Thomas Gage (1719 – April 2, 1787) was a
British general and commander in chief of the North American forces from 1763 to 1775
during the early days of the American Revolution.
Biography
Early life
General Gage, a British General, was born in Firle, Sussex, the
second son of the first Viscount Gage. In 1728, Gage began attending the
prestigious Westminster School where he met such figures as John Burgoyne, Richard Howe, Francis Bernard, and George Sackville.
Upon graduation, Gage joined the British Army, first as an ensign before purchasing the rank of lieutenant in the 1st Northampton
Regiment on January 30 1741. In 1742, he transferred to
Battereau's Foot Regiment and became a captain-lieutenant.
Gage received promotion to captain in 1743 and served as aide-de-camp to the Earl of Albemarle in the Battle of Fontenoy and in the campaign of Culloden. From
1747 to 1748, Gage saw action in the Low Countries, purchasing the rank of
Major in 1748. He transferred to the 55th Foot Regiment (later re-numbered the 44th) and was
promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1751.
French and Indian War
In 1754 Gage, A British General, was sent to America as part of General Braddock's
expeditionary force. Future military foe George
Washington served with Gage in the same expedition. In July 1755, the 44th Regiment's commander, Colonel Sir Peter
Halkett, was shot and killed during the Battle of the Monongahela. Gage took command
of the regiment and was slightly wounded during the fighting. The regiment was decimated, and Captain Robert Orme (General
Braddock's aide-de-camp at the time) levelled charges that poor field tactics on the part of Gage had led to the defeat. Orme
resigned his army commission the next year, but his accusations led to Gage being denied permanent command of the 44th
Regiment.
Gage spent 1756 as second-in-command of a failed expedition of the Mohawk River. The
following year, he was assigned to Captain-General John Campbell
Loudoun in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Gage
commanded the 80th Regiment and finally received promotion to full colonel. Gage was wounded
again during a failed attempt to capture Fort Ticonderoga. Despite this loss, Gage was
promoted to brigadier general (largely through the political manoeuvring of his
brother, Lord Gage). While recruiting locals for his new regiment, Gage
met and later married Margaret Kemble of Brunswick, New Jersey--the daughter of a friend
from Westminster School who now served on the New Jersey council. The two were wed in December 1758. Their first son, the future
3rd Viscount Gage, was born in 1761. Margaret Kemble was the granddaughter
of New York Mayor Stephanus Van Cortlandt.
The new general was placed in command of the Albany post, serving under
Major General Jeffrey Amherst.
In 1759, Amherst ordered Gage to march against the French and seize Fort la Présentation (sometimes known as Fort La Galette) and
then capture Montreal. Gage disagreed with Amherst, suggesting instead that his own forces be
used to reinforce Niagara and Oswego while Amherst,
himself, lead forces against Montreal. Gage wound up earning the displeasure of his commanding officer and being placed in charge
of Fort Albany until Amherst himself was ready to attack Montreal in 1760 (at which time Gage led Amherst's rear guard).
Governorship
After the French surrendered, Gage, A British General, was named military governor of Montreal. In 1761, he was promoted to
major general and placed in command of the 22nd Regiment. When Amherst returned to England in August 1763, Gage assumed command
of the British forces in America. Though the British were now at peace with France, Gage's new command inherited a Native
American uprising already in progress on the western frontier.
In May 1763 Ottawa leader Chief Pontiac's
forces attacked Fort Detroit, in the first action of what would come to be known as Pontiac's War.
Hoping to end the conflict diplomatically, Gage ordered Colonel John Bradstreet and
Colonel Henry Bouquet out on military expeditions and then ordered Sir William Johnson to establish peace negotiations. Colonel Bouquet negotiated a
cease-fire of sorts in October 1764. Even then, Gage was left with just two remaining forts from the original nine the tribes had
taken. In 1765, Gage finally got the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment through to retake
Fort Cavendish.
Gage established a new three-district command across the western, southern, and northern areas of the frontier. That same
summer, Gage ordered Johnson's office to send a representative through to Pontiac. The conflict would not be fully resolved until
Pontiac himself travelled to Fort Ontario and signed a formal treaty with Johnson in July
1766.
Gage's administration now saw a time of rising political tension throughout the American colonies.
Gage began withdrawing troops from the frontier to fortify urban centres like New York City and Boston. As the number of
soldiers stationed in cities grew, the need to provide adequate food and housing for these troops became urgent. Parliament passed the Quartering Act of 1765,
permitting British troops to be quartered in private residences. Gage personally traveled to Boston and spent six weeks there
making quartering arrangements for the new soldiers in 1768. The military occupation of Boston eventually led to the
Boston Massacre of 1770. That same year, Gage was promoted to lieutenant general. Late that year he wrote "America is a mere bully, from one end to the other, and
the Bostonians by far the greatest bullies." [1]
Gage and his family returned to England in June 1773 and missed the Boston Tea Party
in December of that year. The resulting controversy saw British forces shut down Boston Harbor until the colonists had made
reparations in full for every leaf of tea lost.
Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson was
62 years old at the time and the lieutenant governor (Andrew Oliver), a hated
Tory, was 67. Still in his early 50's and with plenty of military experience in America, Gage was
deemed the best man to handle the brewing crisis. In May of 1774, he was appointed martial
law Royal governor, or commander-in-chief, of Massachusetts, replacing the civilian governor. In that capacity, he was
entrusted with carrying into effect the Boston Port Act. General Gage strictly enforced
the confiscation of war-making materials.
In September 1774, he carried out a mission to seize the gunpowder of Somerville,
Massachusetts. Gage successfully accomplished this mission but was not successful in other raids. This was in large part
due to Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty. The
Sons of Liberty kept careful watch over Gage's activities after this point and successfully warned future insurgents before Gage
could mobilise his lobsterbacks against them.
Gage found himself criticised by his own men for allowing groups like the Sons of Liberty to exist. One of his officers,
Hugh Percy remarked, "The general's great lenity and moderation
serve only to make them (the Americans) more daring and insolent." Gage himself wrote, "If force is to be used at length, it must
be a considerable one, and foreign troops must be hired, for to begin with small numbers will encourage resistance, and not
terrify; and will in the end cost more blood and treasure." Edmund Burke described Gage's
conflicted relationship by saying in Parliament, "An Englishman is the
unfittest person on Earth to argue another Englishman into slavery.
American Revolution
As Concord]]. On the night of April 18 1775, Gage ordered 700
British regulars from elite flank and grenadier companies to march from Boston to Lexington and Concord.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord resulted in 273 total casualties
for the British and 95 for the American rebels. The British drove most of the Minutemen from
their towns, but were ambushed by a gathering force of irregulars during their return march to Boston. Both Adams and Hancock
escaped, and, following the battle, Gage issued a proclamation granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to
the crown--with the notable exceptions of Hancock and Adams.
Gage began to suspect his wife, Margaret, a native colonist, may have had sympathies with the rebels. Believing she had
betrayed his trust to Patriot leader Joseph Warren, Gage ordered Margaret shipped back to
Britain.
Following Lexington, the American rebels followed the British back to Boston,
and occupied the neck of land extending to the peninsula the city stood on. This began the Siege of Boston. Initially, the 6,000 to 8,000 rebels (led mainly by General Artemas Ward) faced some 4,000 of General Gage’s British regulars, bottled up in the city. British Admiral
Samuel Graves commanded the fleet that continued to control the harbour. On
May 25, Gage received about 4,500 reinforcements and three new Generals - Major General
William Howe and Brigadiers John
Burgoyne and Henry Clinton. Gage started work with his new generals on
a plan to break the grip of the besieging forces. They would use an amphibious assault to remove the Americans from the
Dorchester Heights or take their headquarters at Cambridge. To thwart these plans, General Ward gave orders to General Israel Putnam to fortify Bunker Hill. On June 17 1775, British forces
under General Howe seized the Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
They did take their objective, but didn't break out because the Americans held the ground at the base of the peninsula. Gage
called it, "A dear bought victory, another such would have ruined us." British losses were so heavy that from this point, the
siege essentially became a stalemate.
Return to England
Chalk portrait of Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage, by William Lane
On October 10, 1775, Gage was recalled to England; Major General Howe replaced him as
acting Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the American colonies. Gage's report to the cabinet repeated his earlier
warnings that "a large army must at length be employed to reduce these people" and would require "the hiring of foreign troops."
In April 1776, George Sackville Germain, British Secretary of
State for America, formally transferred permanent command from Gage to Howe.
Gage was reactivated to duty, in April 1781, when Amherst appointed him to mobilise troops for a possible French invasion. The
next year, Gage assumed command (as a colonel) of the 17th light dragoons. He was finally promoted to full general on November 20 1782, and
later transferred to command the 11th dragoons. Gage died on the Isle of Portland on
April 2 1787, his wife surviving him by almost 37 years. He was
also survived by Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage and another
Thomas Gage, a young relative who would go on to achieve small fame in the field
of botany.
External links
References
- ^ National Geographic
Society (1997). Exploring America's Historic Places. National Geographic
Society.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia
Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public
domain.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
