born April 16?, 1730?
died Dec. 23, 1795, Cornwall, Eng.
British commander in chief during the American Revolution.
Commissioned in the British army in 1751, he went to North America in 1775 as second in command to William Howe . He commanded British troops to victories in New York and then succeeded to the supreme command on Howe's retirement in 1778. He led an offensive in the Carolinas in 1780 and effected the fall of Charleston. On his return to New York, he left Charles Cornwallis in charge of subsequent operations, which ultimately resulted in the British surrender after the Siege of Yorktown . He resigned in 1781 and returned to England, where he found himself blamed for the Yorktown defeat.