Horatio Gates

Uncommon card · No. 109112

Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727 – April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer and politician who served in the British and Continental armies. During the American Revolutionary War, he led the Continental Army to victory at the 1777 Battles of Saratoga. However, his career was subsequently tarnished when he was defeated by the British at the 1780 Battle of Camden. Gates has been described as "one of the Revolution's most controversial military figures" due to his role in the Conway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replace George Washington as the Continental Army's commander-in-chief, along with his controversial actions at Saratoga and Camden. Gates was born in Maldon, Essex, and served as a British Army officer during the War of the Austrian Succession and French and Indian War. He became frustrated by his inability to advance in rank, so he sold his commission and bought a slave plantation in the colony of Virginia. On Washington's recommendation, the Continental...

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