Margaret Kemble Gage is the wife of the British General Thomas Gage around the time of the American Revolutionary War. Although she loved her husband, it is believed that she was a sympathizer to the rebels in the American Revolution.
She was not born in England and, therefore, did not have the roots that many of those who did. She was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey Colony.
Family Life
Margaret's father was a well-to-do businessman, and her lineage suggests that her family held much influence in the colonies. This is probably how Margaret met the British General Thomas Gage.
After marrying Thomas Gage, the Gage family moved to England in 1773. It would not be a long say. Things began to become tumultuous in the 13 original colonies, and General Gage was sent to enforce the British Intolerable Acts.
The British had been met with much resistance to their tax, which resulted in the Boston Tea Party.
However, martial law had not always been effective at squashing rebel sentiment, as one can see in the Boston Massacre.
Nevertheless, Thomas Gage and his wife Margaret sailed back to Boston to face the rebels head-on and to subject them to British authority.
It would not be effective as the British underestimated the hostilities of the colonials and grossly underestimated the manpower needed to control the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
When Gage arrived, the rebels already had a sophisticated alarm system in place, as well as hundreds of organized militia that were ready to serve the patriot cause at a moment's notice.
Gage quickly learned that the rebels were storing ammunition in Concord, and he began to put into place a secret march that would not only capture the stores of ammunition but also capture the rebel leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams.
Spy Accusation
However, Gage's plan would not be kept secret, and the night of his march to Lexington and then onto Concord, the rebels were waiting for them.
Gage told nobody of these plans, yet the rebel leader Joseph Warren was able to infiltrate the inner chambers of Thomas Gage with a spy, and that spy is believed to have been Margaret Kemble Gage.
David Hackett Fischer makes a compelling argument for this in his book, Paul Revere's Ride. Margaret was sent home by her husband aboard the Charming Nancy in 1775. she would never return to America.
Thomas Gage was removed from Boston, replaced by General William Howe, and sent back to England, where he and his wife resided for the rest of their lives.
Contrary to the recent depiction of her in the Sons of Liberty miniseries from the History Channel, General Thomas Gage and his wife Margaret had a happy marriage.
Margaret would give birth to seven children.