nately, was undermined by the very policies
he arrived to enforce. Eventually, open defi-
ance to British authority was encouraged
through patriotic groups like the Sons of Lib-
erty, led by John Hancock and Samuel
Adams. Gage dutifully tried to alert the home
government that events were spinning be-
yond his control to handle peacefully and re-
quested an additional 20,000 soldiers to bring
New England to heel. Having installed him at
the center of the storm, the government
chose to ignore his advice.
The crisis nobody wanted erupted in the
spring of 1775. That February an expedition
to Salem was dispatched under Gen. Alexan-
der Leslieto seize several cannons, but vio-
lence was averted. Shortly after, Gage was or-
dered to arrest Hancock and Adams and seize
American military stores gathered at Lexing-
ton and Concord. However, on April 19, 1775,
a column of soldiers under Lt. Col. Francis
Smith inadvertently engaged a force of
militiamen at Lexington, firing the first shots
of the American Revolution. The redcoats
under Col. Hugh Percythen endured a fight-
ing withdrawal all the way back to Boston,
losing heavily to the militia.
Gage now found himself in a state of war,
possessing only 7,000 men and surrounded by
an angry mob three times his size. The British
were effectively bottled up, and he took no
further action until June, when reinforce-
ments finally arrived, commanded by Gens.
William Howe, John Burgoyne, and Henry
Clinton. However, the impasse was broken
when a detachment of militia under Artemas
Ward occupied and fortified Bunker Hill over-
looking Boston Harbor. If cannons were
planted there, British lines of supply to the
sea would be imperiled. This act stirred Gage
to order a full-scale attack against the Ameri-
cans on June 17, 1775. The ensuing Battle of
Bunker Hill, led by Howe and Clinton, was a
hard-fought affair and a British victory, but at
a staggering cost. When word of events trick-
led back to London, Lord George Germain,
while sympathetic, realized Gage was “in a sit-
uation of too great importance for his tal-
ents.” The general was consequently ordered
back to England for “consultations” in Octo-
ber 1775 and never returned. He was replaced
by General Howe.
Despite his mishandling of American af-
fairs, Gage was allowed to remain in the ser-
vice. In 1781, he joined General Amherst’s
staff and assisted preparing the defenses of
Kent against a possible French invasion. The
following year he was elevated to the rank of
full general. Gage died at his home in London
on April 2, 1787, an earnest, efficient servant
of the Crown and a tactful agent of imperial
administration. However, he lacked the fore-
sight—along with the troops—to contain
colonial aspirations for independence.See also
PontiacBibliography
Alder, John R.General Gage in America: Being Princi-
pally a History of His Role in the American Revolu-
tion.Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,
1948; Billias, George, ed. George Washington’s Op-
ponents: British Generals and Admirals of the
American Revolution.New York: Morrow, 1969;
Brooks, Victor. The Boston Campaign, April 19,
1775–March 17, 1776.Conshohocken, PA: Com-
bined, 1999; Carter, Clarence E., ed. Correspondence
of General Thomas Gage with the Secretary of
State, 1763–1775.2 vols. New Haven: Yale Univer-
sity Press, 1931–1933; Clarfield, Gerard H. “The
Short, Unhappy Civil Administration of Thomas
Gage.” Essex Institute Historical Collections 109
(1973): 138–151; Edgar, Gregory T. Reluctant Break
with Britain: From Stamp Act to Bunker Hill.
Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1997; Lenman, Bruce.
Britain’s Colonial Wars, 1688–1783.New York:
Longman, 2001; Shy, John. Towards Lexington: The
Role of the British Army in the Coming of the
American Revolution.Princeton: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1965.GAGE, THOMAS