Thomas Gage

General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/19 – 2 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British commander-in-chief in the early days of the American Revolution.

General Thomas Gage
Portrait by John Singleton Copley, c. 1768
Governor of Massachusetts Bay
In office 13 May 1774 – 11 October 1775
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Thomas Hutchinson
Succeeded by	Vacant (American Revolution) John Hancock (as Governor of Massachusetts)
Commander-in-Chief, North America
In office September 1763 – June 1775
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	Jeffery Amherst
Succeeded by	Frederick Haldimand
Military Governor of Quebec
In office 1760–1763
Preceded by	François-Pierre Rigaud de Vaudreuil
Succeeded by	Ralph Burton
Personal details
Born	10 March 1718/19 Firle, Sussex, England
Died	2 April 1787 (aged 67–68) Portland Place, London, England
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Margaret Kemble Gage (m. 1758)
Profession	Military officer, official
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Great Britain
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	1741–1775 1781–1782
Rank	General
Commands	80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot Military governor of Montreal Commander-in-Chief, North America
Battles/wars	War of the Austrian Succession Battle of Fontenoy Jacobite rising of 1745 Battle of Culloden French and Indian War Braddock Expedition Battle of the Monongahela Battle of Carillon Pontiac's Rebellion American Revolutionary War Battles of Lexington and Concord Siege of Boston Battle of Bunker Hill

Thomas Gage, on February 20, 1773, already communicated to the governor of Louisiana, Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga 'le Conciliateur', his intention to return to the United Kingdom with his family, a fact that occurred 4 months later, in June Therefore, Gage was not present when the Boston Tea Party took place in December of that year, a city in which both Gage and Unzaga left confidants to be informed by their respective spy networks.

Thomas Gage Media

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  An engraved portrait of Gage

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  A 1776 artist's rendition of Robert Rogers, whose likeness was never made from life

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  An artistic interpretation of Chief Pontiac by John Mix Stanley. No authentic images of the chief are known to exist.

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  Margaret Kemble Gage, c. 1771. She was suspected by some of her contemporaries and by later historians of harbouring sympathies for the Patriot cause, and of supplying intelligence to Patriot leaders.

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  Miniature of Gage by Jeremiah Meyer, R.A., c. 1775

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  Arms_of_the_Gage_family_of_Hengrave

Notes

• Alden, John R (1948). General Gage in America. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8371-2264-9. OCLC 181362.
• Anderson, Fred (2000). Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. New York: Alfred Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-40642-3. OCLC 237426391.
• Billias, George Athan (1969). George Washington's Opponents. New York: William Morrow. OCLC 11709.
• Burke, Sir Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P (1914). General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage. London: Burke's Peerage Limited. OCLC 2790692.
• Dowd, Gregory Evans (2002). War under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, & the British Empire. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-7079-8. OCLC 464447070. ISBN 0-8018-7892-6 (paperback).
• Fischer, David Hackett (1995). Paul Revere's Ride. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509831-5. OCLC 28418785.
• Hinman, Bonnie (2002). Thomas Gage: British General (paperback ed.). Philadelphia: Chelsea House. ISBN 0-7910-6385-2. OCLC 427185274.
• Ketchum, Richard (1999). Decisive Day: The Battle of Bunker Hill. New York: Owl Books. ISBN 0-385-41897-3. OCLC 24147566. (Paperback: ISBN 0-8050-6099-5)
• Sheppard, Ruth (2006). Empires Collide: The French and Indian War 1754–63. Oxford and New York: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-089-5. OCLC 74811470.
• Shy, John (1990). A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-09431-8. OCLC 156898252.
• Stark, James Henry (1907). The Loyalists of Massachusetts and the Other Side of the American Revolution. Boston: J. H. Stark. OCLC 1655711.
•   "Gage, Thomas (1721–1787)". Dictionary of National Biography 20. (1889). Ed. Leslie Stephen. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1883. New York: New York Historical Society. 1884. OCLC 1605190.

Other websites

Official

• Thomas Gage papers at the William L. Clements Library

General information

• "Archival material relating to Thomas Gage". UK National Archives.
• Thomas Gage at Find a Grave
• Works by Thomas Gage at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Thomas Gage in libraries (WorldCat catalog)