John Armstrong (General)

Maj. Gen. John Armstrong

Major-General John Armstrong (born March 31, 1674 in Ballyard, in what was then King's County (now County Offaly ), Kingdom of Ireland , † April 15, 1742 in London ) was a British officer and military engineer .

Career

Armstrong came from the originally Scottish aristocratic family Armstrong and was born as the first of five children of Robert Armstrong and Lydia Howard.

At the age of 17 he entered the service of the Wilhelmine Army in Ireland, on whose side he fought in the War of the Two Kings . Between 1695 and 1697 he served in Flanders and on his return joined the Duke of Ormonde's Horse Guards . Due to his extraordinary technical and tactical skills, he was recommended by the Duke of Ormonde to the British military leadership in Flanders and served there from 1703 under the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession, which has been ongoing since 1701 . Now in the rank of lieutenant , he took part in the Second Battle of Höchstädt in 1704 and stood out in particular, which is why the commander-in-chief of the allied imperial troops, Prince Eugene , became aware of him.

As the war progressed, he seems to have gained increasing reputation. In 1708 August the Strong offered him the takeover of a Polish regiment as lieutenant general , which he refused. In 1709, Prince Eugene first persuaded Marlborough to give Armstrong permission to take up the post of Quartermaster General of the Imperial troops. However, when the corresponding position in the British Army became vacant a little later, Marlborough Armstrong brought back into his own ranks and at the same time promoted him to lieutenant colonel .

John Armstrong with the Duke of Marlborough

Particular attention was paid to the siege of Bouchain , which he, now a colonel , had planned and carried out successfully , which was celebrated as a technical masterpiece and was to be the last great victory of the duke. In recognition of this success, Armstrong was given the rare honor of being portrayed together with his general by the famous painter Godfrey Kneller . The original painting is still on display in Marlborough House today .

In 1712, Prince Eugene Armstrong again offered to enter his service, taking over a cavalry regiment and again serving as quartermaster general. Armstrong turned down the offer because of the comparatively low pay in the Imperial Army at the time.

He remained as Quartermaster General in the British Army and continued his career there. In 1714 he was appointed Chief Engineer of England , in 1722 Surveyor-General of the Ordnance and in 1735 Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland . He held all three titles in personal union until his death. In 1735 he was promoted to Brigadier General and in 1739 to Major General.

In 1717 he was responsible for building the Royal Brass Foundry in Woolwich, which later became known as the Royal Arsenal . When his long-standing plans to establish a military academy were finally approved, he founded the Royal Military Academy Woolwich in 1741 .

Other honors

Armstrong was inducted into the Royal Society in 1723 . In honor of his honor, he was made Lieutenant-Governor of the Tower of London , where he was later buried in the church of St Peter ad Vincula located there. Armstrong Road is named after him in the London borough of Woolwich , where both the Royal Arsenal and the Royal Military Academy are located .

family

Descending from the line of the Lords of Mangerton, John Armstrong's grandfather, Andrew, moved from Scotland to Ireland at the end of the 16th century. There he became the progenitor of a widespread family. For example, John Armstrong was the second nephew of Sir Thomas Armstrong . In 1714 he married Anne-Priscilla Burroughs with whom he had five daughters.

Footnotes

1. ↑ John Armstrong in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (English)
2. ↑ John Armstrong in The Baronetage of England (English)
3. ↑ John Armstrong in A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland (English)
4. ↑ John Armstrong in Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage of the British Empire (English)