Duke of Cumberland
(William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland; London, 1721-id., 1765) British military.Son of George II, in the middle of the War of Succession to the Austrian throne (1740-1748) he was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied forces and, shortly after taking office, he was defeated by the troops of the French commander Maurice de Saxe in the battle of Fontenoy (1745).However, that same year he was called by the deposed monarch George II to face the Jacobite revolt of the pretender Carlos Eduardo, whom he defeated in the battle of Culloden Moor in April 1746 and in which nearly a thousand Scots died.In the repression that followed the armed confrontation, he executed around 120 prisoners of war, which has led to his being known by the nickname "the Butcher" ever since.Later, and after staying in Scotland for three months, he returned to the French front, where in July 1747 he lost the Battle of Lauffeld.In July 1757, after being again defeated by the French army, he signed the Klosterzeven convention, by which he promised to evacuate Hannover.This confronted him with his father, the owner of said territory, as a result of which he withdrew.
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