Cornwallis, Charles, Marquis. Born in 1738. A prominent English statesman and general, celebrated as the general under whom the British forces were finally defeated (1781) in the American War of Independence. Cornwallis was afterwards governor-general and commander-in-chief in India, where he greatly distinguished himself by his victories over Tippoo Sahib. Still later, in 1798, Cornwallis was lord-lieutenant of Ireland and, in 1802, plenipotentiary of Great Britain to negotiate the Peace of Amiens. He was appointed, in 1805, governor-general of India a second time, but died in 1805 while on his way to assume command.

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