The Lord Dorchester | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 21st Governor of the Province of Quebec | |
| In office 1768–1778 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | James Murray |
| Succeeded by | Sir Frederick Haldimand |
| 23rd Governor General of The Canadas | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Sir Frederick Haldimand |
| Succeeded by | Robert Prescott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1724-09-03)3 September 1724 |
| Died | 10 November 1808(1808-11-10) (aged 84) Maidenhead,Berkshire, England |
| Awards | Knight of the Order of the Bath |
| Signature | .png) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Great Britain |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1742–1796 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | America Quebec The Canadas |
| Battles/wars | War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War American War of Independence |
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester,KB (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 asSir Guy Carleton, was aBritish Army officer and colonial administrator. He twice served asGovernor of theProvince of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving asGovernor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795.[1] The titleBaron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786.
He commanded British troops in theAmerican Revolutionary War, first leading thedefence of Quebec during the1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as thecommander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom toslaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces,Loyalists, and more than 3,000freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this end, Carleton assignedSamuel Birch to create theBook of Negroes.
The military and political career of his younger brother,Thomas Carleton, was interwoven with his own, and Thomas served under him in the Canadas.[2]
Guy Carleton was born into anUlster Protestant military family that had lived inUlster in the north of theKingdom of Ireland since thePlantation of Ulster in the 17th century, and was one of three brothers (the others beingThomas Carleton and William Carleton) who served in the British military. He was born and raised inStrabane in the west ofCounty Tyrone, just across theRiver Foyle fromLifford inCounty Donegal. Guy also had a sister, Connolly Crawford. When he was fourteen his father, Christopher Carleton, died, and his mother, Catherine Carleton, then marriedReverend Thomas Skelton, who took responsibility for his education.[3]
In 1742, at the age of seventeen, Carleton was commissioned as anensign into the25th Regiment of Foot, in which in 1745 he was promoted to lieutenant. During this period he became a friend ofJames Wolfe; he may have served with Wolfe at theBattle of Culloden during theJacobite rising of 1745.[4] Two of his brothers, William and Thomas, also joined theBritish Army.
In 1740 theWar of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. Despite British troops having been engaged on the European continent since 1742, it was not until 1747 that Carleton and his regiment were despatched toFlanders. They fought the French, but were unable to prevent theFall of Bergen-op-Zoom, a major Dutch fortress, and the war was brought to a halt by anarmistice. In 1748 theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Carleton returned to Britain.[2] He was frustrated to still only be alieutenant, and believed his opportunities of advancement would be limited with the end of the war.
In 1751 he joined the1st Foot Guards and in 1752 was promoted tocaptain. His career received a major boost when he was chosen, at the suggestion of Wolfe, to act as aguide toThe 3rd Duke of Richmond during a tour of the battlefields of the recent war. Richmond would become an influentialpatron to Carleton.[5]
In 1757, Guy Carleton was made alieutenant colonel and served as part of theHanoverian Army of Observation made up of German troops designed to protect Hanover from French invasion. The army was forced to retreat following theBattle of Hastenbeck and eventually concluded theConvention of Klosterzeven, taking them out of the war. After the convention was signed, Carleton returned to Britain. In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed72nd Regiment of Foot.James Wolfe selected Carleton as his aide in the 1758attack on Louisbourg.King George II declined to make this appointment, possibly because of negative comments he made about the soldiers of Hanover during his service on the Continent.
For some time he was unable to gain active position, until he was sent back to Germany to serve as anaide-de-camp toDuke Ferdinand of Brunswick.[6]
In December 1758 Wolfe, now amajor general, was given command of the upcoming campaign against the city ofQuebec, and selected Carleton as hisquarter-master general. King George refused to make this appointment also untilLord Ligonier andWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham both talked to the king about the matter and the king changed his mind.[7] When Lieutenant-Colonel Carleton arrived inHalifax he assumed command of six hundredgrenadiers. He was with the British forces when they arrived at Quebec in June 1759. Carleton was responsible for the provisioning of the army and also acting as an engineer supervising the placement of cannon. Carleton received a head wound during theBattle of the Plains of Abraham and he returned to England after the battle in October 1759.
On 29 March 1761, as the lieutenant colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot he took part inthe attack onBelle Île, an island off the coast of the northern part of theBay of Biscay, 10 miles (16 km) off the coast of France. Carleton led an attack on the French, but was seriously wounded and prevented from taking any further part in the fighting. After four weeks of fighting, the British gained complete control of the island.
He was madecolonel in 1762 and took part in theBritish expedition against Cuba, which also includedRichard Montgomery, who went on to oppose him in 1775. On 22 July, he was wounded leading an attack on a Spanish outpost.
In 1764 he transferred to the93rd Regiment of Foot.
On 7 April 1766, Carleton was named acting Lieutenant Governor and Administrator of Quebec withJames Murray officially in charge. He arrived in Quebec on 22 September 1766. As Carleton had no experience in public affairs and came from a politically insignificant family, his appointment was unusual and was possibly a surprise to him.[8] One connection might have been due to the Duke of Richmond, who in 1766 been made Secretary of State for the North American colonies. Fourteen years earlier, Carleton had tutored the Duke. The Duke was the colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot, while Carleton was its lieutenant colonel. He appointed Carleton ascommander-in-chief of all troops stationed in Quebec.
The government consisted of a Governor, a council, and an assembly. The governor could veto any action of the council, but London had also given Carleton instructions that all of his actions required the approval of the council. Most officials of the province at this time did not receive a salary and received their income through fees they charged for their services. Carleton tried to replace this system with one in which the officials received a regular salary, but this position was never supported in London. When Carleton renounced his own fees, Murray was furious.
After Murray resigned his position, Carleton was appointedCaptain General and Governor-in-Chief on 12 April 1768. Carleton took the oath of office on 1 November 1768. On 9 August 1770 he sailed for Britain for what he thought was a few months' consultation on issues related to the integration of Quebec into the British system. During his absence,Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, the lieutenant governor, ran the provincial government, with the aid of the first chief justice,William Hey, and theAttorney-General,Francis Maseres. The British merchants of Quebec, many of whom had become disaffected with the colonial administration under Murray, were, at least initially, of good will. The merchants would later be agent for theQuebec Act 1774 (14 Geo. 3. c. 83) and finally the partition of the two Canadas in theConstitutional Act 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 31).[9]
On 22 May 1772, at the age of nearly 48, Carleton married Lady Maria Howard (1753–1836), daughter ofThomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham.[10] They had nine sons and two daughters. His elder brothers having predeceased him, and himself dying two years before his father, third son Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Carleton was father of Arthur, 2nd Baron Dorchester; Christopher's younger brother, the sixth son, Lieutenant-Colonel George Carleton, was father of Guy, the 3rd Baron.
The title was extinct at the 3rd Baron's death in 1897, but it was revived when his daughter, Henrietta, was createdBaroness Dorchester; the title was extinct again at the death of her son, Dudley, 2nd Baron, in 1963.[11][12][10]
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Carleton was promoted to major general on 25 May 1772.[13] While he was in London, Parliament passed theQuebec Act 1774, based upon his recommendations. It determined how the province was to be administered and was part of a continuing effort to respect some French traditions while ensuring rights of citizens as understood by the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Carleton and Maria returned to Quebec on 18 September 1774, where he began implementing the provisions of the act. While the clergy and theseigneurs (petty gentry) were happy with provisions favourable to them, British merchants and migrants from theThirteen Colonies objected to a number of the provisions, which they thought were pro-Catholic. They argued that only English-speaking Protestants should be able to vote or hold public office. Many of thehabitants were unhappy with the provisions reinstating thetithe in support of the Catholic Church, as well as seigneurial obligations, such as thecorvée (a labour requirement).
In late 1774, theFirst Continental Congress sentletters toMontreal denouncing the Quebec Act for promoting Catholicism by allowing Catholics to hold civil service positions and reinstating the tithe.John Brown, an agent for theBostonCommittee of Correspondence, arrived in Montreal in early 1775 as part of an effort to persuade citizens to send delegates to theSecond Continental Congress, scheduled to meet in May 1775. Carleton, while aware of this activity, did nothing to prevent it, beyond discouraging publication of the Congressional letter in the province's only newspaper.
Carleton received notice of the start of the rebellion in May 1775, soon followed by the news of the rebelcapture of Fort Ticonderoga andFort Crown Point, and the raid onFort Saint-Jean. As he had previously sent two of his regiments to Boston, he had only about 800 regular soldiers left in Quebec. His attempts to raise amilitia met with limited success at first, as neither the ethnic French nor the English residents were willing to join. The area's Natives were willing to fight on the British side, and the Crown wanted them to do so, but Carleton turned their offer down because he feared the Natives might attack non-combatants. For the same reason, he limitedGuy Johnson and hisIroquois allies, who had come to Quebec fromNew York, to operating only in Quebec.
During the summer of 1775, Carleton directed the preparation of provincial defences, which were focused on Fort Saint-Jean. In September, theContinental Army began its invasion andbesieged the fort. When it fell in November, Carleton was forced to flee from Montreal toQuebec City, escaping capture by disguising himself as acommoner.
In December 1775 he directed the city's defences in theBattle of Quebec and the ensuing siege, which was broken by the arrival of British troops in May 1776 under command ofJohn Burgoyne, who was appointed second-in-command. Carleton's younger brotherThomas was part of the relief effort.
Guy Carleton launched a counteroffensive against the rebels, which included repelling an attempted attack onTrois-Rivières. In June 1776, he was appointed aKnight Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of ageneral for America only on 26 March 1776.[14]
The next month Carleton commanded British naval forces on theRichelieu River, culminating in theBattle of Valcour Island onLake Champlain in October 1776 against a rebel fleet led by GeneralBenedict Arnold. The British, with a significantly superior fleet, won a decisive victory, destroying or capturing most of the rebel fleet, but the delay prevented Carleton from continuing on to captureFort Ticonderoga that year. His brother Thomas and nephewChristopher both served on his staff during the campaign. The morning following the battle, a small island in Lake Champlain was namedCarleton's Prize, perhaps to Carleton's embarrassment at the time.
He was promoted tolieutenant general on 6 September 1777.[15] In 1777, command of the major northern expedition to divide the rebel colonies was given to General Burgoyne. Upset that he had not been given its command, Carleton asked to be recalled. He was replaced as governor and military commander of Quebec in 1778 byFrederick Haldimand,[16] and returned to Britain. In 1780 he was appointed by Prime MinisterLord North to a commission investigating public finances. This post he held until 1782, when General SirHenry Clinton was recalled in the aftermath of the 1781surrender at Yorktown. Carleton was appointed to replace Clinton asCommander-in-Chief, America, in May 1782. His headquarters in New York City were located at Number One Broadway.[17][18]
In August 1783, Carleton was informed that Great Britain would grant the United States its independence. With his exit from New York imminent, Carleton asked to be relieved of his command. After this news,Loyalists began an exodus from the Thirteen Colonies and Carleton did his best to have them resettled outside the United States.
In May[19] he had metGeorge Washington, amongst others, to arrange for the implementation of those parts of theTreaty of Paris relating to the evacuation of New York City, then commanded by Carleton and still occupied by the British Army, many Loyalists and formerslaves. Carleton had refused to deliver over the human property to the Americans at the time of the British evacuation. Instead, he proposed a registry so that "the owners might eventually be paid for the slaves who were entitled to their freedom by British Proclamation and promises."
Sir Guy noted that nothing could be changed in any Articles that were inconsistent with prior policies or National Honour. He added that the only mode was to pay for the Negroes, in which case justice was done to all, the former slaves and the owners. Carleton said that it would be a breach of faith not to honour the British policy of liberty to the Negro and declared that if removing them proved to be an infraction of the treaty, then compensation would have to be paid by the British government. To provide for such a contingency, he had a register kept of all Negroes who left, called theBook of Negroes, entering their names, ages, occupations, and names of their former masters. The Americans agreed to this but the Crown never paid compensation. The Loyalist Claims Commission, using the logic of the Somerset Case and the Philipsburg Proclamation, determined that people could not be claimed as property, and only property could be a matter of compensation.[20] The British transported about 3,000 freedmen and other Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia, The Bahamas, and as far away as Germany for resettlement in the evacuation of New York City in November 1783 alone. Thousands more, under the same agreement, were evacuated from Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine. All told, historians estimate that between 50,000 and 80,000 enslaved people were freed as the result of Carleton's final enforcement of British proclamations, leading to, as historian Cassandra Pybus has described it, the "single greatest act of abolition in early American history."[21]
Washington, who worked to re-enslave free Black Loyalists (which included former slaves at Mount Vernon), strenuously disagreed with Sir Guy's actions and wrote: "…the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the Treaty but waiving the specialty of the point, leaving this decision to our respective Sovereigns I find it my duty to signify my readiness in conjunction with you to enter into agreements, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient to prevent the future carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American people."[22]
On 28 November the evacuation was finished, and on 5 December Carleton departed fromStaten Island[23] to return to Great Britain.John Campbell of Strachur succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief, North America, although the post was then much reduced in scope.
Once he was back in London, Carleton recommended the creation of a position of Governor General of all the provinces inBritish North America. Instead, he was appointed "Governor-in-chief", with simultaneous appointments as governor of Quebec,New Brunswick,Nova Scotia, and St. John's Island (present-dayPrince Edward Island). He arrived in Quebec on 23 October 1786. His position as Governor-in-chief was mostly ignored. He found quickly that his authority in any of the provinces other than Quebec was effective only while he was present in person.
He was raised to thePeerage of Great Britain in August 1786 asBaron Dorchester, ofDorchester in theCounty of Oxford. (His title therefore referred to the village ofDorchester on Thames, rather than to the better-knowncounty town of Dorset.)
TheConstitutional Act of 1791 split the large territory of Quebec intoUpper andLower Canada, corresponding roughly to areas settled by ethnic British and ethnic French, respectively. SirAlured Clarke was named as the lieutenant governor of Lower Canada andJohn Graves Simcoe the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. In August 1791 Carleton left for Britain and on 7 February 1792 took his seat in theHouse of Lords. He left for Canada again on 18 August 1793 to resume his duties there. His replacement,Robert Prescott, arrived in May 1796. On 9 July 1796 Carleton sailed from Canada to Britain, never to return.
In retirement Lord Dorchester, as he was now, lived mostly atGreywell Hill, adjoiningNately Scures, inHampshire. After about 1805 he moved toStubbings House atBurchett's Green, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire. On 10 November 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in theparish church ofSt Swithun's, Nately Scures.
He was honoured by numerous places and educational institutions named for him:
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor of the Province of Quebec 1768–1778 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Governor-General of The Canadas 1786–1796 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, North America 1782–1783 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Baron Dorchester 1786–1808 | Succeeded by |
