Sir Henry Gage (29 August 1597 – 11 January 1645) was a Royalist officer in the English Civil War.

At the age of twelve Henry was sent abroad for a Catholic education at the English Jesuit College in St Omer, where he was a student from 1609 to 1614.

[7] He was known for his ability and was described by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, as "a man of great wisdom and temper, and one among the very few soldiers who made himself universally loved and esteemed".

[8] He was also noted for his piety (he attended Mass daily) and in the later years in the Low Countries and in England had as his chaplain the Jesuit Peter Wright, later to be sentenced to death on the evidence of Henry's own brother Thomas Gage, an ex-Catholic renegade.

This was the seat of the Catholic John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, the largest private residence in England, located at Old Basing, by the River Loddon (a tributary of the River Thames), forty miles away from Oxford and twelve miles (19 km) south of Reading, Berkshire.

Though this first siege lasted only nine days, in June 1644, the house was besieged again, this time by Colonel Richard Norton, whose use of heavy mortar bombardment led in September to the Marquis's garrison asking Royalist forces at Oxford, forty miles away, for help.

Disguised on the road as Parliamentarians, they managed to break through to Basing House, replenishing the garrison's ammunition and food on 11 September and then escaped by night back to Oxford, swimming their horses across the Kennet and the Thames.

But in an action near the bridge at Culham, while boldly leading his men in a third assault on the enemy, he was hit by a bullet and killed on 11 January 1645 at the age of 47.

In solemn mourning his funeral was attended by members of the Royal Family, Noblemen, Soldiers, Members of the University and citizens (of Oxford), all manifesting their grief at the loss of a man outstanding for his natural genius, skill in languages, military renown, sense of duty, loyalty and love for his King and Country.