George Wade

George Wade in Scotland, around 1731

George Wade (* 1673 in Kilavally , Westmeath ; † March 14, 1748 ) was a British field marshal .

George Wade was born in Kilavally, Ireland, the third son of Jerome Wade of Kilavally. He joined the English army in 1690 and served in Flanders from 1692 , where he was promoted to captain in 1695 . In the War of the Spanish Succession from 1702 to 1713, he first served under Marlborough , where he was promoted to major and finally rose to lieutenant colonel in 1702 . From 1704 he was a member of the staff headed by Lord Galway in Portugal . He distinguished himself in 1706 in the victories in Alcantara and Vila Nova and in 1707 in the defeat in Almanza . Wade was made brigadier general in 1708 and vice-commander to James Stanhope in Menorca in 1708 , before returning to Spain in 1710. After the victorious battle of Saragossa and was sent back to England, where he stayed until the end of the war and was promoted to major general in 1714 .

In Great Britain he tried to gain a political foothold by being elected to the House of Commons for the constituency of Hindon in Wiltshire in 1715, before he was posted to Bath in 1715 to suppress the Jacobite Rebellion . In 1717 he was involved in the uncovering of an anti-government conspiracy that led to the arrest of the Swedish ambassador, Count Gyllenborg . In 1719 he took part in an expedition under the Viscount Cobham to take Vigo as part of the war of the Quadruple Alliance . For the first time in 1722 he was elected to the House of Commons by the constituency of Bath and held this seat of parliament continuously until his death. Wade was sent to Scotland as an inspector by George I in 1724 . He recommended the construction of barracks, bridges and stable roads to facilitate rule in this region. Within a month he was appointed commander in chief of the royal armed forces, castles, fortresses and barracks in northern Britain and tasked with implementing his recommendations. He held this position until 1740. Between 1725 and 1737 Wade supervised the construction of 400 kilometers of roads and 40 bridges, including General Wade's Bridge in Aberfeldy . The roads connected the military bases at Ruthven , Fort George , Fort Augustus, and Fort William . He also called the paramilitary Highland Watches into being, whose members come from the lower land nobility. The first six companies were formed in 1725, three consisting of Campbells and one each of the Frasers , Grants and Munros . With four others they formed the Black Watch Regiment from 1739 .

Wade was promoted to lieutenant general in 1742, which made him privy councilor at the same time . From 1743 he was appointed, with the rank of field marshal, to the joint commander of the Anglo-Austrian troops in the War of the Austrian Succession , where he fought against the French in Flanders and led the British troops under George II in the battle of Dettingen . He gave up this command in March 1744 and returned to Great Britain as Commander-in-Chief. When the Jacobites rose for the second time in 1745 , Wade could no longer keep up. He failed to cut off the rebel army from entering England and was too late to prevent them from taking Carlisle . Wade pursued the Jacobites to Westmorland , where he met British reinforcements under Prince William August, Duke of Cumberland . Due to his failures, he was released from command and transferred to the Duke of Cumberland, who led the British army to the decisive victory in the Battle of Culloden .

Wade remained unmarried and childless, died on March 14, 1748 and was buried in Westminster Abbey .

literature

• Charles Dalton: Wade, George . In: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 58, Oxford 1899, p. 413 ff.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry on General Wade's Bridge  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair	Commander in Chief of the British Army 1745–1748	John Ligonier