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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
Gates, Horatio, was born in Maiden, Es-
sex, England, in 1728, in the Castle of the
Duke of Leeds: little is known of his par-
entage except rumors that he was the
natural son of Sir Robert W'alpole, and
others that made his father the butler in
the employ of the Duke. He was trained
as a soldier and first saw service under Fer-
dinand the Prince of Brunswick. He next
appears as captain of the King's New York
irsdependent company and in 1755, at Hali-
fax as major. He was with Braddock at
Fort Duquesne, July 9, 1755, where he was
severely wounded and Washington is cred-
ited with having saved his life in the re-
treat. In 1762 he was at the capture of
Martinique by Monckton, and after visiting
England in 1763 he purchased a plantation
in Berkeley county, Virginia. Washington,
when in 1775 called upon by congress to
select officers for the continental army,
named Gates, who was commissioned ad-
jutant-general, with the rank of brigadier-
general. In 1776 he accompanied Wash-
ington to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and
was commanding-general of the northern
aimy operating against Crown Point and
Ticonderoga. He won the support of the
delegates to congress from the New Eng-
land states, and was given the rank of ma-
jor-general and superseded not only Gen.
John Sullivan, but in August, 1777, Gen.
Phillip J. Schuyler. The New England con-
tingent still further pressed their demands
by openly suggesting Gates as commander-
in-chief. The battle of Saratoga, which re-
sulted in the surrender of Burgoyne to
Gates. October 17, 1777, served to magnify
his military genius, and congress voted him
a gold medal and the thanks of the country
and placed him at the head of the board of
war. The opportunity thus presented to
the friends of Gates was taken advantage
of by the delegates of New England, and the
cabal against the commander-in-chiei was
renewed with the object of forcing Wash-
ington into retirement and thus making
place for Gates. Gen. Thomas Conway and
Gen. Thomas Mifflin conspired with Gen.
Gates, and their correspondence revealed to
Washington by Lord Stirling and obtained
by him from Col. James Wilkinson, Gates'
chief-of-staff, in a moment of unguarded
conviviality, put the commander-in-chief on
his guard, and he exposed the whole affair.
Gates sought to escape the odium by charg-
mg Wilkinson with forger\% whereupon
Col. W^ilkinson challenged Gen. Gates who
first accepted and finally declined the chal-
lenge. Gates retired to his estate in Vir-
ginia and took no part in the operations of
the army until June, 1780, when after the
capture of Gen. Lincoln, he was. given com-
mand of the southern army. His force of
4,000 men was concentrated in North Caro-
lina to oppose Cornwallis. who was rapidli
marching northward. On August 16, the
armies met at Camden, South Carolina, and
Gates was overwhelmed and his army al-
most annihilated. He was thereupon super-
seded by Gen. Nathanael Greene, and sus-
pended in December, 1780, from military
duty. A court of inquiry acquitted him in
1782 and he was reinstated. He removed
to New York City in 1790 after having
emancipated his slaves. He was a member
of the New York state legislature in 1800.
He was, through his marriage with Mary,
only child of James Valence of Liverpool,
placed in possession of a fortune of $450,000
which Mrs. Gates used during the revolu-
tion in advancing the military fortune of
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