Eyre Coote Papers, Calendar
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Eyre Coote Papers William L. Clements Library Calendar The University of Michigan Finding Aid: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsead/umich-wcl-M-4428coo?view=text Coote, Sir Eyre, 1759–1823 Eyre Coote papers, 1775–1925 Bulk 1775–1830 Size: 41 boxes with 1,925 numbered items; 26 over-size maps; 83 periodicals. M-4428 Cat. 9/2006. DAF William L. Clements Library University of Michigan Eyre Coote papers Introduction1 The Coote family Charles Coote (d. 1642) was an officer in the English army and fought under Lord Mountjoy during the latter stages of the Nine Years War (1593-1603) in Ireland. His success was rewarded with various offices and a baronetcy. Like his contemporary, Richard Boyle, earl of Cork, he was astute in purchasing tracts of land and thereby enriched his family. By his death in 1642 the family had estates in Queen’s County, and Counties Leitrim and Roscommon. His eldest son, Charles (d. 1661) inherited much of these lands, and, like his father, was a military officer and political magnate, who managed to opportunely change sides between the Cromwellian and Restoration periods. Charles was created 1st earl of Mountrath in 1660, which title continued in the male line until the death Charles Henry Coote (1725-1802), when it became extinct. Sir Eyre Coote (d. 1823) descended from Charles Coote’s (d. 1642) second son, Chidley (d. 1668), of Killester, County Dublin who purchased an estate at Ashhill near Kilmallock, County Limerick in 1667. His eldest son Lieut.-Colonel Chidley Coote inherited this property, which in turn passed to his son, Rev. Chidley Coote (d. 1730). Rev. Chidley had among other sons, Eyre (1728-83) and Charles (1713- 96). Eyre joined the army and became a distinguished general, whose successes in India in the 1750s and later in the 1780s ensured his and his family’s fame. 2 Military success also brought financial gain, which allowed Eyre to purchase estates in both England, at West Park in Hampshire, and Ireland, in Queen’s County. His younger brother, Charles, dean of Kilfenora, Co. Clare, acted as agent for his brother’s estates in Ireland and inherited that property on the General’s death in 1783. Charles was made dean of Kilfenora, in the diocese of Killaloe, in November 1758. 3 For much of his life he resided at Shaen’s Castle, Queen’s County. He acquired property 4 in that County as well as in Leopardstown, County Dublin, where he built Leopardstown House, later the seat of his eldest son, Charles Henry, 2nd Baron Castlecoote (1754–1823). The Castlecoote estates were ultimately inherited by the second Sir Eyre’s son, Eyre (d. 1834). The Dean married firstly in 1753, Grace, daughter of Thomas Tilson and widow of Thomas Cuffe, of Grange, Co. Kilkenny. This marriage produced two sons, Charles Henry Coote (1754–1823), created 2nd Baron Castlecoote in 1802, and General Sir Eyre Coote (d. 1823), whose papers are catalogued here. 1 The Coote papers provide much of the evidence for the introduction. Any additional information has been footnoted. For a cursory biography see Coote’s entry in H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (60 vols., Oxford, 2004). 2 There are two biographies of General Sir Eyre Coote (d. 1783), of which the best is H. C. Wylly, A life of Sir Eyre Coote (London, 1922). The other is by E. W. Sheppard, Coote Bahadur: a life of Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote (London, 1956). 3 Public Gazetteer, 7 November 1758. He also held the prebends of Enniscathie [sic – Scattery Island], the vicarages of Kilrush, Killferagh, Killballyhone, Moyarta and Killard in the diocese of Killaloe, all in Co. Clare. 4 Dean Charles Coote leased Stabog, Queen’s County, from William, earl of Shelburne, for £234 per annum, on 30 August 1769 (National Archives, Ireland: Ms. 999/480/13). 2 William L. Clements Library University of Michigan Eyre Coote papers Eyre Coote (1753-1823) Early years Eyre Coote was born in 1759. Little is known of his early years. He was admitted to Eton College in 1767 and remained there until 1771, though spent some of his summers in Ireland. 5 Three years later, on 1 November he matriculated at Trinity College, Dublin. Much to his father’s angst, Eyre was removed from the College in December 1774 at the request of his uncle, General Sir Eyre Coote, in order to join the General’s regiment, the 37th, as an ensign. Military career The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1776 was fortunate for young Eyre. Promotions were easier to obtain during war time, and with his father’s financial assistance as well as his uncle’s influence, he became lieutenant in the 37th in 1776, and captain in 1778. Coote participated in the battles of Brooklyn (27 August 1776), Brandywine (11 September 1777), Germantown (4 October 1777), and Monmouth Court House (28 June 1778), among others. In 1780, the British war effort switched to the southern colonies, where Coote was stationed from 1780. Serving under Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis, he was captured at the battle of Yorktown in 1781. Coote remained a prisoner until he was paroled in April 1782, when he returned to England. Eyre had hopes of joining his uncle in India when the latter was sent there in 1778, but these were never fulfilled. When his uncle died in 1783, Coote was left without a patron, though successfully used his uncle’s reputation to his advantage in the years that followed. Though he continually desired to follow in his uncle’s footsteps in India, the British government never appointed him. In February 1783 he was commissioned a major in the 4th regt. of foot and five years later he purchased the lieut.-colonelcy of the 70th regiment. Between 1782 and 1792 Coote spent his time garrisoned in either Britain or Ireland. As was customary for high-ranking officers, Coote was introduced to George III at a levee at St. James’s Palace, on 28 October 1790. 6 His first significant command was under Sir Charles Grey, on an expedition to attack the French in the West Indies, which was not entirely successful. Coote, however, distinguished himself. 7 He was promoted colonel in 1794, and on his return to Britain participated in the unsuccessful expedition to the Netherlands in 1794-5, covering the retreat of the Allied armies. 8 In 1795 he was appointed aide-de- camp to George III. In 1796 he participated in a second West Indies campaign, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie. In the same year he was promoted brig.-general on the Irish establishment. On his return from the West Indies in 1796 he was sent to Ireland and stationed at Bandon, Co. Cork, under the overall command of General William Dalyrmple. Coote had operational command of the area around Bantry, Co. Cork, where the French attempted to land in December 1796. The weather prevented a landing, though Coote was among the officers who were credited with preventing the 5 Freeman’s Journal, 23 August 1769. 6 The Times, 29 October 1790. 7 Ibid., 20 August 1794. 8 This campaign is not recorded in the military papers. See Coote’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 3 William L. Clements Library University of Michigan Eyre Coote papers invasion. As a result his reputation rose. On 1 January 1798 he was promoted to maj.-general and given command at Dover, where a French invasion of England was expected. In 1798, Coote was ordered to command an expedition to destroy the sluice gates of the Bruges Canal and other fixtures near Ostend, in the Netherlands. In this he was successful, though was wounded and taken prisoner by the French. He was eventually exchanged in September 1798. Coote resumed command in Dover, but was soon after, in 1799, sent to command a brigade in the Netherlands near Helder. In 1801 Coote accompanied Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Egypt, where he was responsible for the siege and capture of Alexandria. For his success in Egypt he was invested a knight of the Bath in May 1802. Between 1801 and 1805 he was stationed at various places in Britain and Ireland, where his knowledge of defensive strategy proved advantageous. Throughout this period he continued to seek preferment, hoping to command in India, or in some other sphere where war was threatened. But government ignored him. In 1805, he was eventually given the governorship of Jamaica, and appointed to command an expedition to protect the West Indies from French attack, which in the end, did not transpire. The same year Coote was made a lieut.-general. Coote remained in Jamaica between 1806 and 1808, where he clashed with the Jamaican assembly over the long-running dispute over providing money for the army and the upkeep of barracks. His last significant operation followed in 1809, when he was made second-in-command to Lord Chatham for an expedition to the Netherlands. Although Coote captured Flushing and occupied Walcheren Island, Chatham’s army lost strength as it approached Antwerp, and was eventually ordered to return to England, leaving a reluctant Coote to garrison Walcheren. However, disease spread among the troops and decimated the army there. By the end of 1809 most of the soldiers had been ordered to return to England. The failure of the expedition resulted in a parliamentary enquiry and a vote in the House of Commons to censure the government for its conduct over the expedition. In the years that followed Coote failed to obtain command either on the continent or in India.