Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Denis Pack (7 October 1775–24 July 1823) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

military officer during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Background

A descendant of Sir Christopher Packe, Pack was the son of the Very Reverend Thomas Pack,

Dean of Ossory The Dean of Ossory or Dean of Kilkenny is based at The Cathedral Church of St Canice, Kilkenny in the united Diocese of Cashel and Ossory within the Church of Ireland. The current Dean is the Very Reverend Stephen Farrell, formerly Rector of Zio ...

in the east of Ireland. His mother was Catherine, daughter and heiress of Denis Sullivan of

Berehaven Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...

, Ireland. His tomb is in St. Canice's Cathedral in

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, Ireland near Kilkenny Castle.

Military career

He saw service in Flanders in 1794, was on the Quiberon expedition of 1795, and in Ireland of the suppression of the

1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...

. He commanded the

71st Foot The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

during the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806. Tomb of Sir Denis Pack Canices Cathedral Kilkenny

His regiment was incorporated to the forces of General William Beresford when he led the first British invasion to Buenos Aires in June of that year. Their regiment contributed more than half of the invading troops, and with them Beresford occupied Buenos Aires without greater resistance. However, in the second week of August 1806, Santiago de Liniers would begin one of the most important events of Argentine History, reconquering the city and overcoming the English. Its officers and troops were taken prisoners and interned in different localities of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. General Beresford, together with Colonel Pack, were housed in the Villa of Luján. Both soldiers fled later to Montevideo, aided by local independentists. Once in Montevideo, Pack joined the division of General

Robert Craufurd Major-General Robert Craufurd (5 May 1764 – 23 January 1812) was a British soldier. Craufurd was born at Newark, Ayrshire, the third son of Sir Alexander Craufurd, 1st Baronet (see Craufurd Baronets), and the younger brother of Sir Cha ...

to join the second invasion to Buenos Aires, although he had taken the oath never again to take up arms against Spain. Pack violated his oath, taking active part in the occupation of Colonia del Sacramento, which made the attack by Colonel

Francisco Javier de Elío Francisco Javier de Elío y Olóndriz (Pamplona, 1767 – Valencia, 1822), was a Spanish soldier, governor of Montevideo. He was also instrumental in the Absolutist repression after the restoration of Ferdinand VII as King of Spain. For thi ...

fail. He accompanied Craufurd in the battle of Corrales de Miserere and in the attack on the city of Buenos Aires. He occupied with the men at his command the Church of Santo Domingo, where the local resistance forced him to rest; there he found the flag of his beloved 71st Regiment but, despite his efforts, he was overcome by the tenacity of the attack by the Buenos Aires regiments. He tried to abandon his position and the city, but the Buenos Aires forces gathered around him, and he was forced to surrender once again. The people were looking for Pack to execute him for perjury, but the

Dominican friars The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

protected him until he was delivered to General

John Whitelocke John Whitelocke (1757 – 23 October 1833) was a British Army officer. Military career Educated at Marlborough Grammar School and at Lewis Lochée's military academy in Chelsea, Whitelocke entered the army in 1778 and served in Jamaica and in S ...

, at the beginning of the English retreat. In 1806, he was in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

in 1808, and the

Walcheren expedition The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...

in 1809. During the

he was present at the battles of

Roliça Bombarral () is a municipality in the District of Leiria in Central Portugal. The population in 2011 was 13,193, in an area of . It includes four civil parishes ( pt, freguesia) that provide local services. History It is known that the area of ...

, Vimiero,

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, Bussaco,

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

, the Pyrenees,

Nivelle Nivelle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department * Nivelle Offensive The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front ...

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by th ...

Orthez Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sma ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. His

Peninsular Gold Medal The Army Gold Medal (1808–1814), also known as the Peninsular Gold Medal, with an accompanying Gold Cross, was a British campaign medal awarded in recognition of field and general officers' successful commands in campaigns, predominantly the ...

had seven clasps. Pack was promoted to major-general in 1813 and commanded (1810–14) the Oporto Brigade of the

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army ( pt, Exército Português) is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

in Spain. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1815 and commanded the 9th Brigade of

Sir Thomas Picton Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible ...

's 5th Division at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. He became Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth and General Officer Commanding Western District in 1819. His widow Elizabeth Louisa Pack married his friend and fellow officer Lt Gen Thomas Reynell.

Notes

References

* *

Background

Military career

Notes

References

Further reading