Clarke, Alured

CLARKE, ALURED. (1744–1832). British officer. Born on 24 November 1744, Alured Clarke became an ensign in the 50th Foot in 1759. After seeing service in Germany, he was promoted to lieutenant on 10 May 1760, and then became captain of the Fifty-second Foot on 30 December 1763. In 1767 he transferred to the Fifth Foot, stationed in Ireland. He was made major of the Fifty-fifth Foot in 1771, and then colonel in 1775. He and his regiment sailed from Ireland to America the following year. In March 1777 he took command of the Seventh Fusiliers, which had recently been sent to New York from Canada, and held this commission until he succeeded General John Burgoyne as muster master-general of the German forces. He commanded British forces in Georgia from May 1780 until their withdrawal in July 1782.

Clarke was lieutenant governor of Jamaica from 1783 until 1791, when King George III made him lieutenant-governor of the new province of Lower Canada and commander of British forces in North America. In 1795, Clarke, now a major general, commanded a reinforcement that was sent to India with orders to rendezvous with General James Craig for an attack on the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope. After the Dutch surrendered, on 14 September, he continued on to Bengal, where he was promoted to lieutenant-general and made commander in chief until his return to England in 1801. In 1830 Clarke and Sir Samuel Hulse, the two oldest generals in the army, were made field marshals. Clarke died on 16 September 1832.

SEE ALSO Craig, James Henry.

                     revised by Michael Bellesiles