{{Short description|Irish rebel (1778–1820)}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} '''William Aylmer''' (1778–1820) was an Irish military officer and member of [[United Irishmen]] who participated in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]]. On 19 June 1798, Aylmer fought in the [[Battle of Ovidstown]] against British Crown forces, which resulted in a defeat for the United Irishmen. Aylmer retreated into the inaccessible [[Bog of Allen]] and established a defensive camp, which he maintained for over a month. Eventually, he surrendered to the British in return for a safe conduct abroad; effectively a form of exile.<ref> {{cite news |url=http://www.kildare.ie/employment/fas/cytpprofiles/leader/1798/18sept1948-1.htm |title=OVIDSTOWN COMMEMORATION – Tribute to 1798 Patriots |publisher=Leinster Leader |date=September 18, 1948 |accessdate=2009-05-09}} </ref><ref> {{cite book |title=Fugitive Warfare: 1798 in North Kildare |author=Seamus Cullen, Hermann Geissel |publisher=Lord Edward Fitzgerald 1798 Committee, with CRS Publications |year=1998 |ISBN=0-9533534-0-0}} </ref> Released from prison in 1802, he went into exile to [[Archduchy of Austria|Austria]], where he served as an officer and noted swordsman in the [[Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars|Imperial Austrian Army]], from which he was at one point detached to tutor the [[British Army]]'s [[dragoon]]s in the art of swordsmanship.<ref> {{cite book |title=Sequel to Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798 |author=Charles Hamilton Teeling |publisher=John Hodgson |year=1832}} </ref><ref> {{cite book |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |page=541 |publisher=W. Pickering |year=1846}} </ref>
After almost twenty years in Austria, he returned to [[Ireland]], and in 1819 sailed from [[Dublin]] to [[Captaincy General of Venezuela|Venezuela]] with 200 officers and enlisted men to assist [[Simón Bolívar]]'s independence struggle as commander of the 10th Lancers and second in command of the Irish Legion under Lieutenant-Colonel [[Francisco Burdett O'Connor]]. He arrived in September 1819 on the island of [[Margarita Island|Margarita]] off the coast of Venezuela, where lack of preparations caused severe hardships. Many of the volunteers died or returned to Ireland.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_oconnorfb.htm |title=Dictionary of Irish Latin American Biography: O'Connor, Francisco Burdett |author=Edmundo Murray |publisher=Society for Irish Latin American Studies |accessdate=2009-05-09}} </ref><ref> {{cite book |title=Freedom's Mercenaries: British Volunteers in the Wars of Independence of Latin America |author=Moises Enrique Rodriguez |publisher=Hamilton Books |year=2006 |page=164ff |ISBN=0-7618-3437-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomsmercenar0000rodr |url-access=registration }} </ref> He was wounded at the Battle of [[Riohacha|Rio Hacha]] on 25 May 1820 and died in [[Colony of Jamaica|Jamaica]] on 20 June 1820.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.irlandeses.org/mcginnperu3.htm |title=St. Patrick's Day in Peru, 1824 |author=Brian McGinn |publisher=Society for Irish Latin American Studies |accessdate=2009-05-09}} </ref>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylmer, William}} [[Category:1778 births]] [[Category:1820 deaths]] [[Category:People of the Spanish American wars of independence]] [[Category:Protestant Irish nationalists]] [[Category:United Irishmen]]