General Frederick Herman Schomberg, Duke of Schomberg KG

Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg was born on 6 Dec 1615 at Heidelberg in Germany. His father was Hans Meinhardt Graf von Schönberg auf Wesel, Comte de Schomberg and Palatine Ambassador to England, who died 9 months after Frederick was born. His mother was Anne Dudley, daughter of the disgraced Edward Sutton, 5th Lord Dudley of Staffordshire and Worcestershire. She died giving birth to Frederick, so he was an orphan before he was one year old. His military career began under the Prince of Orange, but then in 1634 he served in Sweden. The following year he went to France where two members of the Schomberg family were Maréchals. From 1639 to 1650 he was employed by the Dutch States Army, then returned to France to fight under Turenne. The French King sent him to Portugal, where he was put in command of the English brigade in the war between Portugal and Spain. He and the Portuguese commander defeated the Spanish at Montes Claros on 17 June 1665. He then assisted in the deposing of King Alfonso VI of Portugal in favour of his brother, which brought about the end of the war with Spain. He was rewarded with a large pension and returned to France where he became a naturalised Frenchman. He briefly entered the service of Charles II of England in 1673 to command the Blackheath Army against the Dutch but peace was restored and he returned to France. At that time they were at war with Spain, and Schomberg took his less-than-satisfactory army to Catalonia where they suffered a defeat at Maureillas on 19 June 1674. The next year saw an improvement in his fortunes as he led the capture of Fort de Bellegarde and was promoted to Maréchal. But Schomberg was a Protestant which made life difficult with the ascendency of Catholicism in France and Louis XIV’s Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685. He had to leave France and accept the post of command of the army of the Elector of Brandenburg. The Elector permitted him to join William of Orange on his trip to England for the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This time, being a Protestant paid dividends as he was favoured with the appointment of Knight of the Garter and Master-General of the Ordnance as well as being created 1st Duke of Schomberg. He was also compensated for the loss of his French estates. The newly created Duke of Schomberg was appointed Colonel of the 1st Royal Regiment on 31st Dec 1688. The regiment had declared their support for the new King William III after the Catholic Earl of Dumbarton had left England to go into exile with James II. Schomberg was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army and sent to Ireland where King James had gathered forces. Despite the poor quality of his troops he captured Carrickfergus on 28 Aug 1689 but then entrenched at Dundalk and retreated with his diseased and demoralised army to spend the winter in Ulster. The situation was bad enough for him to offer 100,000 pounds to William to finance the campaign. This had been his compensation money for the loss of his French estates. In the spring he captured Charlemont and was afterwards joined by William III with reinforcements. The battle of the Boyne took place on 1 July 1690. William was determined to cross the river to reach the Jacobite army but Schomberg advised against it. However, the attack went ahead and looked bad when the men lost heart as they crossed over. Schomberg rode into the water to inspire some courage but was attacked, receiving two sword cuts to the head. Then one of James’s men, named Cahir O’Toole, shot the Duke in the neck and he died instantly. Frederick was married twice, in 1638 and 1669. His first wife was Johanna, his first cousin, and they had three sons. The youngest son, Karl inherited the title but died in 1693 so that Meinhardt became the 3rd Duke of Schomberg. There must have been a bad falling out in the Schomberg family because the 1st Duke’s memorial had to be erected by friends and admirers. The latin inscription, written by Jonathan Swift, on the monument in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, translates as: ’..The Dean and chapter fervently sought, again and again, that the heirs of the Duke see to the erection of a monument in memory of their parent. But after asking for a long time and often, through letters, through friends, they accomplished nothing; finally they set up this stone; so that at least, visitor, you may know where in the world the ashes of Schomberg are concealed…A.D. 1731’