George Wade

Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Alliance before leading the construction of barracks, bridges and proper roads in Scotland. He went on to be a military commander during the War of the Austrian Succession and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Early career Born the son of Jerome Wade in Killavally, County Westmeath, Ireland, he spent his early years in English Tangier, where his father was a member of the Tangier Garrison. Wade was commissioned into the Earl of Bath's Regiment on 26 December 1690 and served in Flanders in 1692, fighting at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 during the Nine Years' War and earning a promotion to lieutenant on 10 February 1693. He transferred to Sir Bevil Granville's Regiment on 19 April 1694 and was promoted to captain on 13 June 1695. During the War of the Spanish Succession, he first served under Marlborough, seeing action in Flanders at the Battle of Kaiserwerth in April 1702, the Battle of Venlo in September 1702, the Battle of Roermond in October 1702 and Battle of Liège also in October 1702. He was promoted to major on 20 March 1703 and to lieutenant colonel in October 1703. In 1704 he joined the staff of Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway as adjutant-general in Portugal, and distinguished himself as colonel of the Huntingdon's Regiment during the Battle of Alcántara, where he was wounded in April 1706. He repelled a large force of cavalry at Vila Nova and then commanded the 3rd infantry brigade during the Battle of Almansa in April 1707. He was promoted to brigadier general on 1 January 1708. He served as second in command to James Stanhope in Menorca in 1708, leading one of the storming parties on Fort St. Philip, before returning to Spain in 1710, where he fought at the Battle of Saragossa in August 1710. He was promoted to major-general on 3 October 1714 and became commander of the British forces in Ireland in November 1714.