Constellation Similarity Assertions

Clinton, Henry, Sir, 1738?-1795

Sir Henry Clinton was the son of Admiral George Clinton (c.1685-1761) and grandson of Sir Francis Fiennes Clinton, 6th Earl of Lincoln. His father was Governor General of Newfoundland, 1732-1741, and of New York, 1741-1751. Rather than follow his father into the navy, Sir Henry embarked on a military career. He advanced steadily through the ranks, partly assisted by the patronage of his relative, the 1st Duke of Newcastle under Lyne. By the 1770s he had reached the rank of Colonel of the 12th Foot, and was also a serving M.P., holding firstly the Newcastle seat of Boroughbridge (1772-1774) and then the Newcastle seat of Newark (1774-1784). In 1775, grief-stricken by the early death of his wife, he accepted the post of third in command of the British forces in North America.

By the winter of 1777-1778, Sir Henry had become Commander-in-Chief of the British army in North America. This promotion occurred during the American War of Independence - a war which effectively marked the end of his military career. When Cornwallis surrendered in 1781, the war was essentially ended and Sir Henry returned to England in June of the following year, suffering from a battered and bruised reputation, which he spent much of the final years of his life trying to redeem.

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