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SIR HENRY CLINTON (c. 1738-1795)

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 529 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR HENRY CLINTON (c. 1738-1795)  ,
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British general, was the son of
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admiral George Clinton (governor of
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Newfoundland and subsequently of New York), and grandson of the 6th
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earl of Lincoln . After serving in the New York militia, he came to England and joined the
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Coldstream Guards . In 1758 he became captain and
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lieutenant-colonel in the
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Grenadier Guards, and in 176o-62 distinguished himself very greatly as an aide-de-camp to Ferdinand of Brunswick in the Seven Years' War . He was promoted colonel in 1762, and after the peace received the colonelcy of a regiment of
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foot, becoming major-general in 1772 . From 1772 to 1784, thanks to the influence of his cousin, the 2nd duke of Newcastle, he had a seat in parliament, first for Borough-
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bridge and subsequently for Newark, but for the greater
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part of this time he was on active service in
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America in the War of Independence . He took part in the battles of Bunker Hill and Long Island, subsequently taking possession of New York . For his share in the
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battle of Long Island he was made a lieutenant-general and K.B . After Saratoga he succeeded
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Sir William Howe as
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commander-in-chief in North America . He had already been made a
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local general . He at once concentrated the British forces at New York, pursuing a policy of foraying expeditions in place of
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regular
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campaigns . In 1779 he invaded South Carolina, and in 178o in conjunction with Admiral M . Arbuthnot won an important success in the capture of
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Charleston .

Friction, however, was constant between him and Lord Cornwallis, his second in command, and in 1782, after the capitulation of Cornwallis at
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Yorktown, he was superseded by Sir Guy Carleton . Returning to England, he published in 1783 his Narrative of the
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Campaign of 1781 in North America, which provoked an acrimonious reply from Lord Cornwallis . He was elected M.P. for
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Launceston in 1790, and in 1794 was made governor of
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Gibraltar, where he died on the 23rd of December 1795 . His elder son, Sir WILLIAM HENRY CLINTON (1769-1846), entered the British army in 1784, and served in the campaigns of 1793-94 in the Low Countries . In 1746 he became aide-de-camp to the duke of York, and in 1799 he was entrusted with a
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mission to the
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Russian army in Italy, returning to the duke in time for the Dutch expedition of 1799 . He was promoted colonel in 18oi, and took part in the expedition which took possession of Madeira, which he governed up to 1802 . His next important service was in 1807, when he went to Sweden on a military mission . Promoted major-general in ,8o8, he served from 1812 to 1814 in the Mediterranean and in Catalonia, and in the latter
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year he commanded against Marshal Suchet . He had become a lieutenant-general in 1813, and in 1815 he was made a G.C.B . He commanded the British troops in
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Portugal, 1826-28,and was promoted full general in 1830 . He died at Cockenhatch, near
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Royston, Herts, on the 15th of
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February 1846 . The younger son, Sir HENRY CLINTON (1771-1829), entered the army in 1787 and saw some service with the Prussians in Holland in 1789 .

He served on the

staff of the duke of York in 1793-94, becoming brevet-major in 1794, and lieutenant-colonel of a
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line regiment in 1796 . In 1797-98 he was aide-de-camp to Lord Cornwallis in the Irish
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rebellion, and in 1799 he was sent with Lord William Bentinck to the Russian headquarters in Italy, being
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present at the Trebbia, at Novi, and in the fighting about the St Gotthard . During a short period of service in India Clinton distinguished himself at
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Laswari . He accompanied the Russian headquarters in the Austerlitz campaign, and was adjutant-general to his intimate friend, Sir John Moore, in the Corunna campaign of 1808-9 . Promoted major-general in 181o, he returned to the Peninsula to fill a divisional command under Wellington in 1811 . His division played a notable part in the capture of the forts at Salamanca and in the battle of Salamanca (1812), and he was given the local rank of lieutenant-general early in 1813 . For his conduct at
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Vitoria he was made a K.B., and he took his part in the subsequent victories of the Nive, Orthes and Toulouse . At the end of the war he was made a lieutenant-general and inspector-general of
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infantry . Clinton commanded a division with distinction at
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Waterloo . He died on the Ilth of December 1829 .

End of Article: SIR HENRY CLINTON (c. 1738-1795)
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