Cornwallis, Charles (1738-1805), the Second Earl and later First Marquis Cornwallis, was a British general during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The surrender of his troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 was critical to the American triumph.
Cornwallis was born in London on Dec. 31, 1738. He began his military career in the late 1750’s, when he fought bravely in the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). In 1762, he took his father’s seat in Parliament’s House of Lords. He became a major general in the British army in 1775.
Cornwallis helped capture New York in the summer of 1776, then pursued General George Washington across New Jersey. Cornwallis failed to catch Washington following the Americans’ victory at Trenton, New Jersey, late in 1776. In 1777, Cornwallis played a prominent role in the British capture of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a promotion to lieutenant general. He became second in command to General Sir Henry Clinton in 1778. In June of that year, Cornwallis helped stop an American advance at Monmouth, New Jersey.
Cornwallis helped Clinton to capture Charles Town (later Charleston), South Carolina, in May 1780. Cornwallis then took charge of the Southern campaign. He routed the American Southern army at Camden, South Carolina, that August. Invading North Carolina, he won a costly victory in 1781 at Guilford Courthouse against the Continental forces of Major General Nathanael Greene. Then, against Clinton’s wishes, he moved into Virginia. A French fleet and French and American troops trapped him at Yorktown. He surrendered there on Oct. 19, 1781.
Cornwallis served as governor general and commander in chief of India from 1786 to 1793. He salvaged his damaged military reputation by winning the Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-1792). From 1798 to 1801, he was lord lieutenant and commander in chief of Ireland, where he crushed a major rebellion. In 1805, he returned to India to serve again as governor general and commander in chief. Cornwallis died in India on Oct. 5, 1805.
