Thomas Gage (1719-1787)
Born to the English aristocracy, Thomas Gage joined the British army at age twenty and in 1754 was sent to America. Serving under General Braddock, he took part in the Battle of the Monongahela, in which British troops were ambushed and routed by a combined French and Indian force. By the end of the ensuing French and Indian War, despite an unimpressive record as a field commander, he was placed in charge of all British forces in North America, making his headquarters in New York. In 1774, as Governor of Massachusetts, he would be responsible for enforcing various punitive measures enacted to curb the growing independence movement. The following year he would order the seizure of weapons in Concord that would ignite the American Revolution.