George Germain , 1st Viscount Sackville George Germain , 1st Viscount Sackville PC ( 26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785 ) , styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720 , Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782 , was a British soldier and politician who was Secretary of State for America in Lord North ' s cabinet during the American War of Independence . His ministry received much of the blame for Britain ' s loss of thirteen American colonies . His issuance of detailed instructions in military matters , coupled with his failure to understand either the geography of the colonies or the determination of the colonists , may justify this conclusion . He had two careers . His military career had distinction , serving in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War including at the decisive Battle of Minden , but ended with a court martial . His political career ended with the fall of the North government in March 1782 . Background and education . Born Lord George Sackville , he was the third son of Lionel Sackville , 1st Duke of Dorset , and his wife Elizabeth , daughter of Lieutenant - General Walter Philip Colyear . His Godfather George I attended his baptism . He was educated at Westminster School in London and graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 1737 . Between 1730 and 1737 his father held the post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . While in Dublin he made friends with the celebrated writer Jonathan Swift . He also encountered Lord Ligonier who would later assist his career in the military . He then entered the army . Sackville was elected Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1751 , serving in this post for the next two years . Family . He married Diana Sambrooke , daughter of John Sambrooke and Elizabeth Forester , on 3 September 1754 . They had two children : Early military career . Sackville started as a Captain in the 7th Horse ( later the 6th Dragoon Guards ) . In 1740 , he transferred to the Gloucestershire Regiment of Foot as a Lieutenant Colonel . The regiment was sent to Germany to participate in the War of the Austrian Succession . In 1743 . Sackville was advanced to brevet Colonel . Battle of Fontenoy . He saw his first battle , leading the charge of the Duke of Cumberland ' s infantry in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 . He led his regiment so deep into the French lines that when he was wounded and captured he was taken to the tent of Louis XV . When he was released and returned home , it was to duty in Scotland as the Colonel of the 20th Foot Regiment . In 1747 and 1748 , he again joined the Duke of Cumberland . He became Colonel of the 7th Irish horse and served in Holland . There was a break in his military career between wars when he served as first secretary to his father and as a Member of Parliament ( MP ) in the Irish House of Commons for Portarlington from 1733 until 1761 . During the Seven Years ' War , George returned to active military service . He had been considered for the post of Commander - in - Chief in North America which eventually went to Edward Braddock who led his force to disaster during the Braddock Campaign . In 1755 , he was promoted to Major General and returned to active service to oversee ordnance . In 1758 , he was given a fourth regiment and joined the Duke of Marlborough as a Lieutenant General . He was sworn of the Privy Council in January 1758 . Raid on St Malo . In June 1758 Sackville was second in command of a British expedition led by Marlborough which attempted an amphibious Raid on St Malo . While it failed to take the town as instructed , the raid was still considered to have been largely successful as a diversion . Follow - up raids were considered against Le Havre , Caen and other targets in Normandy but no further landings were attempted and the force returned home . Later in 1758 they joined the allied forces of Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick in Germany , with the first detachment of British troops sent to the Continent . When Marlborough died , Sackville became Commander of the British contingent of the army , although still under the overall command of the Duke of Brunswick . Battle of Minden . In the Battle of Minden on 1 August 1759 , British and Hanoverian infantry of the centre made an advance on the French cavalry and artillery in that sector . They apparently went in without orders and their attacking line formation even repulsed repeated French cavalry charges , holding until the last moment then firing a massive volley when the charge came within ten yards . As the disrupted French began to fall back on Minden , Ferdinand called for a British cavalry charge to complete the victory , but Sackville withheld permission for their advance . Ferdinand sent his order several times , but Sackville was estranged from Lord Granby , the force commander . He continued to withhold permission for Granby to " gain glory " through an attack . For this action , he was cashiered and sent home . Granby replaced him as commander of the British contingent for the remainder of the war . Court martial . Sackville refused to accept responsibility for refusing to obey orders . Back in England , he demanded a court martial , and made it a large enough issue that he obtained his demand in 1760 . The court found him guilty , and imposed one of the strangest and strongest verdicts ever rendered against a general officer . The court ' s verdict not only upheld his discharge , but ruled that he was " " . . . unfit to serve his Majesty in any military capacity whatsoever " " , then ordered that their verdict be read to and entered in the orderly book of every regiment in the Army . The king had his name struck from the Privy Council rolls . Early Political career . Sackville had been a Member of Parliament at intervals since 1741 . He had served terms in both the Dublin and the Westminster bodies , sometimes simultaneously , but had not taken sides in political wrangles . When George III took the throne in 1760 Sackville began his political rehabilitation . There did not seem to be negative repercussions to the European stalemate of the Seven Years War . The victories over the French within the colonial empire provided a chance for events of the war to be forgotten . The difficulty of repaying the debts incurred to fight the war caused a period of unstable ministries and shifting political alliances . In 1765 , King George quietly returned him to the rolls of the Privy Council . Initially he was a follower of George Grenville ' s faction but he increasingly lined up as a supporter of Lord North and , in 1769 , he made this alliance formal . Then , in 1769 , Lady Elizabeth Germain died without natural heirs , and left her estates to him . This not only improved his finances , it also gave him the chance to take that name formally . After 1770 , he was known as Lord George Germain . Secretary of State . Appointment . On 10 November 1775 , Germain was appointed Secretary of State for the American Department replacing Lord Dartmouth in the post . At that time , North ' s cabinet had three secretaries of state ; one each for Europe ( the Northern Department ) , America , and the rest of the world ( the Southern Department ) . Besides international relations , these secretaries were responsible for a great deal of Colonial administration and for military operations within their area . This made Germain the primary minister responsible for suppressing the rebellion that had broken out in 1775 in the colonies . He promoted or relieved Generals , took care of provisions and supplies , and became involved with the strategic planning of the war . American War of Independence . Sackville and Lord North made three assumptions about the war they were about to face : firstly , the American forces could not withstand the assaults of the British ; secondly , the war would be similar to wars they had fought successfully in Europe ; and lastly , their victory would bring about their goal of having the colonies ' allegiance . All of their assumptions proved to be false , with the limited and unhelpful exception of the first , in that the American forces usually could not withstand the assaults of the British in open battle but instead adopted other , more successful , tactics . In 1776 he worked with General Burgoyne to plan , support and issue orders for the Saratoga campaign . However , his unclear orders to General Howe contributed to the campaign ' s failure . Following the entry of France , Spain and the Dutch Republic into the conflict , British emphasis shifted to focus increasingly on a global war . British troops were withdrawn from Philadelphia and reinforcements were sent to the valuable sugar - producing West Indies . In 1779 one of Germain ' s associates , Richard Cumberland was sent to Madrid for talks designed to reach a separate peace settlement with Spain , but this attempt failed . Yorktown . In 1781 , the confusion between orders for Cornwallis and Clinton contributed to the loss at Yorktown . The news of Yorktown reached London on 25 November 1781 and the messenger went first to Germain ' s residence at Pall Mall . Germain then went to tell other ministers . Together they went to Lord North who reportedly cried out " Oh God - It ' s all over " . It was agreed that Germain , rather than North , should take the news to the King who was at Kew . The King ' s Speech two days later had to be re - written in light of Yorktown . News of the surrender galvanised the Opposition and government majorities began to shrink over the following months with calls for resignations of senior ministers . Germain drew up a plan to continue the war using the existing British bases in Charleston , New York , Savannah and Canada to harass the American coastline and frontiers . He also advocated re - occupying Newport in Rhode Island to give a foothold in New England . Departure from office . Germain became a target for the opposition , and was eventually persuaded to step down in exchange for a peerage , and in February 1782 he was made Baron Bolebrooke , in the County of Sussex , and Viscount Sackville , of Drayton in the County of Northampton . This was considered essential if the North government was to survive by bringing in factions of the opposition , to whom Germain was personally objectionable . He was replaced by Welbore Ellis . In spite of Germain ' s departure , the North government fell shortly afterwards in February 1782 and was followed by a period of political instability . Shortly after the fall of the North government , news arrived of the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean which would have boosted the government had it still been in power . The Shelburne government agreed the Peace of Paris , bringing an end to the war in 1783 and recognising the independence of the United States . Later life . The controversy over Lord Sackville ' s handling of the war continued . Some members were opposed to his taking a seat in the House of Lords , an almost unprecedented incident . In spite of this he was admitted to the Lords , where he was staunchly defended by Lord Thurlow , and his declining health soon made the issue irrelevant . He retired to his country home at Stoneland Lodge in Sussex , and died there in 1785 . He maintained to his dying day that he had not been a coward at Minden . Following his death , a defence of Sackville ' s reputation " The character of the late Viscount Sackville " was written by Richard Cumberland .