Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Nugent, John
NUGENT, JOHN, fifth Earl of Westmeath (1672–1754), born in 1672, was third son of Christopher Nugent, lord Delvin, grandson of Richard, second earl of Westmeath [q. v.], and younger brother of Thomas, fourth earl [q. v.] He was present as cadet in the horseguards of James II at the battle of the Boyne and at Limerick. In 1691 he withdrew, with the bulk of the Irish swordsmen, to France, and served as lieutenant to the ‘mestre-de-camp’ of the king's regiment of Irish horse on the coast and in Flanders till the peace of Ryswick in 1697. He was attached as reformed captain to Sheldon's regiment in February 1698, was present at the battle of Chiari in 1701, at the defence of Cremona and the battle of Luzzara in 1702. He served with the army of Flanders in 1704, and, having on 5 April 1705 obtained his captain's commission, fought under the French standard at Ramillies in 1706, at Oudenarde in 1708, and at Malplaquet in 1709. In 1712 he was present at the battle of Denain, and at the sieges of Douay and Quesnoy. He served with the army of Germany in 1713 and with that of the Lower Meuse in 1714, was promoted major of his regiment by brevet of 3 Jan. 1720, and on 15 Feb. 1721 was appointed ‘mestre-de-camp de cavalerie.’ He served at the siege of Kehl in 1733, at the attack of the lines of Etlingen and the siege of Philippsburg in 1734, and at the affair of Klausen in 1735. He became lieutenant-colonel of his regiment on 23 May 1736, and obtained rank as brigadier on 1 Jan. 1740. He served in Westphalia under Maréchal de Maillebois in 1741, and on the frontiers of Bohemia in 1742, and in Lower Alsace under Maréchal de Noailles in 1743. He was breveted maréchal-de-camp or major-general on 2 May 1744. He quitted the service in June 1748, and succeeded his brother Thomas as fifth Earl of Westmeath in 1752, but died in retirement at Nivelles in Brabant on 3 July 1754. He married Margaret, daughter of Count Molza of the duchy of Modena in Italy, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, sixth Earl of Westmeath, who conformed to the established religion, being the first protestant peer of his house.
[Pinard's Chronologie Historique-Militaire, vii. 208; O'Callaghan's Irish Brigades, Glasgow, 1870, p. 500; Lodge's Peerage, ed. Archdall, i. 248.]