Henry Clinton ( American War of Independence ) General Sir Henry Clinton , KB ( 16 April 1730 – 23 December 1795 ) was a British army officer and politician , best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence . First arriving in Boston in May 1775 , from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander - in - Chief in North America . In addition to his military service , due to the influence of the 2nd Duke of Newcastle , he was a Member of Parliament for many years . Late in life he was named Governor of Gibraltar , but died before assuming the post . He came from a noble family that could trace its lineage to 1066 and had a long history of service to the Crown . The son of George Clinton , an admiral of the fleet , Henry had two sons who continued the family tradition of high command : General Sir William Henry Clinton ( 1769 – 1846 ) , and Lieutenant - General Sir Henry Clinton ( 1771 – 1829 ) . Early life . Henry Clinton was born , probably in 1730 , to Admiral George Clinton and Anne Carle , the daughter of a general . Early histories claimed his birth year as 1738 , a date widely propagated even in modern biographic summaries ; according to biographer William Willcox , Clinton claimed in a notebook found in 1958 to be born in 1730 , and that evidence from English peerage records places the date of birth as 16 April . Willcox also notes that none of these records give indication of the place of Clinton ' s birth . Historian John Fredriksen claims that Clinton was born in Newfoundland ; his father was posted there from 1732 to 1738 . Little is known of the earliest years of Clinton ' s life , or of his mother and the two sisters that survived to adulthood . Given his father ' s naval career , where the family was domiciled is uncertain . They were not obviously well - connected to the seat of the Earls of Lincoln , from whom his father was descended , or the estate of the Dukes of Newcastle , to whom they were related by marriage . In 1739 his father , then stationed at Gibraltar , applied for the governorship of the Province of New York ; he won the post in 1741 with the assistance of the Duke of Newcastle ( who was his brother ' s brother - in - law ) . However , he did not actually go to New York until 1743 ; he took young Henry with him , having failed to acquire a lieutenant ' s commission for the 12 - year - old . Henry ' s career would also benefit from the family connection to the Newcastles . Records of the family ' s life in New York are sparse . He is reported to have studied under Samuel Seabury on Long Island , suggesting the family may have lived in the country outside New York City . Clinton ' s first military commission was to an independent company in New York in 1745 . The next year his father procured for him a captain ' s commission , and he was assigned to garrison duty at the recently captured Fortress Louisbourg . In 1749 , Clinton went to Britain to pursue his military career . It was two years before he received a commission as a captain in the Coldstream Guards . His father , after he returned to London when his term as New York governor was over , procured for Clinton a position as aide to Sir John Ligonier in 1756 . Seven Years War . By 1758 had risen to be a lieutenant colonel in the 1st Foot Guards , which was later renamed the Grenadier Guards . Despite the ongoing Seven Years ' War , Clinton was not called into a campaign until 1760 . That year he was sent to Europe , where he saw action under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick at Corbach and Kloster Kampen . He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Freiberg , where his gallantry brought him wide public notice . Clinton distinguished himself as an aide - de - camp to Brunswick , with whom he established an enduring friendship . In the summer of 1762 he was promoted to colonel , receiving the command of the 12th Regiment of Foot in 1766 . During these early years , he formed a number of friendships and acquaintances , mostly with other officers serving in Brunswick ' s camp . These included Charles Lee and William Alexander , who styled himself " Lord Stirling " ; both of these men would face Clinton as enemies in North America . He formed long - lasting and deep friendships with John Jervis , and William Phillips ; Phillips later served under Clinton in North America , and Jervis rose to prominence in the Royal Navy . He also made the acquaintance of Charles Cornwallis , who would famously serve under him as well . Family and marriage . While Clinton was campaigning with the army in 1761 , his father died . As the new head of the family , he had to unwind his father ' s affairs , which included sizable debts as well as arrears in pay . Battles he had with the Board of Trade over his father ' s unpaid salary lasted for years , and attempts to sell the land in the colonies went nowhere ; these lands were confiscated during the American Revolution , and even his heirs were unable to recover any kind of compensation for them . His mother , who had a history of mental instability and played only a small part in his life , died in August 1767 . On 12 February 1767 , Clinton married Harriet Carter , the daughter of landed gentry , and the couple settled into a house in Surrey . There is some evidence that the marriage was performed in haste ; six months later , the household accounts contain evidence of a son , Frederick . Frederick died of an illness in 1774 , two years after his mother . Although Clinton did not write of his marriage , it was apparently happy . The couple produced five children : Frederick , Augusta ( 1768 ) , William Henry ( 1769 ) , Henry Jr . ( 1771 ) , and Harriet ( 1772 ) . Clinton ' s wife died on 29 August 1772 , eight days after giving birth to Harriet . It took him over a year to recover from the grief . He took his in - laws into his house , and his wife ' s sisters took over the care of his children . Patronage . Upon the death of the Duke of Newcastle , his patronage was taken up by the latter ' s son and successor Henry Pelham - Clinton . Although he was at times instrumental in advancing Clinton ' s career , the new duke ' s lack of attention and interest in politics would at time work against Clinton . Clinton also complicated their relationship by treating the young duke more as an equal than as a noble who should be respected . A second patron was King George III ' s brother the Duke of Gloucester . Clinton was appointed Gloucester ' s Groom of the Bedchamber in 1764 , a position he continued to hold for many years . However , some of Gloucester ' s indiscretions left him out of favour at court , and he was thus not an effective supporter of Clinton . Peacetime service . In 1769 Clinton ' s regiment was assigned to Gibraltar , and Clinton served as second in command to Edward Cornwallis . During this time , Newcastle asked him to see after one of his ( Newcastle ' s ) sons who was serving in the garrison . The young man , described by his father as having " " sloth " and " laziness " " and " " despicable behavior " " , was virtually unmanageable , and Clinton convinced the duke to put him into a French academy . Clinton was promoted to major general in 1772 , and in the same year he obtained a seat in Parliament through Newcastle ' s influence . He remained a Member of Parliament until 1784 , first for Boroughbridge and subsequently for Newark - on - Trent . In April 1774 he went on a military inspection tour of the Russian army in the Balkans . He inspected some of the battlefields of the Russo - Turkish War with his friend Henry Lloyd , a general in the Russian army , and had an audience with Joseph II in Vienna . He very nearly had the chance to watch an artillery bombardment , but it was called off by the onset of peace negotiations . Clinton was at one point introduced to the Turkish negotiators , of whom he wrote that " they stared a little , but were very civil . " He returned to England in October 1774 , and in February 1775 was ordered by King George to prepare for service in North America . American War of Independence . Boston . Clinton , along with Major Generals William Howe and John Burgoyne , were sent with reinforcements to strengthen the position of General Thomas Gage in Boston . They arrived on 25 May , having learned en route that the American War of Independence had broken out , and that Boston was under siege . Gage , along with Clinton and Generals Howe and Burgoyne discussed plans to break the siege . Clinton was an advocate for fortifying currently unoccupied high ground surrounding Boston , and plans were laid to occupy those spots on 18 June . However , the colonists learned of the plan and fortified the heights of the Charlestown peninsula on the night of 16 – 17 June , forcing the British leadership to rethink their strategy . In a war council held early on 17 June , the generals developed a plan calling for a direct assault on the colonial fortification , and Gage gave Howe command of the operation . Despite a sense of urgency ( the colonists were still working on the fortifications at the time of the council ) , the attack did not begin until that afternoon . Clinton was assigned the role of providing reserve forces when requested by Howe . After two assaults failed , Clinton , operating against his orders from General Gage , crossed over to Charlestown to organize wounded and dispirited troops milling around the landing area . On the third and successful assault against the redoubt on Breed ' s Hill , the position was taken and these troops , having rallied , arrived and drove the rebels back to Bunker Hill . The battle was a victory for the British , but only at the heavy cost of over 1 , 000 casualties . Clinton famously wrote of the battle that it was " A dear bought victory , another such would have ruined us . " For the remainder of 1775 the siege became little more than a standoff , with the sides either unwilling or unable to mount an effective attack on the other . After Howe took command of the forces following General Gage ' s recall in September , the two of them established a working relationship that started out well , but did not take long to begin breaking down . Howe gave Clinton the command of Charlestown , but Clinton spent most of his time in Boston . He occupied the house of John Hancock , which he scrupulously cared for . He hired a housekeeper named Mary Baddeley , the wife of a man who had supposedly been demoted because she refused an officer ' s advances . Clinton also hired Thomas Baddeley as a carpenter ; the relationship Clinton established with Mary lasted the rest of his life , although it was only platonic during his time in Boston . Cracks began to form in his relationship with Howe when plans were developed for an expedition to the southern colonies , command of which went to Clinton . He asked Howe for specific officers to accompany him and authority that an independent commander might normally have , but Howe rebuffed him on all such requests . In January 1776 , Clinton sailed south with a small fleet and 1 , 500 men to assess military opportunities in the Carolinas . During his absence his fears about the situation in Boston were realized when the Dorchester Heights were occupied and fortified by the rebels in early March , causing the British to evacuate Boston and retreat to Halifax , Nova Scotia . Campaigns in 1776 . Clinton ' s expedition to the Carolinas was expected to meet a fleet sent from Europe with more troops for operations in February 1776 . Delayed by logistics and weather , this force , which included General Charles Cornwallis as Clinton ' s second in command and Admiral Sir Peter Parker did not arrive off the North Carolina coast until May . Concluding that North Carolina was not a good base for operations , they decided to assault Charleston , South Carolina , whose defenses were reported to be unfinished . Their assault , launched in late June , was a dismal failure . Clinton ' s troops were landed on an island near Sullivan ' s Island , where the rebel colonists had their main defenses , with the expectation that the channel between the two could be waded at low tide . This turned out not to be the case , and the attack was reduced to a naval bombardment . The bombardment in its turn failed because the spongy palmetto logs used to construct the fort absorbed the force of the cannonballs without splintering and breaking . Clinton and Parker rejoined the main fleet to participate in General Howe ' s August 1776 assault on New York City . Clinton pestered Howe with a constant stream of ideas for the assault , which the commander in chief came to resent . Howe did however adopt Clinton ' s plan for attacking George Washington ' s position in Brooklyn . In the 27 August , Battle of Long Island , British forces led by Howe and Clinton , following the latter ' s plan , successfully flanked the American forward positions , driving them back into their fortifications on Brooklyn Heights . However , Howe refused Clinton ' s recommendation that they follow up the overwhelming victory with an assault on the entrenched Americans , due to a lack of intelligence as to their strength and a desire to minimize casualties . Instead , Howe besieged the position , which the Americans abandoned without loss on 29 August . General Howe was rewarded with a knighthood for his success . Howe then proceeded to take control of New York City , landing at Kip ' s Bay on Manhattan , with Clinton again in the lead . Although Clinton again suggested moves to cut Washington ' s army off , Howe rejected them . In October Clinton led the army ashore in Westchester County in a bid to trap Washington between the Hudson and Bronx Rivers . However , Washington reached White Plains before Clinton did . After a brief battle in which Washington was pushed further north , Howe turned south to consolidate control of Manhattan . By this time the relationship between the two men had broken down almost completely , with Howe , apparently fed up with Clinton ' s constant stream of criticisms and suggestions , refusing to allow Clinton even minor deviations in the army ' s marching route . In November Howe ordered Clinton to begin preparing an expedition to occupy Newport , Rhode Island , desired as a port by the Royal Navy . When Howe sent General Cornwallis into New Jersey to chase after Washington , Clinton proposed that , rather than taking Newport , his force should be landed in New Jersey in an attempt to envelop Washington ' s army . Howe rejected this advice , and Clinton sailed for Newport in early December , occupying it in the face of minimal opposition . Campaigns in 1777 . In January 1777 Clinton was given leave to return to England . Planning for the 1777 campaign season called for two campaigns , one against Philadelphia , and a second that would descend from Montreal on Lake Champlain to Albany , New York , separating the New England colonies . Since General Howe was taking leadership of the Philadelphia campaign , Clinton contested for command of the northern campaign with Burgoyne . Howe supported him this effort , but Burgoyne convinced King George and Lord Germain to give him the command . The king refused Clinton ' s request to resign , and ordered him back to New York to serve again as Howe ' s second in command . He was placated with a knighthood , but was also forbidden to publish accounts of the disastrous Charleston affair . He was formally invested in the Order of the Bath on 11 April , and sailed for New York on the 29th . When Clinton arrived in New York in July , Howe had not yet sailed for Philadelphia . Clinton was surprised and upset that he would be left to hold New York with 7 , 000 troops , dominated by Loyalist formations and Hessians , an arrangement he saw as inadequate to the task . He also quite bluntly informed Howe of the defects he saw in Howe ' s plan , which would isolate Burgoyne from any reasonable chance of support by either Howe or Clinton . He presciently wrote after learning that much of Washington ' s force had left the New York area , " I fear it bears heavy on Burgoyne . . . If this campaign does not finish the war , I prophesy that there is an end of British dominion in America . " Burgoyne ' s campaign ended in disaster ; Burgoyne was stopped at Saratoga and surrendered shortly after . Clinton attempted to support Burgoyne , but the delay in arrival of reinforcements put off the effort . In early October , Clinton captured two forts in the Hudson River highlands , and sent troops up the river toward Albany . The effort was too little and too late , and was cut off when he received orders from Howe requesting reinforcements . Howe ' s campaign for Philadelphia had been a success , but he had very nearly suffered a defeat in the Battle of Germantown . As the commander in New York , Clinton was obligated to do a certain amount of entertaining . This he did , although he chafed at the costs involved . He was eventually joined by the Baddeleys . Mary Baddeley resumed her role as housekeeper , which he appreciated in part because of her excellent managerial skills . She apparently rebuffed Clinton ' s romantic overtures until she discovered her husband had been cheating on her . Clinton procured a position in one of the Loyalist regiments for her husband , and tried without success to get him transferred out of New York . Commander in Chief . General Howe submitted his resignation as Commander - in - Chief for North America in the wake of the 1777 campaigns , and Clinton was on the short list of nominees to replace him . Despite being mistrusted by Prime Minister North , principally over his many complaints and requests to resign , Clinton was formally appointed to the post on 4 February 1778 . Word of this did not arrive until April , and Clinton assumed command in Philadelphia in May 1778 . France had by this time formally entered the war on the American side . Clinton was consequently ordered to withdraw from Philadelphia and send 5 , 000 of his troops to the economically important Caribbean . For the rest of the war , Clinton received few reinforcements as a consequence of the globalisation of the conflict . His orders were to strengthen areas of North America that were firmly under British control , and do no more than conduct raiding expeditions in the rebel - controlled areas . Owing to a shortage of transports for all of the Loyalists fleeing Philadelphia , Clinton acted against his direct orders and decided to move the army to New York by land instead of by sea . He conducted a skillful march to New York , accomplished without losing a wagon , and fighting a standoff battle with Washington ' s army at Monmouth Court House on 28 June . Clinton burnished his reputation at home by penning a report on the movement that greatly exaggerated the size of Washington ' s army and minimised the British casualties at Monmouth . Arriving in New York , he and Admiral Howe were faced with the spectre of a French fleet outside the harbour . Fortunately , Admiral d ' Estaing decided against crossing the bar into the harbour , and sailed instead for Newport . Once Clinton learned of his destination he marshalled troops to reinforce the Newport garrison while Lord Howe sailed to meet d ' Estaing . Both fleets were scattered by a storm , and the American attempt on Newport failed before Clinton arrived . Clinton sent the supporting force on a raid of nearby communities , while he returned to New York to organize the troops that were to be sent southward . The detachment to strengthen the Floridas was sent to instead strike at Georgia . This force took Savannah in December , and in January 1779 it gained a tenuous ( and ultimately temporary ) foothold at Augusta . He also detached troops for service in the West Indies , pursuant to a plan to capture St . Lucia ; the expedition was a success , compelling a French surrender not long before the French fleet arrived . During his time in Philadelphia and New York in 1778 Clinton managed to establish a harmonious relationship with William Eden , a member of the Carlisle Peace Commission . This commission , nominally led by the Earl of Carlisle had been sent in a vain attempt at reconciliation with the rebel Congress . Despite its failures , Eden and Clinton got along , and Eden promised to make sure Clinton ' s dispatches received favourable distribution in England . Politics . With the 1778 campaign season closed , Clinton considered options for action in 1779 . Although he felt that Britain would be best served by withdrawing to the frontiers , popular opinion at home , as well as that of the king and Lord Germain , dictated otherwise . Germain felt that raiding expeditions should be conducted " with spirit and humanity " to destroy American commerce and privateering ; this strategy was one Clinton disliked . Militarily , Clinton and Washington did little more than stare at each other across the lines of New York City . Clinton ordered two major raiding expeditions , one against Connecticut , the other against Chesapeake Bay , while Washington detached troops to deal with the increasing frontier war , which was primarily orchestrated from Quebec . Early in 1779 Clinton sent his trusted aide , Lieutenant Duncan Drummond , to England in order to argue Clinton ' s request to be recalled . Drummond was unsuccessful in this : despite the intervention of the Duke of Newcastle , the king refused to even consider granting Clinton leave , claiming that Clinton was " the only man who might still save America " . William Eden also interceded in an attempt to improve Clinton ' s situation , but political divisions in the government and the prospect of Spanish entry into the war meant that Clinton ended up with very little support . Clinton also complained about the lack of naval support being provided by Admiral James Gambier , with whom he also had a difficult relationship . He eventually sent London a list of admirals he thought he could work with ; none of them were chosen , and Gambier was replaced temporarily by George Collier before his permanent replacement , Mariot Arbuthnot , arrived . After the Chesapeake raid Clinton drove the Americans from a key crossing of the Hudson River at Stony Point , New York . Clinton had hoped that , with an expected reinforcement of troops from Europe , he could then attack either Washington ' s army or its supply lines , forcing Washington out of his well - defended mountain positions . However , the reinforcements , including Admiral Arbuthnot , were late in arriving , and Stony Point was retaken by the Americans after Clinton weakened its garrison to supply men for the Connecticut raids . The Americans chose not to hold Stony Point , and Clinton reoccupied it . However , Clinton ' s opponents used the American success to criticise him , calling him " undetermined " and " feeble " . A similar action against a British outpost in New Jersey gave them further ammunition , and soured British morale . Further actions from New York were rendered impossible by the need for the naval squadron to address the American expedition to dislodge a newly established British outpost in Penobscot Bay . On 30 June 1779 Clinton issued what has become known as the Philipsburg Proclamation ( so named because it was issued from his headquarters at the Philipsburg Manor House in Westchester County , New York ) . This proclamation institutionalized in the British Army an offer of freedom to enlisted runaway slaves that had first been made in a similar proclamation by Virginia Governor Lord Dunmore in 1775 . He justified this offer by citing the fact that the Continental Army was also actively recruiting African Americans . The proclamation led to a flood of fugitive slaves making their way to British lines to take advantage of the offer , and the issue of slave repatriation would complicate Anglo - American relations as the war was ending . Southern strategy . Clinton ' s relationship with Arbuthnot got off to a bad start . Rumors of a French fleet headed for northern ports ( Halifax , Newport , or New York ) pulled the leaders in different directions , and put off plans to withdraw from Newport for the purposes of strengthening the New York garrison ( which had been weakened by disease ) on at least one occasion . However , the French instead besieged Savannah , Georgia with American assistance , and failed disastrously in the attempt . This convinced Clinton that an expedition against South Carolina held promise ; Loyalist support was said to be strong there , and the people were said to be " sick of their opposition to government " and the British blockade of their ports . Clinton began to assemble a force an expedition to take Charleston , withdrawing the forces from Newport for the purpose . Clinton took personal command of this campaign , and the task force with 14 , 000 men sailed south from New York at the end of the year . By early 1780 , Clinton had brought Charleston under siege . In May , working together with Admiral Arbuthnot , he forced the surrender of the city , with its garrison of 5 , 000 , in a stunning and serious defeat for the rebel cause . Arbuthnot and Clinton did not work together well during the siege , and their feuding lasted into 1781 , with disastrous results for the unity of the British high command . Clinton ' s relationship with Cornwallis also deteriorated further during the siege , improving slightly after the American surrender and Clinton ' s departure for New York . From New York , he oversaw the campaign in the South , and his correspondence to Cornwallis through the war showed an active interest in the affairs of his southern army . However , as the campaign progressed , he grew further and further away from his subordinate . As the campaign drew to a close , the correspondence became more and more acrimonious . Part of this may be due to George Germain , whose correspondence with Cornwallis may have convinced the junior officer to start disregarding the orders of his superior and consider himself to be an independent command . In 1782 , after fighting in the North American theater ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown , Clinton was replaced as Commander - in - Chief by Sir Guy Carleton , and he returned to England . Later career . In 1783 , he published a " Narrative of the Campaign of 1781 in North America " in which he attempted to lay the blame for the 1781 campaign failures on General Cornwallis . This was met with a public response by Cornwallis , who leveled his own criticisms at Clinton . Clinton also resumed his seat in Parliament , serving until 1784 . Not much is known about what Sir Henry did from 1784 until he was re - elected to Parliament in 1790 for Launceston , a pocket borough controlled by his cousin Newcastle . Three years later , in October 1793 , Clinton was promoted to full general . The following July he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar , but he died at Portland Place before he was able to assume that post . Legacy . Sir Henry Clinton held the command in America for four years , ending in disaster and defeat . As a result , he was widely seen to share in the blame for the defeat . Biographer William Willcox , in his analysis of Clinton ' s tenure in North America , observes that at times " Sir Henry ' s ideas were not carried out for reasons that lay to some extent within himself " , and that he and Admiral Graves " apparently ignored the danger " of de Grasse in 1781 . However , Willcox notes that campaign plans Clinton formulated for 1777 , 1779 and 1780 were frustrated by external events he could not control , and Willcox generally blames Cornwallis for the failure of the Carolina campaign . ( In contrast , Cornwallis biographers Franklin and Mary Wickwire point out that Cornwallis ' failures are at least partially attributable to directives of Clinton that left him with relatively inadequate troop strength and irregular supply lines . ) Major James Wemyss , who served under Clinton , wrote that he was " an honourable and respectable officer of the German school ; having served under Prince Ferdinand of Prussia and the Duke of Brunswick . Vain , open to flattery ; and from a great aversion to all business not military , too often misled by aides and favourites " , but also pointed out that Clinton ' s interests were narrow and that he was crippled by self - distrust . Colonel Sir Charles Stuart described him as " fool enough to command an army when he is incapable of commanding a troop of horse . " Historian Piers Mackesy writes that he was " a very capable general in the field . " Letters from General Sir Henry Clinton during the Revolutionary War can be found in the political papers of his cousin , Henry Pelham - Clinton , in the Newcastle ( Clumber ) Collection held at Manuscripts and Special Collections , The University of Nottingham .