August de la Motte (17 November 1713 – 29 August 1788) was a Hanoverian general who notably served in the Great Siege of Gibraltar. De la Motte was born on 17 November 1713 in the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He served in the Hanoverian Army during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

, notably participating in the Second Siege of Cassel. In 1775 the Duke and

Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...

of Hanover was

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 ...

, who also ruled the

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in personal union. King George had to deal with the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and the outbreaking

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and prepared to ready Hanoverian troops for garrison duty so that British troops would be freed for service in America. On 16 October de la Motte, by now a colonel, was given command of a Hanoverian brigade of three battalions, totalling 15 companies of infantry and three companies of Grenadiers; and sent to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

for garrison duty. In the next year he was promoted to major general. During the Great Siege of Gibraltar, de la Motte served as third-in-command of the British garrison. They held out for three years and seven months before the siege was finally lifted. De la Motte, who had been promoted to lieutenant general in 1781 while still being besieged, was highly praised by his commanding officer afterwards. To commemorate their bravery Motte's troops were awarded the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

"Gibraltar", a cuffband which its successor formations in the Imperial German Army would eventually wear while fighting against British troops wearing the same cuffband during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Returning home from Gibraltar to Hanover in 1784 the exhausted de la Motte retired, dying four years later on 29 August 1788.

External links

Painting of Major General August de la Motte, after 1787. Harvard Art Museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motte, August de la German generals People from Wolfenbüttel (district) Huguenot participants in the American Revolution 18th-century German military personnel Hanoverian military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Military history of Gibraltar 1713 births 1788 deaths