View source for John Huske

{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name          = Lieutenant-General John Huske
| image         = The Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair.jpg
| caption       = [[Grosvenor Chapel|Grosvenor Chapel, in Audley Street]] where Huske was buried
| birth_date    = 1692
| death_date    = 18 January 1761
| birth_place  = [[Newmarket, Suffolk]]
| death_place  = [[Albemarle Street|Albemarle Street, London]]
| office       = [[Governor of Jersey]]
| term_start   = 1749
| term_end     = 1751
| office2       = [[Governor of Sheerness]]
| term_start2   = 1745
| term_end2     = 1749
| office3       = [[Lieutenant Governor]] [[Hurst Castle]]
| term_start3   = 1745
| term_end3     = 1745
| nickname      =
| allegiance    ={{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
| branch        ={{army|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears  = 1708-1749
| rank          =[[Lieutenant General]]
| unit          = Colonel, [[Royal Welch Fusiliers|23rd Foot, later Royal Welch Fusiliers]] 1743–1761
| commands      =
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[War of the Spanish Succession]]
** [[Battle of Malplaquet]]
* [[War of the Austrian Succession]]
**[[Battle of Dettingen]]
** [[Battle of Lauffeld]]
* [[Jacobite Rising of 1745]]
** [[Battle of Falkirk Muir]]
** [[Battle of Culloden]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        =
| relations     =
| laterwork     = }}
[[Lieutenant General]] '''John Huske''' (ca. 1692 – 18 January, 1761) was a British military officer whose active service began in 1707 during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] and ended in 1748.
During his early career, he was a close associate of [[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|the Earl of Cadogan]] and the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]]. From 1715 to 1720, he was also employed as a British political and diplomatic agent, primarily involved in anti-[[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] operations. He commanded a brigade at [[Battle of Dettingen|Dettingen]]; during the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]], he fought at [[Battle of Falkirk Muir|Falkirk, Muir]], and [[Battle of Culloden|Culloden]]. Promoted [[major-general]] in 1743, his active career ended when the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] ended in 1748.
He never married and died in London on 18 January, 1761. His brother Ellis emigrated to [[Thirteen Colonies|North America]], and one of his relatives, another John Huske, was a delegate to the [[Fayetteville Convention|1789 North Carolina Constitutional Convention]].{{sfn|Powell|1988 |p=238}}
==Personal details==
John Huske was born in 1692, eldest son of John (1651–1703) and Mary Huske (1656–?); little is known of his family background, other than they were members of the minor gentry in [[Newmarket, Suffolk]]. His younger brother Ellis (1700–1755) emigrated to the [[Thirteen Colonies]], where he worked as a journalist.{{sfn|Nichols |1760|p=379}}
His nephews included Ellis' son John (1724–1773), described by historian [[Lewis Namier]] as a 'tough, unscrupulous adventurer'. Born in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], he moved to England in 1748 and was Elected [[Maldon (UK Parliament constituency)|MP for Maldon]] in 1763. He worked closely with [[Charles Townshend]], author of the [[Stamp Act 1765]], a key milestone in the lead up to the 1775 [[American Revolution]]. Accused of embezzling £30,000–£40,000, he fled to [[Paris]] in 1769, where he died in 1773.{{sfn|Spain|2004}} Another American relative, John Huske (?–1792) was a representative to the 1788 [[Hillsborough Convention]] and the 1789 [[Fayetteville Convention]] in [[North Carolina]].{{sfn|Powell|1988 |p=238}}
Huske never married. When he died in January 1761, he left £5,000 (2019; £1 million) to his head groom, £3,000 to his valet, and £100 to the 'poor of Newmarket.'{{sfn|Nichols|1761|p=22}}
==Career==
[[File:William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan by Louis Laguerre.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|William Cadogan]] (1671–1726); Huske was closely associated with him for nearly 20 years]]
Huske began his career during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] in "Caulfield's Regiment of Foot", a unit recruited in Ireland and sent to garrison [[Siege of Barcelona (1706)|Barcelona]] in May 1706.{{sfn|Rumble|Dimmer|2006|p=15}} His commission as an [[ensign (rank)|ensign]] dates from August 1707, several months after the regiment and four others had been officially disbanded. A [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliamentary]] committee later reported it arrived in Spain significantly understrength.{{sfn|Scouller |1976|p=241}}
This makes Huske's early movements hard to trace, but in March 1709 he joined the [[5th Dragoon Guards]] in [[Flanders]] as a [[cornet]], and fought at [[Battle of Malplaquet|Malplaquet]] in September. The regiment was commanded by [[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|William Cadogan]], close aide to the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]] a connection of great benefit to Huske's future career.{{sfn|Dalton|1904 |p=30}}
In March 1709, he became an ensign in the [[Grenadier Guards|Foot Guards]], although this did not imply service; only 16 of its nominal 24 companies were actually formed and Huske remained with his original unit.{{sfn|Dalton|1904 |p=318}} Under the practice known as double-ranking, Guards officers held a second and higher army rank; a Guards ensign ranked as a regular army [[captain (armed forces)|captain]]. A Guards commission gave the holder higher precedence in determining promotions, and since they were rarely disbanded, Marlborough used them to reward competent officers like Huske with no money.{{sfn|Springman |2008|p=11}}
[[George I of Great Britain|George I]] succeeded [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] in 1714, and in January 1715, Huske became a captain in the [[East Yorkshire Regiment|15th Foot]]; in July, he also received a captain's commission in the [[Coldstream Guards]].{{sfn|Mckinnon|1833|p=455}} When the [[Jacobite rising of 1715]] began, the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] administration approved the detention of six Members of Parliament, including [[Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet|Sir William Wyndham]], a [[Tory]] leader in South-West England and Jacobite sympathiser. Wyndham's brother-in-law was the [[Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset|Earl of Hertford]], colonel of Huske's regiment, the [[15th Foot]].{{sfn|Lord|2004|p=69}} Huske was sent to arrest Wyndham at his home near [[Minehead]], who promised to accompany him after saying goodbye to his wife, before escaping through a window.{{sfn|Boyer|1716|pp=330–336}} Given the prevailing social convention that a gentleman's word was his bond, this was felt to reflect badly on Wyndham, who was recaptured soon after. Huske escaped blame and joined Cadogan in the [[Dutch Republic]], where he helped arrange the transport of 6,000 Dutch troops to Scotland.{{sfn|Matthews|1970}}
[[File:Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Bt by Jonathan Richardson.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Sir William Wyndham]]
Marlborough suffered the first of a series of strokes in May 1716; he remained [[Master-General of the Ordnance]] or army commander until his death in 1722, but Cadogan took over many of his duties. Huske took part in a number of anti-Jacobite intelligence operations; during the [[Jacobite rising of 1719|1719 Rising]], he worked with diplomat [[Charles Whitworth, 1st Baron Whitworth|Charles Whitworth]] to transfer five Dutch battalions to Britain, although the revolt collapsed before this became necessary.{{sfn|Matthews|1970}}
Huske and the [[Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle|Earl of Albemarle]] accompanied Cadogan on his 1720 diplomatic mission to [[Vienna]], the beginning of a long friendship between the two men. It was a high-profile assignment, trying to create an [[Russian Empire|anti-Russian]] alliance, and end [[Swedish Empire|Swedish]] support for the Jacobites.{{sfn|Hartley |2002 |p=173}} Cadogan became Master-General when Marlborough died in 1722, before being disgraced by his involvement in the financial scandal known as the [[South Sea Company|South Sea bubble]]. Huske was appointed [[lieutenant governor]] of [[Hurst Castle]] in July 1721; Cadogan's death in 1726, and the slow pace of promotion in peace time meant by 1739, he was still a [[Major (rank)|major]].{{sfn|Yonge|1740|p=14}}
When the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] began in December 1740, he became [[colonel]] of the [[32nd Foot]]; transferred to [[Flanders]], he was badly wounded commanding a brigade at [[Battle of Dettingen|Dettingen]] in June 1743. Now chiefly remembered as the last time a British monarch led troops in battle, Huske was promoted [[major general]] in July, appointed colonel of the [[Royal Welch Fusiliers|23rd Foot]], and made [[Governor of Sheerness]] in 1745.{{sfn|Royle|2016|p=63}}
==1745 rebellion==
The [[Jacobite rising of 1745]] began in August; in September, Huske landed in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] with 6,000 German and Dutch troops, captured at [[Tournai]] in June and released on condition they did not fight against the French.{{sfn|Lord Elcho|1907|p=256}} After a long and distinguished career, [[George Wade]], commander in the North, was no longer fit for service, the Dutch and Germans refused to march without being paid in advance and one observer wrote, 'I never saw so ill a conducted Machine as Our Army.'<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Hara |first1=James |title=Letter from [J. O'Hara] 2nd Baron Tyrawly, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to Henry Pelham; 11 Nov. 1745 |url=http://mssweb.nottingham.ac.uk/elearning/view-text.asp?resource=Conflict&ref=nec1703&theme=2&view=text&page=2 |website=University of Nottingham; Manuscripts & Special Collections |access-date=28 March 2019 |ref=Ne C 1703}}</ref> The Jacobites invaded England on 8 November, before turning back at [[Derby]] on 6 December; leaving a garrison at Carlisle, they re-entered Scotland on 21 December. [[Prince William, Duke of Cumberland|Cumberland]] and the main field army [[Siege of Carlisle (December 1745)|besieged Carlisle]]; [[Henry Hawley]] was appointed commander in Scotland, with Huske as his deputy.{{sfn|Riding|2016|pp=342–343}}
[[File:Battle of Culloden woodcut painting 1746.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.0|[[Battle of Culloden]]; Huske commanded the second line on the government left]]
After arriving in [[Edinburgh]], on 13 January 1746 Huske and 4,000 men moved north to relieve [[Siege of Stirling Castle (1746)|Stirling Castle]], then besieged by the Jacobites. Hawley and an additional 3,000 men met up with him at [[Falkirk]] on 16 January, where the main Jacobite force was waiting. Hawley overestimated both the vulnerability of Highland infantry to cavalry, and seriously underestimated their numbers and fighting qualities. This contributed to his defeat at [[Battle of Falkirk Muir|Falkirk Muir]] on 17 January, a battle that started late in the afternoon in failing light and heavy snow and was marked by confusion on both sides.{{sfn|Royle|2016|pp=64-65}} The government [[dragoons]] charged the Jacobite right but were repulsed in disorder, scattering their own infantry who also fled; the regiments under Huske held their ground, allowing the bulk of the army to withdraw in good order. They were helped by confusion among the Jacobite commanders and by the Highlanders diverting to loot the baggage train.{{sfn|Riding|2016|p=346}}
Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on 30 January and resumed the advance while the Jacobites retreated to Inverness. At the [[Battle of Culloden]] on 16 April, Huske commanded the reserves on the government left, which took the weight of the Jacobite charge. The front rank gave ground, but Huske brought his troops onto their flank, exposing the Highlanders to volleys of fire at close range from three sides. Unable to respond, they broke and fled, the battle lasting less than forty minutes.{{sfn|Riding|2016|pp=424–425}}
Jacobite losses were estimated as between 1,200 and 1,500 dead, many killed during the pursuit that followed; this was common, and troops that held together, such as the French regulars, were far less vulnerable than those who scattered like the Highlanders.{{sfn|Riding|2016|p=427}} The widely reported killing of Jacobite wounded after the battle, allegedly on the orders of senior government officers, was certainly unusual. When Huske was based at [[Fort Augustus]] as commander of 'pacification' operations, he proposed a £5 bounty for the head of every rebel brought into camp. While this was rejected, author and historian John Prebble refers to the killings as 'symptomatic of the army's general mood and behaviour.'{{sfn|Prebble|1963|p=203}}
==Post-1745 career==
[[File:William Anne Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, by Charles Philips.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle|Albemarle]] (1702-1754); a long time friend, Huske was buried next to him]]
Huske was promoted [[lieutenant general]] for his service during the Rising, and returned to [[Flanders]], where his regiment suffered heavy casualties in the Allied defeat at [[Battle of Lauffeld|Lauffeld]] in July 1747.{{sfn|Fortescue|1899|pp=161–162}} Shortly afterwards, Cumberland sent him to inspect and report back on the Dutch town of [[Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)|Bergen op Zoom]], then besieged by the French; it surrendered in September.<ref>{{cite web |title=Huske to Chesterfield: ordered by Cumberland to inspect Bergen op Zoom and report to the army |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9047513 |website=National Archives |ref=SP 87/23/84}}</ref>
Huske ended his active military career after the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] and did not accompany his regiment when it was sent to [[Minorca]] in 1755. Along with the rest of the garrison, in June 1756 the 23rd [[Battle of Minorca (1756)|surrendered to the French]] in the opening battle of the [[Seven Years' War]], a defeat that led to the execution of [[John Byng|Admiral John Byng]].{{sfn|Regan|2000|p=35|}} A 1757 investigation noted the poor state of the [[Siege of Fort St Philip (1756)|island's defences]], with crumbling walls and rotten gun platforms; over 35 senior officers were absent from their posts, including the colonels of all four regiments in its garrison, one being Huske.{{sfn|Debrett|1792|p=295}}
The practice of delegating such offices was common; although appointed [[Governor of Jersey]] in 1749, Huske appears to have visited the island only once, in 1751.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Huske, Governor of Jersey |url=https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/John_Huske |website=The Island Wiki |access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref> His will left £2,000 to Charles d'Auvergne, who deputised for him in Jersey.{{sfn|Nichols|1761|p=22}} He purchased a small estate in [[Ealing]], then outside London, and rented a house in [[Albemarle Street|Albemarle Street, London]], where he died on 18 January 1761. As instructed in his will, he was buried without ceremony in [[Grosvenor Chapel]]; his coffin was placed next to that of Albemarle, his long-time friend and colleague who died in 1754.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The General Evening Post |title=London |date=8 January 1761 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3xMAAAAcAAJ&q=huske+family+huntingdon&pg=PP14 |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Boyer |first1=Mr |title=Quadriennium Annæ Postremum; Or the Political State of Great Britain Volume 10 |date=1716}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dalton |first1=Charles |title=English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714 Volume VI |date=1904 |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswood}}
* {{cite book |last=Debrett|title=History, Debates & Proceedings of Parliament 1743-1774; Volume III |date=1792 |publisher=Debrett}}
* {{cite book |last1=Fortescue |first1=John H |title=History of the British Army; Volume II |date=1899}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hartley |first1=Janet |title=Charles Whitworth: Diplomat in the Age of Peter the Great |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0754604808}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lord |first1=Evelyn |title=The Stuart Secret Army: The Hidden History of the English Jacobites |date=2004 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-0582772564}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lord Elcho |first1=David |editor-last1=Charteris |editor-first1=Edward Evan |title=A short account of the affairs of Scotland : in the years 1744, 1745, 1746 |url=https://archive.org/details/ashortaccountaf00elchgoog |date=1907 |publisher=David Douglas, Edinburgh}}
* {{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Shirley |editor-last1=Sedgwick |editor-first1=Romney |title=Charles Whitworth (ca 1675-1725) in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754 |date=1970 |publisher=HMSO |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/whitworth-charles-1675-1725}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mckinnon |first1=Daniel |title=Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards, Volume 2 |date=1833 |publisher=Richard Bentley}}
* {{cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=John |title=The Gentleman's magazine; Volume 29 |date=1760 |publisher=E Cave}}
* {{cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=John |title=The Gentleman's magazine; Volume 31 |date=1761 |publisher=E Cave}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Powell |editor-first1=William |title=Dictionary of North Carolina Biography |date=1988 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-1469629032}}
* {{cite book |last1=Prebble |first1=John |title=Culloden |date=1963 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-0712668200 |edition=2002}}
* {{cite book|last=Regan|first=Geoffrey |title=Brassey's Book of Naval Blunders|publisher=Brassey's|year=2000|isbn=978-1574882537}}
* {{cite book |last1=Riding |first1=Jacqueline |title=Jacobites: A New History of the 45 Rebellion |date=2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1408819128}}
* {{cite book |last1=Royle |first1=Trevor |title=Culloden; Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire|date=2016 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-1408704011}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Rumble|editor-first1= A|editor-last2=Dimmer|editor-first2=Charles |title=Calendar of State Papers 1705-1706, Volume IV; Of the Reign of Anne |date=2006 |publisher=Boydell Press}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Scouller |first1=R.E |title=The Peninsula in the War of the Spanish Succession |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |date=1976 |volume=54 |issue=220}}
* {{cite odnb|id=14262|title=Huske, John |last=Spain |first=Jonathan |year=2004}}
* {{cite book |last1=Springman |first1=Michael |title=The Guards Brigade in the Crimea |date=2008 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1844156788}}
* {{cite book |last1=Yonge |first1=William |title=A List of the Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants and Ensigns, of His Majesty's Forces |date=1740 |publisher=HMSO}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef | before=Simon Descury}}
{{s-ttl | title=Colonel, [[32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot|32nd Foot]] | years=1740–1743}}
{{s-aft | after=Henry Skelton}}
{{s-bef | before=Newsham Peers}}
{{s-ttl | title=Colonel, [[Royal Welch Fusiliers|23rd Foot, later Royal Welch Fusiliers]] | years=1743–1761}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Boscawen (1712–1775)|Hon. George Boscawen]]}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Lord Mark Kerr (governor)|Lord Mark Kerr]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Governor of Sheerness]] | years=1745–1749}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan|2nd Baron Cadogan]]}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham|Viscount Cobham]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Governor of Jersey]] | years=1749–1761}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle|3rd Earl of Albemarle]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huske, John}}
[[Category:1690s births]]
[[Category:1761 deaths]]
[[Category:East Yorkshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:32nd Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War]]
[[Category:Coldstream Guards officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Jersey]]
[[Category:Royal Welch Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Hurst Castle]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Suffolk]]
[[Category:People from Newmarket, Suffolk]]