Cornwallis

Cornwallis, Charles, Marquis (1738-1805), English general and statesman, son of Earl Cornwallis. He was educated at Eton and at the military academy of Turin, and acted as aide-de-camp to the Marquis of Granby in the Seven Years' war. In 1762 he succeeded his father in the earldom, and in 1766 he had attained the rank of colonel. In 1770 he was governor of the Tower, and in 1771 major-general. Sent to take part in the American War of Independence, he was in 1782 besieged at Yorktown by the French and American armies and the French fleet and forced to capitulate, a step for which he was not blamed. In 1786 he was made Governor-General of India, and, besides doing much in the way of reform, he forced Tippoo Sahib into a treaty beneficial to England. After being made Marquis in 1793, he returned to India as Viceroy in 1798. After negotiating the treaty of Amiens in 1802, he was sent a third time to India, in 1805, as Governor-General, but died on his way up-country.