his seat in Parliament, he
denounced the govern-
ment’s behavior toward
its colonies.
Cornwallis arrived in
America on board the
fleet commanded by
Adm. Sir Peter Parker
in February 1776. He ac-
companied Gen. Henry
Clintonon the abortive
attack against Sullivan’s
Island in Charleston Har-
bor that July, then with-
drew to New York. Under
Gen. William Howe,
Cornwallis commanded
the rear guard during the
successful Battle of Long
Island on August 22,
1776, and proved instru-
mental in chasing Gen.
George Washington’s army from New York
City. Howe was pleased by his performance
and directed him to lead the pursuit of Ameri-
can forces into New Jersey. Like many British
generals, Cornwallis was overconfident and
not terribly impressed by the Americans.
Therefore, he let his soldiers spend the winter
in detached garrisons across the state and
was himself preparing to embark for England
when Washington suddenly turned and at-
tacked. Brushing aside a Hessian garrison
under Col. Johann Rallat Trenton on De-
cember 24, 1776, the Americans encamped as
Cornwallis prepared a counterstroke. But
during the night, the “Old Fox” left his camp-
fires blazing, stole a march on the British, and
annihilated Cornwallis’s rear guard at Prince-
ton. Cornwallis then suffered the indignity of
enduring a midwinter retreat before the invig-
orated rebels. General Clinton was enraged
by Cornwallis’s failure and accused him of the
most “consummate ignorance.” Such criti-
cism did little to endear that general to his
testy superior.
Following a brief return to England, Corn-
wallis accompanied Howe on his campaign
against Philadelphia. He
displayed great tactical
merit at Brandywine on
September 11, 1777, when
he delivered a flanking at-
tack upon Washington’s
line and sent him reeling
back in confusion. He
also bore a conspicuous
role in blunting the Amer-
ican counterthrust at
Germantown on October
4, 1777. Cornwallis then
departed to England
again to confer with his
friend Lord Germain, now
secretary of state for the
colonies. Both men were
united in their distaste
for the sullen, uncommu-
nicative Henry Clinton,
and Germain privately
sought to have Cornwallis promoted over
him. To this end, he was elevated to lieu-
tenant general prior to returning to America
in May 1778, still a subordinate, but anxious
to assume an independent command. Corn-
wallis then fought brilliantly at the Battle of
Monmouth on June 28, 1778, during Clinton’s
withdrawal back to New York City. Once the
British took up comfortable defensive posi-
tions, Cornwallis, disgusted by what he per-
ceived as Clinton’s timidity, ventured back to
England a third time to attend his dying wife.
Her passing grieved him and only whetted his
appetite for further military distinction.
By the time Cornwallis returned to New
York in the spring of 1780, Clinton and Ger-
main had originated a southern strategy to
break the strategic impasse. He based it upon
securing South Carolina and Georgia to capi-
talize on the perceived Loyalist sympathies of
those states. That February, Clinton and Corn-
wallis left New York and were transported to
Charleston by Adm. Marriot Arbuthnot. A
successful siege concluded on May 12, 1780,
resulting in the capture of Gen. Benjamin Lin-
coln and his entire army. Clinton, always anx-CORNWALLIS, CHARLES
Charles Cornwallis
National Portrait Gallery