Read complete books and articles on: Charles Cornwallis

Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess - côrnwälˈĭs, 1738–1805, English general and statesman. He was commissioned an ensign in the British army in 1756 and saw service in Europe in the Seven Years War. As a member of Parliament (which he entered in 1760), he opposed the tax measures that helped bring on the American Revolution. When the war came, however, he placed himself at the king's service and was sent (1776) to America. He served under Gen. William Howe at the battle of Long Island, in the New Jersey campaigns, and at the battle of Brandywine, acquitting himself with credit in all the engagements. In 1778, Cornwallis became second in command to Sir Henry Clinton, British commander in America. Two years later Cornwallis began the fateful Carolina campaign, which led directly to the Yorktown campaign and the major British defeat that in 1781 ended the fighting. Cornwallis was not held responsible for the disaster and in 1786 became governor-general of India. There he reformed the civil service and the judiciary and distinguished himself in the campaigns against Tippoo Sahib of Mysore. He was created a marquess in 1792 and returned to England in 1794. In 1798, Cornwallis was sent to Ireland as viceroy and commander in chief, and he was stern in repressing the rebellion there in the same year. He worked to achieve the Act of Union (1800), which initiated the unhappy experiment of uniting the Irish and British parliaments, but he resigned (1801) with William Pitt when George III refused to accept Catholic Emancipation. Cornwallis was then commissioned British minister plenipotentiary and helped to draw up the Treaty of Amiens (1802), which temporarily halted the war with Napoleonic France. In 1805 he was again appointed governor-general of India, but he died two months after his arrival there.

See his correspondence (ed. by C. Ross, 3 vol., 1859); A. Aspinall, Cornwallis in Bengal (1931); F. and M. Wickwire, Cornwallis: The American Adventure (1970).

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7 of the Best Books and Articles on: Charles Cornwallis

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Cornwallis: The Imperial Years » Read Now
by Mary Wickwire, Franklin Wickwire. 342 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
2.

Triumph of Freedom: 1775-1783 (Chap. XXV "The Exploits of Lord Cornwallis") » Read Now
by John C. Miller. 720 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

Nathanael Greene: Strategist of the American Revolution (Chap. Thirteen "Cornwallis Foiled") » Read Now
by Theodore Thayer. 500 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
4.

The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis, 1781 » Read Now
by Henry P. Johnston. 206 pgs.

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5.

The War for America: 1775-1783 (Chap. XXII "Cornwallis Led a Country Dance") » Read Now
by Piers Mackesy. 566 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

"Mackesy's War for America still stands as the classic account of the British conduct of the American Revolutionary War. Based on extensive research in British archives, it embodies the mature judgments of a masterful military historian."-John W. Shy. "An important book that no serious student of...
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"Mackesy's War for America still stands as the classic account of the British conduct of the American Revolutionary War. Based on extensive research in British archives, it embodies the mature judgments of a masterful military historian."-John W. Shy. "An important book that no serious student of the War of Independence can afford to neglect."-American Historical Review.The events of the American Revolution signified by Lexington, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Saratoga, and Yorktown are familiar to American readers. Far less familiar is the fact that, for the British, the American colonies were only one front in a world war. England was also pitted against France and Spain. Not always in command of the seas and threatened with invasion, England tried grimly for eight years to subdue its rebellious colonies; to hold Canada, the West Indies, India, and Gibraltar; and to divide its European enemies. In this vivid history Piers Mackesy views the American Revolution from the standpoint of the British government and the British military leaders as they attempted to execute an overseas war of great complexity. Their tactical response to the American Revolution is now comprehensible, seen as part of a grand imperial strategy.Piers Mackesy is a noted historian who lives in Scotland. John W. Shy is a professor of history at the University of Michigan.
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6.

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Discussion of Charles Cornwallis begins on p. 451) » Read Now
by Robert Middlekauff. 696 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

'The Glorious Cause' is a compelling account of the American colonies' struggle for independence. Middlekauff charts the growing conflict between England and America--the political and personal controversies within the halls of Parliament to establish a viable colonial policy--to the ultimate...
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'The Glorious Cause' is a compelling account of the American colonies' struggle for independence. Middlekauff charts the growing conflict between England and America--the political and personal controversies within the halls of Parliament to establish a viable colonial policy--to the ultimate outbreak of military confrontation in 1775 and 1776.
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7.

The Central Administration of the East India Company, 1773-1834 (Includes discussion of Charles Cornwallis in multiple chapters) » Read Now
by B. B. Misra. 476 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library