Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough

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Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough
Gough in 1861

Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough Bt KP GCSI KCB PC (born November 3, 1779 in Woodstown , Limerick , †  March 2, 1869 in St. Helen's House, Booterstown , Dublin ) was a British field marshal .

Life

Gough's father was a colonel in the Limerick city ​​militia and his brothers served in the coalition wars . Hugh Gough joined the British Army in 1794 and took part in the conquest of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795 , then in the West Indies in the attack on Puerto Rico and in the capture of Suriname . In 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula , he commanded the second battalion of the 87th Regiment in the battles of Talavera , Barossa , Vitoria and Nivelle and the sieges of Cádiz and Tarifa . He was wounded at Talavera.

In 1830 Gogh was appointed major general and in 1837 commander of the Mysore division of the Madras Army. In 1841 he was given command of the land troops in the First Opium War in China , where he defeated the imperial army in several battles and skirmishes. In 1842 he was promoted to lieutenant general. He then advanced again victoriously and stormed Chin-Kiang-Foo on July 21st .

On December 23, 1842, Gough was promoted to Baronet , of Synone and Drangan in the County of Tipperary, and entrusted with the high command in India . Here he defeated the Marathas at Maharajpur in 1843 . Gough was Commander-in-Chief in the First Sikh War defeated the Sikhs at the Battle of Mudki in 1845 , stormed the camp at the Battle of Ferozeshah, and finally defeated the enemy completely on February 10, 1846 at the Battle of Sobraon . He entered Lahore on February 22nd . Gough received the thanks of Parliament and on April 25, 1846 , was raised to a peer- class under the title Baron Gough , of ChingKangFoo in China and of Maharajpore and the Sutlej in the East Indies .

When the Second Sikh War broke out in the fall of 1848 , Gough commanded the Battle of Ramnagar on November 22, for which he was criticized. The bloody battle of Chillianwala followed on January 13, 1849 , in which the British only held the battlefield with difficulty. The management of the British East India Company decided to take command from him and turn it over to General Napier . But Gough attacked the Sikhs at Gujrat again on February 21 and almost wiped them out after stubborn resistance. Surrounded on all sides, the rest of their army laid down their arms on March 14th.

Subsequently, the Punjab was incorporated into the British-Indian Empire. Gough was promoted to Viscount Gough , of Goojerat in the Punjab and of the City of Limerick on June 15, 1849 , with an annual pension of £ 2,000 for him and his next two heirs. He returned to Europe and joined the Whigs' party in the House of Lords . In 1862 he received the rank of field marshal .

Gough died on March 2, 1869 at his St. Helen's estate in Booterstown.

Hugh Gough was the grandfather of Generals Charles John Stanley Gough and Hugh Henry Gough , great-grandfather of Generals Hubert Gough and John Gough . Except for Hubert Gough, all of them received the Victoria Cross , the highest award in Great Britain for outstanding bravery in the face of the enemy.

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Commons : Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files
predecessor Office successor
New title created Baronet (of Synone and Drangan)
1842-1869 		George Gough
New title created Baron Gough
1846-1869 		George Gough
New title created Viscount Gough
1848-1869 		George Gough
personal data
SURNAME Gough, Hugh, 1st Viscount Gough
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gough, Hugh; Gough, Sir Hugh, 1st Baronet; Gough, Hugh, 1st Baron Gough
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Field Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1779
PLACE OF BIRTH Woodstown , Limerick
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1869
Place of death St. Helen's House, Booterstown , Dublin