George Carpenter, Former MP for Newtown, Is Wounded at Battle of Almenara, Spain

Lieutenant-General George Carpenter, 1st Baron Carpenter of Killaghy (10 February 1657 – 10 February 1731) was a British army officer who also sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1727. First commissioned in 1685, Carpenter took part in the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, before being transferred to Flanders in 1692 for service in the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years’ War.

A talented cavalry leader, he held senior positions in the Allied expeditionary force that fought in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. Wounded several times, he was captured at Brihuega in 1710, then later exchanged.

In January 1715, he was elected to Parliament as Whig MP for Whitchurch; although nominated as British envoy to Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the appointment was cancelled when the Jacobite rising of 1715 began. Given command of government forces in Northern England, he played a major role in ending the rebellion in England, and was rewarded with an appointment as Commander-in-Chief, Scotland from 1716 to 1724.

In 1719, he became Baron Carpenter in the Peerage of Ireland; as holder of an Irish peerage, he remained an MP and in December 1722 was elected for Westminster, retaining the seat until he retired in 1727. He died in February 1732, four months after his wife Alice and was succeeded by their only son, George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter.

Battle of Almenara

The Battle of Almenar also referred to as Almenara was a battle in the Iberian theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession.

In June 1710, the Bourbon-Spanish army of Phillip V crossed into Catalonia in an attempt to capture Balaguer; an Allied force of British, Portuguese, Dutch and Austrian troops supporting Archduke Charles countered these moves and the two armies met in battle just to the north of Lleida on the afternoon of 27 July. Philip’s army was defeated and forced to withdraw behind the Ebro but remained intact.

Villadarias opened the battle with a cavalry attack on the Allied defences which initially gave way.

The Spanish wasted the opening by pursuing groups of fleeing enemies and allowed the Allied lines to reform.

British infantry and dragoons on the Allied left led by Stanhope and George Carpenter attacked the Bourbon army’s right wing which fled, taking the second line with it; British casualties included the Earl of Rochford, Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Regiment who was killed as they broke the Spanish lines.

The Austrians simultaneously attacked and destroyed the Bourbon right wing, Philip himself only just avoiding capture.

The battle took place late in the afternoon, preventing the Allies from following up their victory and allowing the Bourbon forces to gather their scattered cavalry and reassemble in the town of Zaragoza or Saragossa.