born 1722, Sutton, Bedfordshire, Eng.
died June 4, 1792, London
British general.
After serving in the Seven Years' War he was elected to the British House of Commons in 1761 and 1768. Assigned to Canada in 1776, he began a campaign to join British forces from the north, south, and west to isolate the rebellious New England colonies. In 1777 his army captured Fort Ticonderoga , N.Y., but was stopped at the Hudson River by a larger army of colonists under Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold . After several months of fighting, he surrendered to Gates at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; he returned to England to face criticism for his defeat.