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Howe, Richard, Earl 1725-1799

Naval officer; born in England, March 19, 1725; was educated at Westminster and Eton; and succeeded to the Irish viscounty and the family estate on the death of his brother, George Augustus Howe, killed near Ticonderoga in 1758. In 1739 he was a midshipman in Anson's fleet, and was made post-captain for gallantry in 1745. He entered Parliament in 1757, and in 1765 was made treasurer of the British navy. In October, 1770, he was promoted to

Richard Howe.

rearadmiral of the blue, and in 1776 was sent to command the British fleet on the American station, charged with a commission, jointly with his brother, William Howe, to make peace with or war upon the Americans. They failed to secure peace, and made war. After leaving the Delaware with his fleet, in 1778, he had an encounter off Rhode Island with a French fleet, under the Count d'estaing, when he disappeared from the American waters. In 1782 he was made admiral of the blue, and created an English viscount; and in September of that year he relieved Gibraltar, and received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. In 1787 he was made admiral of the white, and in August the next year was raised to an earldom. Because of a complete victory over the French, which he obtained in 1794, he was rewarded with a gold medal, the Order of the Garter, and the commission of admiral of the fleet, which he resigned in 1797.. His last service in the royal navy was persuading mutineers at Spithead to return to duty. He died in England, Aug. 5, 1799. In St. Paul's Cathedral a fine monument was erected to the memory of Admiral Howe.

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