Godert de Ginkel, 1st Earl of Athlone

(Redirected from Godert van Reede de Ginkle) Dutch States Army officer and nobleman

The Right HonourableThe Earl of Athlone
1st Earl of Athlone
Personal details
Born	14 June 1644 Amerongen
Died	11 February 1703 (aged 58) Utrecht
Occupation	General
Military service
Battles/wars	Second Anglo-Dutch War Franco-Dutch War Battle of Woerden Siege of Naarden Battle of Seneffe Battle of Cassel Nine Years' War Invasion of England Mutiny of the Royal Scots Battle of the Boyne Siege of Athlone Battle of Aughrim Siege of Limerick Battle of Steenkerque Battle of Landen Siege of Namur Bombardment of Givet War of the Spanish Succession Assault on Nijmegen Siege of Venlo Siege of Stevensweert Siege of Roermond Siege of Liége

Godard van Reede, 1st Earl of Athlone (14 June 1644 – 11 February 1703) was a Dutch States Army officer and nobleman who rose to prominence during the Williamite War in Ireland.

Early career

He was born in Amerongen, Utrecht, into a noble family as Baron van Reede, being the eldest son of Godard Adriaan van Reede [nl], 1621–1691). In his youth he entered the Dutch cavalry as an officer, receiving his first commission at age 12. He served as a colonel and brigadier in the Franco-Dutch War. He fought at Seneffe, where he was gravely wounded. In 1675 van Reede was promoted to major-general and in 1683 to lieutenant-general.

In 1688, he accompanied William, Prince of Orange, in his expedition to England—the "Glorious Revolution" which deposed James II. The following year, Ginkel distinguished himself by a memorable exploit—the pursuit and capture of a Scottish regiment that had mutinied for James at Ipswich and was marching northward across the Fens. The feat was also lauded in part due to the avoidance of violence, as the mutineers surrendered peacefully. However it was the alarm excited by this mutiny that facilitated the passing of the first Mutiny Act. In 1690, Ginkel accompanied William III to Ireland to take on the Jacobites, and commanded a body of Dutch cavalry at the Battle of the Boyne. On the king's return to England, General Ginkel was entrusted with the conduct of the war in Ireland. (See also Williamite war in Ireland).

Williamite commander

He took command in Ireland in the spring of 1691, and established his headquarters at Mullingar. Among those who held a command under him was the Marquis of Ruvigny, the recognised chief of the Huguenot refugees. Early in June, Ginkel took the fortress of Ballymore, capturing the whole garrison of 1,000 men. The Williamites lost only eight men. After reconstructing the fortifications of Ballymore, the army marched to Athlone, then one of the most important of the fortified towns of Ireland and key to the Jacobite defensive position, as it bridged the River Shannon. The Irish defenders of the place were commanded by a distinguished French general, the Marquis de St Ruth. The firing began on 19 June, and on 30 June the town was stormed, the Irish army retreating towards Galway, and took up their next defensive position at Aughrim. Having strengthened the fortifications of Athlone and having left a garrison there, Ginkel led the combined Williamite forces, on 8 July, westward in pursuit of the retreating army and met the Jacobite force in formal battle on 12 July 1691 at Aughrim.

The subsequent battle all but decided the war in the Williamites' favour. An immediate attack was resolved, and, after a severe and at one point doubtful contest, the Jacobite position was severely weakened by the death of their French commander Charles Chalmot de Saint-Ruhe, Marquis de Saint Ruth, after which his disorganised forces fled in the ensuing darkness of the early morning of 13 July. The battle was described as "quite possibly the bloodiest battle ever fought in the British Isles", with historians generally agreeing that roughly 5,000–7,000 men were killed during the battle; Ginkel recorded that 526 Jacobite prisoners of all ranks were captured. While Ginkel had promised Jacobite commander William Dorrington that all captives would be treated as prisoners of war, general officers were instead taken to the Tower of London as prisoners of state while the majority of the rank and file were imprisoned on Lambay Island where many died of disease and starvation.

Galway next capitulated, its garrison being permitted to retire to Limerick. There the viceroy Tyrconnell was in command of a large force, but his sudden death early in August left the command in the hands of General Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan, and the Frenchman d'Usson. Led by Ginkel, the Williamites came in sight of the town on the day of Tyrconnell's death, and the bombardment and siege were immediately begun. Ginkel, by a bold device, crossed the River Shannon and captured the camp of the Irish cavalry. A few days later he stormed the fort on Thomond Bridge, and after difficult negotiations, a capitulation was signed—the Treaty of Limerick, the terms of which were divided into a civil and a military treaty.

Thus was completed the Williamite conquest of Ireland, and the services of the Dutch general were amply recognised and rewarded. Ginkell received the formal thanks of the House of Commons, and was created by the king 1st Earl of Athlone and baron of Aughrim. The immense forfeited estates of the Earl of Limerick were given to him, but the grant was a few years later revoked by the English Parliament.

Later life

The Earl of Athlone continued to serve in the English Army and accompanied the king to the continent in 1693. He fought at the sieges of Namur in 1695 and the Battle of Neerwinden, and assisted in destroying the French magazine at Givet. In the War of the Spanish Succession, Lord Athlone succeeded the Prince of Nassau-Usingen in 1702 as first Field Marshal of the Dutch States Army, serving under the 1st Duke of Marlborough, the Allied commander-in-chief in the Low Countries.

Private life

Ginkel married Ursula Philipota van Raesvelt, heiress of Castle Middachten near Arnhem, and with her had several children.

He was succeeded, in 1703 upon his death, by his eldest son Frederick Christiaan van Reede, the 2nd earl (1668–1719), a distinguished soldier in the reigns of William III and Queen Anne and who had been naturalised as an English subject in 1696.

On the death of the 9th Earl of Athlone without issue in 1844, however, the title expired. It was, however, created again on two more occasions in 1890 and 1917.

Notes

^ Julian: 4 June 1644
also known as Godert de Ginkell or Goddard von Ginkel

References

"Godard van Reede, 1st earl of Athlone". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
Paenhuyzen Luc, Rampjaar 1672. Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte, Uitgeverij Atlas, 2009, Amsterdam, ISBN 9789045013282
Millen, Graeme Stephen (2022) The Scots-Dutch Brigade and the Highland War, 1689-1691, p.72
^ Chisholm 1911, p. 28.
Letter from Godard van Reede, General lieutenant of their majesties of England combined forces at land and at sea in Ireland, 1690-1691, to his father. From the Army Camp at Athlone, 5–15 July 1691. Excerpt from the family van Reede archives Archived 12 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
Haverty (1867) The History of Ireland, J Duffy, p. 664
Childs (2007) The Williamite Wars in Ireland, A & C Black, p. 338
Boyle (1867) The Battle-fields of Ireland, from 1688 to 1691, Robert Coddington, p.321
Chisholm 1911, pp. 28–29.
Chisholm 1911, p. 29.
"Athlone, Earl of (I, 1692 – 1844)". Cracroft's peerage. Retrieved 7 October 2018.

Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Earl of Athlone 1st creation 1692–1703	Succeeded byFrederick Christiaan van Reede, 2nd Earl of Athlone
Dutch nobility
Preceded byGodard Adriaan van Reede	Baron van Reede 1644–1703	Succeeded byFrederick Christiaan van Reede, 2nd Earl of Athlone

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ginkel, Godart van". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 28–29.

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