Background

Thomas Gage was born on 10 March 1718/19 and christened 31 March 1719 at Westminster St James, Middlesex, England, son of Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage and Benedicta Maria Teresa Hall. Firle Place, Firle, Sussex, is where the Gage family had been seated since the 15th century.

His father, Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage, was a noted nobleman given titles in Ireland. Thomas Gage (the elder) had three children, of whom Thomas was the second. The first son, William Hall Gage, 2nd Viscount Gage, was born 6 January 1717/18 and christened 29 January 1717/18, also at Westminster St James.

Education

In 1728 Gage began attending the prestigious Westminster School where he met such figures as John Burgoyne, Richard Howe, Francis Bernard, and George Germain.

Career

Receiving his captaincy in 1744, he went to France as an aide to the Duke of Albemarle and participated in the battle of Fortenay. He saw action with Albemarle at Culloden in 1745 and was with the duke 2 years later in the Low Countries.

In 1748 Gage purchased a majority in the 55th Regiment and became lieutenant colonel of that unit on March 2, 1751. In 1754 Gage accompanied his regiment to America, where he distinguished himself in the French and Indian War, receiving a slight wound.

In May 1757 he raised a provincial regiment and that same year commanded the light infantry in the strike against Ft. Ticonderoga. As a brigadier general, he led the rear guard of Commander Jeffery Amherst's forces at the capture of Montreal on September 6, 1760, and then served as military governor of Montreal for a short period.

In 1761 he was promoted to major general and 2 years later succeeded Amherst as commander in chief of all British forces in North America.

During the next 10 years Gage remained in New York and was promoted to lieutenant general.

Gage went to England in 1773 but returned to America immediately (because of the Boston Tea Party) with a commission as vice admiral and "captain general and governor in chief" of Massachusetts.

He arrived in Boston on May 13, 1774, three days after news of England's punitive measures against Massachusetts had arrived.

When the General Court convened in October, a number of towns sent delegates to a provincial congress meeting at Concord; thus did the colony develop two separate governments. Deteriorating relations between Britain and the American colonies were evident during the celebrations of Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, when Gage's effigy was publicly hanged and burned.

On April 14, 1775, Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, instructed Gage to take action against the colonial rebels. On the night of April 18 Gage sent out the expedition to the towns of Lexington and Concord that precipitated armed hostilities and the siege of Boston.

On June 12 Gage issued a proclamation establishing martial law but holding forth amnesty to all rebels except Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Five days later came the Pyrrhic victory at Bunker Hill. Gage's actions had received severe criticism in England, and on October 10 he was recalled.

He was replaced as commanding general by William Howe. Gage remained in the army.

Gage died at Portland Place on 2 April 1787, and was buried in the family plot at Firle. His wife survived him by almost 37 years. His son Henry inherited the family title upon the death of Gage's brother William, and became one of the wealthiest men in England. His youngest son, William Hall Gage, became an admiral in the Royal Navy, and all three daughters married into well-known families.

Achievements

• In November 1782 he was made a full general, but participated in no further military activities. Gagetown, New Brunswick was named in his honour; the Canadian Forces base CFB Gagetown consequently carries his name.
  
  In 1792, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, renamed the archipelago of islands in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River for the victorious generals of the Conquest of Canada: Wolfe Island, Amherst Island, Howe Island, Carleton Island, and Gage Island. The last is now known as Simcoe Island.

Works

More photos

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  • Los viages de Tomas Gage en la Nueva España. Tomo II (Spanish Edition)

    (El autor presenta en dos tomos la narracion de sus experi...)

  • Thomas Gage Neue Merckwürdige Reise-Beschreibung Nach Neu Spanien, Was Ihm Daselbst Seltsames Begegnet, Und Wie Er Durch Die Provintz Nicaragua Wider ... Fr. Ins Deutsche Übersetzt (German Edition)

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Nueva Relacion Que Contiene Los Viages de Tomas Gage En La Nueva Espana: Sus Diversas Aventuras, y Su Vuelta Por La Provincia de Nicaragua Hasta La Ha (Spanish Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • A new survey of the West-India's, or, The English American, his travail by sea and land containing a journal of three thousand and three hundred miles within the main land of America (1655)

    ( EARLY HISTORY OF TRAVEL & GEOGRAPHY. Imagine holding hi...)

  • Energy Primer, Solar, Water, Wind, and Biofuels

    (Large paperback. First Delta Printing, May 1978. Illustra...)

  • Thomas Gage's Travels in the New World (American Exploration & Travel Series)
  • Los Viages de Tomas Gage en la Nueva España. Tomo I (Spanish Edition)
  • Viajes En La Nueva Espana
  • The Correspondence of General Thomas Gage (2 Volume Set)

Religion

Despite the family's long history of Catholicism, Viscount Gage had adopted the Anglican Church in 1715.

Politics

Gage went to England in 1773 but returned to America immediately (because of the Boston Tea Party) with a commission as vice admiral and "captain general and governor in chief" of Massachusetts.

In later years he supported the efforts of Loyalists to recover losses incurred when they were forced to leave the colonies, notably confirming the activities of Benjamin Church in order to further his widow's claims for compensation.

Connections

In December 1758 he had married Margaret Kemble, daughter of a member of the Council of New Jersey; they had five daughters and six sons.

Father:

Thomas Gage

1st Viscount Gage

Mother:

Benedicta Maria Teresa Hall

Wife:

Margaret Kemble

Son:

William Hall Gage

Son:

Henry Gage

Brother:

William Hall Gage

2nd Viscount Gage

References

• General Thomas Gage: British General (Revolutionary War Leaders)