The office ofCommander-in-Chief, North America was a military position of theBritish Army. Established in 1755 in the early years of theSeven Years' War, holders of the post were generally responsible for land-based military personnel and activities in and around those parts ofNorth America that Great Britain either controlled or contested. The post continued to exist until 1775, when Lieutenant-GeneralThomas Gage, the last holder of the post, was replaced early in theAmerican War of Independence. The post's responsibilities were then divided: Major-GeneralWilliam Howe becameCommander-in-Chief, America, responsible for British troops fromWest Florida toNewfoundland, and GeneralGuy Carleton becameCommander-in-Chief, Quebec, responsible for the defence of theProvince of Quebec.
This division of responsibility persisted after American independence and the loss ofEast and West Florida in theTreaty of Paris (1783). One officer was given the posting for Quebec, which later became theCommander-in-Chief of The Canadas when Quebec was divided intoUpper andLower Canada, while another officer was posted toHalifax with responsibility for military matters in the maritime provinces.
Prior to 1784, theBermuda Garrison (an independent company, detached from the2nd Regiment of Foot, from 1701 to 1763; replaced by a company of the9th Regiment of Foot detached from Florida along with a detachment from the Bahamas Independent Company until 1768; leaving only the militia until the American War of Independence, when part of theRoyal Garrison Battalion had been stationed in Bermuda between 1778 and its disbandment there in 1784; the garrison was permanently re-established by the47th Regiment of Foot and an invalid company of theRoyal Artillery during the French Revolution, along with the establishment of what was to become theRoyal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda) had been placed under the military Commander-in-Chief America, but was subsequently to become part of theNova Scotia Command until the 1860s.
During theWar of 1812, Lieutenant-General SirGeorge Prevost wasCaptain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Provinces of Upper-Canada, Lower-Canada, Nova-Scotia, and New~Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, Vice-Admiral of the same, Lieutenant-General and Commander of all His Majesty’s Forces in the said Provinces of Lower Canada and Upper-Canada, Nova-Scotia and New-Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, and in the islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward, Cape Breton and the Bermudas, &c. &c. &c.
Beneath Prevost, the staff of the British Army inthe Provinces of Nova-Scotia, New-Brunswick, and their Dependencies, including the Islands of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Prince Edward and Bermuda were under the Command of Lieutenant-General SirJohn Coape Sherbrooke. Below Sherbrooke, the Bermuda Garrison was under the immediate control of theGovernor of Bermuda, Major-GeneralGeorge Horsford), New Brunswick was under Major-GeneralGeorge Stracey Smyth, Newfoundland was under Major-General Charles Campbell, and Cape Breton was under Major-General Hugh Swayne.[1]
FollowingCanadian Confederation in 1867, these commanders were replaced in 1875 by theGeneral Officer Commanding the Forces (Canada), whose post was succeeded in 1904 by the Chief of the General Staff Canada, a position which was established for aCanadian Army commander.
| Officer | Start of command | End of command | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major-GeneralEdward Braddock | November 1754 | July 1755 | Braddock's commission was issued in November after word arrived of Lieutenant ColonelGeorge Washington's actions with French forces in theOhio Country. Braddock was mortally wounded in theBattle of the Monongahela, and died on 13 July 1755. | [2] |
| Major-GeneralWilliam Shirley | July 1755 | 1756 | Shirley, who was also the royal governor of theProvince of Massachusetts Bay, assumed command upon Braddock's death, and had limited military experience. His tenure was marked by failed expeditions on the New York-New France frontier and disagreements with Indian agentWilliam Johnson. | [3] |
| Major-GeneralJohn Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun | Arrived July 1756 | 1757 | During Loudoun's tenure, thousands of British troops were sent to North America. He was ordered to make a single major expedition, to take theFortress of Louisbourg.The expedition failed when the French were able to send a fleet to defend the approaches to the fortress. The expedition weakened British forces atFort William Henry in New York, whichfell after a brief siege. | [4][5] |
| Major-GeneralJames Abercrombie | 1757 | 1758 | Abercrombie served as Loudon's second in command in 1757, and was appointed in part for political reasons. Troops and militia numbering more than 45,000 were under his overall command, with three ambitious campaigns planned. Although the British capturedFort Duquesne and Fortress Louisbourg during his tenure, his spectacular failure in theBattle of Carillon led to his recall. | [6] |
| Lieutenant-General SirJeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst | 1758 | 1763 | Amherst was the victor in theSiege of Louisbourg. He oversaw the conquest of New France in 1759 and 1760, personally leading forces in thecapture of Fort Ticonderoga and the 1760Battle of the Thousand Islands. He then instituted military rule of the conquered territories, introducing policies concerning Indian relations that led toPontiac's Rebellion. He has controversially been associated with schemes to deliberately infect Native Americans withsmallpox. During his term he also coordinated military efforts in theWest Indies in the later years of theSeven Years' War, and organized thesuccessful response to the French seizure ofSt. John's, Newfoundland. | [7] |
| Lieutenant-GeneralThomas Gage | 1763 | 1773 | Gage served under Braddock and Abercrombie during the Seven Years' War. He oversaw the military response toPontiac's Rebellion, and was responsible for implementing official responses to the rising unrest of theAmerican Revolution in theThirteen Colonies. He returned to England on leave in 1773 without relinquishing the post. | [8][9] |
| Major-GeneralFrederick Haldimand (temporary) | 1773 | 1774 | Haldimand, a professional officer originally fromSwitzerland, carefully avoided involving British troops in civil unrest unless specifically requested by local authorities. He also resisted entanglement in the territorial disputes of theNew Hampshire Grants, although during his later term asgovernor ofQuebec (1778–1786) he was involved incontroversial negotiations over the status of what later became the state ofVermont. | [9] |
| Lieutenant-GeneralThomas Gage | 1774 | 1775 | Gage returned to North America as Commander-in-Chief and as governor of theProvince of Massachusetts Bay, with orders to implement the punitiveIntolerable Acts, passed to punish Massachusetts for theBoston Tea Party. Troop movements he ordered in April 1775 led to theBattles of Lexington and Concord and the start of theAmerican Revolutionary War. He was recalled after the British Pyrrhic victory in theBattle of Bunker Hill. | [8][10] |
| Officer | Start of command | End of command | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Howe, 5th Viscount Howe | assumed command September 1775 | departed May 1778 | Howe oversaw the rest of theSiege of Boston, before embarking ona campaign in 1776 that resulted in the capture ofNew York City and parts ofNew Jersey. In 1777 hecaptured Philadelphia, but controversially failed to supportJohn Burgoyne, whosecampaign for control of theHudson River ended in the surrender of his army, leading to the entry ofFrance into the war. | [11] |
| Lieutenant-General SirHenry Clinton | arrived May 1778 | departed May 1782 | Clinton, who had served as second in command to Howe, personally led the withdrawal of British troops from Philadelphia, including theBattle of Monmouth fought en route. He directed the disposition of military troops along all of the frontiers between rebel and Loyal colonies, fromWest Florida toNova Scotia. He conducted the successfulSiege of Charleston before leaving Major-GeneralCharles, Earl Cornwallis in command of the south. Miscommunication and disagreement between Clinton and both Cornwallis and AdmiralMarriot Arbuthnot contributed to British failures that culminated in the 1781Siege of Yorktown, in which Cornwallis surrendered his army. | [12][13] |
| GeneralGuy Carleton | arrived May 1782 | departed December 1783 | Carleton, who had served as Governor ofQuebec early in the war, oversaw the withdrawal of British troops from theUnited States, and assisted in the relocation of thousands of Loyalists to other parts of the British Empire. Although he indicated a desire to resign in August 1782, his appointed successor,Earl Grey, was withdrawn before his departure when the government in London collapsed. | [13][14] |
| Officer | Start of command | End of command | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeneralGuy Carleton | appointed August 1775 | departed 1778 | [13] | |
| GeneralFrederick Haldimand | arrived 1778 | departed 1786 | ||
| GeneralGuy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester | appointed April 1786 | continued in 1791 as Commander-in-Chief of The Canadas | The second tenure of General Carleton (named Baron Dorchester in August 1786, after his appointment as commander-in-chief and as the first Governor General of The Canadas) was marked by the ongoing consequences of the arrival of needy Loyalist settlers in the provinces. He oversaw the division of Quebec intoUpper andLower Canada and the creation ofNew Brunswick fromNova Scotian territory, and engaged in prolonged wrangling with the Americans over the continued occupation of frontier forts in theNorthwest Territory, whose transfer Carleton oversaw in 1796 after the signing of theJay Treaty. | [13] |
| Officer | Start of command | End of command | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeneralGuy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester | appointed April 1791 | departed July 1796 | Carleton during this time engaged in prolonged wrangling with the Americans over the continued occupation of frontier forts in theNorthwest Territory, whose transfer Carleton oversaw in 1796 after the signing of theJay Treaty. | [13] |
| Lieutenant-GeneralRobert Prescott | appointed December 1796 | departed April 1799 | Prescott's tenure in North America, which began in April 1796 with appointment as Governor General of The Canadas, was militarily uneventful; in addition to ongoing issues surrounding land grants, he was concerned with intrigues (real and perceived) against British rule by French agitators. | [15] |
| Lieutenant-General SirGeorge Prévost | 1811 | 1815 | Prévost oversaw the British conduct of theWar of 1812 in British North America, for which he was much criticised. Sent to London in 1815 to defend his conduct, he died in 1816 before the court martial was convened. | |
| Lieutenant-General SirGordon Drummond | 1815 | 1816 | First Canadian-born Commander-in-Chief and was wounded in theWar of 1812 in Upper Canada. During his tenure, Drummond pushed to continue to supply Indigenous peoples in American territories after the war, but was overruled by London. | |
| Lieutenant-General SirJohn Colborne | 1836 | 1839 | Colborne, who had previously served a difficult term as governor ofUpper Canada (1828–1836), oversaw the official response to theRebellions of 1837, personally leading forces in theBattle of Saint-Eustache. | [16] |
| Lieutenant-General SirRichard Downes Jackson | 1839 | 1845 | During Jackson's tenure, there was tension with the United States over a variety of border disputes, withsignificant tensions on the disputed Maine-New Brunswick frontier. This led to a rise in troop strength in North America to about 12,000; the disputes were peacefully resolved with theWebster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. He died quite unexpectedly shortly before the arrival of his replacement,Earl Cathcart. | [16] |
| GeneralCharles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart | 1845 | 1847 | Cathcart was appointed first as commander-in-chief and later also governor-general amid tensions between Britain and the United States over theOregon Country. These were resolved peacefully with the signing in 1846 of theOregon Treaty. When a new governor-general was appointed, Cathcart resigned both his positions. | [17] |
| Lieutenant-General SirBenjamin D'Urban | 1847 | 1849 | [18] | |
| Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Rowan | 1849 | 1855 | Rowan, who had served as an aide to Colborne during his tenure in the post, had a largely uneventful time in office. The only major incident was rioting inMontreal that led to theburning of the Parliament buildings there. | [19] |
| Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Eyre | 1855 | 1859 | [20] | |
| Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Williams | 1859 | 1864 | Appointed to the post when North-South tensions rose in the United States, Williams oversaw defensive arrangements to prevent theAmerican Civil War from spilling into British territories. A diplomatic incident known as theTrent Affair in 1861 led to an increase in the troop strength in the British provinces, and Williams made vigorous preparations for war before the crisis subsided. | [21] |
| Officer | Start of command | End of command | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major-GeneralJohn Campbell | December 1783 | April 1786 | ||
| GeneralPrince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn | arrived September 1799 | departed August 1800 | Kent's tenure was short. The fourth son of KingGeorge III, he had been given command of the Halifax station in 1794, at which time he embarked on a major programme to upgrade the city's defences. He was appointed commander-in-chief upon Prescott's recall, but illness cut short his tenure. | [22] |
| Lieutenant-General SirJohn Coape Sherbrooke | arrived 16 October 1811 | departed 1816 | Sherbrooke led the successful defence of the Maritimes during theAmerican War of 1812. | [23] |
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