Charles Henry Gladwin

Background

Henry Gladwin November 19, 1729, in Stubbing Court, Derbyshire, England. He was the son of Henry and Mary (Dakeyne) Gladwin

Career

Gladwin was commissioned lieutenant in the 48th Regiment of foot on August 28, 1753, and thereafter sailed for America, where his regiment joined Braddock’s force in the march to Fort Duquesne. On the fatal 9th of July, 1755 when Braddock was ambushed by the French and Indians, Gladwin was wounded, but managed to retreat with the defeated army. His conduct so commended itself to Colonel Thomas Gage, that when, on December 26, 1757, there was organized the new 80th Regiment, Gladwin was made captain therein and Gage became colonel.

In 1760, Gladwin went with part of the regiment to the relief of Fort Niagara, and during Gage’s absence commanded the regiment. Amherst gave him the rank of major in 1759, but his commission is dated December 13, 1760.

In 1761, he was sent with a detachment of 300 men to garrison the post at Detroit, newly taken over from the French. Thither he went accompanied by Sir William Johnson, but a severe illness in the summer of 1761 sent Gladwin back to England.

He returned to his command at Detroit in August, but by December was at Fort William Augustus. In the winter of 1762-63, he returned to the post at Detroit, where he was stationed when Pontiac’s War broke out in May.

In this organized Indian effort to hold back the oncoming tide of English expansion, Gladwin successfully defended one of the two major posts which managed to escape the destruction and slaughter of the year 1763.

His brilliant defense of Detroit became the central theme of Francis Parkman’s History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac (1851). By November of 1763, Pontiac’s power was practically at an end, but Gladwin’s letters show that he had to be very much on his guard during the winter of 1764.

In August, reinforcements finally got through to Detroit and Gladwin was permitted to return to England. He attained his lieutenant-colonelcy September 17, 1763. After his defense of Detroit, he was carried in the Army Lists as “Deputy Adjutant General in America, ” until 1780, but never returned to that country.

Upon the disbanding of the 80th Regiment after the French and Indian War, he went on the half-pay list, and so remained for the rest of his life. He declined to serve in the War for American Independence, although made a colonel August 29, 1777, and major-general November 20, 1782.

He died at his country seat, Stubbing Court, near Chesterfield in Derbyshire, and was buried at Wingerworth Church.

Achievements

• Henry Gladwin served in the disastrous campaign of Edward Braddock and in other actions in the French and Indian War but is best remembered for his defense of Detroit in Pontiac's Rebellion.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Gladwin Manuscripts: With an Introduction and a Sketch of the Conspiracy of Pontiac,

Connections

On March 30, 1762, Gladwin married Frances, daughter of the Rev. John Berridge, an evangelical preacher.

Father:

Henry Gladwin

1692–1763

Mother:

Mary Dakeyne Gladwin

Grandfather:

Thomas II Gladwin

Wife:

Frances Beridge

1741–1817

great grandfather:

Thomas I Gladwin

1598 – 1667

Daughter:

Susannah Gladwin

Daughter:

Ann Gladwin

1778–1855

Daughter:

Harriet Gladwin

Daughter:

Charlotte Gladwin

Born in 1780.

Daughter:

Dorothy Gladwin

Daughter:

Martha Gladwin

1785–1817

Daughter:

Ellen Gladwin

Daughter:

Frances Gladwin

1773–1841

Daughter:

Mary II Gladwin

1777–1837

Son:

Charles Dakeyne Gladwin

1775–1844

Son:

Henry Gladwin