Thomas Gage - Return To Britain

Return To Britain

On 25 June 1775, Thomas Gage wrote a dispatch to Britain, notifying Lord Dartmouth of the results of the battle on 17 June. Three days after his report arrived in England, Dartmouth issued the order recalling Gage and replacing him with William Howe. The rapidity of this action is likely attributable to the fact that people within the government were already arguing for Gage's removal, and the battle was just the final straw. Gage received the order in Boston on 26 September, and set sail for England on 11 October.

The nature of Dartmouth's recall order did not actually strip Gage of his offices immediately. William Howe temporarily replaced him as commander of the forces in Boston, while General Guy Carleton was given command of the forces in Quebec. Although King George wanted to reward his "mild general" for his service, Gage's sole reward after Lord Germain (who succeeded Dartmouth as the Secretary of State for North America) formally gave his command to Howe in April 1776 was that he retained the governorship of Massachusetts.

On the Gages' return to England, the family eventually settled into a house on Portland Place in London. Although he was presumably given a friendly reception in his interview with a sympathetic King George, the public and private writings about him and his fall from power were at times vicious. One correspondent wrote that Gage had "run his race of glory ... damn him! let him alone to the hell of his own conscience and the infamy which must inevitably attend him!" Others were kinder; New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth characterised him as "a good and wise man ... surrounded by difficulties."

Gage was briefly reactivated to duty in April 1781, when Amherst appointed him to mobilise troops for a possible French invasion. The next year, Gage assumed command of the 17th Light Dragoons. He was promoted to full general on 20 November 1782, and later transferred to command the 11th Dragoons.