William Phillips (1731 – 13 May 1781) was a renowned artilleryman and general officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

who served as a major-general in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Early career

Phillips entered the academy at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

and eventually joined the Royal Artillery. His service at the

Battle of Minden The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of Fr ...

led to a reputation as an excellent officer. By the outbreak of the American War of Independence he had risen to the rank of colonel in the British Army. He served as the Commander of Artillery at Woolwich and Lieutenant Governor of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

, and was eventually elected as MP for

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on t ...

American War of Independence

Phillips was promoted to the rank of Major-General and sent to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1776, along with his friends General Henry Clinton and General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

, to be the commander of all artillery in the province. Governor Sir Guy Carleton put him in charge of the shipyard at St. John's where, along with Captain

Sir Charles Douglas Charles Douglas may refer to: * Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry (1698–1778), Scottish nobleman * Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry (1777–1837), Scottish peer * Charles Douglas, 5th Lord Mordington 18th-century Scottish peer ...

, he supervised the building of the small fleet of ships that fought the Americans under Benedict Arnold at the

Battle of Valcour Island The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and ...

. He later took part in the recapture of

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French milit ...

, where he stated, "Where a goat can go, a man can go. And where a man can go, he can drag a gun."

As part of Burgoyne's army, he was captured at Saratoga in 1777. He is depicted in the painting of the ''

Surrender of General Burgoyne The ''Surrender of General Burgoyne'' is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1821 and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant General Jo ...

'' by John Trumbull. He was then a part of the

Convention Army The Convention Army (1777–1783) was an army of British and allied troops captured after the Battles of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War. Convention of Saratoga On 17 October 1777, British General John Burgoyne surrendered his army a ...

until he was exchanged for American General

Benjamin Lincoln Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 ( O.S. January 13, 1733) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders ...

in 1780. While a prisoner in Virginia, he was one of the British officers who was entertained at the home of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

. After the exchange he was able to fight once again, and was sent by Clinton from New York to meet up with Brigadier General Benedict Arnold (who was now on the British side) in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. While on his way to link up with General Cornwallis, he contracted either

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, and became so ill that Arnold had to lead his men. He died on 13 May 1781 at

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

, five months before Yorktown, and is buried there near Blandford Church. As he lay gravely ill, in the home belonging to the Bolling family known as Bollingbrook,

British forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

in Petersburg were being shelled by the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

's cannons positioned in the heights north of the river, today known as

Colonial Heights, Virginia Colonial Heights is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,170. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights (along with the City of Petersburg) with Dinwiddie ...

. His final words — uttered after a shell struck the home and killed an African-American servant named Molly — are reputed to have been "Won't that boy let me die in peace?" He and Molly were said to have been buried together, to prevent identification.

described him as "the proudest man of the proudest nation on earth".Davis p.XI

References

* ''The American Revolution, Garrison Life in French Canada and New York: Journal of an Officer in the Prinz Friedrich Regiment, 1776-1783'', translated by Helga Doblin (1993) * Davis, Robert P., ''Where a Man Can Go: Major General William Phillips, British Royal Artillery, 1731-1781'' (1999) * Nelson, Paul David, ''General Sir Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester'' (2000) * Pearson, Michael, ''Those Damned Rebels: The American Revolution as Seen Through British Eyes'' (1972)

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, William 1731 births 1781 deaths American Revolutionary War deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Artillery officers American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by the United States Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 Burials at Blandford Cemetery