Clinton, Sir Henry

Clinton, Sir Henry (1730–95) British general, born in Newfoundland, son of colonial governor George Clinton. Clinton was present at the battle of Bunker Hill (1775) and later conducted an ineffectual campaign in the south before returning to New York and thence to England where he was knighted. After serving under Sir William Howe at the battles of New York and White Plains (1776) and the occupation of New York, and heading the British occupation of Rhode Island, Clinton replaced Howe, whom he regarded as overly cautious, as the commander in chief of British forces in North America (1778–82). Clinton, once full of bold plans for Howe, quickly acquired his own reputation for cautiousness. He failed to trap the Marquis de Lafayette at Barren Hill, Pennsylvania (1778), and evacuated Philadelphia. After engaging the Continental army at Monmouth (1778) and capturing Charleston (1780), Clinton was replaced by Lord Charles Cornwallis and ordered back to New York, where he was blamed for the defeat at Yorktown (1781) for having failed to come to Cornwallis's aid.