Death and Legacy
In 1805 Cornwallis was reappointed Governor-General of India by Pitt (who had again become Prime Minister), this time to curb the expansionist activity of Lord Wellesley (older brother of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington). He arrived in India in July 1805, and died on 5 October of a fever at Gauspur in Ghazipur, at that time in the Varanasi kingdom. Cornwallis was buried there, overlooking the Ganges River, where his memorial is a protected monument maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Today Cornwallis is remembered primarily in the United States as the British commander who surrendered at Yorktown. Because of the enormous significance of the siege in American history he is still fairly well known in the United States, and is often referenced in popular culture. In the 1835 novel Horse-Shoe Robinson by John Pendleton Kennedy, a historical romance set against the background of the Southern campaigns in the American War of Independence, Cornwallis appears and interacts with the fictional characters in the book. He is depicted as courtly in manner, but tolerant or even supportive of brutal practices against those found deficient among his own forces and against enemy prisoners. In the 2000 film The Patriot about the events leading up to Yorktown, Cornwallis was portrayed by English actor Tom Wilkinson.
In Ireland Cornwallis achieved a notoriety that lasts to this day because of the execution of rebel prisoners after the Battle of Ballinamuck. His legacy also includes the Wicklow Military Road (now the R115) through the Wicklow Mountains. Fictional accounts of the rebellion, such as The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan, feature Cornwallis.
In India he is remembered for his victory against Tipu Sultan in the Mysore war and his promulgation of revenue and judicial acts. Fort Cornwallis, founded in 1786 in George Town, Prince of Wales Island (now the island part of the Malaysian state of Penang), is named for him.
A building is named after him at the University of Kent, as are boarding houses at The Royal Hospital School and Culford School in Suffolk. Statue of Cornwallis can be seen in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Fort Museum, Fort St. George, Chennai and in the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata.
Read more about this topic: Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
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