General Charles O'Hara (1740 – February 25, 1802) was a British military officer who surrendered the sword of Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, 1781, ending the American Revolutionary War, and served as Governor of Gibraltar.
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Early life: 1740–1778
Charles O'Hara was born in Lisbon, the illegitimate son of James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and Kilmaine and his Portuguese mistress. Charles was sent to Westminster School. On December 23 1752 at the age of twelve, he became a cornet in the 3rd Dragoons. He became a lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Foot the Coldstream Guards on January 14, 1756. In 1762, he served under his father in Portugal in the same campaign with Charles Lee. He also saw duty in Germany. On July 25, 1766, Charles O'Hara was appointed commandant at Goree, Senegal with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel - Commandant of the Africa Corps. This was a unit made up of British soldiers pardoned in exchange for accepting life service in Africa. He was also named Captain and Lieutenant Colonel of the Coldstream Guards in 1769.
American Revolutionary War: 1778–1782
In July 1778, Lt. Col O'Hara arrived in America and immediately commanded forces at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Lt.-Gen Henry Clinton, commander of the British Army in America, gave him that assignment as the French fleet under Admiral d'Estaing threatened New York City. Clinton ended up regretting his choice. In October 1780, O'Hara was promoted to Brigadier and became commander of Brigade of Guards. He became Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis' second-in-command and good friend. During Cornwallis' pursuit of Major-General Nathanael Greene to the Dan River, O'Hara distinguished himself at Cowan's Ford, North Carolina on February 1, 1781. He also led the British counterattack at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, which led to General Greene withdrawing from the field of battle. He was seriously wounded in this battle. General O'Hara represented the British at the surrender of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, when General Cornwallis claimed illness. As the legend of the surrender goes, he first attempted to surrender to French Comte de Rochambeau, who declined his sword and deferred to General George Washington. Washington then declined and deferred to Major-General Benjamin Lincoln. Lincoln was serving as Washington's second-in-command and had surrendered to General Clinton at Charleston in May 1780. O'Hara was exchanged on February 9, 1782 and returned to England having been promoted to Major-General.
After the war: 1782–1802
In 1784, O'Hara fled from England to Italy due to gambling debts. In 1792, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar. In 1793, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General. On November 23, 1793, he was captured at Fort Mulgrove in Toulon, France during operations that gained Napoleon the attention of his superiors. Napoleon had personally directed the capture operation and accepted O'Hara's formal surrender. He spent two years in prison in Paris. In August 1795, he was exchanged for Comte de Rochambeau. Later that year he became engaged to Mary Berry, but the engagement was broken when he was named Governor of Gibraltar on December 30, 1795 and she would not leave England. He was promoted to full General in 1798. He died on February 25, 1802, from complications due to his old wounds.
Trivia
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O'Hara has the dubious distinction of being the only man to have been personally captured by both George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte. In the book Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, the author recounts how the griot of the village of Juffure in Gambia told him the circumstances of how Kunta Kinte disappeared. In the griot's words, it happened "the year the King's soldiers came". This happened in 1767. The Lloyd's of London records, as researched by Haley, bore him out as the regiment commanded by O'Hara was sent to take command of Fort James on the Gambia River that year.
In popular culture
In the Roland Emmerich film The Patriot starring Mel Gibson, Charles O'Hara is played by Peter Woodward.
