John Cunningham (officer)

John Cunningham was an Anglo-Irish soldier known for his command of an aborted attempt to relieve the city of Derry during the 1689 Siege. His failure led to his dismissal and replacement by William Stewart. Some sources refer to him as Thomas Cunningham, but the vast majority called him John.

Cunningham spent his much of his youth in Derry and visited several times as an adult. It is reported that at the time of the Siege he still had a brother living in the area who may have taken part in the city's defence.

As a Captain serving in the English Army during the reign of James II, Cunningham was a supporter of the Whig opposition. By May 1688 he wanted to resign his commission as he strongly opposed the King's religious reforms and did not want to be involved in what he saw as the destruction of the Church of England. Following the Glorious Revolution which ousted James, Cunningham received rapid promotion to Colonel and took command of a regiment which had previously been under Henry Cornwall.

In 1689 the regiment was one of two (the other was commanded by Solomon Richards) sent by ship from Liverpool to relieve the besieged city of Derry, one of the few Protestant strongholds still holding out against King James' Irish Jacobite forces. Cunningham was the senior officer on board, but his orders placed him under the command of the Governor Richard Lundy as soon as he went ashore. When the expedition anchored in Lough Foyle its arrival coincided with the Battle of Cladyford in which the Irish Army under Richard Hamilton had crossed the River Finn and routed the ill-organised Protesant forces. Lundy was panicked by the defeat at Cladyford, and was now convinced that Derry could not hold out. After at first ordering Cunningham and Richards ashore, he then countermanded this order suggesting that if they were disembarked both regiments would be lost when Derry had to surrender.

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