John Cope (British Army officer)

Sir John Cope KB
John Cope, ca. 1730
Born	1690
Died	1760
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Cope's (39th) Regiment of Foot Commander-in-Chief, Scotland
Battles/wars	War of the Spanish Succession War of the Austrian Succession Battle of Dettingen Jacobite rising of 1745 Battle of Prestonpans
Awards	Order of the Bath (Knight Companion)
Other work	Member of Parliament

War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Austrian Succession

Jacobite rising of 1745

Sir John Cope KB (1690–1760) was a British general and member of parliament. Although a successful officer in the Wars of the Spanish and Austrian Succession, he is best known for his defeat at the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745.

Cope was the oldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Cope of Icomb, Gloucestershire. His grandfather disapproved of his father's marriage and entailed the family estate so that John could not inherit it when his father died. John was educated at Westminster School around 1700, and appointed page to Lord Raby, then ambassador at Berlin, in 1706. Raby commissioned Cope a cornet in his regiment, the Royal Regiment of Dragoons in 1707, then fighting in Spain. Cope was committed to the care of General Stanhope, who appointed him an aide-de-camp in 1708. These connections secured Cope's rapid advance. He purchased a captaincy in Wade's Regiment of Foot in 1709, which he shortly thereafter exchanged for one in Lord Peterborough's Regiment of Dragoons. On 7 October 1710, he became captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd Foot Guards. On 1 April 1712, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of Macartney's Regiment of Foot, but immediately exchanged to the same position, on 2 April, in Wynne's Regiment of Foot. He was breveted a full colonel in 1713, with effect from 17 November 1711, and went on half-pay in 1713 at the close of the War of the Spanish Succession. Cope's rise during the war had been rapid, and he had also married Jane, the daughter of the wealthy Anthony Duncombe. With the later he had one son, James Cope (c.1709–1756)