Sir Edward Gerald Butler (24 April 1770 – 30 November 1824) was an Irish soldier.
Biography
He was a son of Garret (or Gerald) Butler of
Cashel,
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
, and Anne Butler, of Hemmingstown.
Early in his military career, he was one of the heroes of a battle to save the Austrian emperor, Francis II. Butler entered the army by purchasing a
cornetcy
Cornet was originally the lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, the modern equivalent being a second lieutenant. The rank was abolished by the 1871 Cardwell Reforms, which replaced it with sub-lieutenant. Althoug ...
in the 14th light dragoons on 30 September 1788, gazetted August 1789. He was promoted Lieutenant dated 13 October 1791, gazetted Dec 1791. He exchanged to the 24th Regiment of Foot, gazetted August 1792. In 1793, he became Captain of an Independent Company, gazetted Sept 1793. Butler then purchased a cornecy in 15th Regiment of Dragoons, gazetted March 1794. He was sent to take part in the
Flanders Campaign, which was part of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
.
On 24 April 1794, during the
Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies
In the Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies, fought on 24 April 1794, a small Anglo-Austrian cavalry force routed a vastly more numerous French division during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. Villers-en-Cauchies is 15 km ...
, he was one of the officers of the two companies escorting the Emperor Francis II (the other was a company of Black Hussars) which saved
Emperor Francis II
Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...
from being taken prisoner by a numerically superior French force. They charged, and the French fled, leaving three guns behind them. The emperor conferred upon each of the eight English officers who were present the
Military Order of Maria Theresa, and
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
knighted them as well. (This was before the regulations of 1812 relative to Foreign Orders came into effect.)
Butler had been promoted lieutenant in the 11th light dragoons in May 1794, and he was in 1796 gazetted major without purchase in the newly raised 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers regiment. With it he served in the West Indies in 1797 at St Lucia where he met and married Rosetta Martin des Rameaux around this time. She died in 1816, leaving him a widower until his own death in 1824.
In 1804, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and in 1806 the 87th was ordered to form part of the
British invasion force under
Sir Samuel Auchmuty attacking
Montevideo. In the attack on Montevideo Butler especially distinguished himself, and also in
General Whitelocke's attempt to capture
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, where the 87th had 17 officers and 400 men killed and wounded.
From 1807 to 1810, while the 2nd battalion, under Colonel Hugh Gough, was distinguishing itself in the Peninsula, the 1st battalion of the 87th, under Butler, garrisoned the
Cape of Good Hope.
In 1809, he was made Commandant of Simonstown. In 1810, he was second in command of a force ordered from the Cape to assist
Major-general Abercromby in the capture of
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
, but the island was already taken when the contingent arrived. Although he saw no more active service, Butler was promoted colonel in 1811 and major-general in 1814, and was appointed Commandant of Mahebourg,
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
. He retired due to ill health in 1818.
Death
Butler died at Ballyadams,
Queen's County (now
County Laois), Ireland, on 30 November 1824, aged 54. He was survived by five children.
Profile
historicgraves.com. Accessed 27 December 2022.
References
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Edward Gerard
1770 births
Irish soldiers in the British Army
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Knights Bachelor
18th-century English soldiers
19th-century English people
18th-century Irish people
19th-century Irish people
Military personnel from County Tipperary
English people of Irish descent
1824 deaths
People from Cashel, County Tipperary