William Augustus, duke of Cumberland

William Augustus, duke of Cumberland (born April 15, 1721, London, Eng.—died Oct. 31, 1765, London) was a British general, nicknamed “Butcher Cumberland” for his harsh suppression of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. His subsequent military failures led to his estrangement from his father, King George II (reigned 1727–60).

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he became commander of the allied forces (1745) and was severely defeated by France’s Marshal Maurice de Saxe at the Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745). Later that year Cumberland was recalled to England to oppose the invasion of Jacobites under Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, grandson of the deposed Stuart king James II. After triumphing over Charles at the decisive Battle of Culloden Moor in Inverness-shire on April 16, 1746 (at which about 1,000 Scots died), he remained in Scotland for three months, rounding up some 3,500 men and executing about 120.

He then returned to the war against the French; in July 1747 he lost the Battle of Lauffeld to Saxe. During the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) he was defeated by the French at the Battle of Hastenbeck (July 1757) in Hanover, one of George II’s possessions. Because he signed the Convention of Klosterzeven (September 1757), promising to evacuate Hanover, he was dismissed by his father, who repudiated the agreement. His refusal to serve as commander in chief unless William Pitt was dismissed as prime minister led to Pitt’s fall in April 1757.