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Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, KG, PC (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and the United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading British general officers in the American War of Independence .
Portrait of Lord Cornwallis is a 1783 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Gainsborough depicting the British general Charles, Earl Cornwallis. [ 1 ] Cornwallis had recently served in the American War of Independence where he commanded British and Loyalist American forces during the Southern Campaign.
Cornwallis's parents lived much of the time in London, his father being a Royalist and an Equerry to Charles I, while his mother was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen. With his parents busy at Court, Cornwallis and his three siblings were raised at Culford Hall by their grandmother, Lady Jane, who was by then married to her second husband, Sir ...
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis PC (28 December 1655 – 29 April 1698) [1] was a British politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, in which capacity he personally served as Colonel of the Suffolk Militia Horse in 1692. [2]
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull Charles, Earl Cornwallis (1738–1805) was a military officer who served in the British Army during the American War of Independence . He is best known for surrendering his army after the 1781 siege of Yorktown , an act that ended major hostilities in North America and led directly to peace ...
His grandfather was Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis, who was the MP for Eye (1660-1662). Between 1695 and 1698, he sat as Member of Parliament for Eye, as a Whig. He held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk between 1698 and 1703, and the office of Joint Postmaster-General between 1715 and 1721.
Lord Camden had suggested Cornwallis for the position of Commander-in-Chief as early as 1797, since he was unhappy with Lake's heavy-handed leadership. Cornwallis refused this initial offer because the position was subservient to that of the Lord Lieutenant, which he felt would diminish its effectiveness.
Baron Cornwallis is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The holders of the first creation were later made Earl Cornwallis and Marquess Cornwallis, but these titles are now extinct. For information on the first creation, see the Earl Cornwallis.