Thomas Gage

General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of the American Revolution. Being born into an aristocratic family in England, he entered military service, seeing action in the French and Indian War, where he served alongside his future opponent George Washington in the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela. After the fall of Montreal in 1760, he was named its military governor. During this time he did not distinguish himself militarily, but proved himself to be a competent administrator. From 1763 to 1775 he served as commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, overseeing the British response to the 1763 Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1774 he was also appointed the military governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, with instructions to implement the Intolerable Acts, punishing Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. His attempts to seize the military stores of Patriot militias in April 1775 sparked the Battles of Lexington and Concord, beginning the American Revolutionary War. After the Pyrrhic victory in the June Battle of Bunker Hill, he was replaced by General William Howe in October 1775, and returned to Great Britain. Early life Thomas Gage was born on 10 March 1718/19 at Firle 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. In 1728 Gage began attending the prestigious Westminster School where he met such figures as John Burgoyne, Richard Howe, Francis Bernard, and George Germain. Despite the family's long history of Catholicism, Viscount Gage had adopted the Anglican Church in 1715. During his school years Thomas the younger became firmly attached to the latter church; he eventually developed a dislike for the Roman Catholic Church that became evident in later years.