Gage, Thomas (1721-1787)
English general and the last royal governor of Massachusetts. In 1763, he was made commander in chief of the British forces in America. His inflexible character led the British government to regard him as well fitted to end the disturbances in the American colonies. In 1774, he was nominated governor of Massachusetts, a post of peculiar difficulties.
In April 1775, he dispatched an expedition to seize a quantity of arms which had been stored at Concord. On the way thither, the detachment came upon a number of militia drilling and attacked them because of their refusal to lay down arms. This encounter, known as the battle of Lexington, was the signal for a general uprising throughout the colonies. On June 17, the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, which resulted in a dearly bought victory for the English; but numerous complaints being lodged against Gage, he was recalled by the British government in October 1775.
~ The Lincoln Library of Essential Information, Volume 2, Thirty-Fifth Edition, 1972, Biography, Page 1816.
You can visit the memorial page for Thomas Gage.
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