Cornelius Cuyler

General Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet (31 October 1740 – 8 March 1819) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth.

Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet
General Sir Cornelius Cuyler
Born	31 October 1740 Albany, New York
Died	8 March 1819 (aged 78) St John's Lodge, Welwyn
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	French and Indian War American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars
Relations	Cornelis Cuyler (father) Abraham Cuyler (brother)

Early life

Cuyler was born in Albany, New York on 31 October 1740, the son of Cornelis Cuyler and Catalyntie Schuyler, she a descendant of the Schuyler family.[1] Among his siblings was prominent American loyalist, Abraham Cornelius Cuyler (1742–1810), who married Jannetje "Janet" Glen, sister of Henry Glen (1739–1814).[2]

His father was the oldest surviving son of twelve children born to his grandfather, Albany Mayor Johannes Cuyler (1661–1740),[3] and grandmother, Elsje (née Ten Broeck) Cuyler (d. 1752).[3][4] His grandfather was an admitted freeman of New York City and served for 22 years as a Commissioner of Indian Affairs.[5]

Military career

Cuyler was commissioned as an ensign into the 55th Regiment of Foot in May 1759 during the French and Indian War.[6] He took part in the Battle of Ticonderoga in July 1759 and the Battle of the Thousand Islands in August 1760.[6] He became aide-de-camp to General Sir William Howe in July 1775 and fought at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, Battle of Brandywine in September 1777 and the Battle of Germantown in October 1777 during the American Revolutionary War before commanding his regiment at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778.[6]

He became Quartermaster-General in the West Indies in November 1782, Commander-in-chief in the West Indies in November 1792 and then Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and General Officer Commanding South-West District in January 1796.[7] He became Commander-in-Chief in Portugal in January 1799 during the French Revolutionary Wars.[6] He was promoted to full general in September 1803[8] and created a baronet on 29 October 1814.[9][10]

Personal life

In 1763, Cuyler was married to Anne Wendell.[2] After his death, he was succeeded in his baronetcy by his son, Charles Cuyler (1794–1862).[11]

Cuyler died on 8 March 1819.[12]

References

1. Nicoll, Maud Churchill (1912). The Earliest Cuylers in Holland and America and Some of Their Descendants. T.A. Wright, Printer and Publisher.
2. Committee, New York Colony; (State), New York (1968). New York Marriages Previous to 1784. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 96. ISBN 9780806302591.
3. Reynolds, Cuyler (1911). Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: A Record of Achievements of the People of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys in New York State, Included Within the Present Counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 32.
4. General Society of Colonial Wars (U S. ) District of Columbia; Peale, Albert Charles (1904). Register of the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia, 1904 ... The Society.
5. Rhoden, Nancy L. (2014). English Atlantics Revisited: Essays Honouring Ian K. Steele. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 240–243. ISBN 9780773560406.
6. John Phillippart (1815). The Royal Military Calendar. A.J. Valpy. p. 65.
7. "No. 13855". The London Gazette. 6 January 1796. p. 64.
8. Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 320.
9. "No. 16919". The London Gazette. 23 July 1814. p. 1487.
10. "Cuyler of St John's Lodge". Debrett's Baronetage of England. 1835. p. 375.
11. "CUYLER of St John Lodge,Herts". leighrayment.com. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
12. Boase, Frederic (1906). Modern English Biography: Containing Many Thousand Concise Memiors of Persons who Have Died Since the Year 1850, with an Index of the Most Interesting Matter. Netherton and Worth, For the author. p. 2158.