Gen. Thomas Gage—governor of Massachusetts Bay and commander-in-chief of British military forces in North America—was about to become one of the Revolutionary War’s earliest casualties. In the wake of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Gage sent Lord Dartmouth, Britain’s secretary of state for the Colonies, an account detailing the June 17 engagement and the horrific losses his command had suffered. Three days after receiving Gage’s report, Dartmouth issued orders recalling him to London.
“Captain Chadds arrived with your Dispatch of the 25th of June, containing an Account of the Action on the 17th,” Dartmouth wrote to Gage. “The King is led to conclude that you have little Expectation of effecting any thing further [from] this Campaign, and has therefore commanded me to signify to you … after you receive this Letter, return to England, in order to give His Majesty exact Information of every thing … to prepare as early as possible for the Operations of the next year.”
