Gage, Thomas
Gage, Thomas (1721–1787), British general and royal governor of Massachusetts.In the French and Indian War, Gage demonstrated personal courage on the battlefield, but little talent for command. His real skill was as an administrator, and he fully proved it as the military governor of Montréal from 1761 to 1763. For more than a decade after succeeding Jeffrey Amherst as commander in chief of British North America in 1763, Gage confronted the legacies of the French and Indian War. After suppressing Pontiac's Rebellion, he struggled to keep land‐hungry colonists from new conflicts with the Indians. Following the Stamp Act upheavals, he tried to keep smugglers and other scofflaws from flouting Parliament's authority. Gage's mission soon shifted from protecting American colonists to controlling them. In 1774, Gage, newly appointed governor in chief...
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