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Horatio Gates

Horatio Gates
Artist
James Peale, 1749 - 24 May 1831
Copy after
Charles Willson Peale, 15 Apr 1741 - 22 Feb 1827
Sitter
Horatio Gates, 1727 - 1806
Date
c. 1782
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 58.4 x 48.3 x 2.5cm (23 x 19 x 1")
Frame: 77.5 x 67.3 x 5.1cm (30 1/2 x 26 1/2 x 2")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Epaulet
Horatio Gates: Male
Horatio Gates: Politics and Government\State Legislator\New York
Horatio Gates: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Revolutionary War
Horatio Gates: Congressional Gold Medal
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Mr. Lawrence A. Fleischman
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.69.50
Exhibition Label
Born Maldon, England
British army officer Horatio Gates fought in the French and Indian War (1754–63), rising to the rank of major before peace ended his advancement. Frustrated, Gates resigned from the army and immigrated to North America. In 1773, he purchased a 659-acre plantation in present-day West Virginia and enslaved laborers to work the land.
When the American Revolution broke out, Gates joined the Continental Army, advancing to the rank of major general in May 1776. He was awarded a congressional gold medal for his “brave and successful efforts” leading to the surrender of General John Burgoyne and his whole army at Saratoga in October 1777. But his reputation was ruined by his defeat at Camden in 1780. “Was there ever so precipitous a flight?” jested Alexander Hamilton about Gates’s hasty retreat. “It does admirable credit to the activity of a man at his time of life.”
Nacido en Maldon, Inglaterra
El oficial del ejército inglés Horatio Gates luchó en la Guerra Franco-Indígena (1754–63) y ascendió al rango de mayor antes de que la paz frenara su progreso. Frustrado, Gates renunció al ejército e inmigró a Norteamérica. En 1773 compró una plantación de 659 acres en la actual Virginia Occidental y allí tuvo trabajadores esclavizados.
Al estallar la Guerra de Independencia, Gates se unió al Ejército Continental, ascendiendo al rango de mayor general en mayo de 1776. Recibió una medalla congresional de oro por sus “gestiones valientes y exitosas” para conseguir la rendición del general John Burgoyne y todo su ejército en Saratoga en octubre de 1777. Pero su fama quedó arruinada por su derrota en Camden en 1780. “¿Se ha visto antes huida tan precipitada?”, bromeó Alexander Hamilton sobre la veloz retirada de Gates. “Eso habla muy bien de la condición física de un hombre de sus años”.
Provenance
Estate of Isabelle Middleton Hanchin; (another New York dealer); (Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York); purchased with gift from Lawrence A. Fleischman 1969.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 142