Horatio Gates | |
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| Born | (1727-07-26)July 26, 1727 |
| Died | April 10, 1806(1806-04-10) (aged 78) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | Great Britain United States |
| Branch | British Army Continental Army |
| Service years | 1745–1769 1775–1783 |
| Rank | Major (Great Britain) Major general (United States) |
| Commands |
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| Conflicts | |
| Signature | .png) |
Major GeneralHoratio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727 – April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer and politician who served in theBritish Army andContinental Army. During theAmerican Revolutionary War, he played a major role at the American victory at the 1777Battles of Saratoga. Gates' career was subsequently tarnished when he was decisively defeated by the British at the 1780Battle of Camden. He has been described as "one of the Revolution's most controversial military figures" due to his role in theConway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replaceGeorge Washington as the Continental Army's commander-in-chief, along with his controversial actions at Saratoga and Camden.[1][2]
Born inMaldon, Essex, Gates served as a British army officer during theWar of the Austrian Succession and theFrench and Indian War. Frustrated by his inability to advance in rank, Gatessold his commission and bought aslave plantation inVirginia. On Washington's recommendation, theContinental Congress made Gates theAdjutant General of the Continental Army in 1775. He was made the commander ofFort Ticonderoga in 1776 and ofNorthern Department in 1777. Shortly after Gates took charge of the Northern Department, American forces defeated a British army at Saratoga. After the battle, some members of Congress considered replacing Washington with Gates, but such plans ultimately went nowhere.
Gates took command of theSouthern Department in 1780, but was removed from command later that year after the disastrous American defeat at Camden. Gates's military reputation was destroyed, and he was not given another command for the remainder of the war. He retired to his Virginia plantation after the war, but eventually decided tomanumit hisslaves and move to New York. He was elected to a single term in theNew York State Legislature and died in 1806.
Horatio Gates was born on July 26, 1727, inMaldon, in the English county ofEssex. His parents (of record) were Robert and Dorothea Gates. Evidence suggests that Dorothea was the granddaughter of John Hubbock Sr. (died 1692), postmaster at Fulham, and the daughter of John Hubbock Jr., listed in 1687 sources as a vintner. She had a prior marriage, to Thomas Reeve, whose family was well situated in the royal Customs service. Dorothea Reeve was housekeeper for the secondDuke of Leeds,Peregrine Osborne (died June 25, 1729), which in the social context of England at the time was a patronage plum. Marriage into the Reeve family opened the way for Robert Gates to get into and then up through the Customs service. So too, Dorothea Gates's appointment circa 1729 to housekeeper for the thirdDuke of Bolton provided Horatio Gates with otherwise off-bounds opportunities for education and social advancement. Through Dorothea Gates's associations and energetic networking, youngHorace Walpole was enlisted as Horatio's godfather and namesake.[1]
In 1745, Horatio Gates obtained a military commission with financial help from his parents and political support from the Duke of Bolton. Gates served with the20th Foot in Germany during theWar of the Austrian Succession. He arrived in the newly founded port town ofHalifax, Nova Scotia underEdward Cornwallis and was later promoted to captain in the45th Foot, under the command ofHugh Warburton the following year.[3] He participated in several engagements against theMi'kmaq andAcadians, particularly theBattle at Chignecto in September 1750. He married the daughter ofErasmus James Philipps, Elizabeth, atSt. Paul's Church (Halifax) in 1754. Leaving Nova Scotia, he sold his commission in 1754 and purchased a captaincy in one of the New York Independent Companies. One of his mentors in his early years wasEdward Cornwallis, the uncle ofCharles Cornwallis, against whom the Americans would later fight and defeated, effectively ending the War for Independence. Gates served under Cornwallis when the latter was governor ofNova Scotia, and also developed a friendship with the lieutenant governor,Robert Monckton.[4]
During theFrench and Indian War, the North American theater of the Seven Years' War, Gates served GeneralEdward Braddock in America. In 1755, he accompanied the ill-fatedBraddock Expedition in its attempt to control access to theOhio Valley. This force included other future Revolutionary War leaders such asThomas Gage,Charles Lee,Daniel Morgan, andGeorge Washington. Gates did not see significant combat, since he was severely injured early in the action. His experience in the early years of the war was limited to commanding small companies, but he apparently became quite good at military administration. In 1759, he was madebrigade major to Brigadier GeneralJohn Stanwix, a position he continued when GeneralRobert Monckton took over Stanwix's command in 1760.[5] Gates served under Monckton in thecapture of Martinique in 1762, although he saw little combat. Monckton bestowed on him the honor of bringing news of the success to England, which brought him a promotion to major. The end of the war, however, also brought an end to Gates's prospects for advancement, since much of the army was demobilized and he did not have the financial wherewithal to purchase commissions for higher ranks.[5]
In November 1755, Gates married Elizabeth Phillips and had a son, Robert, in 1758. Gates's military career stalled, as advancement in the British army required money or influence. Frustrated by the Britishclass hierarchy, he sold his major's commission in 1769 and came to North America. In 1772, he re-established contact with prominent Virginian George Washington and purchased a modestslave plantation inVirginia the following year.[citation needed]
In late May 1775 when the word reached Gates of theApril outbreak of war, he rushed toMount Vernon and offered his services to Washington. In June, theContinental Congress began organizing theContinental Army. In accepting command, Washington urged the appointment of Gates as adjutant of the army. On June 17, 1775, Congress commissioned Gates as abrigadier general andadjutant general of theContinental Army. He is considered to be the first Adjutant General of theUnited States Army.[6]
Gates's previous wartime service in administrative posts was invaluable to the fledgling army, since he, Washington, andCharles Lee were the only men with significant experience in the British regular army. As adjutant, Gates created the army's system of records and orders and helped standardize regiments from the various colonies. During thesiege of Boston, he was a voice of caution, speaking in war councils against what he saw as overly risky actions.[7]
Although his administrative skills were valuable, Gates longed for a field command, where officers could gain glory. By June 1776, he had been promoted tomajor general and given command of theCanadian Department to replaceJohn Sullivan. This unit of the army was then in disorganized retreat from Quebec, following the arrival of British reinforcements atQuebec City. Furthermore, disease, especiallysmallpox, had taken a significant toll on the ranks, which also suffered from poor morale and dissension over pay and conditions. The retreat from Quebec toFort Ticonderoga also brought Gates into conflict with the authority of Major GeneralPhilip Schuyler, commander of the army's Northern Department, which retained jurisdiction over Ticonderoga. During the summer of 1776, this struggle was resolved, with Schuyler given command of the department as a whole and Gates' command of Ticonderoga and the defense ofLake Champlain.[8]
Gates spent the summer of 1776 overseeing the enlargement of the American fleet that would be needed to prevent the British from taking control of Lake Champlain. Much of this work eventually fell toBenedict Arnold, who had been with the army during its retreat and was also an experienced seaman. Gates rewarded Arnold's initiative by giving him command of the fleet when it sailed to meet the British. The American fleet was defeated at theBattle of Valcour Island in October 1776, although the defense of the lake was sufficient to delay a British advance against Ticonderoga until 1777.[9]
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When it was clear that the British were not going to attempt Ticonderoga in 1776, Gates marched some of the army south to join Washington's army inPennsylvania, where it had retreated afterthe fall of New York City. Though his troops were with Washington at theBattle of Trenton, New Jersey, Gates was not. Always an advocate of defensive action, Gates argued that Washington should retreat further rather than attack. When Washington dismissed this advice, Gates claimed illness as an excuse not to join the nighttime attack and instead traveled on toBaltimore, Maryland, where the Continental Congress was meeting. Gates had always maintained that he, not Washington, should have commanded the Continental Army.[citation needed] This opinion was supported by several wealthy and prominent New England delegates to the Continental Congress.[citation needed] Although Gates actively lobbied Congress for the appointment, Washington's stunning successes at Trenton andPrinceton subsequently left no doubt as to who should be commander-in-chief. Gates was then sent back north with orders to assistPhilip Schuyler in the Northern Department.[citation needed]
In 1777, Congress blamed Schuyler andSt. Clair for theloss of Fort Ticonderoga, although Gates had exercised a lengthy command in the region. Congress finally gave Gates command of the Northern Department on August 4.
Both obvious geography and a short chronology of the Saratoga “Campaign” indicate why it is misnamed.
On 5 July General Arthur St. Clair ordered Fort Ticonderoga so Americans evacuate on 6 July. On 7 July Americans retreating eastward are engaged in Battle at Hubbardton, where stiff resistance inflicts over 200 casualties on British As Americans retreat southward, a battle develops at Fort Anne against British advance. On 8 July a Vermont Constitution is adopted as the first in U.S. to grant suffrage to non-landowning males, require free public education, and prohibit slavery. This will motivate added conscription into Vermont Militia. After inflicting about 40 casualties, Americans burned Fort Anne and withdrew.On 9 July George Clinton elected first Governor of NY, thus replacing royal governor William Tryon, but British military was re-occupying parts of NY since 1776.In August St. Leger's Force is stopped at Fort Stanwix (siege 2-23 August) and Battle of Oriskany (6th), both over a hundred miles west of Burgoyne.
Desperate for horses and provisions, Burgoyne sent a mostly Hessian expedition toward Bennington VT, but it was defeated near Walloomsac NY, about 5 miles west of the vague Vermont border. It was about 23 miles east of Burgoyne's main force and cost him near 1000 men and failed to secure vital supplies. Their victory boosted American morale and the numbers of American militia surrounding him grew. Burgoyne stayed committed to his original plan but his overconfidence made defeat inevitable, especially because General Howe had failed to support him from New York. Any viable window for retreat quickly closed. By 19 September and the Battle of Freeman's Farm, it was already too late. The forlorn British advance toward the Bemis Heights fortification was stopped far from its goal. Burgoyne launched a second reconnaissance probe on 7 October. It met a fierce, unnecessary attack by Benedict Arnold that advanced to take Breymann's redoubt.
Specific estimates of American casualties for the 7 October battle suggest about 30 Americans were killed and 100 wounded. This compared to about 600 British casualties but there was nothing “decisive” in Arnold's attack. Some suggest that Arnold might have been drunk at the time (after Gates had relieved him of command). It wasted patriot lives because whether or not the two redoubts in question were taken, the British had nowhere to go. They had no hope of penetrating Bemis Heights and their escape routes were sealed. After withdrawing 9 miles from the Freeman's Farm area to the location of his fortified camp near the old town of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered on 17 October. The specific site (about half a mile south of present-day Schuylerville on U.S. Route 4) is today a part of the greater Saratoga region and now known as the Saratoga National Historical Park. Maybe to save face, Clinton raided the Hudson Highlands and burned Kingston NY, the state capital, on 16 October. This had no impact on the surrender.
If Arnold had been court-martialed for his insubordination, future disgrace might have been avoided. In any case, General Horatio Gates credited the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga to Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko because the Polish engineer's strategic fortifications were crucial to the success. His strategic role with the Continental Army began at Fort Ticonderoga in the spring of 1777, as he was assigned as the chief engineer for the Northern Army in the spring of 1777. Upon arriving at Fort Ticonderoga: Kościuszko surveyed the area and suggested building a battery on a high point called Sugar Loaf to overlook the fort. He was refused, and the British later used that same position to gain an advantage, leading to the American loss of the fort.
At Bemis Heights, Gates taskedKościuszko to survey the land and find the most defensible position to fortify. He chose these Heights to overlook the Hudson River and designed strong fortifications to frustrate British attacks that directly contributed to the American victory. Gates acknowledged Kościuszko's his critical role, stating that “hills and forests” were the "great tacticians" and a “young Polish Engineer was skillful enough to select for my encampment.”
Gates assumed command of the Northern Department on August 19 and led the army during the defeat of British GeneralBurgoyne's invasion in theBattles of Saratoga. While Gates and his supporters took credit for the victory, military action was directed by a cohort of field commanders led byBenedict Arnold,Enoch Poor,Benjamin Lincoln, andDaniel Morgan. Arnold, in particular, took the field after requesting and receiving orders from Gates to engage the British, then rallied his troops in a furious attack on the British lines, suffering serious injuries to his leg.John Stark's defeat of a sizable British raiding force at theBattle of Bennington–Stark's forces killed or captured over 900 British soldiers–was also a substantial factor in the outcome at Saratoga.
Gates stands front and center inJohn Trumbull's painting of theSurrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga,[10][11] which hangs in theU.S. Capitol Rotunda. By Congressional resolution, a gold medal was presented to Gates to commemorate his victories over the British in the Battles ofBennington,Fort Stanwix, and Saratoga. Gold and bronze replicas of that medal are still awarded by theAdjutant General's Corps Regimental Association in recognition of outstanding service.[12]
Gates followed up the victory at Saratoga with a proposal to invade Quebec, but his suggestion was rejected by Washington.[13]
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Gates attempted to maximize his political return on the victory he claimed at Saratoga, particularly since George Washington was having no immediate successes in battle with the main army. In fact, Gates insulted Washington by sending reports directly to Congress instead of to Washington, his commanding officer. At the behest of Gates's friends and the delegates from New England, Congress named Gates to president of theBoard of War, a post he filled while retaining his field command—an unprecedented conflict of interest. The post technically made Gates Washington's civilian superior, conflicting with his lower military rank. At this time, some members of Congress briefly considered replacing Washington with Gates as commander-in-chief, supported by military officers also in disagreement with Washington's leadership.
Washington learned of the campaign against him by Gates's adjutant,James Wilkinson. Following a drunken party, Wilkinson repeated the remarks of GeneralThomas Conway to Gates, which were critical of Washington, to aides of GeneralWilliam Alexander, who passed them on to Washington.[14] Gates (then unaware of Wilkinson's involvement) accused persons unknown of copying his mail and forwarded Conway's letter to the president of Congress,Henry Laurens. Washington's supporters in Congress and the army rallied to his side, ending the "Conway Cabal".[15][16] Gates then apologized to Washington for his role in the affair, resigned from the Board of War, and took an assignment as commander of the Eastern Department on October 22nd, 1778[17].
In May 1780, news of thefall ofCharleston, South Carolina, and the capture of GeneralBenjamin Lincoln's southern army reached Congress.[18] It voted to place Gates in command of the Southern Department.[19] He learned of his new command at his home nearShepherdstown, Virginia (nowWest Virginia), and headed south to assume command of the remaining Continental forces near theDeep River inNorth Carolina on July 25, 1780.[20]
Gates led Continental forces and militia south and prepared to face the British forces ofCharles Cornwallis, who had advanced toCamden, South Carolina. In theBattle of Camden on August 16, Gates's army was routed, with nearly 1,000 men captured, along with the army's baggage train and artillery. Analysis of the debacle suggests that Gates greatly overestimated the capabilities of his inexperienced militia, an error magnified when he lined those forces against the British right, the traditional position of the strongest troops. He also failed to make proper arrangements for an organized retreat. Gates's principal accomplishment in the unsuccessful campaign was to cover 170 miles (270 km) in three days on horseback, heading north in retreat. His disappointment was compounded by news of his son Robert's death in combat in October.Nathanael Greene replaced Gates as commander on December 3, and Gates returned home to Virginia. Gates's devastating defeat at Camden not only ruined his new American army, but it also ruined his military reputation.
Because of the debacle at Camden, Congress passed a resolution calling for a board of inquiry, the prelude to acourt-martial, to look into Gates's conduct. Always one to support a court-martial of other officers, particularly those with whom he competed for advancement, such as Benedict Arnold, Gates vehemently opposed the inquiry into his own conduct. Although he was never again placed in field command, Gates's New England supporters in Congress came to his aid in 1782, repealing the call for an inquiry. Gates then rejoined Washington's staff atNewburgh, New York. Rumors implicated some of his aides in theNewburgh Conspiracy of 1783. Gates may have agreed to involve himself, though this remains unclear.[21]
Gates' wife Elizabeth died in the summer of 1783. He retired in 1784 and again returned to his estate,Traveller's Rest, in Virginia (near present-dayKearneysville,Jefferson County, West Virginia). Gates served as vice president of theSociety of the Cincinnati, the organization of former Continental Army officers, and president of its Virginia chapter, and worked to rebuild his life. He proposed marriage to Janet Montgomery, the widow of GeneralRichard Montgomery, but she refused.[22]
In 1786, Gates married Mary Valens, a wealthyLiverpudlian who had come to the colonies in 1773 with her sister and Rev.Bartholomew Booth, who ran a boys' boarding school inMaryland.[23] Booth had been the curate for the "Chapel in the Woods," later to becomeSaint John's Church at Hagerstown, Maryland. Many have suggested that Gates freed his slaves at the urging of his friendJohn Adams, along with the sale of Traveller's Rest in 1790.[24] This narrative was popularized in 1837 by the Anti-Slavery Record, an abolitionist publication.[25] The paper produced an account of the event in which Gates supposedly “summoned his numerous family and slaves about him, and amidst their tears of affection and gratitude, gave them their freedom.”[25] In fact, the terms of the deed of sale for Traveller's Rest indicate that Gates sold his slaves for £800 together with the plantation.[26] The deed did not immediately free any of Gates's slaves, rather it stipulated that five would be free after five years; the remaining eleven would have to wait until they reached the age of twenty-eight.[26] Nevertheless, even this limited gesture toward emancipation surpassed the other major generals of the revolutionary era; for none but Gates made any efforts to emancipate their slaves during their lifetimes.[26]
The couple thereupon moved to an estate atRose Hill in present-daymidtown Manhattan, where the local authorities received him warmly.[27] His later support forJefferson's presidential candidacy ended his friendship with Adams. Gates and his wife remained active in New York City society, and he was elected to a single term in theNew York State Legislature in 1800.[28] He died in his Rose Hill home on April 10, 1806, and was buried in theTrinity Church graveyard at the foot ofWall Street, though the exact location of his grave is unknown.[29]
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Media related toHoratio Gates at Wikimedia Commons| Military offices | ||
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| New title | Adjutant General of the Continental Army June 17, 1775 – June 5, 1776 | Succeeded by |
| New title | President of the Board of War November 24, 1777 – November 25, 1779 | Succeeded by |
