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lace names often seem obscure or even random, but most of the time, when the name was selected, the people choosing took their tasks very seriously. Even so, some of our townships were named for people who have since been forgotten. Although Beresford has not remained in our consciousness, his role in the Peninsular War on the Iberian Peninsula between 1808 and 1814 was crucial in the eventual defeat of Napoleon.

Major General William Carr of Beresford was 84 years old when Beresford Township, encompassing most of what is now Ste. Agathe des Monts, was named in his honour. He would die two years later, in 1854, and while he never came to the Canadas, let alone the Laurentians, he did serve in the British Army in Nova Scotia in the late 1780's where he lost an eye. He also enjoyed the company of Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry during his command some years later.

William Carr was the illegitimate son of Lord George De La Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, in Ireland, and of an unrecorded woman. Lord George fathered two children by different women prior to marrying and fathering seven legitimate children. All we can guess about William's mother is that her family name was probably Carr. William joined the British Army at 17 years of age. According to Graeme Decarie, a Montreal historian, it was customary for less advantaged members of titled families to be given a commission in the army, and from there, they were basically on their own. These commissions were not merit based, but were purchased by those who could afford them, and it is possible that it was the Marquess who paid for William Carr's commission. The evidence in favour of this conclusion is that William Carr's elder half-brother, born in the same circumstances, also obtained a title in his lifetime after having proven himself in the navy.

Beresford first showed his capabilities in a battle in Toulon in 1793 and was rewarded with command of the 88th Regiment, Connaught Rangers. After seeing action in India and Egypt, and participating in the taking of Cape Town, South Africa, he was sent to South America in 1806. At the time, Spain was under the French influence of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Beresford was to create obstructions, testing the resolve of the enemy. He easily captured Buenos Aires, but could not hold it because there were no reinforcements. Soon his position was challenged under the command of an immigrant to the colony, the Chevalier de Tiniers, and Beresford was forced to surrender. He spent six months in prison before successfully escaping and returning to England.

Towards the end of 1807, Beresford was sent to occupy Madeira for the Portuguese king. At that time, Britain was allied with Portugal against the French and Spanish. During his time in Madeira, Beresford steeped himself in both the language and culture of Portugal.

In the meantime, Napoleon managed to insinuate 100,000 troops into Spain for the declared purpose of attacking Portugal, but once they were in, he turned on the Spanish monarch and installed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. The Spanish began a resistance, which soon turned into a civil war. As with the more recent Spanish Civil War, where the Germans supported Franco over a century later, Napoleon could have easily crushed the resistance, except that in that earlier occasion the British and Portuguese joined the Spanish loyalists.

Beresford was moved from Madeira and assigned to Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Viscount Wellington, and to Sir John Moore. In an early battle, Wellesley outflanked a French contingent in Portugal, isolating 20,900 French troops and their equipment. Burrard and Dalrymple, his senior officers, made the controversial decision to try to appease the French and accepted to allow the French contingent free passage back to French Spain. The decision, known as the Convention of Sintra, so upset the British command in England that Burrard, Dalrymple and Wellesley were recalled for an inquest. This left Sir John Moore in charge of thirty thousand British troops at the same time as Napoleon himself was advancing through Spain at the head of a well-seasoned army of 200,000. Moore attacked the northern flank of Napoleon's advance to try to divert Napoleon from the south of Spain, but he was ultimately forced to retreat to the coast where his troops escaped by sea. Moore was killed in the retreat.

Soon, Wellesley was back, his senior officers having been quietly retired. During this time, Beresford showed his true gifts, training troops and building morale. He was given the task of reorganizing the Portuguese army and had turned them into a serious fighting force that could stand with the best troops in the field. Beresford saw action at several battles including one that he lead at Campos Maior, the sad town where lightning had struck a dynamite depot in a castle in 1733 killing 1500 people. Beresford attacked the French, pushing them out and earning the title of Marquis de Campo Maior from the King of Portugal. His reputation survives to this day in that region.

Over the next five years, the British, with only 40,000 men, managed to keep Napoleon's troops bogged down on the Iberian Peninsula, carefully working with the Spanish and Portuguese armies. Between these allies in the west and the Russian-Prussian alliance in the east, Napoleon was driven back to France and eventually forced to abdicate.

Wellesley, Beresford and the Peninsular War should have stood as a lesson to future British and allied governments who refused to rise to a very similar challenge at the time of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's. Had that generation stood up to Hitler in Spain, they may never have had to pay so dearly as they did for a foothold on the Continent in the Second World War.

Despite his vital contributions to an important period of European history, Beresford is best remembered today for work that he began during his retirement. On his property called Bedgebury in Goudhurst, Kent, England, he began a conservatory of pine tree species that has grown into the largest coniferous preserve in the world. Considering that it was the pine forest that first supported people in Beresford Township in the Laurentians, it is a fitting memory to the man for whom the Township was named.

References:
http://www.bedgeburypinetum.org.uk;
Toponymie Quebec; Encyclopedia Britannica;
The Peninsular War, 1808 to 1814 Andrew
Jackson; Wikipedia Encyclopedia, and others

Joseph Graham has written a book that features a select number of stories of Laurentian places and how they got their names. To learn more, click here.

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This material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the author. © Joseph Graham