HOWE

howe, william howe, 5th viscount (1729-1814), british general, was the younger brother of george augustus, 3rd viscount, killed in the ticonderoga expedition of 1758, and of richard, 4th viscount and afterwards earl howe, the admiral. he entered the cavalry in 1746, becoming lieutenant a year later. on the disbanding of his regiment in 1749 he was made captain-lieutenant and shortly afterwards captain in lord bury's (20th) regiment, in which wolfe was then a field officer. howe became major in 1756 and lieutenant-colonel in 1757 of the 58th (now northampton) regiment, which he commanded at the capture of louisburg. in wolfe's expedition to quebec he distinguished himself greatly at the head of a composite light battalion. he led the advanced party in the landing at wolfe's cove and took part in the battle of the plains of abraham which followed. he commanded his own regiment in the defence of quebec in 1759-1760, led a brigade in the advance on montreal and took part on his return to europe in the siege of belleisle (1761). he was adjutant-general of the force which besieged and took havana in 1762, and at the close of the war had acquired the reputation of being one of the most brilliant of the junior officers of the army. he was made colonel of the 46th foot in 1764 and lieutenant-governor of the isle of wight four years later. from 1758 to 1780 he was m.p. for nottingham. in 1772 he became major-general, and in 1774 he was entrusted with the training of light infantry companies on a new system, the training-ground being salisbury plain. shortly after this he was sent out to north america. he did not agree with the policy of the government towards the colonists, and regretted in particular that he was sent to boston, where the memory of his eldest brother was still cherished by the inhabitants, and general gage, in whom he had no confidence, commanded in chief. he was the senior officer after gage, and led the troops actively engaged in the storming of bunker hill, he himself being in the thickest of the fighting. in the same year howe was made a k.b. and a lieutenant-general, and appointed, with the local rank of general, to the chief command in the seat of war. for the events of his command see american war of independence. he retained it until may 1778--on the whole with success. the cause of his resignation was his feeling that the home government had not afforded the proper support, and after his return to england, he and his brother engaged in a heated but fruitless controversy with the ministers. howe's own defence is embodied in _narrative of sir william howe before a committee of the house of commons_ (london, 1780). in 1782 howe was made lieutenant-general of the ordnance; in 1790 he was placed in command of the forces organized for action against spain, and in 1793 he was made a full general. he held various home commands in the early part of the french revolutionary war, in particular that of the eastern district at the critical moment when the french established their forces on the dutch coast. when earl howe died in 1799, sir william succeeded to the irish viscounty. he had been made governor of berwick-on-tweed in 1795, and in 1805 he became governor of plymouth, where he died on the 12th of july 1814. with his death the irish peerage became extinct. howel dda ("the good") (d. 950), prince of deheubarth (south central wales) from before 915, and king of wales from 943 to 950, was the grandson of rhodri mawr (the great), who had united practically the whole of wales under his supremacy. as idwal voel succeeded his father anarawd, the elder son of rhodri, as lord of gwynedd in 915, so howel at some time before that date succeeded rhodri's younger son cadell as prince of deheubarth. howel married elen, daughter of the last king of dyfed, and also added kidweli and gwyr to his dominions, while on the death of idwal, who was slain by the english in 943, he took possession of gwynedd. both these princes had done homage to the english kings, edward the elder and aethelstan, in 922 and 926, and we find that howel attended the witans of the english kingdom and witnessed about ten charters between the years 931 and 949. he was secure, therefore, from attack on the eastern side of his kingdom, and it is not certain whether he was engaged in any of the battles recorded during these years in wales, either in mon 914, at dinas newydd 919 or at brun 935. to the peaceful character of his reign is probably due the high place which he holds among the welsh princes. from 943 to 950 howel dda was probably ruler of all wales except powys (apparently dependent on mercia), brecheiniog, buallt, gwent and morgannwg. with morgan hen, king of morgannwg, howel had a dispute which was eventually settled in favour of the former at the court of the english king. howel died in 950, and such unity as he had preserved at once disappeared in a war between his sons and those of idwal voel. the code of laws attributed to this prince is perhaps his chief claim to fame. he is said to have summoned four men from each cantref in his dominions to the ty gwyn (perhaps whitland in caermarthenshire) to codify existing custom. three codes, accordingly called venedotian, demetian and gwentian, are said to have been written down by bleggwryd, archdeacon of llandaff (see welsh laws). see sir john rhys and brynmor-jones, _the welsh people_ (london, 1900); and aneurin owen, _ancient laws and institutions of wales_ (london, 1841).