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Horatio Gates

Horatio L. Gates
HoratioGatesByStuart crop.jpg
Gates in a c.1794 portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Born (1727-07-26)July 26, 1727
Maldon, Essex, Great Britain
Died April 10, 1806(1806-04-10) (aged 78)
New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Buried at Trinity Church graveyard
New York City, New York, U.S.A. (exact location unknown)
Allegiance  Great Britain (1745–1769)
 United States of America (1775–1783)
Service/branch British Army
Continental Army
Years of service 1745–1769
1775–1783
Rank Major (Great Britain)
Major general (United States)
Commands held

Continental Army

  • Adjutant General
  • Canadian Department
  • Northern Department
  • Eastern Department
  • Southern Department
Battles/wars

War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
American Revolutionary War

Relations William E. Gates (grandson)
Thomas Gates (governor) (great grandfather)

Continental Army

War of the Austrian Succession
Seven Years' War
American Revolutionary War

Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727 – April 10, 1806) was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga (1777) – a matter of contemporary and historical controversy – and was blamed for the defeat at the Battle of Camden in 1780. Gates has been described as "one of the Revolution's most controversial military figures" because of his role in the Conway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replace George Washington; the battle at Saratoga; and his actions during and after his defeat at Camden.

Horatio Gates was christened on April 30, 1728, in the Parish of St Nicholas, Deptford, Greenwich borough, in the English county of Kent. 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. 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 the 20th Foot in Germany during the War of the Austrian Succession. He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia under Edward Cornwallis and later was promoted to captain in the 45th Foot the following year. He was participated in several engagements against the Mi'kmaq and Acadians, particularly the Battle at Chignecto. He married his wife 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. Gates served under Cornwallis when the latter was governor of Nova Scotia, and also developed a relationship with the lieutenant governor, Robert Monckton.


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Wikipedia

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