William Aylmer (1778–1820) was an Irish military officer and member of

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional refor ...

who participated in the

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

. On 19 June 1798, Aylmer fought in the Battle of Ovidstown against British Crown forces, which resulted in a defeat for the United Irishmen. Aylmer retreated into the inaccessible Bog of Allen and established a defensive camp, which he maintained for over a month. Eventually, he surrendered to the British in return for a safe conduct abroad; effectively a form of exile. Released from prison in 1802, he went into exile to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where he served as an officer and noted swordsman in the

Imperial Austrian Army The Imperial-Royal or Imperial Austrian Army (german: Kaiserlich-königliche Armee, abbreviation "K.K. Armee") was strictly speaking, the armed force of the Holy Roman Empire under its last monarch, the Habsburg Emperor Francis II, although in r ...

, from which he was at one point detached to tutor the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's dragoons in the art of swordsmanship. After almost twenty years in Austria he returned to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and in 1819 sailed from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

with 200 officers and enlisted men to assist Simón Bolívar's independence struggle as commander of the 10th Lancers and second in command of the Irish Legion under Lieutenant-Colonel

Francisco Burdett O'Connor Francisco Burdett O'Connor (12 June 1791 - 5 October 1871) was an officer in the Irish Legion of Simón Bolívar's army in Venezuela. He later became Chief of Staff to Antonio José de Sucre and Minister of War of Bolivia. Aside from Simón ...

. He arrived in September 1819 on the island of

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). ...

off the coast of Venezuela, where lack of preparations caused severe hardships. Many of the volunteers died or returned to Ireland. He was wounded at the Battle of Rio Hacha on 25 May 1820 and died in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on 20 June 1820.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylmer, William 1778 births 1820 deaths People of the Spanish American wars of independence Protestant Irish nationalists United Irishmen