Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (born December 31, 1738 in Grosvenor Square, London, England died October 5, 1805 in Ghazipore, India), was a British general in the American Revolutionary War.

Between January 2 and January 4, 1777 Cornwallis fought the American Continental Army at Princeton, New Jersey, led by General George Washington. The Americans surprised a detachment of Cornwallis' troops and pressed the attack until encountering the main body of Cornwallis' force. After this first engagement, the American army slipped away in the night before Cornwallis could counter attack. The Battle of Princeton was seen as an American victory, although it was actually a confused series of skirmishes without a decisive defeat for either force.

Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans at the Battle of Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, thus ending the war. He was ultimately blamed for losing the war to the colonists.