Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805, in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh) was a British military commander and colonial governor. In the United States, he is best remembered as a British general in the American Revolutionary War. His 1781 defeat by a combined American-French force at the Siege of Yorktown is generally considered the end of the War, although minor skirmishes continued for another two years. In India, where he served two terms as Governor-General, he is remembered for promulgating the Permanent Settlement. As Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he argued for Catholic emancipation, despite being a member of the Church of England (Wickwire 1970).

Military career

Charles was educated at Eton College — where he received an injury to his eye by an accidental blow at hockey from Shute Barrington, afterwards Bishop of Durham — and Clare College, Cambridge. He obtained his first commission as Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards, on December 8, 1757. His military education then commenced, and after travelling on the continent with a Prussian officer, Captain de Roguin, Lord Brome, as he was then known, studied at the military academy of Turin. He also became a Member of Parliament in January 1760, entering the House of Commons for the village of Wye in Kent. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl Cornwallis in 1762.

Throughout the course of the Seven Years' War, Lord Cornwallis served four terms in different posts in Germany, interspersed with trips home. He served as a staff officer to Lord Granby in 1758. In 1765, he was assigned to the 85th Regiment of Foot and, after action at the Battle of Minden, was promoted to Captain before returning to England.

In 1771, he was again sent to Germany, this time for duty with the 12th Foot, and was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. He led his unit in the Battle of Villinghausen on July 15-16, 1771, and was noted for his gallantry.

First term as Governor-general of India

After the war Cornwallis returned to Britain, and in 1786 he was appointed governor-general and commander in chief in India. He instituted land reforms and reorganized the British army and administration. In 1792 he defeated Tipu Sultan, the powerful sultan of Mysore. Cornwallis was given the title marquis in 1792 and returned to England the following year.

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Cornwallis was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in June 1798, just before the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between republican United Irishmen and the British Government.

Due to the execution of prisoners of war in Ballinalee after the Battle of Ballinamuck, he achieved local notoriety that lasts to this day. In the village, in the north Leinster county of Longford, the site of the executions is known as Bullys Acre.

Second term as Governor-general of India

He was reappointed governor-general of India in 1800Strike-through text, but died on October 5 of that year, soon after arriving in India.

Issue

His only son, Charles, Viscount Brome, (b. 1774), succeeded as 2nd Marquess Cornwallis. He married Lady Louisa Gordon, daughter of the 4th Duke of Gordon, had five daughters, and died on 16 August, 1823, when the Marquessate became extinct. James Cornwallis, the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, succeeded as 4th Earl Cornwallis.

Bibliography

Primary Documents:

Public Record Office, United Kingdom: Cornwallis Papers, Ref: 30/11/1-66 The Correspondence of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis, Vol. 1, 1859, ed. Ross,

Secondary Sources:

Adams, R: “A View of Cornwallis's Surrender at Yorktown”, American Historical Review, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Oct., 1931), pp. 25-49,

Bicheno, H: Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War, London, 2003

Buchanan, J: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution and the Carolinas, New York, 1997

Clement, R: “The World Turned Upside down At the Surrender of Yorktown”, Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 92, No. 363 (Jan. - Mar., 1979), pp. 66-67

Ferling, J: The World Turned Upside Down: The American Victory in the War of Independence, London, 1988

Harvey, R:A Few Bloody Noses: The American War of Independence, London, 2001

Hibbert, C: Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, London, 2001

Mackesy, P: The War for America, London, 1964

Peckham, H:The War for Independence, A Military History, Chicago, 1967

Weintraub, S: Iron Tears, Rebellion in America 1775-1783, London, 2005

Wickwire, F: Cornwallis, The American Adventure, Boston, 1970

References

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