General Sir Henry Clinton
General Sir Henry Clinton (1738-1795)
General Sir Henry Clinton officially entered the British Army as a Captain in 1751. However, he joined the army with previous military experience. When his father was a Royal Governor of New York, Sir Henry was offered a militia commission at age 18 in one of the Colony's companies. Traditionally, the British Army based operations in the American colonies out of New York, and they followed this approach in 1776. Serving during the Seven Years' War (1754-1763), he quickly moved up the ranks with several powerful placements, including an appointment as an aide to the Duke of Brunswick.
By the outbreak of the Revolution in 1776, Sir Henry was one of the top generals in the British Army, and he accompanied the expedition force that landed in New York. He served with distinction in the Boston and New York campaigns. He was also involved in the first attack on Charleston and the occupation of Newport, Rhode Island. Following the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777, Sir Henry Clinton became the British Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in America in May of 1778.
Clinton's command was based in Manhattan, and he rarely engaged in any large-scale operations that required him to move troops outside of that base between 1780 and 1782. Other than the large-scale Carolina Campaign during the Winter of 1779-1780, Clinton engaged in no serious campaigns. Clinton's lack of campaigns reflected a combination of his personal insecurities and the stalemate in the war. This stalemate is important to understand because it is reflected in the role of espionage during this time. Spies became increasingly important as each side felt a major attack was overdue or expected from their opponent. Clinton's insecurities contributed to his unpopularity with the army, both for personality reasons and because he typically refused to send troops to support his officers. Additionally, Clinton's fears about his perception in England added to these issues, causing him to reject opportunities to engage his opponent in battle. This is most noticeable in the Summer and Fall of 1780, when Washington and his intelligence agents used these fears against Clinton. Washington frequently scared Clinton out of any plans to send a small attack expedition against the Americans with a single false leaked intelligence report threatening an American attack. When Arnold's treason was exposed, Clinton's army seemed locked in a standoff around Manhattan. Clinton's reluctance to move troops outside of Manhattan is widely credited with causing General Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown in the fall of 1781.
When Clinton published his memoir , he expressed the belief that if his plans with Arnold had worked, it would have been the "coup manque," meaning the stroke that would have won the war. He remained very bitter over the loss of Major Andre, and supported the general public dislike of Benedict Arnold amongst the British. After the disastrous defeat of General Cornwallis at the siege of Yorktown, Clinton was relieved from his command and returned to Britain in 1782. Sir Guy Carleton then assumed command of the British Army. After several years of anonymity following his return, Clinton became a Member of Parliament in 1790.