital]] school for boys and offered some boys money for an opportunity to [[flagellation|flog]] them. After that he asked them to flog him and rewarded them with money. Caught by the school nurse, he was charged for indecent conduct. On 25 November 1815, he was brought up at the [[Mansion House, London|Mansion House]] before the [[Lord Mayor of London]] on the charge, and acquitted after "donating" £1000 to the school.{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}{{sfn|Cooper|1869|pp=522–527}} {{sfn|Chandos|1984|pp=236–237}}{{sfn|Thorne|1986|p=499}}
Although the case had been dismissed, the Duke of York, the commander-in-chief of the British Army, heard of these proceedings, and, in spite of strong representations from many distinguished officers, he directed Sir [[John Abercromby (British Army officer)|John Abercromby]], Sir [[Henry Fane (British Army officer)|Henry Fane]], and Sir [[George Cooke (British Army officer)|George Cooke]] to report upon the matter. These three generals, after a long inquiry, reported that Coote was eccentric, not mad, and that his conduct had been unworthy of an officer and a gentleman. On 21 May 1816, Coote was removed from his regiment, dismissed from the army, and degraded from the [[Order of the Bath]].{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}{{sfn|Cooper|1869|pp=522–527}}{{sfn|Thorne|1986|p=499}}<!--Which of the last two citations contains the date 21 May 1816? the other can be removed-->
Coote lost his seat in parliament at the dissolution of 1818, and died on 10 December 1823. {{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}
==Family==
He had eight children with three women  and was twice married: first to Sarah (1765–1795), daughter of John Rodbard, left three daughters – Catherine, Sarah and Susannah; and second to Jane, daughter of Col. John Bagwell, left one son, Eyre Coote. Sarah Rodbard is the subject of one of [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]]'s paintings.{{cn|date=December 2022}}
Coote also had children with a Jamaican slave woman  named Sally with whom he had four children. Susan Coote, born 1812, William Coote, born 1807, John Coote, born 1812 and Henry Coote, born 1818.
{{sfn|Stephen|1887|p=162}}<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-4428coo?byte=27601936;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist University of Michigan, William L Clements Library, Eyre Coote Papers 1775-1925: Biography]</ref>
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book |last=Chandos |first=John |year=1984 |title=Boys together: English public schools, 1800–1864 |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=0-09-139240-3 |pages=236–7 }}
*{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=William |author-link=James Glass Bertram |year=1869 |title=History of the Rod. Flagellation and the Flagellants |publisher=[[John Camden Hotten]] |pages=522–527 }}
*{{cite book |last=Thorne |first=R. G. |year=1986 |title=The House of Commons, 1790–1820, Volume 3 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=0-436-52101-6 |page=499 }}
;Attribution
*{{DNB|wstitle=Coote, Eyre (1762-1824?) |volume=12 |page=161–162}} Endnotes:
** ''European Mag.'', April 1810
** ''Military Panorama'', May 1813
*''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gjFfAAAAcAAJ A Plain Statement of Facts relative to Sir Eyre Coote, containing the official correspondence and documents connected with his case]'', London 1816.
== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-eyre-coote | Eyre Coote }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ie}}
{{s-bef| before = [[John Egan (Irish politician)|John Egan]] <br /> [[John Moore (1756–1834)|John Moore]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Ballynakill (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Ballynakill]]
| with   = [[John Tydd]]
| years  = 1790–1798 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Montagu Mathew]] <br /> [[John Longfield (Irish MP)|John Longfield]] }}
{{s-bef| before = [[John Vesey, 2nd Viscount de Vesci|Hon. John Vesey]] <br /> [[Charles Coote, 2nd Baron Castle Coote|Charles Henry Coote]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Maryborough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Maryborough]]
| with   = [[Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton|Henry Parnell]]
| years  = 1798–1800 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Edward Dunne (politician)|Edward Dunne]] <br /> [[Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton|Henry Parnell]] }}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef |before =[[William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington|William Wellesley-Pole]] <br />[[Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton|Henry Parnell]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[Queen's County (UK Parliament constituency)|Queen's County]] | years=[[1802 United Kingdom general election|1802]] – [[1806 United Kingdom general election|1806]] |with=[[William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington|William Wellesley-Pole]] }}
{{s-aft | after=[[William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington|William Wellesley-Pole]] <br />[[Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton|Henry Parnell]]  }}
{{s-bef |before =[[William Taylor (b. 1782)|William Taylor]] <br />[[William Busk]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnstaple]] | years=[[1812 United Kingdom general election|1812]] – [[1818 United Kingdom general election|1818]] |with=[[Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet|Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes]] }}
{{s-aft | after=[[Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes, 1st Baronet|Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes]] <br />[[Francis Molyneux Ommanney]]  }}
{{s-gov}}
{{Succession box
| before=[[Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet|Sir George Nugent]]
| title=[[Governor of Jamaica]] | years=1806–1808
| after=[[William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester|The Duke of Manchester]]}}
|-
{{s-mil}}
{{Succession box
| before=[[Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet|Sir George Nugent]]
| title=Colonel of the [[62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot]] | years=1806–1810
| after=Sir [[Samuel Hulse]]}}
|-
{{Succession box
| before=James Ogilvie
| title=Colonel of the [[89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot|89th Regiment of Foot]] | years=1802–1806
| after=[[John Whitelocke]]}}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Eyre}}
[[Category:1762 births]]
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[[Category:People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour]]
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