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Charles, Earl Cornwallis (1738–1805) was a military officer who served in the British Army during the American War of Independence. He is best known for surrendering his army after the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, an act that ended major hostilities in North America and led directly to peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war. Born into an aristocratic family with a history of public service, Cornwallis was politically opposed to the war, but agreed to serve when it became clear that Britain would require a significant military presence in the Thirteen Colonies. First arriving in May 1776, he participated in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, before joining the main army under General William Howe. He played a notable role in the partially successful New York and New Jersey campaign when George Washington successfully eluded him after the Battle of the Assunpink Creek and inflicted a decisive defeat on troops left at his rear in the Battle of Princeton. Cornwallis was also involved in the Philadelphia campaign (1777–1778), leading a wing of Howe's army, before he became one of the leading figures of the British "southern strategy" to gain control of the southern colonies. In that role he successfully led troops that gained a measure of control and influence in South Carolina before heading into North Carolina. There, despite successes like his victory at the Battle of Camden, which burnished his reputation, wings of his army were decisively defeated at Kings Mountain and Cowpens. After a Pyrrhic victory at Greensboro, North Carolina, Cornwallis moved his battered army to Wilmington to rest and resupply. From Wilmington, Cornwallis, in a move that became a subject of contemporary and historical debate, led his army into Virginia, where he joined with other British troops that had been raiding economic and military targets in that colony. Ineffectually opposed by a smaller Continental Army under the Marquis de Lafayette, he was eventually ordered to establish a well-defended port by General Henry Clinton. Poor communications in the British establishment and French naval superiority over the Chesapeake Bay caused him to become entrapped at Yorktown without the possibility of reinforcement; he surrendered after three weeks of siege, on October 17, 1781. He was released on parole, and returned to England in December of that year. He and General Clinton engaged in a highly public exchange after the 1781 campaign in which each sought to deflect blame for its failure. ==Background== Charles, Earl Cornwallis was a military officer born into an aristocratic family. His family had a distinguished record of public and military service, and Cornwallis was no exception.〔Wickwire (1970), pp. 10–11〕 Eager for action, he served with the British Army in Europe during the Seven Years' War, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.〔Wickwire (1970), pp. 25–28〕 During those years he also served first in the House of Commons of Great Britain, and then, upon his accession to the title of Earl of Cornwallis in 1762, in the House of Lords.〔Ross, p. 9〕 He was politically aligned with the Whigs, and was sympathetic to the complaints of the British colonists in North America, voting against the 1765 Stamp Act. When it was repealed the following year, he was one of a few voters against the Declaratory Act, in which Parliament continued to claim authority over the colonies.〔Wickwire (1970), p. 41〕 Also in 1766, he was given the colonelcy of the 33rd Regiment of Foot.〔 In the following years he continued to argue politically in support of the colonists even as tensions rose between them and the Parliament.〔Ross, p. 11〕 When the North ministry rose to power in 1770, Cornwallis adopted a less active voice in politics, and avoided seeking political appointments.〔Wickwire (1970), pp. 45–46〕 In 1768 he married Jemima Tullekin Jones, the daughter of a regimental colonel.〔Wickwire (1970), p. 39〕 They had two children, a boy and a girl, before Jemima died in 1779, and were by all accounts a happy, devoted couple.〔Wickwire (1970), p. 40〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cornwallis in North America」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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