Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/273

 GATES

GATES

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under Ferdinand the Prince of Brunswick. He next appears as captain of the King's New York independent companj- and in 1755 at Halifax as major. He was with Braddock at Fort Dmiuesne, July 9, 1755, where lie was severely wounded, and Washington is credited with having saved his life in the retreat of the remnant of the ill- fated expedition. In 1763 he was at the capture of Martinique by George Monckton, and after visiting England in 1763, he piuchased a planta- tion in Berkeley county, Va. His .sol- dierly qualities and bearing attracted the attention of Wash- ington, and when in 1775 he was called upon by congress to select officers for the continental army, he named Gates, who was commissioned adjutant-general with the rank of brigadier-general. In 1776 he accompanied Washington to Cambridge, Mass., and was made commanding-genei'al of the north- ern army operating against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. He won the support of the dele- gates to congress from the New England states, and through their influence he was given the rank of major-general in the American army and superseded not only Gen. John Sullivan, but in August, 1777, Gen. Phillip J. Schuyler, who had taken his place in the command of the northern army in May of the same year. The New Eng- land contingent still further pressed their de- mands for the control of the army by openly suggesting the name of Gates as the commander- in-chief. The battle of Saratoga, in which Schuy- ler, Morgan and Ai-nold took so conspicuous a part and which resulted in the surrender of Bur- goyne to Gates, Oct. 17, 1777, served to magnify his "military genius, and congress voted him a gold medal and the thanks of the countrj' and placed him at the head of the board of war, wliich made him second in rank to Washington. The opportunity thus presented to the friends of Gates was taken advantage of by the dele- gates from New England, and the cabal against the commander-in-chief, raised by disaiTected officers of the American army, was renew'ed with the object of forcing W^ashington into retirement and thus making place for Gates. Gen. Thomas Conwaj' and Gen. Thomas Slifflin conspired with General Gates, and their correspondence revealed to Washington by Lord Stirling and obtained by him from Col. James Wilkinson, Gates's chiefof-

staff, in a moment of unguarded conviviality, put the commander-in-chief on his guard, and he exposed the whole affair. Gates sought to escape the odium by charging Wilkinson with forgery, whereupon Colonel Wilkinson challenged Gen- eral Gates who first accepted and finallj' declined the challenge. This action weakened the faith of his friends in his manhood and courage. Con- way's correspondence was found to have been extensive and his plot to destroy Washington carefully planned. General Cadwallader as a" friend of Washington challenged the author of the cabal, and when they met wounded him in the mouth. In his supposed dying moments Con- way wrote to Washington confessing his guilt and expressing sincere grief for his act. Gates had retired to his estate in Virginia upon the ex- pose and took no part in the operations of the army until June, 1780, when after the capture of General Lincoln, he was given command of the southern army. His force of 4000 men was con- centrated in North Carolina to oppose the march of Cornwallis, who, with his victorious army, was rapidly marching northward. On August 16, the two armies met at Camden, S.C., and Gates was overwhelmed and his army almost annihi- lated. He was thereupon superseded by Gen. Nathanael Greene, and suspended in December, 1780. from military duty. A court of inquiry instituted to investigate his military conduct, after a tardy trial finally acquitted him in 1782 and he was reinstated in the army. He removed from Virginia to New York city in 1790 after having emancipated his slaves. He was a mem- ber of the New York state legislatiire in 1800, but for political reasons resigned. He was, through his marriage with Mary, only child of James Valence of Liverpool, placed in possession of a fortune of §450,000, which Mrs. Gates used dur- ing the period of the Revolution in advancing the military fortmie of her husband by a sum])t- uous lavishment of hospitality on liis favorite companions in arms, especially those unaccus- tomed to such attentions . He received an LL. D. from Harvard in 1779, and was vice-president- general of the Society of the Cincinnati, 1784-86. He died in New York city, April 10, 1806.

GATES, Merrill Edwards, educator, was born in Warsaw, N.Y., A|)ril 6, 1848; son of Setli Merrill and Fanny Jeanette (Parsons) Gates, and a great- grand.son of Jonathan Edwards, the New England philosopher. He was graduated from the University of Rochester in 1870, and in the same year became principal of Albany academy. He resigned this position in 1883 to accept the presidency of Rutgers college. He was appointed a U.S. Indian commissioner in 1884. In 1890 he was elected to the presidency of Amherst and of Oberlin college and he accepted the former. He