Thomas Gage is usually remembered as the British general who sparked the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord, but his story is far more tragic. This episode traces his path from English aristocracy and the Battle of Culloden to the bloody Battle of the Monongahela, where he fought alongside a young George Washington, and to his creation of the British Army’s first light infantry regiment for woodland warfare.

We explore his marriage to American Margaret Kemble, his handling of Pontiac’s War, his conclusion that town meetings and democracy itself had overwhelmed royal authority, and the Powder Alarm that revealed the speed of the colonial network. We also weigh the evidence that his own wife leaked the plans for the march on Concord and his warnings to London after Bunker Hill.

• How his family’s religious history shaped his distrust of Catholic clergy as governor of Montreal
• The La Galette incident and the caution that defined his military career
• Why the Boston Port Act and the Intolerable Acts made moderation impossible
• His recruitment of spy Benjamin Church and failed attempt to win over Samuel Adams
• His recall after Bunker Hill and final years helping loyalist refugees in London