page_title: Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
section_title: War of the Austrian Succession
hierarchical_section_title: Prince William, Duke of Cumberland / War of the Austrian Succession
caption_attribution_description: 12 1/2x 8 1/8 Satire of fat Duke of Cumberland on his horse riding in the highlands with a House and the sign &#34;Popularity the Blown Bladder by WP&#34; with a foot in a boot sticking out of the door resting on a stool, and two crutches by the side of the house.
context_page_description: Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, KG, KB, FRS, was the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and his wife,
  Caroline of Ansbach. He was Duke of Cumberland from 1726. He is best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which made him immensely popular throughout parts of Britain. He is often referred to by the nickname given to him by his Tory opponents: 'Butcher' Cumberland. Despite his triumph at Culloden, he had a largely unsuccessful military career. Between 1748 and 1755 he attempted to enact a series of army reforms that were resisted by the opposition and by the army itself. Following the Convention of Klosterzeven in 1757, he never again held active military command and switched his attentions to politics and horse racing.
context_section_description: In December 1742, he became a major-general, and, the following year, he first saw active service in Germany. George II and the "martial boy" shared in the glory of the Battle of Dettingen (27 June 1743), where Cumberland was wounded in the leg by a musket ball. After the battle he was made a lieutenant general.
  In 1745, Cumberland was given the honorary title of Captain-General of the British land forces and in Flanders became Commander-in-Chief of the allied British, Hanoverian, Austrian and Dutch troops despite his inexperience. He initially planned to take the offensive against the French, in a move he hoped would lead to the capture of Paris, but was persuaded by his advisors that this was impossible given the vast numerical superiority of the enemy.
  As it became clear that the French intention was to take Tournai, Cumberland advanced to the relief of the town, which was besieged by Marshal Saxe. In the resulting Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May 1745, the Allies were defeated by the French. Saxe had picked the battleground on which to confront the British, and filled the nearby woods with French marksmen. Cumberland ignored the threat of the woods when drawing up his battle plans, and instead concentrated on seizing the town of Fontenoy and attacking the main French army nearby. Despite a concerted Anglo-Hanoverian attack on the French centre, which led many to believe the Allies had won, the failure to clear the woods and of the Dutch forces to capture Fontenoy forced Cumberland's force onto the retreat. Following the battle Cumberland was frequently criticised for his tactics, particularly the failure to occupy the woods. In the wake of the battle, Cumberland was forced to retreat to Brussels and was unable to prevent the fall of Ghent, Bruges and Ostend.
caption: Jacobite satire of the Duke of Cumberland in the Highlands
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