Being born into an aristocratic family in England, he entered the Army and saw action in the French and Indian War, where Gage served alongside his future opponent George Washington in the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela.

His attempts to seize the military stores of Patriot militias in April 1775 sparked the battles of Lexington and Concord, beginning the American War of Independence.

After Britain's pyrrhic victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, he was replaced by General William Howe in October 1775, and returned to England where he died in 1787.

[5] In 1728 Gage began attending the prestigious Westminster School where he met such figures as John Burgoyne, Richard Howe, Francis Bernard, and George Germain.

Gage received promotion to captain in 1743, and saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession with British forces in Flanders, where he served as aide-de-camp to the Earl of Albemarle in the Battle of Fontenoy.

They both contested the results, but his father died soon after, and Gage withdrew his protest in early 1755, as his regiment was being sent to America following the outbreak of the French and Indian War.

This skirmish began the Battle of the Monongahela, in which Braddock was mortally wounded, and George Washington distinguished himself for his courage under fire and his leadership in organising the retreat.

[20] The following year, he was assigned to Captain-General John Campbell Loudoun in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where a planned expedition against Louisbourg turned back when confronted by a larger French fleet.

When Amherst learned that the French had also abandoned Fort St. Frédéric, he sent a messenger after Gage with more explicit instructions to capture La Galette and then, if at all possible, to advance on Montreal.

[31] When Gage arrived at Oswego, which had been captured in July by troops under Frederick Haldimand's command, he surveyed the situation, and decided that it was not prudent to move against La Galette.

Gage, believing an attack on La Galette would not gain any significant advantage, decided against action, and sent Amherst a message outlining his reasons.

[36] By all accounts, Gage appeared to be a fair administrator, respecting people's lives and property, although he had a healthy distrust of the landowning seigneurs and of the Roman Catholic clergy, who he viewed as intriguers for the French.

When peace was announced following the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Gage began lobbying for another posting, as he was "very much [tired] of this cursed Climate, and I must be bribed very high to stay here any longer".

[37] Following the conquest of New France, Amherst, who had little respect for the First Nations, instituted policies that severely hampered Anglo-Indian relations, principally forbidding the sale of ammunition to them.

[48] Although his position gave him the opportunity to make financial arrangements that might have lined the pockets of high-ranking officers at the expense of the military purse, there is little evidence that he engaged in any significant improper transactions.

In addition to securing advantageous positions for several people named Gage or Kemble, he also apparently assisted in the placement of some of his friends and political supporters, or their children.

He at first believed that the popular unrest after the 1765 Stamp Act was primarily due to a small number of colonial elites, led by those in Boston.

He saw the movement of colonists into the interior, beyond effective Crown control, and the development of the town meeting as a means of local governance as major elements of the threat, and wrote in 1772 that "democracy is too prevalent in America".

[57] Some of the terms of those acts, for example the option to remove political trials to England, originated with Gage,[55] and measures such as curbing the activities of town meetings and withholding representative government from the Ohio Country also show his influence.

[66] He called for new elections to be held as per the Massachusetts Government Act, but his authority was undermined by the representatives who refused to meet with the new, appointed Governor's Council.

[53] In September 1774 Gage withdrew his garrisons from New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Halifax and Newfoundland and brought all under his wing in Boston together with a large British naval presence under the control of Admiral Samuel Graves.

[68] This action, although successful, caused a huge popular reaction known as the Powder Alarm, resulting in the mobilization of thousands of provincial militiamen who marched towards Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[69] Although the militia soon dispersed, the show of force on the part of the provincials had a lasting effect on Gage, and he subsequently grew more cautious in his actions.

[71] A Committee of Safety was also tasked with sounding the alarm for local militias if Gage were spotted sending significant numbers of British troops outside of Boston.

One of his officers, Lord Percy, remarked, "The general's great lenity and moderation serve only to make them [the colonists] more daring and insolent.

"[73] Gage himself wrote after the Powder Alarm, "If force is to be used at length, it must be a considerable one, and foreign troops must be hired, for to begin with small numbers will encourage resistance, and not terrify; and will in the end cost more blood and treasure.

[76][72] Given intelligence that the militia had been stockpiling weapons at Concord, Massachusetts, he ordered detachments of regulars from the Boston garrison to march there on the night of 18 April to confiscate them.

[79][80] The British expedition to Lexington and Concord was supposed to have been a "profound secret," but nevertheless Sons of Liberty leader Joseph Warren found out about it.

He then dispatched Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn the colonists, which resulted in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and starting the American War of Independence.

He supported the efforts of Loyalists to recover losses incurred when they were forced to leave the colonies, notably confirming the activities of Benjamin Church to further his widow's claims for compensation.