# William Aylmer

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Irish rebel (1778–1820)

**William Aylmer** (1778–1820) was an Irish military officer and member of [United Irishmen](/source/United_Irishmen) who participated in the [Irish Rebellion of 1798](/source/Irish_Rebellion_of_1798). On 19 June 1798, Aylmer fought in the [Battle of Ovidstown](/source/Battle_of_Ovidstown) against British Crown forces, which resulted in a defeat for the United Irishmen. Aylmer retreated into the inaccessible [Bog of Allen](/source/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.[1][2] Released from prison in 1802, he went into exile to [Austria](/source/Archduchy_of_Austria), where he served as an officer and noted swordsman in the [Imperial Austrian Army](/source/Imperial_and_Royal_Army_during_the_Napoleonic_Wars), from which he was at one point detached to tutor the [British Army](/source/British_Army)'s [dragoons](/source/Dragoon) in the art of swordsmanship.[3][4]

After almost twenty years in Austria, he returned to [Ireland](/source/Ireland), and in 1819 sailed from [Dublin](/source/Dublin) to [Venezuela](/source/Captaincy_General_of_Venezuela) with 200 officers and enlisted men to assist [Simón Bolívar](/source/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar)'s independence struggle as commander of the 10th Lancers and second in command of the Irish Legion under Lieutenant-Colonel [Francisco Burdett O'Connor](/source/Francisco_Burdett_O'Connor). He arrived in September 1819 on the island of [Margarita](/source/Margarita_Island) off the coast of Venezuela, where lack of preparations caused severe hardships. Many of the volunteers died or returned to Ireland.[5][6] He was wounded at the Battle of [Rio Hacha](/source/Riohacha) on 25 May 1820 and died in [Jamaica](/source/Colony_of_Jamaica) on 20 June 1820.[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["OVIDSTOWN COMMEMORATION – Tribute to 1798 Patriots"](http://www.kildare.ie/employment/fas/cytpprofiles/leader/1798/18sept1948-1.htm). Leinster Leader. 18 September 1948. Retrieved 9 May 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Seamus Cullen, Hermann Geissel (1998). *Fugitive Warfare: 1798 in North Kildare*. Lord Edward Fitzgerald 1798 Committee, with CRS Publications. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9533534-0-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9533534-0-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Charles Hamilton Teeling (1832). *Sequel to Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798*. John Hodgson.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *The Gentleman's Magazine*. W. Pickering. 1846. p. 541.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Edmundo Murray. ["Dictionary of Irish Latin American Biography: O'Connor, Francisco Burdett"](http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_oconnorfb.htm). Society for Irish Latin American Studies. Retrieved 9 May 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Moises Enrique Rodriguez (2006). [*Freedom's Mercenaries: British Volunteers in the Wars of Independence of Latin America*](https://archive.org/details/freedomsmercenar0000rodr). Hamilton Books. p. 164ff. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7618-3437-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7618-3437-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Brian McGinn. ["St. Patrick's Day in Peru, 1824"](http://www.irlandeses.org/mcginnperu3.htm). Society for Irish Latin American Studies. Retrieved 9 May 2009.

Authority control databases: People Ireland

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