British general and colonial governor, Charles Cornwallis was born a December 31, 1738. He was the eldest son of the 1^st Earl Cornwallis. He served in the seven years war, educated at Eton, and commissioned in the army. Cornwallis became politically active with the Whigs in the House of Lords; he achieved this by succeeding to his father's title as 2^nd Earl in 1762. He was sympathetic to the grievances of the American Colonist and voted against the Declaratory Act in 1766.

During the American Revolution in 1776 he subdued New Jersey and then triumphed at Brandywine and captured Philadelphia in 1777. As second in command to Sir Henry Clinton, he advocated aggressive Action in the south but was unable to realize his plans 1780, when he captured Charleston and marched north, hoping to join with Clinton to subdue Virginia. Cut off at Yorktown when Washington was reinforced by the French troops, he capitulated on October 19, 1781, this effectively ending the war.

As governor-general and commander in chief in 1786, Cornwallis was sent to India, where he carried out vigorous reforms in the administration and in the army. He restored the military situation by checking Tippu Sulton and laid the administration foundations of British rule in India. This legislation caused some suffering among the peasants and tended to freeze the revenues.

Created marquees in 1792, Cornwallis returned to England the next year and joined the cabinet, as master of ordinance in 1795. On the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland in 1798, he was sent as viceroy and commander in chief. He aided Lord Castleragh in getting the act of the union through the Irish Parliament. On refusal of George III to permit Catholic Emancipation, however, he resigned in 1801 as a viceroy and from the cabinet.