Lord Edward FitzGerald
| Lord Edward FitzGerald | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 15 October 1763 Carton House, County Kildare, Ireland |
| Died | 4 June 1798 (aged 34) Newgate Prison, Dublin |
| Allegiance |
 Great Britain United Irishmen
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1779–1798 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Eutaw Springs |
Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary who died of wounds received while resisting arrest on a charge of treason.
FitzGerald, the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Lady Emily Lennox the daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, was born at Carton House, near Dublin. In 1773 his father died and his mother soon afterwards married William Ogilvie, who superintended FitzGerald's education. He spent most of his childhood in Frescati House at Blackrock in Dublin where he was tutored by Ogilvie in a manner chiefly directed to the acquisition of knowledge that would fit him for a military career.
FitzGerald joined the British Army in 1779 and he was Aide-de-camp on the staff of Lord Rawdon in the southern theatre of the American Revolutionary War. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on 8 September 1781, his life being saved by an escaped slave named Tony Small (nicknamed "Faithful Tony"). FitzGerald commissioned a portrait of Tony Small by John Roberts in 1786. Lord Edward freed Small and employed him to the end of his life. FitzGerald was evacuated from Charleston, South Carolina in 1782 when the British forces abandoned the city. Webb surmises that the success of the American colonists in fighting against regular troops, led him in after years to the conviction that his countrymen in Ireland could cope with them with a similar result.
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