Denis Pack

For those of a similar name, see Denis Pack-Beresford (disambiguation).

Major-General Sir Denis Pack, KCB (7 October 1775 – 24 July 1823) was an Anglo-Irish military officer during the Napoleonic Wars.

Sir Denis Pack KCB
Sir Denis Pack
Born	7 October 1775
Died	24 July 1823 Wimpole Street, London
Buried	St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1791–1823
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	71st Regiment of Foot 1st Portuguese Brigade, Anglo-Portuguese Army 1st (Highland) Brigade, 6th Division 6th Division Kent District, Home Staff 9th Brigade, 5th Division 4th Brigade, Army of Occupation of France Western District
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars Flanders Campaign 1795 Invasion of France Irish Rebellion of 1798 Napoleonic Wars Battle of Blaauwberg British invasions of the River Plate Battle of Roliça Battle of Vimeiro Battle of Corunna Walcheren Expedition Battle of Bussaco Blockade of Almeida Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo Battle of Salamanca Siege of Burgos Battle of Vitoria Battle of Tolosa Battle of Sorauren Battle of Nivelle Battle of the Nive Battle of Orthes Battle of Toulouse Hundred Days Battle of Quatre Bras Battle of Waterloo
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Military Order of the Tower and Sword Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Order of Saint Vladimir, Second Class Army Gold Cross with 7 clasps Waterloo Medal
Other work	Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth

Background

A descendant of Sir Christopher Packe, Pack was the son of the Very Reverend Thomas Pack, Dean of Ossory in the east of Ireland. His mother was Catherine, daughter and heiress of Denis Sullivan of Berehaven, Ireland.^[1] His tomb is in St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny, Ireland near Kilkenny Castle.

Military career

He saw service in Flanders in 1794, was on the Quiberon expedition of 1795, and in Ireland of the suppression of the 1798 rebellion.^[2]

He commanded the 71st Foot during the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806.

 

Tomb of Sir Denis Pack, Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny

His regiment was incorporated to the forces of General William Beresford when he led the first British invasion to Buenos Aires in June of that year. Their regiment contributed more than half of the invading troops, and with them Beresford occupied Buenos Aires without greater resistance.

However, in the second week of August 1806, Santiago de Liniers would begin one of the most important events of Argentine History, reconquering the city and overcoming the English. Its officers and troops were taken prisoners and interned in different localities of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata.

General Beresford, together with Colonel Pack, were housed in the Villa of Luján. Both soldiers fled later to Montevideo, aided by local independentists. Once in Montevideo, Pack joined the division of General Robert Craufurd to join the second invasion to Buenos Aires, although he had taken the oath never again to take up arms against Spain.

Pack violated his oath, taking active part in the occupation of Colonia del Sacramento, which made the attack by Colonel Francisco Javier de Elío fail.

He accompanied Craufurd in the battle of Corrales de Miserere and in the attack on the city of Buenos Aires. He occupied with the men at his command the Church of Santo Domingo, where the local resistance forced him to rest; there he found the flag of his beloved 71st Regiment but, despite his efforts, he was overcome by the tenacity of the attack by the Buenos Aires regiments. He tried to abandon his position and the city, but the Buenos Aires forces gathered around him, and he was forced to surrender once again.

The people were looking for Pack to execute him for perjury, but the Dominican friars protected him until he was delivered to General John Whitelocke, at the beginning of the English retreat.

In 1806, he was in the Peninsular War in 1808, and the Walcheren expedition in 1809.

During the Peninsular War he was present at the battles of Roliça, Vimiero, A Coruña, Bussaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthez and Toulouse. His Peninsular Gold Medal had seven clasps.^[3]

Pack was promoted to major-general in 1813 and commanded (1810–14) the Oporto Brigade of the Portuguese Army in Spain. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815 and commanded the 9th Brigade of Sir Thomas Picton's 5th Division at the Battle of Waterloo.^[2] He became Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth and General Officer Commanding Western District in 1819.^[4]

His widow Lady Elizabeth Pack married his friend and fellow officer Lt Gen Thomas Reynell.

Notes

1. Dalton 1904, p. 21.
2. Lee 1903, p. 981.
3. Bob Burnham: The British Army Against Napoleon, p259
4. "Pack, Sir Denis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21067. Retrieved 12 December 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

References

• Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.
•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1903). "Pack, Denis". Index and Epitome. Dictionary of National Biography. Cambridge University Press. p. 981.

Further reading

• Chichester, Henry Manners (1895). "Pack, Denis" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 43. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 25–26. – a far more detailed biography

Military offices
Preceded by Gore Browne	GOC Western District 1819–1823	Succeeded by Sir John Cameron
Preceded by Sir George Walker, Bt	Colonel of the 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot 1822–1823	Succeeded by Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Bt