William Angnstns Cumberland, duke of, third son of George II. of England, born April 15, 1721, died at Windsor, Oct. 31,1765. He was wounded at the battle of Dettingen in 1743 and in 1745 he received the command of the allied army, and fought the battle of Fontenoy against Marshal Saxe, in which the French were victorious. He was next sent against the pretender in Scotland, whom he overthrew at the battle of Culloden; but the glory of this victory was stained by the cruelties and excesses of the victors. He was afterward appointed by the king commander-in-chief of the British army, and sent to the Netherlands; was defeated at Lafeldt by Marshal Saxe in 1747, and gained no advantages in this war, which was terminated by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. At the commencement of the seven years' war the duke of Cumberland was despatched to Germany, when the victory of Marshal d'Estrees at Hastenbeck forced him to the convention of Closter Seven (1757), by which the English army, 40,000 strong, was disarmed and disbanded, and Hanover was placed at the mercy of the French, who ravaged it at their will.

On his return to England the king was so dissatisfied that the duke threw up his appointments, and was never again invited to take office. - For the duke of Cumberland, afterward king of Hanover, see Eenest Augustus.