From British Officer to Continental General: How Horatio Gates Became a Revolutionary

Abstract This article explores how and why Horatio Gates went from a loyal British Army officer to a general in the Continental Army bent on dismembering the British Empire. In doing so, it argues that Gates highlights how self-interest and ideology were often tightly linked, and especially that self-interest could shape and strengthen political views. Born to a modest family in England, Gates made his career in the British Army. After the Seven Years’ War, however, he was unable to advance within the military in large part because of middling birth and limited finances. Frustrated in his professional life, Gates turned to radical Whig politics. He came to see the British political system as corrupt and despotic and believed that it elevated unqualified men rather than those of merit. He felt that his own experiences supported this view. Disappointed in England, Gates moved with his family to Virginia in 1772. There, Gates found fertile ground for his radical politics and became a leader of local resistance to Britain. Gates became convinced that Britain meant to spread autocracy and corruption to America. When the war began in 1775, Gates offered his services for the cause and became a general in the Continental Army. The British system’s shortcomings that Gates personally experienced were pivotal in shaping his radical political perspectives.