Arthur Dillon, Count Dillon

Arthur Dillon, Count Dillon (1670–1733) was a Jacobite soldier from Ireland who served as Colonel of Dillon's Regiment in the Irish Brigade in French service. He fought in the Nine Years' War and in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Arthur Dillon
Born1670
County Roscommon, Ireland
Died7 February 1733 (aged 62–63)
St Germain en Laye
Allegiance
Service/branch
RankLieutenant général (French Army)
Battles/warsWilliamite War in Ireland; Nine Years' War (1688–97); War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14)
RelationsTheobald, 7th Viscount Dillon (father)

Birth and origins

Arthur was born in 1670[1] in County Roscommon[2] in Ireland, probably at Kilmore, his parents' habitual residence.[3] He was the third of the six sons of Theobald Dillon and his wife Mary Talbot.[4] His father was the 7th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen[5] and supported James II in the Williamite war in Ireland. His father's family was Old English and descended from Sir Henry Dillon who came to Ireland with Prince John in 1185.[6] Henry's mother was a daughter of Sir Henry Talbot of Templeogue. The Talbots also were Old English. Both his parents were Catholic.

Only three of the six brothers are known by name. The others probably died young. Arthur appears below at the bottom of the list as the youngest of those three:

  1. Robert, never married and predeceased his father;[7]
  2. Henry (died 1714), became the 8th Viscount Dillon;[8] and
  3. Arthur (1670–1733).
Family tree
Arthur Dillon with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.
Theobald
1st
Viscount
d. 1624		Eleanor
Tuite
d. 1638
Christopher
D.
of Ballylaghan
d. 1624		Lucas D.
of Loughglynn		James
Dillon
c. 1600 –
aft. 1669
Lucas
2nd
Viscount
1610–1629		Thomas
4th
Viscount
1615–1673		Theobald
Dillon		Robert D.
of Loughglynn		Rose D.
of
Streamstown
d. 1681
Theobald
3rd
Viscount
1629–1630		Thomas
5th
Viscount
d. 1674		Lucas
6th
Viscount
d. 1682		Theobald
7th
Viscount
d. 1691
Jacobite		Mary
Talbot
d. 1691
Henry
8th
Viscount
d. 1714		Frances
Hamilton
d. 1751		Arthur
1670–1733
French
General		Christina
Sheldon
1684–1757
Richard
9th
Viscount
1688–1737		Charles
10th
Viscount
1701–1741		Henry
11th
Viscount
1705–1787		Charlotte
Lee
d. 1794
Henrietta-
Maria
Phipps
1757–1782		Charles
12th
Viscount
1745–1813		Marie
Rogier
d. 1833		Arthur
1750–1794
Legend
XXXArthur
Dillon		XXXViscounts of
Dillon
This family tree is partly derived from the Dillon family tree pictured in La Tour du Pin.[9] Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.

Early life

In 1688 his father raised two regiments for James II, one commanded by his eldest son, Henry Dillon, the other by his second son, Arthur Dillon.[10] In 1690 James II and Louis XIV agreed that an Irish Brigade of 5,400 men would be sent to France in exchange for six French regiments sent to Ireland with Lauzun. Arthur Dillon's Regiment was part of this Irish Brigade, which was led by Lord Mountcashel. Arthur, aged 20, landed with it at Brest on 1 May 1690.[11][12]

Both his parents were killed in the Williamite war. His father fell at the Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691,[13] whereas his mother was killed during the second Siege of Limerick by a shell fired into the town on 7 September 1691.[14]

At that time France was in the middle of the Nine Years' War (1688–97) of which the Williamite War in Ireland had been a theatre. Dillon and his regiment were sent to Roussillon and Catalonia, another theatre of this same war, where they fought the Spanish, among others at the siege of Roses under the Duc de Noailles, in 1693.[15] In 1695 the duc de Vendôme succeeded to Noailles. Vendôme besieged Barcelona, which was defended by its governor, the conde de la Corzana, and by Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt. The town surrendered on terms after a siege of 52 days on 10 August 1697.[16]

Marriage and children

The Nine Years' War ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick and four years of peace followed. Dillon found the time to marry. His chosen wife was Christina Sheldon, a maid-of-honour to Mary of Modena, queen consort of James II of England. Christina's parents were Ralph Sheldon of Ditchford, Worcestershire (1633–1723) and Elisabeth, heiress of Daniel Dunn of Garnish Hall in Essex. Dominic Sheldon, the Jacobite general, was her uncle. Her family was English and Catholic. She continued to serve Mary of Modena as lady-in-waiting at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[17]

Arthur and Christina had ten children, five sons:

  1. Charles (1701–1741), became the 10th Viscount Dillon;[18]
  2. Henry (1705–1787), became the 11th Viscount Dillon;[19]
  3. James (died 1745), became Colonel of Dillon's Regiment and fell in the Battle of Fontenoy;[20]
  4. Edward (1720–1747), succeeded his brother as Colonel of the Dillon Regiment and then fell in the Battle of Lauffeld;[21] and
  5. Arthur Richard (1721–1806), became a French archbishop.[22]

—and five daughters:

  1. Frances, became a Carmelite nun;[23]
  2. Catharine (died 1753), became a Carmelite nun and died at St. Denis;[24]
  3. Mary (died 1786), died at St Germain;[25]
  4. Bridget (died 1785), married Baron Blaisel, a Lieutenant-General in the French Army;[26][27] and
  5. Laura (died 1741), married Lucius Cary, 6th Viscount Falkland, a Jacobite.[28]

War of the Spanish Succession
Main article: War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) broke out after Charles II of Spain, the last Habsburg king of Spain, died without heir. Dillon and his Regiment were first sent to the Rhine in 1701 where he served under François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, but Villeroy and Dillon were soon transferred to northern Italy where France and its ally Savoy were trying to seize the Duchy of Milan, which belonged to Spain. French troops under the command of Marshal Nicolas Catinat fought the Austrians under Prince Eugene of Savoy. However, after Catinat lost the skirmish of Carpi on 9 July 1701, the command of the French troops in Italy was given to Villeroy under whom Catinat then served as second in command. On 1 September 1701 Prince Eugene defeated Villeroy at Chiari.

On 16 September 1701 James II died at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and was succeeded by James Francis Edward Stuart, James III for the Jacobites, the Old Pretender for the supporters of William III in England, who was succeeded by Queen Anne on 8 March 1702.[29]

Eugene's next move in northern Italy was to surprise Villeroy in his winter-quarters in Cremona in the night of 31 January to 1 February 1702, an action also called the Battle of Cremona. Villeroy was taken prisoner, but the French were saved from defeat by Dillon's and Bourke's Irish regiments, who held the Po-gate and the bridge over the River Po against the Austrians, thus preventing Eugene from effecting his junction with the troops he had on the other side of the river.[30] Eventually, Eugene could not hold the town against its garrison and had to retreat.[31]

Villeroy was replaced with the duc de Vendôme, under whom Dillon had already served at Barcelona. Under Vendôme Dillon and his regiment fought in the battles of Santa-Vittoria on 26 July 1702, and Luzzara on 15 August 1702.[32] On 1 October 1702 Dillon was promoted to brigadeer.[33] In 1703 Vendôme tried to effect a junction with the Bavarians, allied with the French against Austria, through the Tyrol and penetrated as far as Trent. Dillon took the town of Riva at the northern tip of Lake Garda.[34] However, on 13 August 1704 Marlborough and Eugene beat the French and Bavarians at Blenheim. Savoy switched side and Vendôme had to retreat. In 1704 Dillon, aged 34, was promoted to maréchal de camp.[35] On 16 August 1705 Vendôme repulsed Eugene at Cassano. Three Irish regiments, including Dillon's, played a key-role in halting Eugene's attack.[36] Dillon was made a commander of the Order of Saint Louis.[37]

On 23 May 1706 Marlborough beat Villeroy at Ramillies in the Spanish Netherlands. Thereupon, Louis XIV ordered Vendôme with a big part of the Armée d'Italie to Flanders to redress the situation there. Dillon and his regiment stayed behind in Northern Italy. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who would rule France as Regent from 1715 to 1723, replaced Vendôme in Italy, taking up his new position in July.

Together with Jacques Eléonor Rouxel de Grancey, comte de Médavy, Dillon defeated at the Battle of Castiglione on 9 September 1706 a Hessian unit under Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel[38] that had arrived too late from Germany to join the main body of Eugene's army. Their victory had no effect, because the day before the French lost the decisive Battle of Turin (7 September 1706) and had to evacuate northern Italy.

On 24 September 1706 Dillon was promoted to lieutenant général for his action at Castiglione.[39] Under Marshal Tessé[lower-alpha 1] Dillon and his regiment participated in the successful defence of Toulon in the Siege of Toulon (1707). In 1707 Austria signed the Convention of Milan ending the war in northern Italy.

in 1708 Dillon's regiment was transferred to the Moselle where Dillon served under Claude Louis Hector de Villars and James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick.

In 1709 Berwick, and Dillon with him, were transferred to the Dauphiné to guard this French province against attacks from neighbouring Savoy. Dillon defended Briançon and on 28 August 1709 defeated Bernhard Otto von Rehbinder, a Baltic German in Savoyard service, at the Pont de la Vachette.[40] While in Grenoble Dillon had an affair with Claudine Guérin de Tencin who was at that time a nun at the convent of Montfleury at Corenc near Grenoble. She managed to leave her nunnery in 1712.

In 1711 Dillon was created comte Dillon in France by Louis XIV.[41][42] commander

In 1712, when the French opened peace talks with the English, James Francis Edward was told to leave France. He decided to take refuge in Lorraine (not yet part of France at that time). He left Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 6 September 1712 and arrived in Lorraine in February 1713 after a short stay in Châlons-sur-Marne.[43]

The Peace of Utrecht on 11 April 1713 ended the war between France on one hand and Britain, the Netherlands, and Savoy on the other hand. In the treaty France recognised the Hanoverian Succession and formally ended its support for the Jacobites.[44]

However, the war between France and Austria continued. Comte Dillon, as he was now, was transferred from the Dauphiné to the Rhine for the campaign of 1713, where he served under Villars capturing Kaiserslautern on 24 June 1713[45][46] and the Castle Wolfstein.[47] He then participated in the siege of Landau, 24 June to 26 August 1713, under Marshall Jacques Bazin de Bezons and in the siege of Freiburg, 20 September to 17 November 1713.[48] The Treaty of Rastatt on 17 March 1714 ended the war with Austria.

However, the war still raged on in Spain where Catalonia tried to preserve Catalan autonomy supporting Charles III against Philip V as Spanish King. Dillon was transferred to Spain under the command of Berwick where he returned to sit before Barcelona as he had done already in 1697. This Siege of Barcelona (1713-1714) was his last campaign.[49] The town was stormed on 11 September 1714 and capitulated on the 12.[50]

Later life

Count Dillon was later appointed commander in the Dauphiné and governor of Toulon.[51]

As a French General Dillon was not allowed not participate in the Jacobite rising of 1715. Returning from Scotland following the failure of the rising James Francis Edward found himself not welcome in Lorraine anymore and established himself at Avignon on 2 April 1716.[52] On 1 February 1717 he appointed Dillon his plenipotentiary to the French court in Paris.[53] In this role Dillon, together with Georg Heinrich von Görtz, and Carl Gyllenborg tried to convince Charles XII of Sweden to help the Jacobites to invade England. Dillon organised funds to support the project.[54]

James remained concerned that Dillon as well as other Catholic supporters were not as tolerant of Protestant Jacobites as he wanted them to be.[55] In 1718 Dillon was ordered to command a French contingent sent to Italy during the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) and was replaced as agent in Paris initially by James Murray and then by Daniel O'Brien.[56]

James Francis Edward, whom Dillon recognised as King James III, awarded him the Irish titles of Baron and Viscount on 1 February 1717 in Avignon.[57] James III neglected to specify territorial designations for theses titles, but he probably intended to appoint Arthur in place of his nephew Richard, who was in place in Ireland as the 9th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen. In 1721 James III gave him Scottish titles by creating him Earl Dillon, also Viscount and Lord.[58] In 1722 he was made a (Jacobite) Knight of the Thistle.[59]

He was also a grandfather of the French generals Arthur Dillon and Théobald Dillon. He was a cousin of Gerard Lally. He was a great-grandfather of the famous memoirist Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet, née Henriette-Lucy Dillon.

In 1730 he retired from active service, handing over the command of the regiment to Charles, his eldest son.[60]

Death, succession, and timeline

On 5 February 1733 N.S., Arthur Dillon, comte de Dillon, died at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[61][62] His eldest son Charles, already colonel, now also succeeded to his father's titles: comte de Dillon in France and Earl of Dillon in the Jacobite peerage.

Notes
  1. René must not be confused with his younger brother Philibert-Emmanuel de Froulay, chevalier de Tessé, who fought in Ireland during the Williamite war.
  1. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 67: "Arthur, b. 1670, went into French Military service ..."
  2. Murtagh 2004, p. 199, right column, line 4: "... [Henry] was born in co. Roscommon."
  3. Lodge (1789), p. 193, line 41: "... he [Theobald] resided chiefly at Kilmore ..."
  4. Murtagh 2004, p. 199, right column, line 5: "... [Henry was] the third but second surviving of six sons of Theobald ..."
  5. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 59: "THEOBALD, 7th Viscount Dillon (refer to Sir Luke Dillon, 2nd son of 1st Viscount), Lt.-Col. in the Guards of JAMES II, reformed the Dillon regiment in 2 Bns. in 1688. His Lordship was outlawed in 1690."
  6. Webb 1878a, p. 149, line 7: "... [Sir Henry Dillon] came to Ireland in 1185 as secretary to Prince John ..."
  7. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 65: "Robert d.v.p. unm."
  8. Cokayne 1916, p. 359: "HENRY (DILLON), VISCOUNT DILLON OF CASTELLO-GALLEN [I.] ... He d. in Dublin, 13, and was buried 23 Jan. 1713/4 ...
  9. La Tour du Pin 1913, pp. 14–15: "Note généalogique sur la Maison des Lords Dillon"
  10. D'Alton 1855, p. 584: "He [Theobald] raised two Regiments for King James's service; the one ... commanded by the above Colonel Henry Dillon, his eldest son ... The second Regiment was put under the command of his second son, the Honorable Arthur Dillon ..."
  11. O'Callaghan 1854, p. 8, line 28: "... the Irish reached Brest, and were landed there, early in May."
  12. Lynn 1999, p. 214, line 28: "On 17 March, a squadron ferried 6,000 French troops over to Ireland and brought back 6000 Irish recruits for French service; they arrived back in Brest on 1 May [1690]."
  13. Boulger 1911, p. 243: "Lord Galway and Lord Dillon (Theobald) were killed."
  14. Cokayne 1916, p. 359, line 24: "His widow was accidentally killed a few weeks later, 7 Sep. 1691, in Limerick, during the siege, by the explosion of a bomb."
  15. Murtagh 2004, p. 199, right column, line 32: "... the taking of Roses (1693);"
  16. Quincy 1726a, p. 350: "Voilà de quelle manière s'éxecuta & se termina le fameux siege de Barcelonne, qui dura cinquante deux jours de tranchée ouverte. Il fit d'autant plus d'honneur à M. le Duc de Vendôme que tout le monde voyait des difficultés presque insurmontables dans cette grande entreprise."
  17. Murtagh 2004, p. 200, left column, line 13: "Some time before 1701 he had married Christiana (Catherine) Sheldon (1684–1757), a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary of Modena."
  18. Debrett 1828, p. 748, line 26: "... father of CHARLES, 10th Viscount, who m. Frances, only child and h. of the 9th viscount, and d. without surviving issue, 1741;"
  19. Debrett 1828, p. 748, line 29: "HENRY, 11th Viscount, who served in the French army as col. of Dillon's regiment, which command he resigned before the act of preventing British subjects from entering into foreign service ..."
  20. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 78: "James, Kt. of Malta, Col. of the Dillon Regt. fell at its head at Fontenoy, 30 April, 1745."
  21. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 80: "Edward, b. 1720, s. his brother in the command of Dillon's Regt. and was mortally wounded at Lauffeld, 1747."
  22. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 82: "Arthur, in Holy Orders, b. at St Germains in 1721, successively Bishop of Evreux, 1753, Archbishop of Toulouse, 1758, and Archbishop of Narbonne, in 1762, Cmdr. of the Order of the Holy Ghost 1776, Primate of the Gauls, and Pres. of the States of Languedoc; d. in London 5 July 1806 ..."
  23. Lodge 1789, p. 196, line 1: "Daughter Frances, a Carmelite nun, died at Pontoise."
  24. Lodge 1789, p. 196, line 2: "Catharine, also a Carmelite nun, died at St. Denis in 1753."
  25. La Tour du Pin 1913, p. 15: "Mary Dillon, mourut à Saint-Germain-en-Laye en 1786."
  26. Lodge 1789, p. 196, line 4: "Bridget, was married to the Baron Blaisel, a Lieut.-General in the service of France."
  27. La Chesnaye des Bois 1863, p. 311, left column, line 29: "BLAISEL (DU) Seigneur de Belle-Isle, de la Neuville en Picardie ..."
  28. La Tour du Pin 1913, p. 15, extreme right: "Laura Dillon, épousa LUCIUS CARY, LORD VISCOUNT FALKLAND, pair d'Ecosse. Elle mourut en 1741, laissant une fille unique LUCY."
  29. Smyth 1839, p. xiii, line 22: "Anne / [Accession] / 8 March, 1702"
  30. O'Callaghan 1854, p. 215, line 11: "... acknowledged (as well as the enemy) that it was the obstinate courage of the Irish in defence of the Po gate that the preservation of Cremona was principally owing ..."
  31. Quincy 1726a, p. 628: "Ce fit de cette manière que le Prince Eugène manqua une entreprise si bien concertée, & qui avait eû de si favorables commencements. On en doit toute la gloire aux ... mais particulièrement au Régiment des Vaisseaux, aux deux Régimens Irlandois ..."
  32. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 288: "... et en 1702 à l'armée d'Italie, où il combattit à San-Vittoria et à Luzzara."
  33. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 288, last line: "On le créa brigadier, par brevet du 1er octobre [1702] ..."
  34. O'Callaghan 1854, p. 220"... by which he was able to reach and take the town of Riva ..."
  35. Webb 1878b, p. 170, left column, line 32: "In 1704 he was made maréchal-de-camp ..."
  36. Saint-Hilaire 1911, p. 185: "... les regiments de Dillon ... chargèrent si vivement les ennemis "
  37. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 71: "was commander of the Order of St. Louis ..."
  38. Quincy 1726b, p. 182: "M. de Dillon combattoit à la droite avec le même succez, de manière que les ennemis également poussés partout ..."
  39. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 289, line 14: "Promu au grade de lieutenant-général des armées du roi, par pouvoir du 24 du même mois [Sep], il fut employé à l'armée de la frontière du Piémont, sous le maréchal de Tessé  ..."
  40. Saint-Hilaire 1914, p. 199, line 17: "Il arriva même que le Général Rebinder, qui s'étoit avancé au pont de la Vachette, près Briançon ... y fut bien battu par Dillon ..."
  41. Burke 1949, p. 603, left column, line 70: "He was created COUNT DILLON by Louis XIV, 1711 ..."
  42. La Chesnaye des Bois 1865, p. 892, line 12: "DILLON. ARTHUR DILLON, né en 1670, Lieutenant-Général & Colonel d'un Régiment Irlandais, mourut le 5 Février 1733. Il avait épousé Christiana Sheldon, mort le 5 Août 1757 ..."
  43. Gregg 2004, p. 675: "... arrange for James to take up residence in the neighbouring duchy of Lorraine, which he did in February 1713."
  44. Miller 1971, p. 147, line 8: "On 11 April 1713 the peace was signed at Utrecht: in return for the acknowledgement of his grandson as Philip V of Spain, Louis had had to recognize the Hanoverian and Protestant succession in England."
  45. Hollensteiner 1860, p. 42: "... am 24. Juni [1713] ... unter Anführung des Generallieutenants Grafen von Dillon ... Schloss beschossen und nach kurzer Belagerung die ganze Besatzung nebst dem churpfälzischen Obersten Wolf gefangen nahmen ..."
  46. Saint-Hilaire 1916, p. 79: "Dillon s'empara de la ville et du château de Kaiserslautern ..."
  47. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 289, line 33: "Il fit ensuite enlever le château de Walfsteim ..."
  48. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 289, line 34: "Il monta plusieurs tranchées aux sièges de Landau et de Fribourg."
  49. Jullien de Courcelles 1822, p. 289, line 35: "Il servit, en 1714, au siège de Barcelonne, que le maréchal de Berwick emporta d'assault: ce fut sa dernière campagne."
  50. Lynn 1999, p. 358: "Because the Catalans had no help of hope, the only future for Barcelona was suffering, so it capitulated on 12 September [1714]."
  51. Mme de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs; Journal d'une femme de 50 ans, appendix III
  52. Gregg 2004, p. 676: "... James was forced to take up residence in the papal enclave of Avignon where he arrived on 2 April [1716]."
  53. Ruvigny 1904, p. 232: "[1717], Feb. 1. Lieutenant-General Arthur Dillon to be Plenipotentiary to the Court of Paris."
  54. Miller 1971, p. 223: "The matter was concerted between Baron Görtz, Swedish minister to the Hage, Baron Spaar, another minister, Count Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador in London, amd General Dillon ..."
  55. Miller p.232
  56. Miller p.235
  57. Ruvigny 1904, p. 40, line 5: "HON. ARTHUR DILLON, Lieutenant-General of his Majesty's armies, was on 1st February 1717 created by King James II and VIII BARON of [___] and VISCOUNT of [?DILLON] [I.], with remainder to the heirs male of his body."
  58. Ruvigny 1904, p. 40, line 8: "On 24th June 1721 he was further created, by the same King, an Earl and Peer of Parliament, as EARL OF [DILLON], VISCOUNT OF [___] and Lord of [___]."
  59. Ruvigny 1904, p. 194: "K.T.'s ... 1722. May 26. Arthur Dillon, first Earl [S] and viscount [I] (?Dillon)."
  60. O'Callaghan 1854, p. 48, line 36b: "In 1730, quitting the service, as he was then in his 60th year, resigned his regiment to his eldest son;"
  61. O'Callaghan 1854, p. 48, line 38: "... died February 5th, at the Palace of St. Germain-en-Laye, aged 63 years."
  62. Cokayne 1916, p. 360, line 12: "... Hon. Arthur Dillon, Lieut. Gen. in the French service (d. 5 Feb 1732/3) ..."
  63. Smyth 1839, p. xiii, line 21: "William and Mary / [Accession] / 13 February, 1689"
  64. Smyth 1839, p. xiii, line 23: "George I. / [Accession] / 1 August, 1714"

References
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