biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1731–82)
|
| biography:
| American soldier, born in Dernhall, Cheshire, NWC England, UK. A British officer and soldier of fortune who settled permanently in America in 1773, he was appointed a major general in the Continental army (1775) and participated in several actions. Taken prisoner by the British (Dec 1776), he was held in New York City for a year, and seems to have given the British a plan to defeat the Americans. Exchanged in 1778, he was allowed to return to duty, but after he led his troops in a retreat during the Battle of Monmouth, he was court-martialled (1778), found guilty on three counts, and suspended from the army for one year. Having for some time regarded George Washington as his enemy, he used his persuasive powers to gain some supporters in the Continental Congress, but after fighting a duel with Colonel John Laurens, a defender of Washington's name, and writing an insulting letter to Congress, he was dismissed from the army in 1780. |
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