Lord Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquis Cornwallis: Lieutenant General of the British Army

Ironically, as an influential member of the British Parliament, Lord Charles Cornwallis opposed nearly all of the British policies that led to the American Revolution. But he was a loyal solider and well connected. Hed been in the army since he was eighteen, and had fought in Germany during the Seven Years War. When the call to serve in the Revolution came in 1775, he accepted a military command as a major general.

Cornwallis, along with Clinton, played a huge role in nearly destroying Washingtons army in the early battles of Long Island (August 1776.) Cornwallis was a major opponent of Washington throughout the war. Washington did get the best of Cornwallis in the winter of 1776-1777 at Princeton, New Jersey. However, Cornwallis paid Washington back with a tremendous performance at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, in September 1777, that led to the fall of Philadelphia.

Cornwallis had been impressive throughout the first part of the Revolution, but once Clinton was put in charge and Cornwallis sent south, the famous fighting general made some of the most strategic blunders of the Revolution. Those blunders, helped along by Nathaniel Greenes brilliant strategy for the Americans, ultimately led Cornwallis to Yorktown, where Washington and the French finally finished it for good.

After the war, Cornwallis was made Governor-General and sent to India as Commander in Chief from 1786-1793. Later he was sent to Ireland. Then, in 1805, he was once more sent to India, where ill health got the best of him. He died on October 5.

Cornwallis received nearly zero blame for the British catastrophe at Yorktown at the time. In fact, he is still considered one of Great Britains top generals in many quarters. Regardless of the controversy, history has forever put Cornwallis name in booksas the man who surrendered to George Washington on October 17, 1781, and helped make way for the birth of the United States.