years of good service, O’Hara was promoted
to brigadier general in October 1780 and dis-
patched south to reinforce Gen. Charles
Cornwallisin South Carolina. At that time he
was the commander the Guards Brigade, an
elite, handpicked force chosen from the three
most senior regiments of the British army: the
Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards,
and the Scots Guards. As such, he was al-
lowed the honor of leading the pursuit of Gen.
Nathaniel Greene through North Carolina. A
heavy skirmish ensued while crossing the
Catawba River on February 1, 1781, and
O’Hara slipped off his horse and nearly
drowned, along with Gen. Alexander Leslie.
The quick-footed Greene outraced the British
and slipped across the Dan River into Vir-
ginia, with O’Hara hard on his heels. A month
later the Americans reentered North Carolina
and took up defensive positions at Guilford
Courthouse, daring the British to attack.
On March 15, 1781, Cornwallis took the
bait and lunged at Greene’s 4,400 men—
mostly militia—with 1,900 steely veterans.
After heavy fighting and severe casualties,
O’Hara, who formed the left wing, pitted his
Guards and Grenadiers against Greene’s third
line—the veteran Continentals. An intense
firefight erupted, and O’Hara was severely
wounded twice before the British gave
ground slowly. At this critical juncture, Corn-
wallis ordered his own artillery fired into the
struggling mass—over O’Hara’s objections—
but the Americans finally quit the field. The
British had prevailed, but it cost them nearly
a third of their army. Cornwallis felt obliged
to retreat into Virginia, and O’Hara followed
him in a litter. Several more months of fruit-
less maneuvering ensued until Cornwallis en-
trenched himself at Yorktown to await rein-
forcements from the sea. The British were
then surrounded by American and French
forces and forced to capitulate on October
19, 1781. Cornwallis, however, took the hu-
miliation badly and requested that O’Hara,
his nominal second in command, surrender
his sword. Gen. George Washington refused
to accept it from anybody but Cornwallis, so
he authorized O’Hara to pass it along to
Washington’s own second in command, Ben-
jamin Lincoln.
In February 1782, O’Hara was exchanged
and promoted to major general. That spring he
reinforced the New York garrison with several
regiments transported from the Caribbean.
After returning home to England in 1784, he
accumulated sufficient debt to require imme-
diate employment, so as of 1787, he func-
tioned as a staff officer on the strategic island
of Gibraltar. He went home in 1790 to become
colonel of the 74th Highland Regiment, and re-
turned to Gibraltar in 1792 as lieutenant gover-
nor. In 1793, O’Hara was promoted to lieu-
tenant general and assigned to command Fort
Mulgrave near Toulon, France, where he was
wounded again and taken prisoner. After two
years of captivity in Paris, he was exchanged
for Gen. Jean Baptiste Rochambeau and reas-
signed as governor of Gibraltar. Sociable and a
witty conversationalist, the elderly general
was popular with the men and ladies of that is-
land’s social circles. The venerable warrior
was dubbed the “Cock of the Rock” before
dying there on February 21, 1802. Generous
even in death, O’Hara bequeathed a large en-
dowment (70,000 pounds sterling) to his two
mistresses and numerous illegitimate chil-
dren. He was a fine example of late-eigh-
teenth-century British military leadership.Bibliography
Baker, Thomas F.Another Such Victory: The Story of
the American Defeat at Guilford Courthouse.New
York: Eastern Acorn Press, 1981; Buchanan, John.
The Road to Guilford Court House: The American
Revolution in the Carolinas.New York: Wiley, 1997;
Curtis, Edward E. The Organization of the British
Army in the American Revolution.New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1926; Frey, Sylvia P. The British
Soldier in North America: Social History of Mili-
tary Life in the Revolutionary Period.Austin: Uni-
versity of Texas Press, 1980; Griffen, William D.
“General Charles O’Hara.” Irish Sword10 (1972):
179–182; Hatch, Charles E.The Battle of Guilford
Court House.Washington, DC: Office of History andO’HARA, CHARLES