Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, yet instead of disgrace he became a Knight of the Garter, Governor-General of India, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This episode follows an aristocrat born in 1738 who studied at Eton and Cambridge, fought in the Seven Years’ War, and as a Whig was one of only five peers to vote against the Stamp Act before sailing to fight the colonists out of a sense of duty.

We cover his near-miss with Washington at Princeton, the Southern campaign from Camden to the grapeshot decision at Guilford Courthouse, the trap at Yorktown, and his pamphlet war with Henry Clinton. We then examine his reforms in India, including the Cornwallis Code, racial exclusion and the Permanent Settlement, his war against Tipu Sultan, and his resignation over Catholic emancipation in Ireland.

• Why a Whig who opposed the Stamp Act still went to war against the colonies
• How a toxic command relationship with Henry Clinton shaped the Southern campaign
• Why King George III kept his faith in Cornwallis after Yorktown
• How the Permanent Settlement in India left peasant farmers open to exploitation
• The bribery behind the Act of Union and his resignation over Catholic rights