Horatio Gates
(1727-1806)

Major-General Horatio Gates was an officer in the British Army before the American Revolution (1775-1783). He served in North America and Martinique in the West Indies before retiring and settling in Virginia after the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Like many men in the American colonies, Gates later switched his allegiance to fight for American independence. He became a general in the Continental Army when the American Revolution began and received a field command for the Northern Department. He fancied himself a far more experienced general than George Washington and resented the fact that Congress had appointed Washington commander of the American forces. Gates received great acclaim for his defeat of General Burgoyne's army at Saratoga in 1777. The credit for the spectacular American success, however, belonged not only to Gates but also to the courage and brilliance of General Benedict Arnold and Colonel Daniel Morgan and his riflemen.