Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, PC (Ire), FRS (1680 – 12 October 1758) was an Anglo-Irish army officer and politician. He fought in the Battle of Blenheim before being appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. During the

Battle of Ramillies The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand AllianceAustria, England, and the Dutch Republicthe battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of K ...

, Molesworth offered Marlborough his own horse after Marlborough fell from the

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

. Molesworth then recovered his commander's charger and slipped away: by these actions he helped to save Marlborough's life. Molesworth went on Lieutenant of the Ordnance in Ireland and was wounded at the Battle of Preston during the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Francis Edward Stuart, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland ...

before serving as Master-General of the Ordnance in Ireland and then Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.

Military career

Born the younger son of

Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth Robert Molesworth, 1st Viscount Molesworth (7 September 1656 – 22 May 1725) was an Anglo-Irish politician and writer. Molesworth came from an old Northamptonshire family. He married Hon. Letitia Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, 1st Baron ...

and Letitia Molesworth (née Coote, daughter of Richard Coote, Lord Coloony), Molesworth abandoned his legal studies and was commissioned as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in Orkney's Regiment on 14 April 1702. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, Molesworth served with his regiment at the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, before being appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough on 22 May 1706 during the

.Heathcote, p. 211 During the

, which took place the following day, Molesworth offered Marlborough his own horse after Marlborough fell from the

. Molesworth then recovered his master's charger and slipped away: by these actions he helped to save his master's life. Promoted to captain in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

and lieutenant colonel in the Army on 5 May 1707, he was present at the relief of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1708 and at the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 and was wounded by a mine at the Siege of Mons in October 1709. He commanded an infantry regiment in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

under the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...

from July 1710 until he returned to England in late 1712. Molesworth became Lieutenant of the Ordnance in Ireland in December 1714 and was elected Member of Parliament in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

Swords A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

in 1715. He raised a regiment of Dragoons in 1715 and was wounded at the Battle of Preston in November 1715 during the Jacobite rising of that year. After taking part in the competition to develop a

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and the time at t ...

, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in March 1722. Molesworth became

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Inniskilling Regiment of Foot in March 1725 and succeeded his brother as 3rd Viscount Molesworth on 17 February 1726.Heathcote, p. 212 He went on to be colonel of the Viscount Molesworth's Regiment of Dragoons in May 1732 and, having been promoted to major-general on 18 December 1735 and appointed a Lord Justice for Ireland in December 1736, he became colonel of the 5th Regiment of Dragoons in June 1737. Promoted to the local rank of

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

in Ireland in 1739, he became Master-General of the Ordnance in Ireland in 1740. Promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-general on 1 July 1742 and to general of the horse on 24 March 1746, he became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland in September 1751. At this time he lived at 14 Henrietta Street in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Promoted to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

on 3 December 1757, Molesworth became Governor of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham; he died in London on 12 October 1758 and was buried in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. He was succeeded in the title by his only son Richard. Lady Molesworth died in a house fire in 1763 with two of her daughters. The_Tenement_Museum_14_Henrietta_Street

Family

Molesworth first married Jane Lucas, of whose family little is known; they had three children, Amelia, Letitia, and Mary, who became the second wife of Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere, and suffered greatly from his ill-treatment of her, which became a subject of public comment. Following the death of his first wife he married Mary Jenney Ussher, daughter of the Reverend William Ussher, Archdeacon of Clonfert, and his wife Mary Jenney, on 7 February 1744 and had seven children from this union: Richard, 4th Viscount Molesworth, Henrietta (who married Right Hon. John Staples, MP for Antrim), Elizabeth, Charlotte, Melosina, Mary and Louisa (who married firstly William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby, and secondly

William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam (30 May 1748 – 8 February 1833), styled Viscount Milton until 1756, was a British Whig statesman of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1782 he inherited the estates of his uncle Cha ...

). Mary and Melosina perished along with their mother in a house fire in 1763.

References

Sources

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Molesworth, Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount 1680 births 1758 deaths Members of the Middle Temple 5th Royal Irish Lancers officers 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers British field marshals Irish MPs 1715–1727 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Dublin constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Royal Scots officers Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Fellows of the Royal Society Coldstream Guards officers Younger sons of viscounts