– 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach.

At the head of the largest deployment of British troops on the continent since the days of Marlborough and opposed to the experienced French Marshal Maurice de Saxe, Cumberland's campaigning could not prevent the fall of the Dutch Barrier Forts.

[5] Following the Convention of Klosterzeven in 1757, he never again held active military command and switched his attentions to politics and horse racing.

[12] He was intended, by the King and Queen, for the office of Lord High Admiral, and, in 1740, he sailed, as a volunteer, in the fleet under the command of Sir John Norris, but he quickly became dissatisfied with the Navy,[13] and, instead secured the post of colonel of the First Regiment of Foot Guards on 20 February 1741.

[3] George II and the "martial boy" shared in the glory of the Battle of Dettingen (27 June 1743),[15] where Cumberland was wounded in his right leg by a musket ball.

[13] He initially planned to take the offensive against the French, in a move he hoped would lead to the capture of Paris, but was persuaded by his advisors that this was impossible given the vast numerical superiority of the enemy.

Cumberland ignored the threat of the woods when drawing up his battle plans, and instead concentrated on seizing the village of Fontenoy and attacking the main French army nearby.

[23] Cumberland joined the Midland army under Ligonier, and began pursuit of the enemy, as the Stuarts retreated northwards from Derby.

[24][3] On reaching Penrith, the advanced portion of his army was repulsed on Clifton Moor in December 1745, and Cumberland became aware that an attempt to overtake the retreating Highlanders would be hopeless.

[3] The defeat of his replacement as commander, Henry Hawley, caused great panic in England in January 1746,[24] when, under a hail of pistol fire, "eighty dragoons fell dead upon the spot" at Falkirk Muir.

[31][29] Following Culloden, Cumberland was nicknamed "Sweet William" by his Whig supporters and "The Butcher" by his Tory opponents[32] the latter being a taunt first recorded in the City of London[33] and used for political purposes in England.

Cumberland's own brother, the Prince of Wales (who had been refused permission to take a military role on his father's behalf), seems to have encouraged the virulent attacks upon the Duke.

[3] A thanksgiving service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, that included the first performance of Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, composed especially for Cumberland, which contains the anthem "See the Conquering Hero Comes".

[34] The Duke took no part in the Flanders campaign of 1746, during which the French made huge advances capturing Brussels and defeating the Allies at Rocoux.

He again opposed the still-victorious Marshal Saxe and received a heavy defeat at the Battle of Lauffeld, or Val, near Maastricht, on 2 July 1747.

[35] This and the fall of Bergen-op-Zoom compelled the two sides to the negotiating table and in 1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was concluded and Cumberland returned home.

[24] As a compromise, the regency was vested in the Dowager Princess of Wales, who considered him an enemy, but her powers were curtailed and she was to be advised by a committee of twelve men, headed by Cumberland.

[38] In 1754, the simmering colonial rivalry between Britain and France over competing territorial claims in North America developed into war.

The government ministry led by Newcastle initially proposed a limited military response, in which a Highland regiment supported by colonial forces would drive the French from the Ohio Valley.

[40] In 1757, the war having spread to Continental Europe, Cumberland was placed at the head of the Hanoverian Army of Observation, intended to defend Hanover (of which George II was Elector) from a French invasion.

[48] On Cumberland's return to London, he was treated badly by his father, despite the fact that he had previously been given permission to negotiate such an agreement.

[3] Cabinet meetings were held either at Cumberland Lodge, his home in Windsor, or at Upper Grosvenor Street, his house in London.

[67][68] An equestrian statue of the Duke was erected in London's Cavendish Square in 1770, but was removed in 1868 since by that time the 'butcher of Culloden' was generally reviled.