ers met with a committee appointed by the Continental
Congress, but they were unable to reach a resolution. In
1777, when his brother’s forces attacked Philadelphia,
Lord Howe backed him with naval support, but when
London rebuffed his moves to bring peace, he handed in
his resignation. However, before he could sail back to En-
gland, France declared war on England and sent a fleet
to North America to support the colonists. Howe moved
his small fleet off the coast of Long Island, New York,
and was able to prevent the French fleet under the comte
d’Estaing, from taking Newport, Rhode Island. When
Admiral John Byron arrived to succeed him, Howe left
the area and returned to England.
In 1782, when the Tory ministry of Lord North fell
to the Whig Marquess of Rockingham, who was suc-
ceeded that same year by the earl of Shelburne, Howe
was selected by the new administration to command
British forces in the English Channel and sent to relieve
Gibraltar, then under siege by the French and Spanish.
Although heavily outnumbered, Howe repulsed his en-
emies brilliantly and raised the siege. In 1783, he was
named as First Lord of the Admiralty, first from Janu-
ary to April and then from December 1783 until 1788,
under Prime Minister William Pitt. In 1788, he was cre-
ated Baron and Earl Howe.
The French Revolution (1789) brought another
war between England and France, and in 1790 Howe
was again named commander of the fleet in the English
Channel. During this conflict, he is noted for his victory
at Ushant, also known as the “Glorious First of June” (1
June 1794). Howe, with 25 ships, faced a fleet of 26 ships
under the French admiral Louis Villaret de Joyeuse. His-
torian George Bruce writes: “After four hours’ fighting
the French were defeated, with a loss of six ships captured
and one, the Vengeur, sunk. The sinking of this ship was
elaborated by the French into a fable, to the effect that
she refused to surrender and went down with all hands
and colors flying. She had, however, undoubtedly struck
her colors, and her captain and over 200 of her crew were
rescued by the board of the British fleet. The French
admitted a loss of 3,000 men, besides prisoners, while
the British lost 922 killed and wounded.” In a letter to
Howe’s sister on the victory at Ushant, King George III
of England wrote, “Mrs. Howe’s zeal for the great Cause
in which this country is engaged, added to her becom-
ing ardor for the Glory of her Family, must make her
feel with redoubled joy the glorious news brought by Sir
Roger Curtis. She will, I hope, be satisfied now that Earl
Richard has with 25 Sail of the Line attacked 26 of the
Enemy, taken six and sunk two; besides, it is not improb-
able that some of the disabled Ships of the Enemy may
not be able to reach their own Shore. I could not refrain
from expressing my Sentiments on the Occasion but will
not detain Mrs. Howe by adding more.”
Howe was made Admiral of the Fleet in 1796 and
Knight of the Garter in 1797. His last service was in
1797, when, with the outbreak of a mutiny by British
sailors at Spithead, he was called in to negotiate for the
government, as he was trusted by the sailors involved.
Earl Howe, whose lack of mirth and gaiety had earned
him the nickname of “Black Dick,” died in London on
5 August 1799 at the age of 73.References: Knight, Roger, “Richard, Earl Howe,
1726–1799,” in Precursors of Nelson: British Admirals
of the Eighteenth Century, edited by Peter Le Fevre and
Richard Harding (London: Chatham Publishing, 2000),
279–300; Bruce, Anthony, and William Cogar, “Howe,
Richard, First Earl,” in An Encyclopedia of Naval History
(New York: Checkmark Books, 1999), 183; Gruber, I.
D., The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution (New
York: Atheneum, 1972); Bruce, George, “Ushant,” in Col-
lins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1995), 256; George III of England to Mrs.
Howe, 11 June 1794, letter in the private collection of
the author.Hunyadi, János (John Hunyadi, John Huniades,
Törökverö) (1387–1456) Hungarian military leader
János Hunyadi was born about 1387 in Hunyad, Tran-
sylvania (now Hunedoara, Romania), the son of Serba
Volk, a farmer. Much of the information on Hunyadi
comes from Transylvanian and Romanian stories. He
took his name from the estate where he was born, and
he became a soldier at an early age. He served Stephan
Lazarevic, the prince of northern Serbia, and married
the daughter of a nobleman. He then served King Sigis-
mund of Luxembourg, who was Holy Roman Emperor
as well as the king of Bohemia and Hungary. When Si-
gismund led his armies in several wars, including those
in Bohemia (1420) and against the Turks, Hunyadi was
at his side. In 1437, Hunyadi led troops into battle at
Smederovo against the Turks.
Constant invasion by the Islamic Turks threatened
southern Europe, and in 1439 the Turks invaded and0 hunyADi, JánoS