Background
Horatio Gates was christened on the 30th of April, 1727, in the Parish of St Nicholas, Deptford, Greenwich borough, in the English county of Kent. His parents (of record) were Robert and Dorothea Gates.
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Horatio Lloyd Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates 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.
Career
Gates first served in North America in the French and Indian War (1754–63), emerged as a major, and returned to England. In 1772 he immigrated to the region that is now West Virginia. Sympathizing with colonial complaints against the crown, in 1775 he was made adjutant general of the Continental Army, and in 1777 he superseded General Philip Schuyler in northern New York. In the two battles of Saratoga his army forced General John Burgoyne to surrender, partly, however, because of the previous maneuvers of Schuyler and the initiative of General Benedict Arnold. Congress next elected Gates president of the Board of War. At the same time a group of army officers, among them General Thomas Conway, became involved in a plan to replace General George Washington with Gates. The “Conway Cabal” soon collapsed, and in the spring of 1778 Gates returned to his command in New York. Transferred to the south (June 1780), Gates was disastrously defeated by Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, on August 16. An official inquiry into his conduct was ordered but charges were never pressed. After the war Gates freed his slaves, moved to New York, and served one term in the state legislature.
Achievements
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The town of Gates in Monroe County, New York is named in Gates' honor, as is Horatio Street in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, New York City, Gates Avenue, which runs from Ridgewood, Queens to around Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Gates Avenue in Jersey City and Gates County, North Carolina.
References
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Born
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Died
April 10, 1806 (aged 77) -
Resting place
Trinity Church graveyard, New York City, New York, United States -
Nationality
United Kingdom
Awards
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Congressional Gold Medal