Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer and politician who served in the British and Continental armies. During the American Revolutionary War, he led the Continental Army to victory at the 1777 Battles of Saratoga. However, his career was subsequently tarnished when he was defeated by the British at the 1780 Battle of Camden. Gates has been described as "one of the Revolution's most controversial military figures" due to his role in the Conway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replace George Washington as the Continental Army's commander-in-chief, along with his controversial actions at Saratoga and Camden.
Gates was born in Maldon, Essex, and served as a British Army officer during the War of the Austrian Succession and French and Indian War. He became frustrated by his inability to advance in rank, so he sold his commission and bought a slave plantation in the colony of Virginia. On Washington's recommendation, the Continental Congress made Gates the Adjutant General of the Continental Army in 1775. He was made the commander of Fort Ticonderoga in 1776 and of the Northern Department in 1777, and American forces defeated a British army at Saratoga soon after. Some members of Congress considered replacing Washington with Gates after the victory at Saratoga, but that did not materialize.
Gates took command of the Southern Department in 1780, but he 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 to manumit his slaves and move to New York. He was elected to a single term in the New York State Legislature and died in 1806.
Early life and education
Horatio Gates was born on July 26, 1727, in Maldon, in the English county of Essex. 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 second Duke 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 third Duke of Bolton provided Horatio Gates with otherwise off-bounds opportunities for education and social advancement. Through Dorothea Gates's associations and energetic networking, young Horace Walpole was enlisted as Horatio's godfather and namesake.
Career In 1745, Horatio Gates obtained a military commission in The Duke of Bolton's Regiment of Foot with financial help from his parents and political support from the Duke. Gates served with the 20th Foot in Germany during the War of the Austrian Succession. He arrived in the newly founded port town of Halifax, Nova Scotia under Edward Cornwallis and was later promoted to captain in the 45th Foot, under the command of Hugh Warburton the following year.
He participated in several engagements against the Mi'kmaq and Acadians, particularly the Battle at Chignecto in September 1750. He married the daughter of Erasmus James Philipps, Elizabeth, at St. 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 was Edward Cornwallis, the uncle of Charles Cornwallis, against whom the Americans would later fight and defeat, effectively ending the War for Independence. Gates served under Cornwallis when the latter was governor of Nova Scotia, and also developed a friendship with the lieutenant governor, Robert Monckton.
Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
During the French and Indian War, the North American theater of the Seven Years' War, Gates served General Edward Braddock in America. In 1755, he accompanied the ill-fated Braddock Expedition in its attempt to control access to the Ohio Valley. This force included other future Revolutionary War leaders such as Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, Daniel Morgan, and George 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 made brigade major to Brigadier General John Stanwix, a position he continued when General Robert Monckton took over Stanwix's command in 1760. Gates served under Monckton in the British invasion 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.
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 British class 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 modest slave plantation in Virginia the following year.
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
In late May 1775 when the word reached Gates of the April outbreak of war, he rushed to Mount Vernon and offered his services to Washington. In June, the Continental Congress began organizing the Continental Army. In accepting command, Washington urged the appointment of Gates as adjutant of the army. On June 17, 1775, Congress commissioned Gates as a brigadier general and adjutant general of the Continental Army. He is considered to be the first Adjutant General of the United States Army.
Gates's previous wartime service in administrative posts was invaluable to the fledgling army, since he, Washington, and Charles 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 the siege of Boston, he was a voice of caution, speaking in war councils against what he saw as overly risky actions.
Although his administrative skills were valuable, Gates longed for a field command, where officers could gain glory. By June 1776, he had been promoted to major general and given command of the Canadian Department to replace John Sullivan. This unit of the army was then in disorganized retreat from Quebec, following the arrival of British reinforcements at Quebec City. Furthermore, disease, especially smallpox, had taken a significant toll on the ranks, which also suffered from poor morale and dissension over pay and conditions. The retreat from Quebec to Fort Ticonderoga also brought Gates into conflict with the authority of Major General Philip 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's command of Ticonderoga and the defense of Lake Champlain.
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 to Benedict 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 the Battle of Valcour Island in October 1776, although the defense of the lake was sufficient to delay a British advance against Ticonderoga until 1777.
Battle at Saratoga
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 in Pennsylvania, where it had retreated after the fall of New York City. Though his troops were with Washington at the Battle 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 to Baltimore, Maryland, where the Continental Congress was meeting. At Congress, Gates unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to reverse Washington's plan of operations, possibly hoping to replace him. Washington's subsequent successes at Trenton and Princeton left no doubt as to who should be commander-in-chief. Gates was then sent back north with orders to assist Philip Schuyler in the Northern Department.
In 1777, Congress blamed Schuyler and St. Clair for the loss 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.
On July 5, General Arthur St. Clair ordered Fort Ticonderoga so Americans evacuate on July 6. On July 7, Americans retreating eastward were engaged in Battle at Hubbardton, where stiff resistance inflicted over 200 casualties on the British. As Americans retreated southward, a battle developed at Fort Anne against the British advance. On July 8, a Vermont Constitution was adopted as the first in U.S. to grant suffrage to non-landowning males, require free public education, and prohibit slavery. This motivated added conscription into the Vermont Militia. After inflicting about 40 casualties, Americans burned Fort Anne and withdrew. On July 9, George Clinton was elected the first Governor of New York, thus replacing royal governor William Tryon, but the 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 September 19 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 October 7. It met a fierce, unnecessary attack by Benedict Arnold that advanced to take Breymann's redoubt.