[6] This makes Huske's early movements hard to trace, but in March 1709 he joined the 5th Dragoon Guards in Flanders as a cornet, and fought at Malplaquet in September.

A Guards commission gave the holder higher precedence in determining promotions, and since they were rarely disbanded, Marlborough used them to reward competent officers like Huske with no money.

Huske took part in a number of anti-Jacobite intelligence operations; during the 1719 Rising, he worked with diplomat Charles Whitworth to transfer five Dutch battalions to Britain, although the revolt collapsed before this became necessary.

Huske was appointed lieutenant governor of Hurst Castle in July 1721; Cadogan's death in 1726, and the slow pace of promotion in peace time meant by 1739, he was still a major.

[15] When the War of the Austrian Succession began in December 1740, he became colonel of the 32nd Foot; transferred to Flanders, he was badly wounded commanding a brigade at Dettingen in June 1743.

Now chiefly remembered as the last time a British monarch led troops in battle, Huske was promoted major general in July, appointed colonel of the 23rd Foot, and made Governor of Sheerness in 1745.

[16] The Jacobite rising of 1745 began in August; in September, Huske landed in Newcastle with 6,000 German and Dutch troops, captured at Tournai in June and released on condition they did not fight against the French.

[17] After a long and distinguished career, George Wade, commander in the North, was no longer fit for service, the Dutch and Germans refused to march without being paid in advance and one observer wrote, 'I never saw so ill a conducted Machine as Our Army.

This contributed to his defeat at Falkirk Muir on 17 January, a battle that started late in the afternoon in failing light and heavy snow and was marked by confusion on both sides.

[20] The government dragoons charged the Jacobite right but were repulsed in disorder, scattering their own infantry who also fled; the regiments under Huske held their ground, allowing the bulk of the army to withdraw in good order.

The front rank gave ground, but Huske brought his troops onto their flank, exposing the Highlanders to volleys of fire at close range from three sides.

'[24] Huske was promoted lieutenant general for his service during the Rising, and returned to Flanders, where his regiment suffered heavy casualties in the Allied defeat at Lauffeld in July 1747.

[27] A 1757 investigation noted the poor state of the island's defences, with crumbling walls and rotten gun platforms; over 35 senior officers were absent from their posts, including the colonels of all four regiments in its garrison, one being Huske.