General Horatio Gates is one of the more sinister men to study during the American Revolution. His personality was one of arrogance, and he often used his position to talk against others he did not agree with and even steal credit from many men who had enabled his success.
At the beginning of the war, Gates was considered to be one of the best generals within the Continental Army, but by the end of it, he would be disgraced, and his reputation would never return.
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1. Stealing Credit for Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was arguably the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. At the time, the Continental Army had saw some success in Boston but had met disaster in New York. General William Howe seemed to be General George Washington's superior as he was consecutive victories against Washington and his men.
The victory at Saratoga would turn the tide of the Revolutionary War. It stopped and capture the invasion of the North and would lead to France entering the war as an ally. This would force Great Britain to fight a global war rather than a local affair.
The men responsible for the success at Saratoga were Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan, and both men were slighted. The slight from General Gates eventually was discovered, but the damage was done. Benedict Arnold would go on to commit treason against the United States, while Daniel Morgan would prove himself in the Southern Theatre, where General Horatio Gates has been shamed.
2. The Conway Cabal
It is hard to believe that there was a time when George Washington was viewed as an incompetent leader who needed to be replaced. However, the future Father of his Country would be the target of a cabal that became known as the Conway Cabal.
The cabal was headed up by Thomas Conway, who was critical of Washington's decision during the Philadelphia campaign. He began to communicate with General Horatio Gates, who then was the hero of Saratoga, and the two men began to conspire with some members of Congress.
However, the cabal was misguided as George Washington maintained a majority support within Congress, and when Thomas Conway was found out, Horatio Gates immediately apologized.
The cabal hurt Gates' already tenuous relationship with George Washington. His failure at Camden would seal his fate in the war.
3. Horatio Gates Had a Difficult Personality
Horatio Gates was an ambitious man who seemed to lack humility and had poor judgment when it came to his relationships.
At the beginning of the war, he was considered a good adjutant general, and by the end of the war, he was disgraced.
The reasons for this slow fade in disgrace were his poor choices and his arrogance.
At Saratoga, he stole credit for the victory and did not pass on credit to others who fought valiantly. He also abandoned his men at Trenton in order to lobby Congress, which would be one of Washington's finest hours.
After the victory at Saratoga, he participated in the Conway Cabal, which wanted to replace George Washington as commander-in-chief. This destroyed his relationship with Washington.
Despite his lack of credibility with Washington, Congress promoted him to the Southern Theatre. Here, he was met with disgrace when he tried to fight British regulars with untested militia. He would flee the battlefield of Camden and become a punchline to many.
Finally, he participated in a military coup that wanted to overthrow Congress. Washington was able to diffuse the situation.
Throughout the entire war, Gates made poor decisions when it came to his relationships. His lack of humility caused him to thumb his nose at many and not adjust his tactics as many of the younger generals, such as Nathanael Greene and Daniel Morgan, would.
4. His British Experience
Like George Washington, Horatio Gates was a veteran of the French and Indian War and was educated in British military tactics. This experience would be his downfall at Camden when he tried to go muzzle-to-muzzle with the Redcoats and was routed.
Men such as Daniel Morgan, Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Nathanael Greene modified their tactics and tried to fight a war of attrition and only engage the enemy when there was an advantage. Daniel Morgan's use of militia at the Battle of Cowpens helped trap and defeat the British. It was a creative use of what was perceived to be a weakness, but Horatio Gates did not have that creativity and did not possess the humility to listen to innovators such as Morgan.
His British experience of promotions also hurt him. Many better generals were looked over in favor of Gates, who had knowledge of how the British fought. While this would make sense at the beginning of the war, it would not make sense as the war went on. Even George Washington began to change tactics to accommodate the type of soldier he was able to recruit.
5. The Battle of Camden
Despite George Washington lobbying Congress to appoint Nathanael Greene as the leader of the southern campaign, Congress decided to go with Horatio Gates.
When Gates arrived in the Southern Theatre, the British had just began their invasion. They had captured Charleston and began to try to take control of all of South Carolina.
General Horatio Gates would meet General Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden. Gates's army was routed, with nearly 1,000 men captured, along with the army's baggage train and artillery. Analysis of the debacle suggests that Gates greatly overestimated the capabilities of his inexperienced militia, an error magnified when he lined those forces against the British right traditional position of the strongest troops. He also failed to make proper arrangements for an organized retreat.
There are different accounts of Gates' behavior during and after the battle. Some negative and some positive. Regardless, his reputation never recovered.
Gates would also lose his son in the battle, which compounded things for him.
6. The Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy was an apparent planned military coup by the Continental Army in March 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The conspiracy may have been instigated by members of the Congress of the Confederation, who circulated an anonymous letter in the army camp at Newburgh, New York, on March 10, 1783. Soldiers were unhappy that they had not been paid for some time and that pensions that had been promised remained unfunded.
The letter suggested that they should take unspecified action against Congress to resolve the issue. The letter was said to have been written by Major John Armstrong, an aide to General Horatio Gates, although the authorship and underlying ideas are subjects of historical debate.
Gates' involvement is speculative, but it shows his poor judgment and inability to be on the right side of history. A military coup at this point of the war would have left the country in shambles, and once again, it was his rival, George Washington, who had a level head and diffused the situation.
These are the reasons that Horatio Gates fell off the pages of history while George Washington rose to become the first President of the United States.