Richard Lord Howe
BIRTH
Mar 8, 1726
London, England
DEATH
August 5, 1799
London, England
FAMILY
FATHER:
Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe
(1700-1735)
##
Howe, Richard Lord
(1726-1799)
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, KG, was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operationsagainst the French coast as part of Britain's policy of naval descents during the Seven Years' War. He also took part, as a naval captain, in the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759.
GRAVE:
CHURCH
St. Andrew's Church, Langar
Church Ln, Langar, Nottingham NG13 9HG, United Kingdom
2
BROTHER
William Howe
(1729-1814)
WIFE
Mary Hartop
(1732-1800)
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fort Mifflin | 6400 Hog Island Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19153 | MUSEUM | ||
Mount Pleasant Marker | 931 1st Ave., New York, NY 10022 | MARKER |
DIED:
London, England
Aug 5, 1799
After the death of his elder brother, killed near Ticonderoga on 6 July 1758, Howe became Viscount Howe in the Peerage of Ireland. On 20 November 1759, he led Admiral Edward Hawke's fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay where the British won a decisive victory, forestalling a Planned French invasion of Britain. He became Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral the Duke of York in the third-rate HMS Princess Amelia in June 1762.
Howe was appointed to the Board of Admiralty led by John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich as Senior Naval Lord in April 1763. He became Treasurer of the Navy in 1765 and, having been promoted to rear admiral on 18 October 1770, went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in November 1770. Promoted to vice admiral on 5 February 1776, he became Commander-in-Chief, North American Station later that month.
The strategy of the British in North America was to deploy a combination of operations aimed at capturing major cities and a blockade of the coast. The British took Long Island in August 1776 and captured New York City in September 1776 in combined operations involving the army and the navy during the New York and New Jersey campaign. He represented the Crown at the Staten Island Peace Conference held on 11 September 1776. In 1777 Howe provided support to his brother's operation to capture Philadelphia, ferrying General Howe's army to a landing point from which they successfully marched and took the city.
Howe spent much of the remainder of the year concentrating on capturing Forts Mifflin and Mercer which controlled entry to the Delaware River without which ships could not reach Philadelphia. News of the capture of a separate British army under General John Burgoyne threw British plans into disarray. Howe spent the winter in Newport, Rhode Island.
Declining to serve afterwards, Howe cited distrust of Lord North and a lack of support during his command in America. He was further embittered by the replacement of himself and his brother as peace commissioners, as well as by attacks in the press against him by ministerial writers including the prominent American Loyalist Joseph Galloway. An inquiry in Parliament demanded by the Howe brothers to justify their conduct in America was held during 1779 but ended inconclusively. Howe spent much of the next three years with the opposition attacking the government's alleged mismanagement of the war at sea.