Horatio Gates, an American soldier, born in England in 1728, died in New York, April 10, 1806. He early entered the British army, and was an officer under Braddock, at whose defeat in 1755 he was severely wounded. After the peace of 1763 he purchased an estate in Virginia, where he resided till the organization of the continental army in 1775. Appointed adjutant general with the rank of brigadier, he accompanied Washington to Cambridge in July, 1775, and in June, 1776, received the chief command of the army which had just retreated from Canada. In the autumn following he joined Washington in New Jersey with a considerable detachment, and in March, 1777, in effect superseded Schuyler in the command of the northern army, and was superseded by him in May. When, however, Schuyler was obliged to retreat down the Hudson by the disasters which followed the loss of Ticonderoga, Gates was reinstated in the command by congress, Aug. 4, 1777. The surrender of the British army at Saratoga, which followed, gave him a brilliant military repute, though it was in some measure due to the previous operations of Schuyler. In the winter of 1777-8 Conway's cabal" intrigued to wrest the supreme command from Washington to bestow it upon Gates. The latter was engaged in no important military operations till in June, 1780, he was appointed to the command of the southern forces.

The disastrous battle of Camden (Aug. 16) lessened his military fame, and he was superseded by Gen. Greene. His conduct was scrutinized by a committee of congress, and after the surrender of Cornwallis he was restored to his military position. On the conclusion of peace he retired to his estate in Virginia, whence, after emancipating all his slaves, he removed in 1790 to the city of New York.