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](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Tomb_of_Sir_Denis_Pack_Canices_Cathedral_Kilkenny.jpg)
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 Sa ...
, 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
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 ...
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 i ...
,
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
*
*
Further reading
* – a far more detailed biography
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pack, Denis
1823 deaths
Recipients of the Waterloo Medal
Recipients of the Army Gold Cross
1770s births
People educated at Kilkenny College
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
British prisoners of war (Napoleonic Wars)
Irish knights
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath