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2nd duke of Ormond, James Butler
(1665—1745) army officer, politician, and Jacobite conspirator
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(1665–1745).
Succeeding his grandfather in July 1688, he supported the petition to James for a free parliament, then accepted William of Orange, for whom he fought in Ireland and Flanders. A pillar of the Tory Party and Anglican church, he unsuccessfully commanded the 1702 expedition against Cadiz, and was twice a controversial lord‐lieutenant of Ireland. He replaced Marlborough in 1712, restraining his troops in the field to facilitate Tory negotiations with France. Dismissed in 1714, he was threatened with impeachment by the Whigs. Panicking, he fled to the Jacobite court. He died exiled and insignificant.
